World Trade Organization

World Trade Organization (WTO) The world trading system founded at the Uruguay round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994, to supersede GATT and to implement the measures agreed at the Uruguay round by 2002. WTO's aims are to continue the work of GATT in agreeing international trading rules and furthering the liberalization of international trade. WTO has wider and more permanent powers than GATT and extends its jurisdiction into such aspects of trading as intellectual property rights. The highest authority of WTO is the Ministerial Conference, held at least every two years. WTO has 97 member states and a further 32 GATT contracting parties.