The long march of WTO

from birth to the present impasse

Abstract

The author presents the evolution of the multilateral trading system since the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in 1947, to the current challenges of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (1995). The author scrutinizes the expansion of GATT’s mandate in the Uruguay Round, the WTO basic framework and the difficulties of the organization in launching and managing the Doha Round.