General Council of World Trade Organization
Topic: Policy Adjustments for Trade Compliance and Sustainable Development of Developing countries and LDCs
Working Language: English
Delegation: Single Delegation
Rules of Procedure: Beijing Rules of Procedure (Motion-oriented)
Introduction to the Committee and Topics:
Looking back, we are very impressed to find the fact that the establishment of the China Foreign Affairs Model United Nations Association (CFAUMUNA) coincides with the creation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This year marks the 30 year anniversaries of CFAUMUNA and WTO, while it’s also a momentous year for the association and the WTO.
Over the past 30 years, WTO members have agreed on major updates to the WTO rulebook to improve the flow of global trade. The WTO’s membership has expanded to 166 members, representing over 98% of international trade. In 2021, the WTO reached a significant milestone with the receipt of its 600th trade dispute for settlement.
30 years ago, with the aim of the maintenance of a more transparent and equitable trading system, through 7 and a half years of negotiation, 123 countries concluded the final agenda of the Uruguay Ground, marking the notification obligation entering into force, bringing the long-awaited transparency in global trade policies to developed countries while cornering other member states into an impossible dilemma.
A quarter of a century ago, amid the increasingly fervent calls from developing countries and the unstoppable tide of globalization, representatives from all nations were pushed to the negotiating table of the Doha Round. The Doha Development Agenda brought the Least Developing Countries from the edge of the world to the stage of the global trading system.
Five years ago, a Ministerial Statement set out future work for the initiative in environmental areas. Environmental policies and sustainable development issues have increasingly become subjects of concern, yet they also pose severe challenges to the industrial development of latecomer countries.
More than 70 years after the signature and enforcement of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the world’s multilateral trading system is again in the face of tremendous challenges. Amid growing global economic uncertainties, escalating geopolitical and economic tensions, and the resurgence of trade protectionism, the already crumbling multilateral trade system faces unprecedented shocks. The 30th anniversary is far more than a reflection on the past, but also a contemplation of the future. How should the WTO, with the joint efforts of all member states, navigate the next decade?