International organization based in Geneva that supervises world trade.
It was created by 104 members in 1995 to replace the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Like its predecessor, it aims to lower trade barriers and encourage multilateral trade. It monitors members' adherence to all GATT agreements and negotiates and implements new agreements. Critics of the WTO, including many opponents of economic globalization , have charged that it undermines national sovereignty by promoting the interests of large multinational corporation s and that the trade liberalization it encourages leads to environmental damage and declining living standards for low-skilled workers in developing countries.