Question:

Why has the world trade Organization failed to establish a free trade regime? Use specific examples to support your argument. The paper must have introduction and conclusion.

Answer

Title: Why has the world trade Organization failed to establish a free trade regime?

Introduction

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the international body whose work is to promote free trade. The organization undertakes this mandate largely through the establishment of rules for use in international trade. However, the WTO has failed in this mandate, and there are various factors that have contributed to this unfortunate situation. This paper explores the main reason why the WTO has not succeeded in the establishment of establish a free trade regime despite huge optimism at its inception regarding the ability to achieve this noble goal.

Reasons for failure by the WTO to establish a free trade regime

One of the reasons for this failure is that the WTO has been hijacked by rich countries, which have started using it to further their interests. This turn of events has stirred criticism, with observers accusing the leaders of the global body of helping to worsen the lot of the poor while making the rich countries even richer (Bhagwati, 2002). Whereas the principles upon which the WTO was founded sound good, the reality is completely different. Power politics has come into play, making it difficult for the body to be free of manipulation by rich nations with vested interests. This turn of events has triggered criticism, mainly from developing countries.

One of the complaints made is that there is too much opacity, such that public participation is always limited. In contrast, large corporations are always welcomed to participate in the WTO’s agenda of free trade regime (Bergsten, 1996). The second reason for failure to create a free trade regime is that some national laws on safety and protection of the national economies, environment, and people’s health are frequently being used as barriers to free trade. A good example is the case of Guatemala, a third-world country that took efforts to counter the aggressive marketing campaigns by baby-food corporations, which were urging mothers to abandon the disease-protecting breast milk in favor of processed food (Wallach, 1999). The affected companies took their case to General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) WTO’s predecessor. GATT reversed the law and the baby-food companies continued making huge profits from the sale of baby food in Guatemala.

Conclusion

In summary, the WTO will not succeed in establishing a free trade regime if it does not free itself from interference of highly influential rich nations with vested interests. To do this, public participation at the WTO needs to be promoted just as it is the case with large corporations. The WTO also needs to oppose national laws that some countries use as barriers to free trade.

 

References

Bergsten, C. (1996) Globalizing Free Trade, Foreign Affairs, 75(3), 105-120.

Bhagwati, J. (2002) Free Trade Today, World Trade Review, 1(2), 345-356.

Wallach, L. (1999) The WTO: Five Years of Reasons to Resist Corporate Globalization, Toronto: Seven Stories Press.