The World Trade Organization WTO was officially established on January 1, 1995. The WTO deals with trade agreements negotiated by its members (also called Covered Agreements). Besides this main function, the WTO is a forum for multilateral commercial negotiations; it coordinates procedures for the settlement of commercial differences (disputes among countries); supervises commercial policies and cooperates with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in order to achieve greater cohesion between the economic and commercial politics at a world scale.

It is important to mention that in reference to the environmental topic, according to the Doha Mandate regarding the MEAs, (Multilateral Environmental Agreements), the importance of commercial and environmental policies has been reaffirmed and they have to be put together for mutual benefit. The WTO regulations apply to all members of the organization that are party to the MEAs, particularly to articulate the relationship of certain commercial measures adopted in the framework of the environment and the WTO regulations. http://www.wto.org