nonWTO

The term "nonWTO" is not an official designation used by the World Trade Organization itself. Instead, it is sometimes used informally in discussions about international trade to refer to countries or entities that are not members of the WTO. These might include countries that have not applied for membership, are in the process of accession, or have chosen not to join. The WTO is the primary international organization that deals with the global rules of trade between nations, aiming to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably, and freely as possible. Its agreements are signed by the vast majority of the world's trading nations and are ratified in their parliaments. Therefore, when "nonWTO" is used, it generally highlights a gap in the WTO's universal coverage, implying that certain trade relationships or economic blocs operate outside the established multilateral framework governed by WTO principles and dispute settlement mechanisms. This can lead to different trade regimes, preferential agreements, or bilateral arrangements between these non-members, or between non-members and WTO members, that do not necessarily adhere to the most-favored-nation (MFN) principle or other core WTO tenets.