World Trade Organization, Part 1

 By Mario Ritter
Broadcast: November 28, 2003
This is Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Economics Report.
The World Trade Organization is the international system for negotiating trade issues. The W-T-O was established in nineteen-ninety-five. But its roots go back to an agreement made soon after World War Two. Twenty-three nations approved the General Agreement on Tariffs² and Trade, or GATT, in nineteen-forty-seven.
Three years earlier, the International Monetary³ Conference had taken place in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Negotiators succeeded in planning two important financial organizations. These are the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But the negotiators could not agree on a proposed organization for international trade.
1)GATT was meant to be temporary. Trade negotiations⁵ under GATT were carried out in a series of talks, called rounds. The first round produced cuts in import taxes on one fifth of world trade.
Later rounds produced additional cuts. And negotiators added other issues. In nineteen-sixty-three, the sixth round began. It was called the Kennedy Round, after President John F. Kennedy. He was shot in Dallas on November twenty-second, nineteen-sixty-three. This round of talks ended four years later. The results included an agreement against the trade practice known as 2)dumping. That is where one country sells a product in another country at an unfairly low price.
The eighth round of talks began in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in nineteen-eighty-six. The Uruguay Round required seven-and-a-half years of meetings and work. In all, one-hundred-twenty-three nations took part.
The Uruguay Round set time limits for future negotiations. It dealt with import taxes as well as other trade 3)barriers. It dealt with protection for intellectual property such as books, music and computer programs. The heavily protected trade in clothing and agricultural products also became issues for negotiation⁴.
The nations that took part did not agree on everything. But they did agree on a new, permanent system to settle disputes. In April of nineteen-ninety-four, ministers of most of the one-hundred-twenty-three countries signed an agreement. This established the World Trade Organization.
The W-T-O has replaced the old GATT. But those first agreements remain the basis of international trade law. Next week -- how the W-T-O operates.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter.
注释：
1) GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade)  关贸总协定
2) dumping [5dQmpiN] n.倾销
3) barrier [5bAriE] n.障碍，壁垒

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

3 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

5 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。