WORLD
TRADE ORGANISATION (WTO)
World Trade Organisation was
established in 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) which had been signed in 1947 within the framework of UN. A year later,
Greece joined GATT in 1948.
The main objective of the WTO
is to establish common rules and principles after intensive consultations among
its currently 148 member states, in order to regulate the international trade.
On the basis of EU Treaty,
the official negotiator of the Community in the process of the WTO negotiations
is the European Commission. Greece, like the other member states of the EU,
participates actively in the formulation of the common stance and argumentation
of the European Union.
Within the framework of the
WTO, the international agreements that concern the agricultural sector directly
or indirectly are:
·
Agreement on Agriculture;
·
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
(TRIPs) in which there are provisions for the Geographical Indications;
·
Agreement on the application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary measures
(SPS);
·
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT);
·
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures in which the
subsidies for fisheries are included.
Responsible: Dimitris Moutsatsos