The WTO is a negotiating forum, a set of trade rules, and a mechanism for dispute resolution that is made up of, as of February 2005, 148 member countries and more than 30 observer countries.

The WTO is often described as a system based on rules. These rules are actually agreements negotiated by governments. Countries meet periodically at the WTO to negotiate reductions in tariffs and discuss other regulations that inhibit the free flow of trade. Negotiations rounds often take many years to conclude as they tackle a large number of complex and far-reaching issues such as trade in goods, services, intellectual property, and other issues including as dispute settlement and transparency mechanisms. The Uruguay Round Agreements, the basis of the present WTO system, concluded with agreements that incorporate new sets of rules and obligations (see box on the right).

The WTO Agreements set procedures for settling disputes. When a member country understands that other members are failing to respect their WTO obligations it can present the case to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. Typically, a panel of judges from various countries studies the case and arguments of each country and decides on whether any party should change its behaviour.

Additional work is also underway in the WTO. This is the result of decisions taken at Ministerial Conferences, in particular the meeting in Doha, November 2001, when new negotiations and other initiatives were launched. Caribbean countries are actively engaged in this forum to ensure that their rights and interests are protected and recognised. For example, the WTO agreements continue to include numerous provisions giving Caribbean countries and other developing and least-developed countries special rights or extra leniency —“special and differential treatment.”