The WTO and Global Governance

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is mandated by governments to achieve full employment, a steady growth in real income, and higher standards of living for its 150-plus member countries. Its role is also to ensure the optimal use of the world's resources in accordance with sustainable development. As a result, the WTO has greatly extended its reach into non-traditional areas of trade policy. This has taken place against the reality that the WTO is only part of a more global structure of international agreements with overlapping objectives and commitments, many of which now find their place on centre-stage at the WTO.

Gary P. Sampson is the John Gough Professor of International Trade at Melbourne Business School, Melbourne University, and Professor of International Economic Governance at the United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS) in Yokohama, Japan.