5. The Organizational Structure and Decision-making of WTO
5. WTO的组织机构与决策机制
为了更有效发挥WTO的作用、实现WTO的目标，依《建立WTO协定》和相关的协定或决议，WTO设立了一系列的常设或临时性机构。这些机构除少数外（如纺织品监督机构TMB），一般由所有成员国的代表组成，并定期集会。其最高权力机构是部长级会议，一般每两年召开一次会议，就重要事项做出决定。总理事会属于执行机构，在两次部长级会议休会期间，也承担部长级会议的职能。当总理事会履行附件2或附件3职能时，它就是争端解决机构（DSB）或贸易政策评审机构（TPRB）。在部长级会议与总理事会下，现设有五个相关委员会就相关问题进行审议和研究。它有三个分理事会，分别监督多边货物贸易协定下的三个附件（附件1A、1B、1C）的实施情况。在三个分理事会下又设有若干委员会，如在货物贸易理事会下，依有关协定设有11个委员会，在服务贸易理事会下也设有四个相关委员会或工作组。
为了实现其目标，WTO履行其职能的主要方面就是进行决策。在此方面， WTO仍沿用GATT所遵循的协商一致的原则。但又规定，当不能达成一致时，采用投票方式进行决策，一成员一票，一般事项只需简单多数即可做出决定，就一些重要事项，如多边贸易协定的解释或授权豁免则要有四分之三多数才能决定。
就多边协定的修正问题进行决定又有特别的方式。所有成员对任何协定、各分理事会对所管理的协定有权提出修正的建议，部长级会议通过协商一致，或在不能协商一致时通过三分之二多数的表决决定将其交由成员接受。不同条款修正案要生效，其所要求的接受成员所占比例是不同的，且其决定的效力也不一定相同。有的条款（有关WTO的决策机制、国民待遇条款与最惠国待遇条款），要求所有成员同意接受修正案才能生效。对附件1A、1C中改变成员权利义务的条款，以及附件1B（GATS）中的第一、二、三部分的修正案，需要三分之二成员接受才能对接受的成员生效，而且部长级会议在通过修正案时，可以通过四分之三多数票决定，成员不接受该案就要退出WTO（除非特别决议保留其成员资格）；对附件1A,1C中不会改变成员权利义务的条款，以及GATS中第四、五、六部分的修正案，三分之二成员接受后对所有成员生效。作为例外，对TRIPs协定进行修正，如果满足协定第71条第2款的要求（提高知识产权保护水平），部长级会议通过后就直接生效。而对于附件2、附件3的修正案，则必须由部长级会议以协商一致的方式通过，通过后直接对所有成员生效。
5.1 The Organizational Structure of the WTO
5.1 WTO的组织机构
The Organizational 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 take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The Ministerial Conference can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements.
The day-to-day work of the WTO in between the ministerial conferences, however, falls to a number of subsidiary bodies; principally the General Councilalso composed of all WTO members, which is required to report to the Ministerial Conference. The General Council can also convene in two particular forms-as the Dispute Settlement Body（DSB）to oversee the dispute settlement procedures and as the Trade Policy Review Body（TPRB）to conduct regular reviews of the trade policies of individual WTO members.
The General Council delegates responsibility to three other major bodies-namely the Councils for Trade in Goods, Trade in Services and Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. The Council for Goods oversees the implementation and functioning of all the agreements covering trade in goods（Annex 1A of the WTO Agreement）, though many such agreements have their own specific overseeing bodies. The latter two Councils have responsibility for their respective WTO agreements（Annex 1B and 1C）and may establish their own subsidiary bodies as necessary. These three councils, again they consist of all WTO members, report to the General Council. Six other bodies report to the General Council. The scope of their coverage is smaller, so they are“committees”. But they still consist of all WTO members. They cover issues such as trade and development, the environment, regional trading arrangements, and administrative issues. The committee on Trade and Developmentis concerned with issues relating to the developing countries and, especially, to the“least-developed”among them. The Committee on Balance of Paymentsis responsible for consultations between WTO members and countries which take trade-restrictive measures, under Articles Ⅻ and ⅩⅧ 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. The Singapore Ministerial Conference in December 1996 decided to create new working groups to look at investment and competition policy, transparency in government procurement, and trade facilitation.
Each of the higher level councils has subsidiary bodies. The Goods Council has 11 committees dealing with specific subjects（such as agriculture, market access, subsidies, anti-dumping measures and so on）. Again, these consist of all member countries, also reporting to the Goods Council. The Services Council's subsidiary bodies deal with financial services, domestic regulations, GATS rules and specific commitments. At the General Council level, the Dispute Settlement Body also has two subsidiaries: the dispute settlement“panels”of experts appointed to adjudicate on unresolved disputes, and the Appellate Body that deals with appeals.
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.
5.2 Decision-Making Mechanism of WTO
5.2 WTO的决策机制
5.2.1 The Consensus in Decision-making Mechanism of WTO
5.2.1 WTO决策机制中的协商一致原则
The WTO is“a rules-based, member-driven organization-with decisions taken by consensus among all member governments”. All decisions are made by the member governments, and the rules are the outcome of negotiations among members. The WTO Agreement foresees votes where consensus cannot be reached, but the practice of consensus dominates the process of decision-making. However, some people believe that although the WTO's consensus governance model provides law-based initial bargaining, trading rounds close through power-based bargaining favouring Europe and the U. S. , and may not lead to Pareto Improvement.
In this respect, the WTO is different from some other international organizations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. In the WTO, power is not delegated to a board of directors or the organization's head. Decisions of the Ministerial Conference and the General Council shall be taken by a majority of the votes cast, unless otherwise provided in the WTO Agreement or in the relevant Multilateral Trade Agreement. Decisions by the General Council when convened as the Dispute Settlement Body shall be taken only in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.
5.2.2 Interpretations and Amendment of the WTO agreements
5.2.2 WTO协定的解释与修正
Only the Ministerial Conference and the General Council shall have the authority to adopt interpretations of the WTO Agreement and of the Multilateral Trade Agreements. In this case they shall exercise their authority on the basis of a recommendation by the Council overseeing the functioning of that Agreement. The decision to adopt an interpretation shall be taken by a three-fourths majority of the Members.
Any Member of the WTO may initiate a proposal to amend the provisions of the WTO Agreement or the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1 by submitting such proposal to the Ministerial Conference. The Councils listed the WTO Agreement may also submit to the Ministerial Conference proposals to amend the provisions of the corresponding Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annex 1 the functioning of which they oversee.
Unless the Ministerial Conference decides on a longer period, for a period of 90 days after the proposal has been tabled formally at the Ministerial Conference any decision by the Ministerial Conference to submit the proposed amendment to the Members for acceptance shall be taken by consensus. If consensus is reached, the Ministerial Conference shall forthwith submit the proposed amendment to the Members for acceptance. If consensus is not reached at a meeting of the Ministerial Conference within the established period, the Ministerial Conference shall decide by a two-thirds majority of the Members whether to submit the proposed amendment to the Members for acceptance. Unless the provisions of paragraphs a, b or c apply, that decision shall specify whether the provisions of paragraphs d or e shall apply.
a. Amendments to the provisions of the following Articles shall take effect only upon acceptance by all Members：
Article Ⅸand Article Ⅹof the WTO Agreement；
ArticlesⅠand Ⅱof GATT 1994；
Article Ⅱ:1 of GATS；
Article 4 of the Agreement on TRIPS.
b. Except as provided in paragraph a. above, amendments to Parts I, Ⅱ and Ⅲ of GATS and the respective annexes shall take effect for the Members that have accepted them upon acceptance by two thirds of the Members and thereafter for each Member upon acceptance by it. The Ministerial Conference may decide by a three-fourths majority of the Members that any amendment made effective under the preceding provision is of such a nature that any Member which has not accepted it within a period specified by the Ministerial Conference in each case shall be free to withdraw from the WTO or to remain a Member with the consent of the Ministerial Conference. Amendments to Parts Ⅳ, Ⅴ and Ⅵ of GATS and the respective annexes shall take effect for all Members upon acceptance by two thirds of the Members.
c. Amendments to the Agreement on TRIPS meeting the requirements of paragraph 2 of Article 71 thereof may be adopted by the Ministerial Conference without further formal acceptance process.
d. Except as provided in paragraphs a, b and c, the provisions of next paragraph shall apply to the proposed amendment, unless the Ministerial Conference decides by a three-fourths majority of the Members that the provisions of paragraph e shall apply.
Amendments to provisions of the WTO Agreement, or of the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annexes 1A and 1C, other than those listed in paragraphs a and c, of a nature that would alter the rights and obligations of the Members, shall take effect for the Members that have accepted them upon acceptance by two thirds of the Members and thereafter for each other Member upon acceptance by it. The Ministerial Conference may decide by a three-fourths majority of the Members that any amendment made effective under this paragraph is of such a nature that any Member which has not accepted it within a period specified by the Ministerial Conference in each case shall be free to withdrawfrom the WTO or to remain a Member with the consent of the Ministerial Conference.
e. Amendments to provisions of the WTO Agreement or of the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annexes 1A and 1C, other than those listed in paragraphs a and c, of a nature that would not alter the rights and obligations of the Members, shall take effect for all Members upon acceptance by two thirds of the Members.
Any Member accepting an amendment to this Agreement or to a Multilateral Trade Agreement in Annex 1 shall deposit an instrument of acceptancewith the DirectorGeneral of the WTO within the period of acceptance specified by the Ministerial Conference.
f. Any Member of the WTO may initiate a proposal to amend the provisions of the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annexes 2 and 3 by submitting such proposal to the Ministerial Conference. The decision to approve amendments to the Multilateral Trade Agreement in Annex 2 shall be made by consensus and these amendments shall take effect for all Members upon approval by the Ministerial Conference. Decisions to approve amendments to the Multilateral Trade Agreement in Annex 3 shall take effect for all Members upon approval by the Ministerial Conference.
g. The Ministerial Conference, upon the request of the Members parties to a trade agreement, may decide exclusively by consensus to add that agreement to Annex 4. The Ministerial Conference, upon the request of the Members parties to a Plurilateral Trade Agreement, may decide to delete that Agreement from Annex 4.
h. Amendments to a Plurilateral Trade Agreement shall be governed by the provisions of that Agreement.
5.2.3 Granting the Waiver of Obligation
5.2.3给予义务豁免
In exceptional circumstances, the Ministerial Conference may decide to waive an obligationimposed on a Member by the WTO Agreement or any of the Multilateral Trade Agreements, provided that any such decision shall be taken by three fourthsof the Members unless otherwise provided for in this paragraph, which including：
a. A request for a waiver concerning the WTO Agreement shall be submitted to the Ministerial Conference for consideration pursuant to the practice of decision-making by consensus. The Ministerial Conference shall establish a time-period, which shall not exceed 90 days, to consider the request. If consensus is not reached during the timeperiod, any decision to grant a waiver shall be taken by three fourths of the Members.
b. A request for a waiver concerning the Multilateral Trade Agreements in Annexes 1A or 1B or 1C and their annexes shall be submitted initially to the Council for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in Services or the Council for TRIPS, respectively, for consideration during a time-period which shall not exceed 90 days. At the end of the time-period, the relevant Council shall submit a report to the Ministerial Conference.
A decision by the Ministerial Conference granting a waivershall state the exceptional circumstances justifying the decision, the terms and conditions governing the application of the waiver, and the date on which the waiver shall terminate. Any waiver granted for a period of more than one year shall be reviewed by the Ministerial Conference not later than one year after it is granted, and thereafter annually until the waiver terminates. In each review, the Ministerial Conference shall examine whether the exceptional circumstances justifying the waiver still exist and whether the terms and conditions attached to the waiver have been met. The Ministerial Conference, based on the annual review, may extend, modify or terminate the waiver.
Decisions under a Plurilateral Trade Agreement, including any decisions on interpretations and waivers, shall be governed by the provisions of that Agreement.
部长级会议。
WTO的组织机构是由其最高权力机构，即部长级会议所左右的。它由所有WTO成员的代表组成，要求第两年至少开会一次，有权就任何多边贸易协定下的任何事项做出决定。
总理事会。
争端解决机构。
货物贸易理事会、服务贸易理事会及与贸易有关的知识产权理事会。
贸易与发展委员会。
支付平衡委员会。
预算、金融与行政委员会。
帕累托改进，即通过这种安排能使某些成员的处境变得更好，但不会有成员因此而变坏。Given an initial allocation of goods among a set of individuals, a change to a different allocation that makes at least one individual better off without making any other individual worse off is called a Pareto improvement.
WTO协议的解释与修正。
除了上述a 项以外对GATS第一、二、三部分及其相应附件的修正，在以三分之二多数通过后，即对已接受的成员生效，对以后接受的成员也生效。
（从TWO中）退出。
部长级会议可以以四分之三多数做出决定，使在本项下的修正具有这样一种性质，即在部长级会议对每种情况指定的期限内未接受修正的任何成员有权退出WTO，或经部长级会议同意，仍为成员。
将接受书交存。
豁免（成员）某项义务。
A decision to grant a waiver in respect of any obligation subject to a transition period or a period for staged implementation that the requesting Member has not performed by the end of the relevant period shall be taken only by consensus.
在例外的情况下，除非本项另有不同规定，部长级会议可以以四分之三成员的赞成票决定豁免某个成员在《建立WTO的协定》，或其他任何多边贸易协定下的义务。
授予一项豁免。
