Q.Explain the functions of the World Trade Organisation.

The WTO carries out several ongoing functions to keep international trade running on agreed rules rather than on each country's unilateral decisions.

The WTO performs several continuing functions that go beyond simply having been created once in 1995:

1. Administering trade agreements — The WTO oversees the implementation of the various multilateral trade agreements that member governments have negotiated and signed, covering goods, services and intellectual property.
2. Forum for negotiation — It provides the platform through which member countries negotiate further reductions in tariffs and other trade barriers, and discuss new trade issues as they arise.
3. Dispute settlement — When one member believes another has broken a trade agreement or is causing it trade harm, the WTO's dispute-settlement mechanism provides an agreed procedure for resolving the disagreement, rather than leaving it to unilateral retaliation.
4. Monitoring trade policies — The WTO reviews and publishes reports on member countries' trade policies and practices, promoting transparency for all trading partners. …

Students often list only the dispute-settlement function, since it is the most well-known, and omit the monitoring and technical-assistance functions, which examiners expec …