KSLU Solved Question Papers
International Trade Economics
Previous Year Question Paper with Solution
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) · Sem 10
2018 Dec Examination
munotes.in
Mumbai
B.A. LL.B. (Five Years) Sem 10 International Trade Economics 2018 Dec Question Paper with Solutions
First published on munotes.in on 21 October 2026.
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The question paper reproduced here is the paper as set by Karnataka State Law University at the 2018 Dec examination.
Contents
The questions below are the paper as Karnataka State Law University set it at the 2018 Dec examination, in the order it was set.
MarksPage
The Paper as Set
The questions in this volume are the questions asked at the 2018 Dec examination, reproduced as Karnataka State Law University set them, in the order it set them. Long reading passages are shortened to their first and last lines and our summary; the original paper prints them in full. Only the answers are ours. See the original question paper.
Duration 3 hours · Total marks 100 · 13 questions answered
How to use this volume
Solve the paper first, under exam conditions and against the clock. Then read the answers here and mark your own. Reading a solution before attempting the question feels productive and teaches very little, because recognising an answer is not the same as being able to write one.
Q1Discuss the organizational structure, objectives and scope of World Trade Organization (WTO).[16]
Answer
For full marks, cover: the WTO as an organisation (Marrakesh Agreement, 15 April 1994; in force 1 January 1995; Article I; legal personality under Article VIII); its objectives: the ends and the means stated in the Preamble, the place of sustainable development and of developing countries (United States: Shrimp); its scope: Article II, the Annexes, the single undertaking and the plurilaterals, what lies outside (Brazil: Desiccated Coconut on GATT 1994); its organisational structure under Article IV: Ministerial Conference, General Council and its two other guises, the three Councils, the committees, the Secretariat and Director-General (Article VI), the budget (Article VII), with a chart; its powers: functions (Article III), decision-making by consensus and voting (Article IX), authoritative interpretations, waivers, amendments (Article X), accession (Article XII) and withdrawal (Article XV); an assessment; India's place; a conclusion.
The organisation
The World Trade Organization was created by the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. It was signed on 15 April 1994, at the close of the Uruguay Round. It came into being on 1 January 1995 (Article I). Unlike GATT, it has legal personality and the privileges and immunities it needs (Article VIII). Its seat is Geneva.
Part A: Objectives
The Preamble sets out what the WTO is for, in two parts.
1. The ends. Members agree that their trade and economic relations should aim at:
| End | What it means |
|---|---|
| Higher living standards | Trade should make people better off |
| Full employment | Trade should support jobs |
| Growth of real income and effective demand | A large and rising volume of both |
| Expansion of production and trade | In goods and services |
| End | What it means |
|---|---|
| Optimal use of world resources | In line with sustainable development, protecting the environment |
| A fair share for developing countries | Positive efforts for them, especially the least developed |
2. The means. The Preamble names two instruments: reciprocal and mutually advantageous arrangements to cut tariffs and other barriers substantially, and the elimination of discriminatory treatment. From these come the core rules: bound tariffs, most favoured nation treatment and national treatment.
3. Objectives with legal force. The Preamble is not decoration; it guides the reading of the agreements.
United States: Shrimp (WT/DS58/AB/R, adopted 6 November 1998). India and three other Asian countries challenged a United States ban on shrimp caught without devices that protect sea turtles. Pointing to the Preamble's reference to sustainable development, the Appellate Body read "exhaustible natural resources" in Article XX(g) to include living species such as turtles. The ban still failed because it was applied in an arbitrary and unjustifiable way. The complainants won.
Part B: Scope
1. A common framework (Article II:1). The WTO is the common institutional framework for trade relations among members in the matters covered by its Annexes. Its reach is exactly the reach of those agreements.
2. What is inside.
- Annex 1A: GATT 1994 and, at the start, twelve other goods agreements, including Agriculture, SPS, TBT, TRIMs, Anti-Dumping, Subsidies and Safeguards. Trade Facilitation (2017) and Fisheries Subsidies (2025) were later added by protocol.
- Annex 1B: GATS, on trade in services.
- Annex 1C: TRIPS, on intellectual property.
- Annex 2: the Dispute Settlement Understanding.
- Annex 3: the Trade Policy Review Mechanism.
- Annex 4: the plurilateral agreements, such as Government Procurement.
3. The single undertaking (Article II:2). Annexes 1, 2 and 3 bind every member. No member may pick some agreements and refuse others, as was possible with the Tokyo Round codes.
4. Plurilaterals (Article II:3). Annex 4 agreements bind only the members that accept them.
5. A new legal text (Article II:4). GATT 1994 is legally distinct from GATT 1947.
Brazil: Desiccated Coconut (WT/DS22/AB/R, adopted 20 March 1997). The Philippines attacked a Brazilian countervailing duty that rested on an investigation begun before the WTO Agreement applied. The Appellate Body held that the new Subsidies Agreement did not govern that earlier investigation. The WTO agreements form a new package, not GATT renamed.
6. What is outside. Labour standards, competition law and investment protection are not covered, because no WTO agreement deals with them. Monetary questions belong to the IMF.
Part C: Organisational structure
Article IV builds the structure. Every body except the Secretariat is the whole membership acting in a different role.
1. Ministerial Conference (IV:1). The highest body, of all members, meeting at least once every two years. It carries out the WTO's functions and may decide any matter under any multilateral agreement.
2. General Council (IV:2). All members, usually ambassadors in Geneva. It runs the WTO between Ministerial Conferences. It also meets as:
- the Dispute Settlement Body (IV:3), with its own chair, to manage disputes; and
- the Trade Policy Review Body (IV:4), to review members' trade policies.
3. Three Councils (IV:5). The Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in Services and the Council for TRIPS oversee their agreements under the General Council's guidance. Each has subsidiary committees, such as those on agriculture, SPS and subsidies.
4. Committees of the Ministerial Conference (IV:7). The Committee on Trade and Development, the Committee on Balance-of-Payments Restrictions and the Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration. Others, such as the Committee on Trade and Environment, were added later.
5. Secretariat and Director-General (Article VI). The Ministerial Conference appoints the Director-General, who appoints the staff. Their duties are exclusively international: they take no instructions from governments. The Secretariat services meetings, helps panels and runs technical assistance, but takes no decisions.
6. Budget (Article VII). Members contribute according to their share of world trade.
A simple chart:
| Level | Body |
|---|---|
| Top | Ministerial Conference |
| Second | General Council (also the DSB and the TPRB) |
| Third | Councils for Goods, Services and TRIPS; committees under Article IV:7 |
| Fourth | Subsidiary committees and working parties |
| Support | Secretariat under the Director-General |
| Disputes | Panels and the Appellate Body (empty since 30 November 2020) |
Part D: Powers
1. Functions (Article III). The WTO administers the agreements, is the forum for negotiation, runs dispute settlement and trade policy review, and works with the IMF and World Bank.
2. Decision-making (Article IX:1). The WTO decides by consensus, meaning that no member present formally objects. If consensus fails, each member has one vote and a majority of votes cast decides. In practice, voting is almost never used.
3. Special majorities.
| Power | Where | Majority |
|---|---|---|
| Authoritative interpretation | IX:2 | Three-fourths of members |
| Waiver of an obligation | IX:3 | Three-fourths, for exceptional circumstances, with a time limit |
| Amendment | X | Two-thirds generally; all members for MFN and the amendment rules |
| Accession | XII | Two-thirds of the Ministerial Conference |
4. Exercise of the powers. A waiver of 30 August 2003 let poor countries import generic medicines made under compulsory licence. It later became the first amendment to a WTO agreement, TRIPS Article 31bis, in force since 23 January 2017.
5. Membership powers. New members accede on negotiated terms (Article XII). A member may withdraw on six months' notice (Article XV), a power never used.
Assessment
The structure is democratic: every member sits on every body, and decisions need consensus. That gives small members a voice, but makes new rules slow to agree. Since 1995 the WTO has added only a few agreements, and its appeal stage has been paralysed since December 2019. Its administration, review and day-to-day committee work, however, continue to function.
Structure and objectives: how they connect
- The Ministerial Conference and the forum function serve the objective of freer trade, by launching and concluding negotiations.
- The Councils and committees serve predictability, by monitoring how members apply the agreements.
- The Dispute Settlement Body serves the rule of law, so that the agreements are not just promises.
- The Committee on Trade and Development and technical assistance serve the objective of a fair share for developing countries.
- The Committee on Trade and Environment serves the objective of sustainable development.
India's place
India is an original member of the WTO and takes part in every Council and committee. It has used the consensus rule to defend its positions on agriculture and food security, and the dispute system both as complainant and respondent.
Conclusion. The WTO is a permanent organisation with legal personality, created at Marrakesh. Its objectives are higher living standards and growing trade in goods and services, pursued through lower barriers and non-discrimination. It must pursue them consistently with sustainable development and a fair share for developing countries. Its scope is defined by the Annexes, bound together by the single undertaking. Its structure rises from the Ministerial Conference through the General Council to the Councils and committees, served by an independent Secretariat. Its powers, exercised by consensus and special majorities, give the system its rules and its means of enforcement.
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