  |
|
Parliamentary
Conference on the WTO Summary of the Presentations to the Steering Committee Recent Development at WTO Mr. Harsha Vardhana Singh, Deputy Director-General of the WTO appeared before Members of the Steering Committee. He stressed the importance of parliamentary participation at the WTO and how relations between parliamentarians and the WTO have grown since 1999. WTO depends upon the involvement and support of the legislatures of its 153 members, not only to share information with their constituencies, but to take required legislative action when needed to implement WTO members’ agreements. The Steering Committee was given an overview of the current state of multilateral trade negotiations and ongoing efforts to conclude the Doha Round. Mr. Singh first mentioned the importance of the WTO system for the global economic recovery. He indicated that global trade dropped by 12% in 2009 as a result of the economic crisis but that the volume of trade is estimated to grow by 9.5% in 2010. He stressed the important role in this recovery of multilateral actions to maintain market access. Because of the WTO discipline, WTO members were aware of the actions they were allowed to implement. In addition, the WTO monitoring report gave countries the opportunity to know what actions were being implemented elsewhere; it also kept the spotlight on the various economic measures and gave ammunition domestically to support trade. In order to maintain the economic stimulus, Mr Singh suggested that countries need to reduce protectionist measures and emphasize trade finances. Mr. Singh also believes that the current round of multilateral negotiations is part of the economic stimulus. He indicated that those countries, who are most supportive of a conclusion of the Doha round are the developing countries. He mentioned the various issues that are still on the negotiating table and noted that 80% of the items have been covered and that some significant movement for the remaining 20% has occurred. Some members of the Steering Committee pointed out that some remaining stumbling blocks represent major parts of the economy for many countries (for example cotton) and that the 80-20% split suggested by WTO officials may not be appropriate for all countries. While Mr. Singh agrees that the importance of the remaining issues on the table varies between countries, he stressed that progress has been made and that the political will to conclude the round must now be translated in negotiations commitments: Gaps have been identified, technical meetings and meetings at senior level are occurring but the WTO has not set any timeframe because it will mostly depend on countries’ political will. In response to questions about the possibility to compartmentalize the negotiations, Mr. Singh mentioned that decoupling the negotiations is not currently considered and that countries will have to find a balance between what they are willing to give and what they will take. Mr. Singh also talked about the importance of a multilateral approach in the conclusion of Doha round. In response to questions about the growing importance of regional or bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), he indicated that issues such as agriculture and fisheries subsidies, antidumping rules, trade and environment cannot be covered in FTAs. Countries may also want to harmonize the different rules they have to follow under various FTAs since it can be burdensome for exporting companies. Finally, participants in the Doha round are also participants in other negotiations (climate change, etc.), and a success in finalizing the multilateral trade negotiations would be a strong signal that countries can work together. The Aid-for Trade Campaign Ms Patricia Francis, executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), appeared before the Steering Committee to present the Aid-for-Trade (AFT) initiative. The AFT initiative was launched at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2005. It is recognized as a complement to the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations. AFT assists developing countries to increase exports of goods and services, to integrate into the multilateral trading system, and to benefit from liberalized trade and increased market access. There is a clear distinction between AFT and other development assistance. Projects, including infrastructure development, are considered as AFT if the activities involved have been identified as trade-related development priorities in the recipient countries’ national development strategies. ITC works mainly with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in least developed countries (LDCs) and its strategy covers three areas: · increase companies’ competitiveness, thus boosting their abilities to engage in domestic, regional and international trade; · support efforts to develop the capacity of trade support institutions that exist to assist the private sector, at national and regional levels; and · strengthening the ability of policy-makers to integrate businesses into the global economy. According to Ms. Francis, the trade collapse from late 2008 had a devastating effect on many of the LDCs, which depended on only a few export products and markets. Consequently, there has been an increased need for market-intelligence tools as developing countries understand more and more the value of knowing what is happening in the market. ITC’s programs cover technical assistance and capacity building, and development of productive capacity. Nevertheless, Ms. Francis indicated that there will be challenges as well as benefits in joining the global trading system. There are also often supply-side obstacles in developing countries that need to be addressed. But she believes that it is in countries’ interest to become part of the global system: for example, ITC performed an analysis that showed that LDCs, who were members of the WTO, were recovering from the crisis more rapidly than those who were not. Ms. Francis also indicated that the economic crisis did not affect AFT pledges as they have increased at a higher rate than other types of development assistance. WTO officials confirmed that 90% of the 2007 pledges were spent. Ms Francis gave examples of program delivery: ITC will work with a specific industry to establish a market, a product, and what is necessary to get that product to the market. For example, it may look at how to elevate the industry to international environmental standards. Successful programs also include infrastructure development such as trade corridors in Africa. Ms. Francis also described the recently launched WTO Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2010-2011, and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), the technical assistance program dedicated to delivering AFT. She then stressed that parliaments have much to contribute to ensuring effective implementation of the AFT agenda notably through: · Raising awareness of the contribution export trade can make to economic growth. · Focusing attention on the need to create a business-friendly, enabling environment, removing the supply-side constraints to trade. · Mainstreaming trade in national development strategies and plans. · Promoting dialogue with the private sector and the development of public-private partnerships; listening to the business community, to understand their needs and articulate them in policy-making forums. · Mobilizing resources and developing effective export finance mechanisms. · Ensuring predictability and transparency of aid flows to enhance their impact. · Monitoring the effectiveness of export promotion programmes and evaluating their impact. The Successful Settlement of the Banana Dispute Ms Gabrielle Marceau from the WTO appeared before the Steering Committee to discuss the settlement of the banana dispute, one of the longest-running trade disputes in the history of the recent multilateral trading system. This dispute opposed a number of Latin American countries and the European Union (EU) over the privileged treatment given to a number of countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP countries) to export bananas to the EU. Ms. Marceau presented a summary of the dispute and described how the EU banana import regime was violating a number of WTO principles and rules. For example, a countries import regime must not discriminate a country against another (the most favoured nation clause). Ms Marceau indicated that the complexity of this dispute was that it involved two groups of developing countries. Under WTO rules, a system of favourable treatment is allowed for developing countries but all developing countries must be treated the same way. Ms. Marceau indicated that although the WTO dispute resolution panel ruled that the EU banana import regime was violating WTO rules, the discussions to implement changes to the import regime failed several time. Some of the parties requested that WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy use his good offices to help broker an agreement. Parties finally reached an agreement, which was announced on 15 December 2009. According to WTO officials, this agreement confirms that negotiations on a difficult issue can succeed and that it sends a positive message for the current round of multilateral trade negotiations.
|
 |