Australian Permanent Mission and Consulate-General
Geneva, Switzerland
Address: Chemin des Fins 2, Case Postale 102, 1211 Geneva 19 - Telephone: 022 799 9100 - Fax: 022 799 9178

Australian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization

As a big country with a small population, Australia's prosperity has always relied on being able to sell our products to overseas markets.

We are a country with great natural resources, productive agriculture, efficient industry, high quality service industries, highly developed research and development and a well-educated workforce. To make the most of these assets, Australia needs an equitable, effective, predictable set of rules to ensure fair and secure access to foreign markets.

That is why Australia is a member of the World Trade Organization and why we push hard to improve the rules and to secure market access gains.

Negotiating with the World

We all participate in global trade – by making a phone call to London, boarding a plane to New Zealand, buying a stereo made in Korea, working for a business which sells car parts to Saudi Arabia or sending an email report to Jakarta. International trade is an integral part of our world.

Australia pursues its interests in international trade through

The World Trade Organization is an important part of our trade strategy of ensuring Australia gets its fair share of world trade.

What is the World Trade Organization?

The World Trade Organization is the only international organization that deals with the rules governing trade between countries.

The World Trade Organization allows member countries to decide on trade rules and has set up a process to resolve trade disputes to give member countries a fair and effective solution when other member countries break the rules.

The World Trade Organization is not a body which can make decisions on behalf of countries

The World Trade Organization has only a small staff of professionals to implement decisions agreed by its members - in fact, many international NGOs have bigger budgets and more staff.

Australia Benefits from the WTO

1. WTO rules promote prosperity at home…

Since its creation in 1995, the World Trade Organization has made a difference in world trade, resulting in

Australian firms have used these opportunities to export more and to create more and better paying jobs for Australian workers and families. Research shows that one in five jobs in Australia depends on exports - one in four in regional Australia.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, since 1995 Australia's exports have grown from $93 billion to over $154 billion – more than a 50% increase. In that time, Australian exports have created more than 250,000 jobs. 

... and aid development abroad.

It is in Australia's interests to have a secure and stable world in which to trade. Freer, more open trade in agriculture and manufacturing helps developing countries to earn export income which can expand their ability to invest in health and education. Economic growth is the best ‘poverty buster' yet discovered.

2. WTO rules give us a fair go in export markets…

The key principle in the World Trade Organization rules is non-discrimination - we might call it “a fair go”.

Non-discrimination means that Australian companies have the right to export products all around the world under the same conditions as every other WTO member country.

A trading system based on rules prevents countries with major market power from abusing that power by not treating the imports from all countries in the same way or by closing their markets unpredictably.

The rules are not perfect – that's why there's a new round of negotiations and that's why Australia is pushing so hard on agriculture and other areas.

The World Trade Organization's system for solving trade disputes gives us a mechanism for challenging other measures and for securing a fair go. We have the same rights to get trade disputes resolved as every other member.

Australia has used the WTO dispute settlement system to

3. We can protect our national interests…

Trade agreements we negotiate in the World Trade Organization are treaties between governments. Any treaty Australia intends to sign has to be checked and considered by all States and Territories, and the Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. This gives your local member oversight of Australia's trade obligations.

World Trade Organization rules clearly allow Australia to set our own environmental, health, food and product standards at whatever level we consider appropriate.

Being a member of the World Trade Organization lets us balance our national interests and our international rights and obligations. As a member, Australia can still

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