The World Trade Organization was established in 1995. It officially began operating on 1 January 1995, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade as the central institution for global trade rules.
Its creation followed the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, which ran from 1986 to 1994. The round expanded international trade law beyond goods to include services, intellectual property, agriculture and stronger dispute settlement. Its Final Act was signed in Marrakesh, Morocco, on 15 April 1994.
A common mix-up is 1947 or 1948: those dates belong to GATT, the WTO’s predecessor. Another is 1994, the year the agreement establishing the WTO was signed. The organization itself came into existence the following year.