The World Trade Organization and the Situation of Developing Countries

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was formed in 1995 and, since then a number of countries - mostly the Lee Developed Countries including Tanzania - have become members of this global trading organization. The main objective of creating the WTO was to facilitate international trade. In this regard it has a rather ambitious objective eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade between nations. This paper critically analyses the existing international trade paradigms and the opportunities and threats posed by the WTO to a developing country such as Tanzania. In doing so, the paper reviews also the role of the United Nations Conference on trade and Tariffs (UNCTAD) and the achievements of the various trade rounds organized under its umbrella. African Journal of Finance and Management Vol.8(1) 1999: 1-