The World Trade Organization (WTO) has released its 2025 Annual Report, marking three decades since the Uruguay Round agreements led to the creation of the WTO from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. In her opening message, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala reflected on the organization's impact and current challenges.
“Thirty years ago, the Uruguay Round agreements transformed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade into the WTO. … Since its creation, open and predictable international markets anchored in WTO rules and norms have made a major contribution to strengthening the global economy. Rich and poor countries have benefited from increased growth, purchasing power and macroeconomic stability.
“Nevertheless, the global trading system is today experiencing its worst disruptions since the Second World War. Multilateral cooperation itself is being called into question. … One silver lining of the current disruptions is that they have reminded many governments, businesses and households why the predictable trading conditions they had come to take for granted are so valuable. …
“The WTO has an important role to play as a forum where all 166 of our members can share their trade concerns and propose solutions.
"WTO committees dealing with health and safety standards and technical regulations protect consumer safety while enabling members to minimize trade frictions. Other committees work to accelerate the flow of goods across borders, promote trade in services, protect intellectual property or make government procurement processes more open, transparent and competitive. World trade is about much more than just tariffs – and so is the WTO.”
The report includes a summary of activities over the past year as well as detailed accounts of work in various areas such as standards for health and safety, technical regulations, services trade, intellectual property protection, border procedures, government procurement transparency, organizational structure, staffing levels, and budget information.
French and Spanish versions of this annual report are scheduled for release in September.