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Course Title & Course ID

International Finance & FIN608
Section:

Individual Assignment On
World Trade Organization

Prepared By
Syed Raihan Monjur 152 640 22
Rafique Mohammad 152 640 17
Jubayet Hossain Rahat 161 640 21
Afroja Zaman 152 640 22
Mofiz Uddin 152 640

Prepared For
Dr. Toufic A Chouddhury
Course Instructor
BBS

Date of Submission
5 August 2017
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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

05 August 2017
Dr. Toufic A Choudhury
Professor
BRAC Business School
BRAC University
Mohakhali, Dhaka.

Subject: Submission of Report

Dear Sir:
With due respect, we are submitting our project report on World Trade Organization as
fulfillment of the requirements for the course FIN808-(International Finance). All the works
presented here is done with utmost sincerely and honesty. We assure you this report will give
you a glace regarding World Trade Organization..
However, it is needless to say that, there may be some mistakes in our report and style. In
completing the report we have tried our best in imparting every available details of the
information.
Therefore, we expect and hope that you would be kind enough to accept our report for evaluation
and oblige thereby.
Thanking you.

Sincerely
Syed Raihan Monjur
Rafique Muhammad
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Preparation of such kind of report is not an easy task. However, it is a group work done by our
group members. We are grateful to Almighty for empowering us to complete this task in time..

We gratefully acknowledge the valuable contribution of our course instructor Dr. Toufic A
Choudhury, Faculty of BRAC Business School, BRAC University for his guidance, necessary
instructions to complete this study. We appreciate his support to us in preparation of the report.
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Executive Summery

The report has been prepared on the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the course
International Final. The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international
organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations. Primary purpose of WTO is to open
trade for the benefit of all. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and
importers conduct their business. It was established in 1995 in Geneva, Switzerland. Currently
WTO has 164 member countries.

Ministerial conference is at the top of WTO structure. General council (GC) is the second top
position who acts on behalf of MC. There are tree council and further three committee in the
organizational structure.

The objectives of WTO are improving the standard of living of people in the member countries,
ensuring full employment and broad increase in effective demand., enlarging production and
trade of goods, increasing the trade of services and most importantly, regulating international
trade.

Apart from these, WTOs contribution in the international trade of Bangladesh is written briefly
in this report.
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Table of Contents

Number Topic Page

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMERY

1. BACKGROUND OF THE REPORT

1.1 Introduction of the Report 6
1.2 Objectives of the report 6
1.3 Methodology of collecting data 6
1.4 Limitations 6

2. WTO - BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE

2.1 World Trade Organization 7
2.2 Background of the WTO 7
2.3 Structure of the WTO: 8
2.4 Objectives of the WTO 9
2.5 WTOs Recent Activity (Bangladesh perspective) 10
2.6 Contribution of WTO to Bangladesh 11

Reference
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1. BACKGROUND OF THE REPORT

1.1 Introduction of the Report

It is a Report on World Trade Organization (WTO), which has been prepared for the major
course International Finance of Masters of Business Administration of BRAC University,
assigned by Dr. Toufic A Choudhury..

1.2 Objectives of the report

The primary objective of the report is to know about the World Trade Organizations
background of the foundation, organization structure, objectives and participation/ contribution
in Bangladesh.

Secondary objective is to enhance our knowledge and be up to date on global international

organization like WTO.

1.3 Methodology of collecting data

Upon secondary information, the report has been prepared. Therefore the data has been collected
from the following sources:
Official website
In addition, materials such YouTube videos have also been used.
Other websites and articles have been searched for information regarding the WTO

1.4 Limitations

The study has suffered from certain limitation noted below: .

Only secondary data was used, but there is no alternative of primary data to ensure the
accuracy and effectiveness of the study.
Lack of a wider coverage due to time constraint
Lack of most recent information .
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2. WTO - BANGLADESH PERSPECTIVE

2.1 WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO)

The World Trade Organization the WTO is well recognized international organization
whose first and foremost purpose is to open trade for the benefit of all. It was founded in 1995
for the purpose of regulating international trade. WTOs headquarter is situated at Geneva in
Switzerland. It is the only global international organization which deals with the rules of trade
between nations. The goal of WTO is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and
importers conduct their business. The WTO is a organization where member governments try to
resolve the trade difficulties they face with each other. Currently WTO has 164 member states.

2.2 BACKGROUND OF THE WTO

It is the largest international economic organization in the world. The WTO deals with the
regulation of trade between countries by providing a framework for dealing with trade
agreements

The WTO officially began its journey on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement which
signed by 123 nations on 15 April 1994 by replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and
Trade (GATT), which was founded in 1948. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) was established after World War II in the hope to constitute multilateral institutions for
the purpose of international economic cooperation
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2.3 Structure of the WTO:

The organizational structure of the WTO is given below chart 1.

The Ministerial Conference (MC) is the top position of the structural organization of the WTO. It
is the supreme governing body which takes ultimate decisions. It is constituted by representatives
of (usually, Ministers of Trade) all the member countries.

The General Council (GC) is composed of the representatives of all the members. It is the
position of the WTO which acts on behalf of the Ministerial Conference. It also plays role as
the Dispute Settlement Body as well as the Trade Policy Review Body.

There are three councils. 1) the Council for Trade in Good , 2) The Council for Trade in Service
and 3) The Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) operating
under the Governing Councils (GC). These councils with their subsidiary bodies carry out their
specific responsibilities.

Further, there are three committees. 1) The Committee on Trade and Development (CTD), 2)
The Committee on Balance of Payments Restrictions (CBOPR), and 3) The Committee on
Budget, Finance and Administration (CF A) which execute the functions assigned to them by e
WTO Agreement and the Governing Council..
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2.4 Objectives of the WTO:

Ensuring the reduction of tariffs and other barriers to trade.

Eliminating discriminatory treatment in international trade relations.
Facilitating higher standards of living, full employment, a growing volume of real income
and effective demand, and an increase in production and trade in goods and services of
the member nations.
Making positive effect, which assures developing countries, especially the least
developed secure a level of share in the growth of international trade that reflects the
needs of their economic development.
Facilitating the optimal use of the worlds resources for sustainable development.
Promoting an integrated, more viable and durable trading system incorporating all the
resolutions of the Uruguay Rounds multilateral trade negotiations.
Making positive effort to settle disputes among members regarding the interpretation and
application of agreements.
Conducting economic research and collecting disseminating trade data.
Monitoring and following up the trade policies of WTOs members.
Assuring transparency of regional and bilateral trade agreement.
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2.5 WTOs Recent Activity (Bangladesh perspective)

Bangladesh ratifies Trade Facilitation Agreement

- WTOs website

WTO members concluded negotiations at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference , on the
landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), . Some agreement are added in TFA for
speeding up movement and clearance of products, including transfer products. It also sets out
measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade
facilities and customs compliance issues. It has provisions for more technical support and
infrastructure development, which entered into force on 22 February 2017 following its
ratification by two-thirds of the WTO membership. Bangladesh has ratified the Trade
Facilitation Agreement, becoming the 94th member of the WTO and 12th least developed
country (LDC) to do so. World trade organizations Ambassador Shamim Ahsan signed his
country's recognition on 27 September by the Director General of World Trade Organization
Roberto Azawdd. Acceptance of more than 85 percent of the approval needed for the acceptance
of Bangladesh has been found. TFA has also launched new ground for developing countries and
LDCs which will be implemented immediately . For the first time in the history of WTO, the
requirements of the agreement were directly related to the country's power. In addition, this
agreement has said that assistance and assistance should be provided to help achieve this power.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFAFF) has been developed on the request of developing and
low-profile countries, so that they can get help to overcome TFA's full benefits and to support
the ultimate goal of fully implementing. WTO members can establishing or maintaining national
trade facilitation committees. According to the World Trade Report released on October 26,
2015, WTO Trade facilitation Agreement (TFA) is possible to increase the export of $ 1 trillion
per year.
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2.6 Contribution of WTO regarding International Trade of Bangladesh

After WTO commencing, many believed that Bangladesh would not able to join WTO, because
of few factors. These are ; small country, small economy, very few per capita income, and very
negligible trade. It was obvious at that time. But Bangladesh had turnover very soon. Now
Bangladesh has become an important representative of the Least Development Countries or LDC
group in the world trade platform.

After joining WTO, many used to believe that poor country like Bangladesh would not benefited
from the WTO, although the reality is opposite now. Owing to WTO system, Bangladesh gets
legal right to rise trade related difficulties and concerns at the global level. Bangladesh along
with other countries can able to raise their voice against the objectionable matters.

WTO gives Bangladesh greater flexibility in fulfilling rigid rule of multilateral trade and market
access in developed countries and developing countries at will. WTO has helped Bangladesh
enjoy 100 percent Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) market access in some of the del=veloped
countries

The expiration of Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) and full withdrawal of quota system on
textile and clothing imports in developed countries from January 01, 2005, became a boon for
the ready-made garments (RMG) industry of Bangladesh. RMG is the largest exportable of the
country and its export increased significantly after MFA expiration under WTO framework.

Another benefit of WTO framework for Bangladesh is the waiver of complying Trade Related
Intellectual Property Right until 2021. The pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh is taking the
advantage of TRIPS waiver.

As WTO facilitates in the dispute settlement process, most countries get benefited from it. As par
the source- Financial Express ; Bangladesh has taken resort to the mechanism to challenge
imposition of anti-dumping duty by India on lead-acid battery exports of Rahimafrooz. It was in
2003, when WTO asked two countries for consultation. India, however, unilaterally withdrew
anti-dumping duty it had earlier imposed. This is the first, and so far the only case when a LDC
put a powerful developing country in the dock of WTO.
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Last but not the least, WTO helps Bangladesh to strengthen capacity and build self confidence to
address the challenges of multilateral trade and helps Bangladesh take advantage of the entire
system.
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REFERENCE

1. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news16_e/fac_27sep16_e.htm
2. https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/whatis_e.htm
3. http://print.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2015/04/23/89866