Responsible for 98% of Global Trade... Resolving Trade Disputes and Driving Economic Growth [WTO End Declaration] ②

Official Launch on January 1, 1995
Resisting Protectionism... Pursuing Freedom and Openness
Rapid Growth in Global Trade Volume Since Inception
Serving as a Mediator in Trade Disputes
Improving Lives in Developing and Least-Developed Countries

Series Order

<1>WTO Appellate Body Paralyzed for Seven Years... Global Trade Already in a 'Lawless State'

<2>Responsible for 98% of Global Trade... Resolving Trade Disputes and Driving Economic Growth

<3>The United States: From 'Key Architect' to 'Threat to Order'

<4>China as the Starting Point That Shook the WTO... The EU Is Also an Accomplice

<5>The EU Prepares a 'Plan B'... Structural Limitations Remain

<6>Every Country for Itself? New Alliances? Globalization Without the US?... Which Path Should Korea Take?

The first WTO Ministerial Conference was held in Singapore from December 9 to 13, 1996. Data provided by WTO

"Here, you will sign the greatest trade agreement in history. This agreement will span continents and provide benefits across various sectors of trade." (Peter Sutherland, first Director-General of the WTO, at the Marrakesh Ministerial Conference, April 1994)

About nine months after Peter Sutherland, who served as Director-General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and became the first Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), delivered his speech at the Marrakesh conference to establish the WTO, the organization was officially launched. On January 1, 1995, the 'global trade rules system'?aimed at open and market-oriented multilateral trade policies?began to operate. In its declaration, the WTO emphasized its founding purpose: "The WTO expresses its determination to resist protectionism, and the trade liberalization and strengthening of norms achieved through the Uruguay Round (UR) will gradually create a more open global trade environment."

Thus, the WTO, established against the backdrop of 'resistance to protectionism,' set its goal as 'freedom and openness.' Specifically, the WTO aimed to: ▲introduce a legal framework and dispute resolution mechanism for international trade; ▲reduce tariffs by an average of 40% and expand market access; and ▲establish multilateral rules for the protection of trade in services and trade-related intellectual property rights. While GATT was a trade agreement limited to manufacturing, the WTO encompassed services and intellectual property rights, and was significant in that it established a framework for resolving international trade disputes.

At its inception, the WTO's 76 founding members included the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Poland, Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Japan, India, and Korea, all of which transitioned from the GATT system.

Kang Insu, a professor at Sookmyung Women's University, explained, "After eight years of Uruguay Round negotiations beginning in 1986, the WTO was launched as the successor to GATT, which was based on free trade principles. Korea, as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the GATT system due to its high export dependence, had high expectations. The United States, a key founding member of the WTO, led efforts to include services and intellectual property rights in the agreement."

While GATT was a system limited to trade in goods, the WTO expanded multilateral rules to new areas such as services and intellectual property rights, and enforcement was also strengthened. GATT was an agreement rather than a treaty, but the WTO is a binding international treaty ratified by its members. Jung Haneul, head of the Institute for International Legal Order, stated, "If GATT was a system designed to guarantee free trade among the free world during the Cold War, the WTO effectively expanded those rules to the entire world. The WTO can be seen as the multilateral trading system itself, and as neoliberalism has now expanded globally, free trade has become the dominant economic norm worldwide."

Since the launch of the WTO, global trade volume has grown rapidly. According to the WTO, the global trade volume increased from $4.0326 trillion in 1994 to $5.164 trillion in 1995, the first year of the WTO?a 19.4% increase. By 2005, the global trade growth rate had doubled (a 101.6% increase compared to 1995), and by 2024, it had grown by 399.8% compared to 1995. Korea's trade grew even more sharply: in 1995, trade volume increased by 14.8% year-on-year, and compared to 1995, it surged by 122.3% in 2005 and by 442% in 2024.

This growth in trade volume, both globally and for Korea, was underpinned by the quantitative and qualitative development of the WTO. The number of member countries, which was 76 at the time of its founding, has increased annually with the accession of countries such as China (2001), Saudi Arabia (2005), and Russia (2012), reaching 166 members today. As a result, the share of global trade accounted for by WTO members has risen from 87% in 1995 to over 98% today. Zhang Xiangchen, WTO Deputy Director-General, noted, "Measured by population, the original WTO members in 1995 represented only 69% of the world's population, but today, with new members joining, that figure has risen to 94%. Over the past 30 years, the WTO has exerted greater influence over 2 billion more people, further enhancing the inclusiveness and global relevance of the multilateral trading system."

The WTO has also played the role of both police and judge in resolving trade conflicts among its members. One notable example is the beef import dispute between the United States and the European Union (EU). The EU banned imports of US beef treated with growth hormones in 1989 to protect consumer health. In response, the US filed a complaint with the WTO, arguing that the EU's ban lacked scientific justification, and the WTO ruled in favor of the US.

Korea also received recognition from the WTO for the legitimacy of its ban on seafood imports from Fukushima, Japan. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, Korea strengthened radiation inspections and imposed import bans on seafood from Fukushima. In September 2013, the ban was expanded to cover seafood from eight neighboring prefectures. Japan immediately objected, claiming Korea's ban violated the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement, and filed a complaint with the WTO. In February 2018, the first-instance panel ruled in favor of Japan, stating that Korea's measures were not based on scientific risk assessment. Korea immediately appealed, and in April 2019, the WTO Appellate Body (final instance) overturned the first ruling and ruled entirely in favor of Korea. This case is considered one of the first instances where measures taken for consumer safety were recognized by the WTO.

The WTO has enabled smoother trade and, through trade, has improved lives around the world, especially in developing and least-developed countries. Deputy Director-General Zhang stated, "Recent analysis by WTO economists quantifying the economic impact of fulfilling strong commitments required for WTO accession found that countries that implemented reforms and made stronger commitments during the accession process grew, on average, 1.5 percentage points faster than they otherwise would have. WTO accession acts as a catalyst for various reforms in a country, contributing to the creation of an environment for economic resilience and sustainable growth."