The Seventh Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is due to start here Monday afternoon under the main theme of "WTO, Multilateral Trading System and Current Global
Economic Environment."
Trade chiefs of the WTO's 153 members would review the global trade body's activities, but no decision will be made on the long-stalled Doha
Round talks.
The following is a brief introduction to the WTO Ministerial Conference:
The Ministerial Conference is the topmost decision-making body of the WTO, which usually meets every two years. It brings together all members of the WTO, all of which are countries or customs unions. The Ministerial Conference can make decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.
Since the establishment of the WTO in 1995, six Ministerial Conferences have been held.
On Dec. 9-13, 1996, in Singapore, the First Ministerial conference examined issues related to the work of the WTO's first two years of activity
and the implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements.
On May 18-20, 1998, in Geneva, the Second Ministerial Conference reviewed the implementation of WTO agreements and made preparation for the
launch of a new round of trade talks.
From Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, 1999, in Seattle, the United States, the Third Ministerial Conference ended in failure, with massive demonstrations and
police and National Guard crowd control efforts drawing worldwide attention.
On Nov. 9-14, 2001, in Doha, Qatar, the Doha Round was launched at the Fourth Ministerial Conference, which also approved the joining of China, which became the 143rd member.
On Sept. 10-14, 2003, in Cancun, Mexico, the Fifth Ministerial Conference was held with the aim to forge an agreement on the Doha Round, but the talks broke down without progress.
On Dec. 13-18, 2005, in Hong Kong, China, the Sixth Ministerial Conference made progress on the phasing out of all agricultural export subsidies, termination of cotton export subsidies and market access for goods from the Least Developed Countries. It was considered vital for the Doha Round negotiations to move forward.