World Trade
Organization (WTO)
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs has overall responsibility for Norwegian trade
policy, including Norway’s
participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Various other ministries
and agencies are also engaged in WTO work, within their particular areas. Norway’s permanent delegation in Geneva monitors the
day-to-day work of the WTO bodies and reports to the Ministry. The WTO website
includes a section dedicated to Norway,
which contains comprehensive information on Norway’s participation in the WTO.
These
pages provide information on the following:
1.News
This section contains up-to-date information on
current issues involving Norway,
such as statements at important WTO meetings and Norwegian negotiating
proposals. It also has a link to the WTO’s own news page, which provides more
general WTO news not directly related to Norway.
2.WTO-documents
The WTO’s work is carried
out in a large number of different councils, committees, working groups, etc. Many
documents are generated by these bodies, in the form of proposals and
submissions by member countries and background information prepared by the WTO
Secretariat. You can find these documents through the WTO document service, to
which a link is given in this section.
3.Organization and set of rules
Here you can find information on the WTO’s history,
its establishment, and the current rules on trade between member countries.
4.Doha Development Round
This section contains information on the current round
of negotiations and the mandate given at the 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar.
Norway
is participating in negotiations on various issues, including agriculture,
services, market access for goods (including fish), and changes to the WTO
rules.
5.Dispute settlement
Dispute settlement is a key WTO function. WTO member countries are obliged to
resolve inter-member trade disputes through the WTO dispute settlement system,
on the basis of the WTO rules. A panel is constituted for each case. Panel
decisions can be appealed to the appellate body, whose final decision has to be
implemented by all parties. You can find information on past and present
disputes involving Norway
in this section.
6.Other topics
You can find
information on other WTO work, including plurilateral agreements, in this
section.
