（ 4） Transparency. The WTO members are required to publish their trade regulations， to maintain institutions allowing for the review of administrative decisions affecting trade， to respond to requests for information by other members， and to notify changes in trade policies to the WTO. These internal transparency requirements are supplemented and facilitated by periodic country-specific reports （ trade policy reviews） through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism （ TPRM ） .The WTOsystem tries also to improve predictability and stability， discouraging the use of quotas and other measures used to set limits on quantities of imports.
（ 5） Safety valves. In specific circumstances， governments are able to restrict trade. There are three types of provisions in this direction： articles allowing for the use of trade measures to attain noneconomicobjectives；articles aimed at ensuring“fair competition”； and provisions permitting intervention in trade for economic reasons. Exceptions to the MFN principle also allow for preferential treatment of developing countries， regional free trade areas and customs unions.
Voting system
The WTO operates on a“one country， one vote”system， but actual votes have never been taken. Decision making is generally by consensus， and relative market size is the primary source of bargaining power. The advantage of consensus decision-making is that it encourages efforts to find the most widely acceptable decision.Main disadvantages include large time requirements and many rounds of negotiation to develop a consensus decision， and the tendency for final agreements to use ambiguous language on contentious points that makes future interpretation of treaties difficult.
In reality， WTO negotiations proceed not by consensus of all members， but by a process of informal negotiations between small groups of countries. Such negotiations are often called“Green Room”negotiations （ after the color of the WTO DirectorGeneral s Office in Geneva） ， or“Mini-Ministerials”， when they occur in other countries. These processes have been regularly criticized by many of the WTO s developing country members which are often totally excluded from the negotiations.
Richard Harold Steinberg argues that although the WTO s consensus governance model provides law-based initial bargaining， trading rounds close through power-based bargaining favoring Europe and the United States，and may not lead to Pareto improvement.
Accession and membership
All World Trade Organization members have joined the organization as a result of negotiation， and membership consists of a balance of rights and obligations. The process of becoming a World Trade Organization （ WTO） member is unique to each applicant country， and the terms of accession are dependent upon the country s stage of economic development and the current trade regime. The process takes about five years， on average， but it can take some countries almost a decade if the country is less than fully committed to the process， or if political issues interfere.The shortest accession negotiation was that of Kyrgyzstan， lasting 2 years and 10 months. The longest was that of China， lasting 15 years and 5 months. Russia， having first applied to join the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade （ GATT） in 1993， is still in negotiations for membership. Though it had made much bigger strides by securing a bilateral trade agreement with the European Union （ 2004） and the United States （ 2006） ， a recent move to coordinate its accession with Kazakhstan and Belarus by forming a customs union will likely delay membership even longer. As is typical of WTO procedures， an offer of accession is only given once consensus is reached among interested parties.
Accession process
A country wishing to accede to the WTO submits an application to the General Council， and has to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on WTO agreements.The application is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum which is examined by a working party open to all interested WTO Members. After all necessary background information has been acquired， the working party focuses on issues of discrepancy between the WTO rules and the applicant s international and domestic trade policies and laws. The working party determines the terms and conditions of entry into the WTO for the applicant nation， and may consider transitional periods to allow countries some leeway in complying with the WTO rules. The final phase of accession involves bilateral negotiations between the applicant nation and other working party members regarding the concessions and commitments on tariff levels and market access for goods and services. The new member s commitments are to apply equally to all WTO members under normal non-discrimination rules， even though they are negotiated bilaterally.
When the bilateral talks conclude， the working party sends to the general council or ministerial conference an accession package， which includes a summary of all the working party meetings， the Protocol of Accession （ a draft membership treaty） ， and lists（“schedules”） of the member-to-be s commitments. Once the general council or ministerial conference approves of the terms of accession， the applicant s parliament must ratify the Protocol of Accession before it can become a member.
liberalize / lib r laiz/vt. 使自由化；宽大
commence /k mens/vt.开始；着手
equitable / ekwit bl/adj.公平的，公正的；平衡法的
subsistence /s b sist ns/n.生存；存在；生活
surge /s d /n.巨涌；大浪；汹涌澎湃vi.汹涌；激增vt.使颠簸
oversee / uv si /vt.监督；俯瞰；审查
forum / f r m/n.论坛，讨论会；法庭；公开讨论的广场
propagate / pr p gei/vt.传播；繁殖；传送；宣传
embed /imbed/vt.栽种；使嵌入，使插入；使深留脑中reciprocity / resi pr s ti/n.互惠；互惠主义；相互作用（复数reciprocities）
reciprocal /ri sipr k l/adj.相互的；互惠的
concession /k n se n/n.让步；特许（权） ；承认；退位
enumerate /i nju m reit/vt.列举；枚举；计算
invoke /in v uk/vt.调用；祈求；恳求；引起
transparency /tr ns p r nsi/n.透明，透明度
