The World Trade Organization

Challenges relating to the WTO’s executive function appear to be the result of its decision-making process, the limited mandates of some of its bodies and the restricted role of its Secretariat. [...] The limited mandates of the WTO’s specialized councils and committees have led to proposals for the “disposal of the nowadays less relevant committees” and for the creation of new committees, such as for e-commerce.23 2.3 THE ROLE OF THE SECRETARIAT The WTO’s Secretariat provides technical assistance to some WTO members to facilitate their implementation of the organization’s multilateral agreemen [...] The Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (Agreement Establishing the WTO) distinguishes between two categories of multilateral negotiations and outlines the WTO’s role in these negotiations: • negotiations among the WTO members relating to their multilateral trade relations that fall under the four annexes of the Agreement Establishing the WTO, in respect of which the WTO [...] The 25 September 2018 Joint Statement of the Trilateral Meeting of the Trade Ministers of the United States, Japan and the European Union noted the need to “develop effective rules” to address the “market-distorting behavior” of SOEs, particularly “harmful subsidy practices.”64 The joint statement further commented on ongoing work designed to “maintain the effectiveness of existing WTO disciplines [...] The DSB has the authority to establish panels to adjudicate disputes, adopt panel reports, monitor the implementation of panel rulings and recommendations, and authorize the “suspension of concessions and other obligations” under the WTO’s multilateral agreements.90.