What are the roles and responsibilities of the World trade Organization?

What are the roles and responsibilities of the World trade Organization?

Functions

• administering trade agreements.
• acting as a forum for trade negotiations.
• settling trade disputes.
• reviewing national trade policies.
• building the trade capacity of developing economies.
• cooperating with other international organizations.

Can WTO help to protect intellectual property rights?

In order for the protection of intellectual property rights to be meaningful, WTO members must give right holders the tools to ensure that their intellectual property rights are respected. Enforcement procedures to do so are covered in part III of the TRIPS Agreement.

What does WTO protect?

The overall objective of the WTO is to help its members use trade as a means to raise living standards, create jobs and improve people’s lives. The WTO operates the global system of trade rules and helps developing countries build their trade capacity.

What is the role of the WTO in international trade?

It plays a central role in facilitating trade in knowledge and creativity, in resolving trade disputes over IP, and in assuring WTO members the latitude to achieve their domestic policy objectives. It frames the IP system in terms of innovation, technology transfer and public welfare.

What is the purpose of the WTO’s intellectual property rights (IP) policy?

The purpose is to ensure that minimum standards of protection exist in all WTO members. Here the starting point is the obligations of the main international agreements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) that already existed before the WTO was created:

What can the government do to prevent trademark counterfeiting?

Wilful trademark counterfeiting or copyright piracy on a commercial scale must be subject to criminal offences. Governments also have to make sure that intellectual property rights owners can receive the assistance of customs authorities to prevent imports of counterfeit and pirated goods.

What is the General Council of the World Trade Organization?

The General Council delegates responsibility to three other major bodies-the Councils for Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. After the winding up of the Uruguay Round of trade talks in 1993. the World Trade Organization came into being on 1 January, 1995 at Marrakesh.