What are some key criticisms of the World Trade Organisation? (GCSE Politics + Geography Question)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is the only global international organisation dealing with the rules of trade between nations. The body was founded in 1995 and has membership of 164 states. This body replaced the GATT which commenced in 1948. The main aim of the body is to ensure that trades smoothly, predictability and as as freely as possible. The main success of the body is that they have successfully prevented trade wars however many argue that the problems of the body outweigh that its benefits.Firstly the WTO has been criticised heavily by environmentalists. This is due to the fact that a main philosophy of the body is to encourage free trade and environmental deregulation, they argue that this in turn weakens environmental protection and preservation. A clear example of this is Horticulture in Kenya in which Kenya grows high value flowers to export to Europe. 38%% of European flowers now come from Kenya. Fears have risen regarding the health impacts of the heavy use of pesticides and the there are huge environmental concerns regarding the fact these flowers are shipped by jet which in turn consumes more energy. However the GDAE argues that this energy consumption is less than what it would be to grow these plants in heated European greenhouses. This therefore shows the way in which free trade and enhanced amounts of international trade will result in greater energy consumption and in turn have detrimental environmental effects. The WTO’s key principles therefore undermine the importance of environmental impact and instead place higher regard on economic reconstructing which is a main criticism of the body.The WTO Is heavily criticised as the body is believed to favour the interests of the rich and powerful states. This concept is most evident in the lack of an even distribution of power within the body. This is due to the fact that the body is so heavily dominated by the West, this is clearly shown by the voting distribution in the body. Furthermore this can be seen as the WTO is the predecessor of the GATT which was created in 1948 as part of the Bretton Woods system which has been heavily criticised for being a western dominated economic plan.As well as this the WTO has been criticised as their main aim of global free trade many believe will widen income inequality between the north and south rather than bridge the gap. This is due to the fact that by creating global free trade dominant states such as the EU and USA will have access to the markets of weak states while having little to fear in terms of foreign competition. It is argued that this will become a mechanism in which dominant states are able to push the prices down in LIC countries and in turn gain from the lack of tariffs. A clear example of this in the Banana trade which is now heavily dominated by the west as a result of free trade.Finally the WTO is heavily criticised for being an ineffective body with a slow decision making process. This can be shown by the failure of the Doha round negotiations. The Doha rounds aim was to make globalisation more inclusive and help the worlds poor through a process of trade liberalisation and commitment to strengthen substantial assistance to developing countries. The main reason that the Doha round was suspended was the fact that the EU and the USA were not willing to give up their agricultural subsidies. This therefore shows the way in which the body fails to achieve their goals as states continue to act in their own self interest.