Nov 27 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organisation is holding its seventh ministerial conference from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2 in Geneva, where it is based.
* The World Trade Organisation was created on Jan. 1, 2005 to supervise the world trading system. It aims to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.
* It replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) which had presided over successive rounds of trade opening since World War Two after the failure to create an International Trade Organisation alongside the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
The GATT agreement is at the heart of the WTO, covering trade in industrial and agricultural goods.
* The WTO currently has 153 members. Everything it does is by consensus, so each member effectively has a veto. That gives the system legitimacy, but can make it rather slow.
The WTO secretariat cannot impose its own views or decisions, unlike, say the IMF. It can only carry out what has been agreed by members.
Decisions are taken by trade ministers, usually meeting every two years, or by ambassadors or other senior officials in Geneva.
* Countries still negotiating membership include Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia and Sudan.
* The WTO has three main functions:
- negotiating agreements to open trade
- monitoring compliance with existing trade agreements
- resolving trade disputes between members
* WTO members are currently negotiating a new agreement to open trade known as the Doha Development Agenda, or Doha round, after the Qatari capital where it was launched in November 2001.
* The WTO has beefed up monitoring in the economic crisis to see whether protectionist pressures are encouraging members to block imports or give unfair help to their own businesses.
* The head of the WTO is Pascal Lamy, a Frenchman, who was previously European Union trade commissioner. He started a second four-year term in September.
(Compiled by Jonathan Lynn; Editing by Victoria Main) ((jonathan.lynn@reuters.com; +41 22 733 3831; Reuters Messaging: jonathan.lynn.reuters.com@reuters.net ))