The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the only global international organization that deals with the rules of trade between nations. It was founded and became operational on January 1, 1995. It is an influential organization in the era of economic globalization. At the heart of the Organization are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by most of the world's trading nations and ratified in their parliaments. These agreements form the basic legal rules for international trade and grant member countries important trade rights. They consist of a complex set of rules and principles regarding the trade of goods and services and the protection of intellectual property rights. Their goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters and importers conduct their business and improve the well-being of people in their member countries. According to WTO dossier, the organization had 151 members as of November 15, 2007. Membership in the organization is nearly universal and includes all of the world's major trading partners accounting for more than 97% of world trade. About 150 members, or two-thirds of the countries that make up the organization, are developing countries. These countries play an important and active role in the organization not only because of their number in the organization but also because their role in the global economy is becoming important as they consider trade crucial to their development. These countries are many and as such constitute a heterogeneous group with different points of view, needs and concerns. Therefore the WTO has addressed the particular needs and concerns of these developing countries, particularly the least developed ones among… middle of paper… the rules have internal consistency and validity, as evidenced by their subject matter and purpose. Although to some extent they have served the interests of developing countries in their quest for development, they have not, however, worked effectively in the interests of these countries. This is because in some cases these rules appear to be inconsistent with the needs of these countries. Of the numerous provisions on special and differential treatment, most of them are not mandatory and even those classified as mandatory have a rather limited binding nature as they may provide for some flexibility in their implementation. This implies a non-binding provision with wording such as must or may necessarily be ineffective. Therefore it is necessary to improve these provisions by making them legally binding to make them operational and effective.