Q.Explain the objectives and functions of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

This is a full long-answer question requiring both objectives and functions of the WTO.

The World Trade Organisation was established on 1 January 1995 as the successor to GATT (1947), and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Objectives: The WTO's objectives are to raise the standard of living of people in member countries; to work towards full employment; to expand the production of, and trade in, goods and services; to ensure that the world's resources are used optimally, in line with the goal of sustainable development; and to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between member countries. These objectives show that the WTO treats trade liberalisation as a means to raise incomes and living standards, not as an end in itself, while keeping sustainability explicitly in view.

Functions: To pursue these objectives, the WTO performs several functions. It administers and implements the multilateral trade agreements signed by its member countries, ensuring commitments are honoured. It acts as a standing forum for trade negotiations, so members can negotiate further liberalisation and updated rules over time. It operates a dispute-settlement mechanism, allowing member countries to bring trade disputes for examination and a binding ruling instead of resorting to unilateral retaliation. It monitors and reviews the trade policies of member countries on a periodic cycle, so that actual practice can be checked against stated commitments. It provides technical assistance and training to developing and least-developed countries, helping them build capacity to participate effectively in the trading system. Finally, it cooperates with other major international economic institutions, including the World Bank and the IMF, for more coordinated global economic policy-making.

Together, these objectives and functions make the WTO the central rules-based institution governing how nations trade with one another.

A common mistake is listing only functions while ignoring objectives, or vice versa, when a question explicitly asks for both. Another frequent error is describing the WTO purely as a trade-liberalisation body while omitting its equally important dispute-settlement and policy-review functions.