The paper discusses the mechanisms by which World Trade Organization (WTO) influence the diffusion of genetically modified (GM) products. We have analyzed the connection between the international trade of GM products and the three WTO Agreements: the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). It can be concluded that the mechanisms of the WTO organization are often used as instruments of threat to nations seeking to ban imports of GM food. In failing to acknowledge and support the precautionary principle, the WTO may have further weakened its authority to make decisions affecting the human health and environment and, in so doing, lessened its legitimacy in the world arena.