The World Trade Organization (WTO) is a unique international organization dealing with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly and freely as possible, unhindered by political or technical barriers. The WTO was created in 1995 as a result of the Uruguay Round of GATT Negotiations that lasted from 1986 to 1994. Agricultural trade barriers were addressed in a substantive way for the first time in the Uruguay Round. The WTO has a current membership of 147 nations and is growing. The headquarters of the organization are in Geneva, Switzerland. The WTO is founded upon a body of international law encompassing the GATT, as modified by the Uruguay Round, and all agreements and arrangements concluded under its auspices.

The WTO Ministerial Conference held in Doha, Qatar in November 2001 resulted in the launch of a comprehensive new series of trade negotiations, with agriculture as a key topic of negotiation. But the road to a new WTO agreement has been rough, and agriculture remains one of the most contentious areas in the negotiating process.