Even though the last decade has seen a lot of news and media coverage about the World Trade Organization (WTO), few are truly aware of the function of the organization or its role. the scope of its mission. It often appears to be just another unstructured bureaucracy that manages the details of modern life today. However, the WTO is involved in issues ranging from disputes over steel manufacturing in Japan to China's telecommunications system and textile manufacturing in African countries to U.S. issues related to integration of American regulations with those of the international community. The mission of the WTO is to “settle” these international disputes in a way that takes into consideration the interests of all parties. Its architects declared it a triumph and a new dawn for commerce. Signatories to the April 1994 world trade agreement, which concluded seven years of Uruguay Round negotiations, described their achievements in glowing terms. As The Economist (08/06/94) noted: “Such immodesty was forgivable. Their agreement extends global rules to areas such as services, agriculture and intellectual property. No less important, governments promised to create a new institution, more powerful than the GATT it would replace, to oversee the new order” (p. 16). The Founding and Debate of the World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization is a relatively new organization. institution. Its first meeting was held in Singapore in December 1996, but it served as a celebration of the organization's founding rather than a working meeting. According to Desai (1996), the founders were determined that conflicts between developing and industrialized countries would be avoided in Singapore and that it would be the true middle of paper for domestic markets. The third GATT principle is “transparency,” which requires that any trade protection be obvious and quantifiable – like a tariff. Finally, in addition to these rules, the WTO has the power to resolve disputes and impose penalties and sanctions. Its purview has also been expanded beyond the oversight of manufacturing policies that affect trade to include service sectors such as banking, insurance, travel and management consulting. These service operations are now subject to the same GATT policies that were applied to the manufacturing sector. Patents, trademarks and copyrights, the basis of national policies that restrict trade in intellectual property, now fall under the jurisdiction of the WTO. Investment matters may also be subject to WTO rules where investment restrictions between countries restrict the free movement of capital and goods..