International Trade Operations - Essay Example

? International Trade Operations Part Mr. John Swanson Account Manager, A&K February 07, Detail information regardingWTO The news of international expansion of Content Cow Dairy, Inc in order to enhance its reputation and brand image is one of the significant ideas which is highly appreciable. Notably, before expansion of the business dealing in dairy products in the market of Egypt, it is essential to obtain brief details about World Trade Organization (WTO) and its operations in the current structure of global markets. This is mandatory because many organizations dealing in the agricultural products are also highly penalized by WTO, thereby, increasing the tariffs, which rather proved detrimental for the business. The World Trade Organization (WTO) intends to manage and ease the global trade operations. The WTO is the only worldwide international association dealing with the policies and the rules of trade relationships existing amid two or more nations. At the heart are the accords of WTO, discussed and signed by the entire mass of the world’s trading nations. Thus, WTO is an organization where the associated members of the government attempt to solve the global trade related issues so as to ease the operations (World Trade Organization, 2012). WTO came into existence on 1st January, 1995 due to the negotiations of 1986–94 named the Uruguay Round negotiations which previously was dealt by General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). As WTO came into existence due to negotiations, its prime function is to deal and solve the disputes among the trading partners. Although WTO is runned by its government members, in case of any major decision making, the entire team of lawyers, economists, statisticians and communication experts assembles at Geneva so as to resolve the issue in an even manner. The prime functions of WTO should also be kept in the notice before thinking for the expansion of the business in the international markets. Hereby, the various functions played by WTO are trade negotiations, implementation and monitoring the rules and policies, dispute settlements, building trade capacity and outreach the trading countries among others (World Trade Organization, 2012). The WTO agreements facilitated many individual countries lowering the customs tariffs and other trade barriers resulting in the opening of new market opportunities for the operations of the trade. This opens new business prospects for the organizations dealing in the international business operations as it might prove favorable for Content Cow Dairy, Inc as well. Along with this, WTO always intends to implement the trade rules, policies and regulations in an appropriate manner based on the specifications of the countries thereby maintaining the transparency in the operations of the business. Along with this, WTO also tries to resolve the disputes associated amid trade relationships with the help of its varied rules and policies so as to ensure the free flowing of the business processes. This in turn enhances the satisfaction level and the reliability of the people over WTO. Apart from this, WTO also enhances and sustains the trading opportunities thereby improving the revenue of the countries (World Trade Organization, 2012). Hence, as WTO plays an essential part in trade related functions, these details are mandatory for you, in order to expand the business functions. Disputes are referred to as disregarding promises according to WTO. A dispute mainly arises when a country accepts a particular trade policy or acquires certain actions which are considered to be inappropriate by one or more fellow WTO members on the basis of the agreements. The procedure of settling the disputes in WTO is the responsibility of the Dispute Settlement Body, which comprises of all its expert members. WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body also includes certain stages which include consultation comprising of at least 60 days. Prior taking any actions, both the countries are asked to make mutual settlement of the dispute among them. In case, of failure, Director General of WTO intends to resolve the issue. In the next stage, a panel of experts is appointed for a period of forty-five (45) days so as to offer a mutual understanding and thereby to resolve the disputes. Another principal responsibility of the Director General of WTO is to help the Dispute Settlement Body. After 6 months the final report is presented by the panel members to the parties and within 3 weeks, the final report is offered towards the members of WTO. Next, the report is accepted by the Dispute Settlement Body within sixty (60) days, if there are no appeals. Thus, an entire one year is required to settle a dispute case, if taken to WTO. Therefore, if the disputes are not so vital, mutual resolvements is a better idea (World Trade Organization, 2012). “Thailand: Conciliating a Dispute on Tuna Exports to the EC” is one of the examples of trade dispute which was taken to WTO. In this case, Thailand elevated the issue related with the dispute in cost and challenged the European Community (EC) tariff within the structure of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) standards. The countries mainly involved were Thailand and the Philippines on the one side and the European Community on the other side. The Philippines, as a fellow association of south east Asian nations (ASEAN) and WTO member facing similar difficulties, joined with Thailand in the attempt to establish that preferential tariffs has already damaged its economic interests, so as to acquire apt redress or compensation from the EC. However, the main focus remained on Thailand and its actions, although the term ‘complainants’ could also be utilized to refer jointly to Thailand and the Philippines at times (World Trade Organization, 2012). Hence, throughout the process, close harmonization and association took place resulting in the discussions of the challenges and the conclusions. Finally, the WTO decided imposing 24% import tariff which distorted the condition of competition and presented a mutual understanding among the EC market and American College of Physicians (ACP) countries. Thus, it resulted in substantial augmentation of both the competitors (World Trade Organization, 2012). References Aswathappa, K. (2010). International business. India: Tata McGraw-Hill. Kuznar, A. (2006). Main Factors Affecting The Growing Share Of Services In International Trade. Retrieved From Http://Www.Etsg.Org/Etsg2005/Papers/Kuznar.Pdf World Trade Organization (2012). WTO Rules and Environmental Policies: Key GATT Disciplines. Retrieved From Http://Www.Wto.Org/English/Tratop_E/Envir_E/Envt_Rules_Gatt_E.Htm World Trade Organization (2012). Legal texts: the WTO agreements. Retrieved From http://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/ursum_e.htm World Trade Organization (2012). Thailand: Conciliating a Dispute on Tuna Exports to the EC. Retrieved From http://wtocenter.vn/wto/case-studies/thailand-conciliating-dispute-tuna-exports-ec Part 2 International trade is referred to as the exchange of goods and services across the worldwide borders or provinces. The significant factors affecting international trade can be identified as continuous industrialization, advanced transportation, increased tariff rates and launching of markets by WTO among others. Among these the most significant factor affecting the international trade is industrialization (Aswathappa, 2010). In this era of globalization, innovation and development led to the enhancement of the operations of trade and as a result it also improved the revenue of the specific countries. Thus, industrialization is the procedure of social and economic alteration that transforms the trade relations of the country. As a result of the development of new expertise, skills and techniques, the knowledge of the human beings are also improving resulting in the augmentation of the international trade operations. Due to improved opportunities of international trade, the revenue of a member country is enhanced resulting in the rise of GDP and thus improving the economic growth of the firms. Thus, it can be clearly depicted that industrialization is one of the prime factors responsible for the amplification of the international trade (Kuznar, 2006). One of the biggest threats of international trade is recession which is also enhancing at a rapid pace just as globalization. For example, the recent great recession of United States in the year 2008-2009 has significantly hindered the growth of international trade (Arieff, Weiss, Jones, 2010). References Arieff, A., Weiss, M. A., Jones, V. C., 2010. The Global Economic Crisis: Impact on Sub-Saharan Africa and Global Policy Responses. Retrieved from http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40778.pdf World Trade Organization (2012). International trade and tariff data. Retrieved From http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/statis_e.htm World Trade Organization (2012). A unique contribution. Retrieved From http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/disp1_e.htm Read More