The World Trade Organisation, established in 1995, is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which was formed after the second World War to facilitate and promote world trade, writes Jamie Smyth.
Based in Geneva the WTO has 135 members, accounting for more than 90 per cent of world trade. The most recent WTO entrant was Estonia, which joined last weekend.
The WTO defines its objectives as helping trade to flow smoothly, freely, fairly and predictably by administering trade agreements, acting as a forum for trade negotiations, reviewing national trade policies and settling trade disputes.
The current WTO rules - agreements - are the result of the outcome of the Uruguay Round negotiations 1986-1994. The complete set of rules run to 30,000 pages consisting of about 60 agreements.
WTO decisions are made by the entire membership, usually via consensus. Although a majority vote is also possible it has never been used in the WTO, and was rarely invoked under GATT.
Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, are believed to be engaged in negotiations to enter the WTO.