Economic research and trade policy analysis
A Dynamic System
Methods of production and processing as well as the paths that food travels along from farm to fork are continuously evolving. The standards world must be ready to adjust to ensure that food trade can continue to flow smoothly. Stakeholders will need to be prepared able to pick up the signals that change is taking place and to steer their national frameworks accordingly.
Innovation policy, trade and the digital challenge
This section focuses on innovation policy and discusses its economic rationales and impact on innovation. For innovation to take place new knowledge has to be created through investment in research and it then diffuses through the education system or publications patents and interchange of ideas. When firms or governments instigate technological progress by using this knowledge or its embodiments via inventions to change processes behaviours or technologies economic growth may be affected depending on a number of variables. Within any country the diffusion of new technology depends on institutions the level of economic openness and investment in education and research.
Aperçu général
Le présent rapport a pour but d’améliorer la compréhension des effets du commerce et des politiques commerciales sur l’égalité hommesfemmes et de fournir aux responsables politiques des données attestant les avantages du commerce pour les femmes ainsi que des solutions possibles. Le cadre conceptuel retenu montre les différents canaux de transmission par lesquels le commerce et les politiques commerciales peuvent avoir une incidence sur les femmes dans trois rôles économiques clés: le travail la consommation et la prise de décisions. Le rapport rassemble et analyse également de nouvelles données1 pour montrer l’impact différencié du commerce et des politiques commerciales sur les femmes et les hommes – en termes de rémunération de consommation et de bien-être ainsi que de qualité et de quantité d’emplois disponibles. Une nouvelle analyse empirique fondée sur ces données donne à penser que l’expansion du commerce peut inciter les pays à améliorer les droits des femmes et à accroître leur participation à l’économie.
Trade policy commitments and contingency measure
Trade agreements define rules for the conduct of trade policy. These rules must strike a balance between commitments and flexibility. Too much flexibility may undermine the value of commitments but too little f lexibility may render the rules politically unsustainable. This tension between credible commitments and flexibility is often close to the surface during trade negotiations. For example the question of a “special safeguard mechanism” (the extent to which developing countries would be allowed to protect farmers from import surges) was crucial in the discussion of the July 2008 mini-ministerial meeting which sought to agree negotiating modalities – or a final blueprint – for agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA).
Conclusion
The key issue for MSME financing is risk assessment and more specifically how to better assess the risk potential of companies that lack a long credit history. Technological tools and data-driven solutions enable firms to approach this process from a new angle. They make it possible to harness a bigger pool of data to provide greater visibility into firms’ operations and creditworthiness. Rather than a backward-looking approach to risk assessment as in the past data can now allow financiers to make risk assessments a real-time process.
Notes techniques
Les Membres de l’OMC sont souvent désignés sous le nom de « pays » bien que certains ne soient pas des pays au sens habituel du terme mais officiellement des « territoires douaniers ». La définition des groupements géographiques ou autres dans le présent rapport n’implique de la part du Secrétariat aucune prise de position quant au statut d’un pays ou territoire au tracé de ses frontières ou aux droits et obligations des Membres de l’OMC dans le cadre des Accords de l’OMC. Les couleurs tracés de frontières dénominations et classifications figurant dans les cartes n’impliquent de la part de l’OMC aucun jugement quant au statut juridique ou autre d’un territoire ni la reconnaissance ou l’acceptation d’un tracé de frontières.
Are the “Poor” Getting Globalised?
Globalization is under fire. Public perceptions and recent policy debates increasingly appear to indicate that trade liberalization has been accompanied by rising income inequality in developed and developing economies. The fact that trade liberalization creates both winners and losers has never been in question. While international trade enhances economic growth in the aggregate the distribution of its benefits may vary by income group location gender and the formal-informal divide.
Conclusions
This report has addressed four fundamental issues relating to natural resources trade. The first is how key economic features of natural resources and the manner of their exchange influence patterns of trade for this class of goods. Second we have examined how far the absence of trade barriers provides an efficient mechanism for ensuring access to natural resources and their long-run sustainability. The third issue concerns the incentives that governments face in setting trade policy in natural resource sectors and the consequences of this incentive structure. Finally the report has considered how international cooperation affects the management of trade in natural resources with particular emphasis on the role of the WTO.
Regulatory impact analysis: Addressing the trade and regulatory nexus
The potential for productivity growth to generate higher incomes makes it a natural and important consideration for decision-makers. Productivity is the only driver of income growth that is unlimited as opposed to resource exploitation or increases in population and labour force participation each of which faces natural limits. The continuing need to stimulate productivity growth rightly remains at the forefront of government policy and is a key priority of the Australian government.
Notas técnicas
Con frecuencia se utiliza el término “países” para hacer referencia a los Miembros de la OMC a pesar de que algunos Miembros no son países en el sentido usual del término sino que se trata oficialmente de “territorios aduaneros”. La definición de los grupos geográficos y de otro tipo empleada en el presente informe no implica la expresión de opinión alguna por parte de la Secretaría de la OMC sobre la condición jurídica de ningún país o territorio sobre la delimitación de sus fronteras ni sobre los derechos y obligaciones de ningún Miembro de la OMC respecto de los Acuerdos de la OMC. Los colores fronteras denominaciones y clasificaciones que figuran en los mapas de la presente publicación no implican por parte de la OMC ningún juicio sobre la condición jurídica o de otra índole de ningún territorio ni constituyen una aprobación o aceptación de ninguna frontera.
WTO Rules, Accession Protocols and Mega-Regionals: Complementarity and Governance in the Rules-Based Global Economy
Over the past twenty years the rules-based global economy has been subject to a dynamic process of transformation. The trading environment has been characterized by shifts in the balance of economic power emerging structures and rapid changes in global and regional alliances. Since its establishment in 1995 the WTO has sought to adapt to these global trends. The 2017 Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) the 2015 Nairobi Decisions on Agriculture the 2015 expansion of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) and twenty years of cumulative WTO accessions acquis are all part of this process of constant adaptation by the WTO to a rapidly changing environment. However after the Seattle Ministerial meeting in 1999 free trade agreements (FTAs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs) mushroomed. The 'spaghetti-bowl’ consequences and the continuing proliferation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and counter-PTAs have created challenges and opportunities for the rules-based multilateral trading system. Several questions have been raised revolving around the compatibility and the discriminatory and trade diversion effects of such agreements. Are these agreements building blocks or stumbling blocks for the multilateral trading system? Moreover the emergence of mega-regional RTAs (MRTAs) in particular the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have called into question in some quarters the power and relevance of the WTO at large. This chapter examines the core question of whether mega-regionalism (and FTAs by implication) poses an existential risk to the multilateral trading system and argues that the answer is ‘no’. The negotiating results from FTAs including in their mega-regional forms and trade multilateralism can coexist in a constructive healthy and competitive relationship and both are essential for the governance of the multipolar twenty-first-century global economy. To substantiate this conclusion the chapter reviews the WTO accessions acquis and compares it to the provisions of the TPP without pre-judging its future. The comparative analysis is conducted across several areas: market access; trade rules (bilateral/plurilateral/multilateral); trade negotiations as an instrument for domestic reforms; and discriminatory effects. The results of the analysis point to areas of significant complementarity and mutual supportiveness between WTO accession acquis and the TPP and different degrees of trade liberalization in certain sectors. The accessions acquis demonstrates a process of mutually supportive coexistence between bilateral and plurilateral negotiations and the multilateral legal and policy framework of the WTO. The scope and quality of accession negotiations results are comparable to results from PTAs including MRTAs and go further to show greater robustness and durability.
Le programme de Doha pour le développement
L’un des objectifs sous-jacents de l’OMC est de promouvoir le développement économique par une participation effective au commerce mondial. Trois aspects de la structure et des règles de l’OMC sont pertinents s’agissant de la manière dont les pays en développement peuvent tirer davantage profit de leur participation au système commercial. Premièrement les règles elles-mêmes avec les exceptions autorisées et leurs interprétations sont le fondement du système et jouent un rôle clé pour déterminer les conditions et possibilités d’échange. Deuxièmement se pose la question de la couverture du système. Il n’existe pas d’exemple de questions dont l’OMC se serait saisie et qu’elle aurait écartées; il s’agit donc ici de l’inclusion de nouveaux domaines. Troisièmement le type de protection auquel se heurtent les exportations d’un pays contribue aussi pour beaucoup à définir les conditions et les possibilités d’échanges. En résumé la nature des règles de l’OMC leur portée et les conditions d’accès aux marchés sont les trois grands domaines qui déterminent la qualité et l’utilité de l’OMC pour ses Membres. Comme il fallait s’y attendre chacun de ces trois aspects occupe une place importante dans le Programme de Doha pour le développement.
The 2013 WTO accession of Lao PDR: Specific commitments and the integration of leastdeveloped countries into the global economy
When Lao PDR applied for membership of the WTO in 1997 it used the WTO accession process as a tool to implement its decision to establish a market economy and fully integrate into the world economy. Although at the outset market access was not considered to be the principal benefit to be derived from WTO accession Lao PDR was aware that WTO membership would give its economy additional security and predictability. WTO accession negotiations allowed Lao PDR to apply international best practices and to align its trade policy with the principles of nondiscrimination and transparency. Adaptation to international trade requirements is a longer-term challenge and post-accession challenges remain but the benefits are significant and worthwhile.
Las tecnologías digitales y sus efectos económicos en el comercio
En esta sección se estudia la transformación del comercio internacional que se está produciendo debido a las nuevas tecnologías que están creando nuevas oportunidades para conseguir un sistema de comercio más inclusivo y están planteando nuevos desafíos. Al comienzo de la sección se examina la influencia de las tecnologías digitales en los costos del comercio internacional. A continuación se analizan los cambios que las tecnologías digitales causan en la naturaleza de los intercambios en la forma en que se lleva a cabo el comercio y en los agentes y el contenido del comercio. Por último se cuantifican las posibles repercusiones de algunas tendencias importantes en el desarrollo tecnológico y se formulan proyecciones a largo plazo sobre el comercio internacional empleando el Modelo de Comercio Mundial de la OMC.
Algunos acontecimientos y cuestiones comerciales
El Acuerdo sobre los Textiles y el Vestido (ATV) expiró el 1º de enero de 2005. Se manifestó gran interés así como inquietud en las repercusiones que la eliminación de las restricciones contingentarias podría tener para la producción y el comercio. Era evidente para la mayoría de los observadores que habría quienes saldrían ganando gracias a la liberalización adicional en tanto que otros saldrían perdiendo. Es demasiado pronto para decir cómo será el mercado después del período relativamente breve en que podemos basar nuestras observaciones pero en esta nota se examina lo que sabemos hasta ahora de la estructura del comercio desde que se eliminaron (buena parte de) las restricciones cuantitativas. Hay que hacer una salvedad: no cabe duda de que la expiración del ATV influyó en la estructura del comercio observada en 2005 pero no hemos elaborado un enfoque analítico riguroso para examinar los demás factores que también podrían influir en ella.