WTO accessions
Tariff Negotiations and Renegotiations under the GATT and the WTO
Over the past seven decades since the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established in 1947 there has been a phenomenal increase in international trade in goods largely due to sustained efforts by the world’s main trading nations to reduce and eliminate tariff barriers in a multilaterally orchestrated manner. This publication reviews how the procedures and practices relating to tariff negotiations and renegotiations have evolved over this time. In particular this new edition recounts how negotiations to expand the duty-free coverage of the Information Technology Agreement were concluded and provides an account of tariff renegotiations regarding successive enlargements of the European Union. It also covers tariff negotiations for the accession of a number of new members to the WTO such as China and Russia. This book will be of particular interest to negotiators members of government trade ministries economists and academics specialized in trade policy.
WTO Accessions and Trade Multilateralism
Trois questions importantes seront déterminantes pour l'avenir de l'OMC: le règlement des différends les négociations et l'intégration régionale. Le règlement des différends est généralement considéré comme l'un des succès majeurs de l'OMC durant ses dix premières années d'existence. La conclusion des négociations du Cycle de Doha est l'un de ses principaux défis. L'intégration régionale est désormais au premier plan du débat alors que les accords régionaux prolifèrent et que les décideurs et les universitaires prennent la mesure de leur incidence sur le système commercial multilatéral. Ces questions et leur interaction sont traitées par d'éminents spécialistes et professionnels du droit commercial international originaires d'Amérique du Nord d'Europe et de la région Asie Pacifique. En outre des sections spécifiques sont consacrées à la région Asie Pacifique à sa participation au règlement des différends et aux négociations dans le cadre de l'OMC et aux tendances récentes à une plus grande intégration régionale.AE1:AE10
African Perspectives on Trade and the WTO
Twenty-first century Africa is in a process of economic transformation but challenges remain in areas such as structural reform governance commodity pricing and geopolitics. This book looks into key questions facing the continent such as how Africa can achieve deeper integration into the rules-based multilateral trading system and the global economy. It provides a range of perspectives on the future of the multilateral trading system and Africa's participation in global trade and underlines the supportive roles that can be played by multilateral and regional institutions during such a rapid and uncertain transition. This volume is based on contributions to the Fourth China Round Table on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System which took place just before the WTO's Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December 2015.
Trade Multilateralism in the 21st Century
Trade multilateralism in the twenty-first-century century faces a serious test as weakness in the global economy and fast-paced technological changes create a challenging environment for world trade. This book examines how an updated and robust rules-based multilateral framework anchored in the WTO remains indispensable to maximizing the benefits of global economic integration and to reviving world trade. By examining recent accessions to the WTO it reveals how the growing membership of the WTO has helped to support domestic reforms and to strengthen the rules-based framework of the WTO. It argues that the new realities of the twenty-first century require an upgrade to the architecture of the multilateral trading system. By erecting its 'upper floors' on the foundation of existing trade rules the WTO can continue to adapt to a fast-changing environment and to maximize the benefits brought about by its ever-expanding membership.
A Handbook on Accession to the WTO
The Handbook provides the first detailed explanation and analysis of the process whereby governments become Members of the WTO. The WTO Agreement which came into force on 1 January 1995 provides few details on how this process is to take place. Consequently the steps in the detailed negotiations leading up to access have evolved through the actual negotiations for governments which have become Members of the WTO since 1995. This handbook is unique in providing an account of how the process evolved and in offering details on the process as it is now applied. Moreover the input of the WTO Secretariat into the preparation of the guide provides information not available until now to anyone outside the Secretariat. The Secretariat has supported production of this handbook in the hope it will serve as a useful source of reference for officials from acceding governments WTO Members academia and the general public.
Preferential Trade Agreements in Africa: Lessons from the Tripartite Free Trade Agreements and an African Continent-Wide FTA
Economic transformation is an important pre-requisite for African countries to maximize the benefits of globalization. The development outcomes of the transformation process are conditioned on the one hand by the level of inclusiveness and on the other by the sustainability of the development pathways among other factors. Building on experiences since the new millennium in which Africa has witnessed rapid and sustained high levels of economic growth and informed by the policy discourse that accompanied the formulation of the Common African Position on Sustainable Development Goals African countries have charted a transformation path in which they aspire to play to their comparative advantages.
WTO Accessions and Trade Multilateralism
What have WTO accessions contributed to the rules-based multilateral trading system? What demands have been made by original WTO members on acceding governments? How have the acceding governments fared? This volume of essays offers critical readings on how WTO accession negotiations have expanded the reach of the multilateral trading system not only geographically but also conceptually clarifying disciplines and pointing the way to their further strengthening in future negotiations. Members who have acceded since the WTO was established now account for twenty per wto_cent of total WTO membership. In the age of globalization there is an increased need for a universal system of trade rules. Accession negotiations have been used by governments as an instrument for domestic reforms and one lesson from the accession process is that there are contexts which lead multilateral trade negotiations to successful outcomes even in the complex and multi-polar twenty-first-century economic environment. The contributions in this volume illuminate the pressing question regarding why some trade negotiations fail some stall and others succeed.
WTO Accession Reforms and Competitiveness – Lessons for Africa
This chapter evaluates the impact on competitiveness of reforms undertaken by recently acceded countries and draws lessons for African countries pursuing the goal of becoming emerging economies. By comparing reform outcomes before and after accessions relative to control groups using the difference-in-difference evaluation method the chapter concludes that the recently acceded members improved their international competitiveness although the overall impact was relatively small and differed substantially across economies economic sectors and time. African economies aspiring to become emerging economies could build on the experience of recently acceded countries by designing long-term reform agendas similar to the accession reform packages locking them into a credible policy framework through a series of domestic and international agreements frontloading reforms to gain credibility and persisting in their implementation balancing short-term costs with long-term benefits and learning from Article XII peers who have gained substantial experience in managing complex reforms.
African Perspectives on Trade and the WTO
Twenty-first century Africa is in a process of economic transformation but challenges remain in areas such as structural reform governance commodity pricing and geopolitics. This book looks into key questions facing the continent such as how Africa can achieve deeper integration into the rules-based multilateral trading system and the global economy. It provides a range of perspectives on the future of the multilateral trading system and Africa’s participation in global trade. It also underlines the supportive roles that can be played by multilateral and regional institutions during such a rapid and uncertain transition.
Energy-related rules in Accession Protocols: Where are they?
Energy issues have not been systematically discussed by WTO members in the multilateral trading system. This is owing to the fact that there is no rule on energy per se in WTO agreements. Yet all tradable energy goods and services are covered by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 and the General Agreement on Trade in Services respectively. With energy security and climate change high on the global agenda there is increasing interest in how to deal with energy-related issues during WTO accession negotiations particularly given that several energy-producing countries energy-transit countries and energy-consuming countries are currently in accession negotiations. Following the examples of earlier accessions the ongoing negotiation dossiers would need to negotiate energy-related specific obligations in their terms of accession. This chapter identifies five key themes relating to energy in the WTO Accession Protocols of the Article XII members and explains the rationale of how these topics relate to trade in energy based on the existing WTO rules. Further it categorizes similar energy patterns and trends for Article XII members. Finally the chapter draws lessons for future WTO rule-making by arguing that these ‘updated’ rules on energy found in Article XII members’ Accession Protocols will have the potential to guide the envisaged regular work of the WTO on future rule-making on trade in energy thereby contributing to international energy cooperation in the context of the rules-based multilateral trading system.
The WTO and the global economy: Contemporary challenges and possible responses
The high economic growth rates that have been achieved by many countries in Asia have led to a contemporary world economy that is multipolar. This has had repercussions for the WTO as well as for other multilateral organisations. The deadlock in the WTO’s Doha Round has led the United States and the European Union increasingly to turn their attention towards the negotiation of preferential trade agreements including so-called ‘mega-regional’ partnerships. This chapter discusses some of the implications for – and possible responses by – the economies that have the greatest stake in a well-functioning multilateral trading system. These economies may find themselves caught in the midst of disagreements between the major trading nations with few prospects of participating in the mega-regionals. The chapter argues that these economies – including those that have acceded to the WTO since its creation – need to take a more proactive leadership role in the WTO to enhance the transparency of what is done in the ‘megaregionals’ and to facilitate the pursuit of rule-making initiatives in the WTO on a plurilateral basis.
A podium perspective: Experiences and challenges of chairing a working party
What is the perspective from the podium? what are the challenges that face the chairperson of an accession working party? The role of a chairperson of an accession working party is tough and challenging and the functions of a chairperson can only be successfully exercised if he or she has the trust and confidence of parties involved. This role is best understood as that of a referee assisted by the Secretariat. The accession of the Russian Federation demonstrated that ‘the real work in WTO accession negotiations is done “beyond the gavel”. If the chair could only work with the gavel the accession process would get nowhere.’ Critical to any progress in the complexity of accession negotiations is political will and the ability to compromise as geopolitics may add a thick layer of complexity to the process. The reality of accession negotiations is that all participants have to be accommodated.
The WTO- Plus Obligations: Dual Class or a Strengthened System?
Obligations in accession protocols that go beyond the multilateral trade agreements are commonly referred to as ‘WTO-plus’ obligations. This chapter reviews the so-called WTO-plus obligations and argues that even though they are perceived to expand the existing obligations under multilateral trade agreements they in fact do not create two classes of membership within the World Trade Organization (WTO). First all accession processes are conducted on a case-by-case basis and thus result in different obligations for each acceding government. Second the WTO legal system is evolving continuously; therefore to adopt new rules and advance the legal system obligations cannot remain the same as in previous accessions. Third non-discrimination remains one of the fundamental principles of the multilateral trading system. Accessions to WTO follow this principle and hence WTO-plus obligations have been and will continue to be set on a non-discriminatory basis. At the same time WTO-plus obligations help upgrade the rules-based multilateral trading system. They fill gaps in the WTO rules on anti-dumping countervailing and safeguard regimes and they advance WTO rules by promoting plurilateral agreements.
Introduction and Summary
This Handbook is intended for readers wanting detailed information on the process of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). It will be of practical use to people involved in one way or another with the process and with the negotiations on accession to the World Trade Organization. The Handbook provides the general reader with a basis for informed discussion and analysis of the WTO’s membership process. It first places accession in the context of the WTO. It then sets out the basic provisions governing accession before going on to look at the standard procedures followed and then at the terms on which applicants have acceded to the Organization. Finally its annexes bring together the main documents used in the accession process.
How Post- TRIPS Negotiations Reframe the ‘Trade- Related Aspects’ of Intellectual Property after TRIPS: The Lessons of WTO Accessions
The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) established the first multilateral understanding of what constitutes a standard for ‘adequate’ and ‘effective’ protection of intellectual property rights and established a new mechanism for monitoring and reviewing how these standards are met. The policy and legal framework defined by the TRIPS Agreement has in the two decades since it entered into force progressively gained acceptance as a legitimate balanced and transparent set of standards. Since then however two parallel sets of negotiations have revisited the standards defined by TRIPS: the multilateral WTO accession negotiations and bilateral and regional trade negotiations outside the WTO. In each case TRIPS standards have been further elaborated and timelines for their implementation altered in a manner that produces a layering of rules upon the foundation of TRIPS. However the institutional legal and policy implications of these two lines of development contrast sharply. This chapter reviews the main lines of development of rules relating to intellectual property in the accession processes and contrasts these with the parallel developments outside the WTO. It concludes with an analysis of the policy and practical lessons that can be derived from contrasting these two processes.
Technical Assistance and Training for Acceding Countries
Accession to the WTO is a complex process and all acceding governments need expert advice to master the WTO rules and obligations the procedures governing the accession negotiations the demands that the process makes of them and how to respond to these demands. Applicants are also ipso facto participants in the negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda and need to keep abreast of the issues being dealt with there as they will be expected to accept the results of these negotiations when they become WTO Members.
Introduction and Overview
This volume the work of more than twenty authors grew out of the Fourth China Round Table and the WTO’s Tenth Ministerial Conference two seminal events held back-to-back in Nairobi Kenya in December 2015. The work presented here provides comprehensive substantive insights of the African trade policy and development context in which these two meetings took place.
Services market opening: Salience, results and meaning
This chapter is structured around three questions. What advances have been made on services market opening? what have been the specific market access commitments of least-developed countries (LDCs)? And what is the progress made with domestic regulation disciplines? This chapter examines the extent to which the services-specific commitments and domestic regulatory disciplines of Article XII members differ from those undertaken by original WTO members at similar levels of development. Although no single indicator exists that can be used to make this comparison given the textual nature of specific commitments as opposed to the numerical properties of tariffs several other possible parameters exist which could be used alone or in combination to assess such departures. The evidence and patterns in Article XII members’ services market access commitments and regulatory state-of-play and advances are examined. The trends and patterns in the depth and sectoral coverage of commitments are identified. The results from accession negotiations on the rules are reviewed with particular focus on how they compare to the envisaged disciplines on domestic regulation under the General Agreement on Trade in Services Article VI:4. Finally the performance of Article XII LDC members in their WTO accession services negotiations is reviewed. Overall the evidence indicates that Article XII members’ services bindings go further than those of original WTO members.
Economic Diversification in Africa’s Number One Economy
Nigeria is the largest economy in Africa with a GDP in excess of US$ 500 billion dependent on oil and gas exports for the bulk of government revenues as well as foreign exchange. Its growth – which averaged about 7 per cent in the decade between 2005 and 2014 – has in recent years been driven by the non-oil sectors: services agriculture and manufacturing. The principal challenge for the President Buhari administration which took office in May 2015 is to build on this trend by diversifying export income and the sources of government revenues as well as kickstarting the long-overdue task of industrializing the Nigerian economy. One of the goals of this approach is to achieve robust stable and predictable growth free from short-to-medium-term cycles of boom and bust.
The 2013 WTO accession of Tajikistan: Experience of a landlocked economy in a changing regional economic configuration
Tajikistan was part of the Great Silk Road a system of caravan routes connecting Eurasian countries between the second century BC and the fifteenth century AD. The development of trade throughout Central Asia encouraged the people of this region to adapt to the demands and requirements of consumers thousands of kilometres away both in western Europe and in China. Tajikistan’s principal rationale for seeking WTO membership was to gain access to new markets and secure the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/WTO right of freedom of transit reinserting Tajikistan into trading routes comparable to its location in the historic Great Silk Road system. By becoming a member of the WTO in 2013 Tajikistan is opening up new markets for its goods just as it did several centuries ago. Tajikistan sought WTO membership to sustain domestic reforms. Domestic reforms entailed enactment repeal and/or amendment of approximately one hundred laws and regulations. In the experience of Tajikistan successful negotiating factors included inter alia a technically competent negotiation team support from WTO members strategically defined negotiating objectives accompanied by a strategy for cooperation. Post-accession considerations should be part of an accession strategy. This chapter outlines Tajikistan’s road to the WTO.
Original Members - WTO accessions from a member’s perspective: Safeguarding the rules-based system
Forms of collective action and balanced commitment through negotiations were the foundation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the structure for its daily work. These remain at the centrepiece of work in the WTO in a system structured on the balance of rights and obligations. GATT contracting parties established the principles of balance and reciprocity trade liberalisation and a system of mediation and dispute settlement for mutual resolution of GATT provisions. From this base expansion of membership pursuant to accession negotiations has required a commitment to accepting GATT/WTO rules resulting from previous negotiations. WTO accession supports applicants’ efforts for economic reform and integration into world markets. This is one of the most important benefits of membership. Although challenging accession negotiations and the implementation of WTO provisions support important economic goals such as sustainable growth the promotion of high-tech industries attraction of foreign direct investment raised living standards and global assertion of national trade interest.
The evolution of the GATT/WTO Accession Protocol: Legal tightening and domestic ratification
Where are the legal roots of WTO Accession Protocols? How much was carried over from the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade standard and practice? What customary practice governs the preparation and approval of accession decisions and protocols? What is the current substantive standard and basic architecture of Accession Protocols? Are there unique provisions in Accession Protocols that have emerged in twenty years of WTO accession history? To what extent do Accession Protocols come into play in the context of WTO dispute settlement? By comparing the empirical data contained in the WTO Accession Protocols with preceding GATT Accession Protocols this chapter offers waterfront coverage of WTO Accession Protocols from the GATT baseline. The chapter shows that although rooted in its GATT predecessor base and remarkably consistent over time some unique provisions have been incorporated into the architecture of the WTO Accession Protocols since 1995. Because Accession Protocols become integral parts of WTO Agreement after they come into force the chapter argues that the specific ‘terms and conditions of accession’ in WTO Accession Protocols have had a direct and salutary impact on the entirety of the WTO Agreement through its tightened safeguard and upgrade. The chapter concludes by arguing that the evidence suggests that the WTO Agreement has been expanded by the absorption of the Accession Protocols over the course of the last twenty years and that the effect on the WTO Agreement has been significant rather than marginal.
Trade Multilateralism – Enhancing Flexibility, Preserving the Momentum
The book you are about to close picked up on the evolving discussion on accessions and trade multilateralism. The first book on the subject WTO Accessions and Trade Multilateralism: Case Studies and Lessons from the WTO at Twenty looked back. It took stock of two decades of accessions to the WTO their welfare and development outcomes the resulting improvements to market access and their contribution to domestic reforms and to the rules-based multilateral trading system. It shone a powerful light on the GATT/WTO accession procedure – a process hitherto viewed as lacking transparency and complicated by its esoteric vocabulary and apparent detachment from the day-to-day conduct of trade.
The 2014 WTO accession of Yemen: Accession negotiations as an instrument for domestic reform, national security and international cooperation
In 2011 a popular revolution occurred in Yemen leading to the formation of the government which brought the accession process to its conclusion in 2014 following years of long and complex negotiations. From the beginning Yemen’s accession process was envisaged not as an end in itself but as a means to achieve other more imperative objectives including poverty reduction decreasing levels of chronic unemployment and raising levels of sustained development to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population. This chapter gives an account of the accession process focusing on the positive effects of Yemen’s accession to the WTO both as a catalyst for long sought-after domestic reform and as a useful and convenient path to reach higher levels of reform for which the accession process acted as a spur. The aspiration was to create a competitive business environment that would lead to efficient resource allocation and ultimately boost output and productivity as well as increasing the well-being of the populace and reaping the benefits of WTO membership. Joining the WTO does not mark the end of the reform process. There is work post-accession to establish and strengthen different institutions to exercise the benefits of WTO membership for Yemen.
The future of multilateral investment rules in the WTO: Contributions from WTO accession outcomes
Foreign direct investment and trade are increasingly interlinked due to the deepening integration of trade and production networks. Today there is an ever-increasing percentage of imports in a country’s production. Responding to this increase some countries have sought to limit the percentage of imports in their production by requiring that foreign investors use locally produced inputs as an aspect of implementing priorities in development plans and/or strategic industrial policy. These policies and priorities have also been complicated and exacerbated by protectionism whereby countries discriminate blatantly in order to promote local industries with policies that grant more favours to local producers and/or products and materials. All these practices impact negatively on international trade by distorting the conditions for fair competition. Although different rules have been developed at an international level to streamline these practices currently there is no single comprehensive framework to govern them at the multilateral level. Despite this WTO members through accessions have negotiated with acceding governments to refine and improve extant investment-related rules in the WTO. This chapter argues that WTO-specific outcomes as in deposited Accession Protocols have contributed to improving significantly the predictability of the investment regulatory laws and policies of Article XII members reinforcing existing investment-related rules on trade in goods and services and enhancing the business-friendliness of WTO rules and the relationship with the private sector (including through expanded opportunities for investment) by binding for example their status quo policies and rules and accession-specific obligations codified in domestic law and regulation.
Intellectual property rights protection: The plus/minus debate from a least-developed country perspective – sense and nonsense
This chapter asks whether distinctions exist between the original WTO least-developed country (LDC) members and the Article XII LDCs in respect of their obligations under the WTO Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement. The chapter examines the evidence from the protocols of accession of the seven Article XII LDCs in the context of the associated treaty dialogue in their working party reports. It finds that distinctions exist and that the commitments accepted by Article XII LDCs in some respects go beyond the original requirements of the TRIPs Agreements and therefore also go beyond the TRIPs obligations of original LDC members. The chapter investigates these WTO TRIPs ‘plus’ commitments and assesses their merits in relation to the sovereign determined domestic reform priorities of the Article XII members and possible implications for the rules-based multilateral trading system. It is argued that the TRIPs Agreement is a minimum standards agreement consisting of both principles and substantive obligations with built-in flexibilities and considerable scope for interpretation and national implementation of its provisions. WTO members may deviate from these minimum standards to the extent that they benefit from longer or shorter periods of transitional relief which may vary according to an LDC member’s status as either an original member or Article XII member. Accession-specific commitments and associated treaty dialogue also show that there is implementation ‘flexibility’ on the basis of pre-determined action plans. The chapter finds that in those instances where Article XII LDCs members have undertaken legally binding commitments to implement WTO-plus obligations the substantive minimum standards of protection of the TRIPs Agreement have been increased. These WTO-plus binding commitments have been used to ‘lock in’ domestic institutional and structural reforms based on domestic development priorities to encourage innovation and attraction of foreign direct investment and they have served a domestic reform purpose to encourage innovation induce foreign direct investment and strengthen the TRIPs Agreement by increasing substantive minimum standards.
Deepening African Integration: Intra-African Trade for Development and Poverty Reduction
The obstacles to deeper African integration are great but the potential gains for development and poverty reduction warrant a sustained effort to overcome these challenges. High trade barriers between countries have been reflected in trade that is more oriented toward distant markets than neighbouring African countries – it is often easier for Africans to trade with the rest of the world than with each other. The potential exists for greater intra-African trade in ways that would have significant positive impacts on the lives of millions living in poverty. Barriers to intra-regional trade need to be tackled along with complementary efforts to ensure that the poorest people can access the opportunities created. The World Bank Group is working in a number of different areas to support this effort and is ready to do more.
WTO accession and accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: What is the relationship? Why should WTO acceding governments also consider GPA accession?
The WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is unique in its duality as an international trade agreement that promotes and preserves market opening and as an instrument for the promotion of good governance. The recent successful renegotiation of the GPA has enhanced its coverage so that it now provides access to markets valued at US$1.7 trillion annually. In addition the text of the GPA has been effectively modernised making it more relevant economically and simplifying its implementation. Although not a substitute for domestic procurement reforms it is a catalytic and reinforcing factor for reforms that enhance transparency and competition internally – thereby yielding important gains for governments and citizens in terms of value for money in national procurement activities. Participation in the GPA can also promote inward foreign direct investment by signalling a country’s commitment to good governance and the fair treatment of all players under national legislation. The review in this chapter of the evidence from WTO and GPA accessions indicates that the WTO accession negotiations of Article XII members are often used to leverage increased GPA accessions. Specifically of the members that have acceded to the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO (WTO Agreement) twenty-two have undertaken GPA-related commitments and seven subsequently joined the GPA. Out of the ten WTO members that are currently seeking accession to the GPA nine undertook commitments related to GPA accession at the time of their WTO accessions pursuant to Article XII of the WTO Agreement. The chapter concludes that even though WTO accession and GPA accession are formally separate steps the basic policy decision as to whether to join the GPA is often made long before GPA accession negotiations are started at the time of WTO accession. This chapter provides countries and other WTO members considering taking on accession commitments with a strengthened understanding of the relevant benefits and costs.
African Trade Integration and International Production Networks
African trade is heavily concentrated in agricultural and natural resourcebased commodities sectors that are highly embedded in international value chains. There has been significant trade dynamism in recent years driven by greater participation by African firms and communities in value chains especially in products like fresh produce and flowers. Much of this trade and production is for end markets in Europe but there is also increasing trade of this type within Africa in some manufacturing sectors as well as within services such as tourism. Intra-regional trade remains well below potential however and the challenge to diversify trade and increase the value-added share of African trade continues to confront most African economies. There are improving prospects for this as a result of intra-African policy changes ranging from a greater focus on trade facilitation to the ambition of creating a continental free trade area. A steep increase in supply chain trade in Africa is possible in coming decades if efforts continue to put in place a supporting policy environment. This must centre on substantially lowering trade costs for African firms by implementing trade facilitation measures especially for intra-regional trade flows and improving the productivity of transport logistics and related services that determine the feasibility of efficiently operating regional value chains.
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.
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.
Rising Africa in World Trade? A Story of Traditional Commodities and New Products
International trade provides ample opportunities for the economic development of countries and regions. The fall in trade costs – communication and transportation costs greater access to international capital markets regional cooperation and last but not least the decrease in trade barriers – has supported global trade and output expansion over the last decades. Emerging opportunities and challenges resulting from technological economic and political developments differ however from region to region. Historical experience shows that much of the progress in economic growth and development also depends on the readiness of local business and governments to rapidly adapt and seize opportunities.
Post-Accession Support Platform
WTO obligations including notification requirements and specific accession commitments are complex. Most of them become effective from the date of WTO membership. From a centralized accession process new members now suddenly have to adapt to a decentralized WTO procedures and participate in parallel in its multiple bodies. The twenty years of post-accession experience of Article XII members suggests that many especially least-developed countries (LDCs) have faced major implementation challenges until a system of post-accession support was introduced recently. This chapter reviews the Post-Accession Support Platform (PASP) a framework developed by the WTO Secretariat to facilitate the transition from acceding economy to full-fledged WTO member. The PASP offers individual post-accession implementation strategies technical assistance and capacity-building best international practices a dedicated website and internal Secretariat procedures that can be used to support new WTO members. The chapter reviews the use of the PASP by two recently acceded LDCs – Afghanistan and Liberia – and finds early signs of improved effectiveness in the WTO post-accession transition process.
Managing the challenge of acceding post-conflict states
This chapter posits that leaving WTO accession in the hands of trade experts or commercial specialists within the acceding government can be unwise. Accession to the WTO goes far beyond the remit of the trade commerce and/or foreign ministry and even beyond the responsibilities of the minister. In order to conclude an accession what is required of the acceding government will involve many if not most ministries call upon governmental agencies and other authorities and may very well include both regional and municipal levels of government. The acceding government must expect to make hard policy choices. Poorer developing countries are likely to come across particular challenges and solutions. Given the demanding nature of this process it is important that the acceding government is entirely convinced before embarking upon the process that it has the right motivations and expectations in wishing to become a member of the WTO.
WTO accessions: What does the academic literature say?
This chapter takes stock of the recent academic literature on accessions. It focuses only on the analytical work published since 2000 in books academic journals and working papers by key WTO scholars across the world. These contributions are related to the procedural legal economic and institutional aspects of WTO accessions and to the proposals for their reform. Country-specific studies research on the impact of accessions on individual industries and reports on accessions by national and international institutions are not included.
Eurasian Economic Union integration: Timetable, priorities and challenges
This chapter focuses on the objectives of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) of the Republic of Armenia the Republic of Belarus the Republic of Kazakhstan Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation within the multilateral trading system. The EAEU has become one of the largest trading blocs in the world with a land area of more than 20 million square kilometres and a population of more than 176 million people. This chapter analyses the history of Eurasian integration and presents its current status as well as the prospects of the Eurasian Economic Union for 2015.
The 2012 WTO accession of Russia: Negotiating experience – challenges, opportunities and post-accession approaches
The working party on the accession of Russia was the biggest and longest in WTO accession history. A big power that decides to join an international organisation even if this is the WTO cannot avoid political burdens. No big country can stay apart from world politics. The WTO accession process is tough demanding and complex with no clear rules. This raises questions about length fairness and lack of procedural clarity. Yet it is risky to stay outside the rules-based multilateral trading system. To navigate the WTO accession process upfront it is critical to define a negotiating strategy and plan the end-game well in advance – a process that requires mobilisation of all negotiating resources concentration and focus. Domestically the challenge for the acceding government is to state a clear rationale for accession demonstrate that there will be real benefits from accession or at a minimum that there will be no negative consequences and define red lines to be defended. Negotiating positions should be aligned with requirements for domestic reform. Strong and consistent political will and leadership with support from the parliamentary majority are necessary to conclude any accession negotiations. WTO accession may in itself play neither a negative nor a positive role for domestic economic developments but by becoming a member a country will obtain benefits in the medium and long term through the creation of better terms for its trade within the WTO itself. In this chapter Russia’s practical experience of its accession negotiation the obstacles encountered its assessment of the benefits of accession including lessons learned during the process are described.
The future of Asia: Unleashing the power of trade and governance
Half a century ago the future of Asia looked quite bleak. Civil and regional conflict ravaged many parts of the region. China was still closed to the world and in the throes of its Cultural Revolution. India and Pakistan were recovering from wars Indonesia and the Philippines were under authoritarian rule and several Central Asian countries were mere shadow states of the former Soviet Union. Since then Asia has surprised the world: Japan and the rest of East Asia have rapidly become industrialised and successive years of high growth have been attained by other Asian countries notably China India and several countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This growth has been driven in great part by rapidly expanding trade with the liberalisation of China in the late 1970s and of India in the 1990s greater integration among North-east and Southeast Asian countries and the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Trade Multilateralism in the Twenty-First Century
Trade multilateralism in the twenty-first century faces a serious test as weakness in the global economy and fast-paced technological changes create a challenging environment for world trade. This book examines how an updated and robust rules-based multilateral framework anchored in the WTO remains indispensable to maximizing the benefits of global economic integration and to reviving world trade. By examining recent accessions to the WTO it reveals how the growing membership of the WTO has helped to support domestic reforms and to strengthen the rules-based framework of the WTO. It argues that the new realities of the twenty-first century require an upgrade to the architecture of the multilateral trading system. By erecting its ‘upper floors’ on the foundation of existing trade rules the WTO can continue to adapt to a fast-changing environment and to maximize the benefits brought about by its ever-expanding membership.
Accession in Perspective
The multilateral trading system came into being on 1 January 1948 when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1947) was signed by its 23 founding members. The GATT’s membership expanded considerably in the following decades as many countries gained their independence and took over the rights and obligations of membership that metropolitan powers had accepted on their behalf and others negotiated their accession to the treaty. All the Members of GATT 1947 decided by the end of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations (1986–1994) to take on the greatly enlarged rights and obligations of the new organization they had negotiated – the World Trade Organization (WTO) which came into force on 1 January 1995 with 128 original Members. While these accounted for an extremely large percentage of world trade many economies remained outside the multilateral system. Since its inception WTO Members have repeatedly stressed their commitment to making the WTO universal in scope and coverage – an ambition shared by a large number of governments outside the system.
Implementing Trade Facilitation Reform in Africa
Trade facilitation is central to Africa’s competitiveness in the global economy. Costs related to trade facilitation make up a significant proportion of overall trade-related costs which in Africa are higher than in any other developing region. This acts as a barrier for the integration of African countries into global markets as well as greater intra-African integration. Improving trade facilitation is essential for lowering costs for African agricultural producers as well as supporting the development of higher value-added activities in agribusiness manufacturing and services including participation in regional and global value chains. Diagnostic tools used by the World Bank Group such as the Logistics Performance Index as well as country-specific diagnostics highlight the key challenges faced. The evidence also shows that performance varies with some countries making significant progress on reform programs to improve trade facilitation. With other developing regions having generally more advanced trade facilitation regimes the lessons from these regions can be instructive in designing and implementing reforms in Africa which the World Bank Group is actively supporting at the national and regional levels. A priority for the Bank Group is implementing trade facilitation programs that do more to reduce trade-related costs facing the extreme poor given the concentration of extreme poverty in Africa.
WTO accession negotiations: Trends and results in agriculture plurilaterals
Thirty-three members have acceded to the WTO since it was established in 1995. In the majority of these accession negotiations reforms to the agriculture sector have featured as a particularly sensitive issue for acceding governments. Why is this the case? What are the existing members’ expectations of acceding governments in relation to agriculture? And how have acceding governments fared through this process? While agriculture trade accounts for less than 10 per wto_cent of world merchandise trade the agriculture sector particularly for many developing countries can be significant in terms of its contribution to both gross domestic product and employment.
Foreword
Since the establishment of the WTO on 1 January 1995 no less than 23 States and separate customs territories have joined the multilateral trading system through the procedures of Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement. These represent a range of economies from global players to important emerging and transition economies and least-developed countries. A relatively large number are at various stages of the accession process. A certain limited number have still to take the decision to seek WTO membership.
Trade, Investment and Development
Structural transformation is imperative for Africa’s economies. An unprecedented policy unanimity has emerged amongst African government and business leaders that to achieve sustained growth and development Africa must industrialize and secure a greater share of the benefits of its participation in global value chains. This requires further advances in a programme for ‘development integration’ that simultaneously combines market integration with purposeful industrial development intervention and cooperation to strengthen regional value chains underpinned by efforts to develop and rehabilitate cross-border infrastructure for greater connectivity across Africa.