Unit 7 For Whom the Bell Tolls?
I. Suggested Teaching Plan
Objectives
Students will be able to:
1. understand the main idea of WTO;
2. master the basic history of WTO;
3. conduct a series of reading, listening, speaking and writing activities related to the theme of the unit;
4. complete all the relative exercises in this unit collaboratively with other peers.
Time allotment
1st period pre-reading activities (familiarizing new words, warming-up questions and background information)
2nd period while reading (highlights of the text)
3rd period highlights of the text
4th period after-reading activities
II. Teaching Method(s)
1. ppt or
2. teacher gives lecture mainly or
3. students read, teacher asks questions with detailed explanation or
4. ask students do ppt to do presentation
III. Explanatory Notes on Technical Terms
1. legislation－action of making law.
2．adjudication－judge, esp. in a competition.
3．implement－put sth. into effect; carry out.
4．multilateral－involving two or more participants.
5．institutional－of, from, or connected with institutions.
IV. Detailed reading
Pre-reading tasks
Warming-up questions
1. How much do you know about WTO?
2. Can you say something about the history of WTO?
3. Do you know when China entered into WTO?
4. What functions does WTO fulfill?
Contents
1. brief introduction
It is the legal and institutional foundation of the multilateral trading system. The agreements of the WTO are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. They deal with: agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking, telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and product safety, food sanitation regulations, intellectual property, and much more. It is the platform on which trade relations among countries evolve through collective debate, negotiation and adjudication.
- The establishment of the WTO
The WTO was established on January 1st 1995, but its trading system is half a century older. Since 1948, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) had provided the rules for the system. And over the years GATT evolved through several rounds of negotiations. The last and largest GATT round was the Uruguay Round which lasted from 1986 to 1994 and led to the WTO’s creation. Governments had concluded the Uruguay Round negotiations on December 15th 1993 and Ministers had given their political backing to the results by signing the Final Act at a meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, in April 1994. The “Marrakech Declaration” of 15 April, 1994 affirmed that the results of the Uruguay Round would “strengthen the world economy and lead to more trade, investment, employment and income growth throughout the world.”On its first day, 76 governments became members of the WTO, and by the end of July 2004, its members have been increased to 147, still with some other governments engaged in negotiating their terms of entry. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
3. The functions of the WTO
__ administering and implementing the multilateral and plural-lateral trade agreements which together make up the WTO;
__ acting as a forum for multilateral trade negotiations;
__ seeking to resolve trade disputes;
__overseeing national trade policies; and
__cooperating with other international institutions involved in global economic policy-making.
4. The structure of the WTO
The structure of the WTO is dominated by its highest authority, the Ministerial Conference, composed of representatives of all WTO members, which is required to meet at least every two years and which can make decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The day-to-day work of the WTO, however, falls to a number of subsidiary bodies; principally the General Councilo, also composed of all WTO members, which is required to report to the Ministerial Conference. As well as conducting its regular work on behalf of the Ministerial Conference, the General Council convenes in two particular forms—as the Dispute Settlement Body, to oversee the dispute settlement procedures and as the Trade Policy Review Body to conduct regular reviews of the trade policies of individual WTO member.
The General council delegates responsibility to three major bodies—namely the Councils for Trade in Goods, Trade in Servies and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The Council for Goods oversees the implementation and functioning of all agreements covering trade in goods, though many such agreements have their own specific overseeing bodies. The latter two Councils have responsibility for their respective WTO agreements and may establish their own subsidiary bodies if necessary.
Three other bodies are established by the Ministerial Conference and report to the General Council. The Committee on Trade and Development is concerned with issues relating to the developing countries and, especially, to the “least-developed” among them. The Committee on Balance of Payments is responsible for consultations between WTO members and countries which take trade-restrictive measures, under Articles 7 and 18 of GATT, in order to cope with balance-of –payments difficulties. Finally, issues relating to WTO’s financing and budget are dealt with by a Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration. Each of the four plurilateral agreements of the WTO—those on civil aircraft, government procurement, dairy products and bovine meat—establish their own management bodies which are required to report to the General Council.
5. The principles of the WTO
1)trade without discrimination
2)free trade: gradually, through negotiation
3)predictability: through binding and transparency
4)promoting fair competition
5)encouraging development and economic reform
6. China’s entry into the WTO
On December 11th,2001China formally became the 143rd member of the WTO. Entering the WTO is a strategic decision made by the Chinese government under the condition of economic globalization, marking the new stage of China，s opening-up.
To suit the needs of joining the WTO, China began to revise and improve laws and administrative regulations involving foreign trade and economic cooperation in 1999. Laws and regulation not in conformity with WTO regulations were revised or nullified. By the end of 2001 relevant departments of the State Council had revised 2,300 related laws and regulations and a list of 221 administrative regulations annulled by the State Council had been published. In 2001, the NPC revised the Copyright Law, Trademark Law, and Law on Joint Ventures with Chinese and Foreign Investment. Together with the Law on Chinese-Foreign Cooperative Ventures, Law on Foreign-funded Enterprises and Patent Law revised in 2000, China had revised six laws directly related to China，s WTO entry. China，s permanent mission to the WTO was opened in Geneva on January 28, 2002.
As a result of the entry, China has agreed to undertake a series of important commitments to open and liberalize its regime in order to better integrate in the world economy and offer a more predictable environment for trade and foreign investment in accordance with WTO rules. Among some of the commitments undertake by China are the following:
(1)China will provide non-discriminatory treatment to all WTO Members. All foreign individuals and enterprises, including those not invested or registered in China, will be accorded treatment no less favorable than that accorded to enterprises in China with respect to eh right to trade.
(2)China will eliminate dual pricing practices as well as differences in treatment accord to goods produced for sale in China in comparison to those produced for export.
(3) Price controls with not be used for purposes of affording protection to domestic industries or services providers.
(4)The WTO Agreement will be implemented by China in an effective and uniform manner by revising its existing domestic laws and enacting new legislation fully in compliance with the WTO Agreement.
(5)Within three years of accession all enterprises will have the right to import and export all goods and trade them throughout the customs territory with limited exceptions.
(6)China will not maintain or introduce any export subsidies on agricultural products.
While China will reserve the right of exclusive state trading for products such as cereals, tobacco, fuels and minerals and maintain some restrictions on transportation and distribution of goods inside the country, many of the restrictions that foreign companies have at present in China will be eliminated or considerably eased after a 3-year phase-out period. So entering the WTO can bring a lot of benefits to China. However, there are some disadvantages that China should face.
In a word, there are a number of ways of looking at the WTO. It，s an organization for liberalizing trade. It，s a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreement. It，s a place for them to settle trade disputes. And it operates a system of trade rules.
V. After-reading activities
A. Try to do the exercises according to the text.
Comprehension of the text.
Answer the following questions
1). What is WTO?
2). Where are the headquarters of the WTO?
3). What are the fundamental functions of the WTO?
4). What is the highest authority of the WTO and how often is it required to meet?
5). What is the structure of the WTO?
6). What commitments does China undertake as it enters into the WTO?
7). What influence does the WTO have on China’s economy?
B.Make a presentation about WTO in groups.