1994

April

Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO is signed.

1995

January

The WTO is born on 1 January.

May

Renato Ruggiero (Italy) takes office as WTO Director-General.

1996

December

WTO holds 1st Ministerial Conference in Singapore

1997

December

Information Technology Agreement (ITA) enters into force, slashing tariffs on IT goods

1998

May

2^nd Ministerial Conference in Geneva marks 50 years of the GATT.

1999

September

Mike Moore (New Zealand) becomes WTO Director-General.

November

3^rd Ministerial Conference in Seattle, United States, ends with breakdown in negotiations amid public protests.

2000

January

Negotiations begin on services.

March

Negotiations begin on agriculture.

2001

November

4^th Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, sees launch of new round of trade negotiations, known as the Doha Development Agenda

China becomes the WTO’s 143rd member.

2002

September

Supachai Panitchpakdi (Thailand) is elected WTO Director-General.

2003

September

5^th Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico, welcomes Cambodia and Nepal as first least-developed countries to join the WTO since its establishment

2004

July

General Council approves “July 2004 Framework?for advancing Doha Round negotiations.

2005

September

Pascal Lamy (France) becomes WTO Director-General.

December

6^th Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China, sees launch of Aid for Trade initiative.

2007

November

First Global Review of Aid for Trade takes place in Geneva.

2008

July

Ministerial meeting in Geneva attempts to take big step towards conclusion of Doha Round.

2009

April

DG Pascal Lamy reappointed for second term of four years.

September

First WTO Open Day in Geneva.

2010

January

“WTO Chairs Programme?launched to support trade-related work of universities in developing economies.

2011

December

Expansion of Government Procurement Agreement agreed at 8^th Ministerial Conference in Geneva.

2012

November

Historic signing ends 20 years of EU-Latin American banana dispute, the longest-running dispute in WTO history.

2013

September

Roberto Azevêdo (Brazil) takes office as WTO Director-General.

December

9^th Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, sees conclusion of negotiations on landmark Trade Facilitation Agreement.