WTO accessions

Geographical indications are signs used to identify the origin of goods characterized by a given quality or reputation that is essentially linked to their geographical origin. They preserve traditional knowledge foster the growth of local production and satisfy the needs of increasingly quality-conscious and demanding global consumers. Governments acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) have reformed their rules on geographical indications in order to achieve WTO consistency. In doing so they have added value to the multilateral trading system by clarifying the scope of WTO obligations in the field of geographical indications in the following ways: minimum standards of protection; requirements for application to geographical indication protection; the relationship between geographical indications and trademarks; and the scope of substantive provisions with regard to geographical indications. This heightened understanding of the regulation of geographical indications has set new standards in the multilateral trading system. Acceding economies have followed international best practices and sometimes gone a step further by undertaking commitments that exceed those in effect among incumbent WTO members. Rule-making on geographical indications has also helped to prevent disputes on related issues. The lessons learned in the WTO accession process can serve other developing countries and emerging economies to unravel the legal and economic potential of geographical indications.

Trade liberalization has been a key component of economic development and transformation in the global economy since the middle of the last century and is a leading force in fostering globalization and connectivity in the twenty-first century. Trade reform has been on the agenda of African economies first under the IMF-supported structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s and the early 1990s and subsequently pursued within the multilateral legal and policy framework of the WTO. Following two decades of rapid trade growth in Africa the evidence suggests that significant barriers to trade remain within Africa impeding its integration to regional and global value chains. Considerable scope exists for the use of trade policy to accelerate and deepen sustained economic development and transformation. African economies should embark on the next generation of trade and associated structural reforms more aggressively and ambitiously.

Since 1947 effective levels of average tariff protection have declined as regulatory protectionism – behind the border – has risen. To a large extent the greater gains from continued trade opening lie in the area of procompetitive domestic regulatory reform codified in duly enacted legislation with associated implementing regulations. In the practice of WTO accession negotiations specific obligations have focused more on regulatory areas of the foreign trade regime. The evidence from thirty-three deposited Accession Protocols shows that there have been ninety-three specific obligations undertaken on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. Pursuant to WTO Accession Protocols these are now integral to the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement). The quantum of citation in WTO jurisprudence in the area of SPS is considerable: since 1995 42 out of 494 WTO dispute settlement cases have cited the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in the request for consultations. This chapter examines the evolution of accession results on SPS from 1995 to 2015 and their contributions to the enhancement of the existing WTO legal and policy framework on SPS. Specifically this chapter focuses on the increasing importance of SPS regulatory issues in the foreign trade regimes of WTO members the substance of specific SPS obligations undertaken by Article XII members and their relationship to the WTO Agreement and the core questions that have emerged on the SPS accession treaty dialogue in the context of customs union agreements. As demonstrated in this chapter SPS accession commitments undertaken by thirty-three Article XII WTO members have exercised a significant influence on WTO jurisprudence. To a large extent this has further clarified and strengthened WTO law.

As the WTO celebrates its twentieth year it is appropriate to ask what WTO accessions have contributed to the rules-based multilateral trading system. What demands have been made by the original and incumbent WTO members on acceding governments? How have the acceding governments fared? This chapter finds that WTO accessions have expanded the reach of the trading system not only geographically but conceptually by clarifying disciplines and pointing the way to their further strengthening in future negotiations. Members who have acceded under Article XII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade now account for 20 per wto_cent of total membership of the WTO. Meanwhile with globalisation the increased prevalence complexity and capillarity of international exchange has greatly increased the need for a universal system of trade rules. Crucially accession negotiations have been used by governments as an instrument for wide-ranging domestic reforms including by means of far-reaching new legislation that has effectively changed the business landscape. In several instances the WTO accession negotiating platform has been used for the much broader purpose of facilitating new closer geopolitical relationships. As the negotiating arm of the WTO continuously adapts the success of accession negotiations also points to the opportunities inherent in variable negotiating configurations such as plurilaterals around specific issues. There is also considerable scope for improving the process of accession negotiations to ensure greater transparency streamlining and fairness.

This chapter examines rule-making in the WTO. It explains the legal provisions governing how rules are made in the WTO and describes WTO rule-making in practice including through the adoption of decisions by the Ministerial Conference and the General Council and by way of dispute settlement. The role of consensus and voting in WTO rulemaking are discussed. The chapter also refers to different types of rules and decisions – such as ministerial declarations authoritative interpretations amendments and waivers – and considers their legal value and effect as well as how different types of rules or decisions have been interpreted or applied. Finally it also includes a look at rule-making in the context of accessions and considers Accession Protocols and working party reports through the lens of WTO dispute settlement.

On 14 July 2016 Liberia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) as its 163rd member. Liberia’s accession negotiations were done in 804 days since the appointment of the Chief Negotiator after stalling for over 6 years and 10 months since Liberia first applied for Accession. This unprecedented efficiency was made possible by a combination of factors. First Liberia’s determination at the highest political level allowed it to conduct accession negotiations with commitment and focus while adhering to a time-bound roadmap. Speed and efficiency of accession-related reforms were essential as the country had endured an almost simultaneous double shock – the Ebola epidemic and a sharp drop in commodity prices. Second WTO members appreciated this determination and were ready to move faster than usual in the negotiating process to help put the country on track with trade-related reforms in particular those aimed at overcoming the twin shocks. Third the WTO wished to include Liberia’s accession among the deliverables for its Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi the first ministerial conference to be held in Africa. The outcome was an accession that is now commonly referred to as the Liberian Model. An accession is concluded based on rational individual choices constructed around a vision for modernizing a country and its economy. This chapter highlights Liberia’s transformation and its challenges and discusses why WTO accession continues to be essential in facilitating Liberia’s economic diversification agenda.

China is among the Article XII members which joined the WTO after its establishment in 1995. Membership of the WTO has served as a major stabiliser and strong accelerator for China’s economic take-off although China’s accession commitments were highly demanding. One of the most profound impacts brought about by China’s accession has been that the country fully embraced the rules-based spirit upheld by the WTO. Concepts such as non-discrimination transparency and the rule of law are no longer trade jargon but common words for the general public. To this end China conducted the largest legislative reform in its history to establish a WTO-consistent legal system. China’s accession brought tangible benefits to the Chinese people quadrupling the gross domestic product per capita increasing people’s income and improving people’s livelihood. Household income increased from about US$800 to US$3300 marking an annual growth of 10 per cent. More than 200 million people were successfully lifted out of poverty. As China benefited from integration into the WTO and the rules-based multilateral trading system it has shared these benefits with other WTO members including and in particular least-developed countries.

The African Union’s (AU) priorities at the WTO reflect the priorities of the WTO’s African member states that the multilateral trading system should contribute to the economic development of their economies through the elaboration of equitable fair and development-friendly rules. The position of the AU is consistent with the recently adopted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which also see trade as being critical to achieving the goal of eradicating extreme poverty everywhere. The AU’s priority is therefore to see WTO outcomes that serve to facilitate the structural economic transformation and development of developing and least-developed African countries in line with the vision of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.

The Great Recession of 2008–2009 tested the resilience of economies across the world and placed enormous strain on the frameworks underpinning global cooperation. In no arena was the test more severe than in world trade which against a background of collapsing output and surging unemployment in the industrialised countries fell about one-quarter in the first half of 2009 a rate of decline that exceeded the worst years of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Although the rate of recovery remains sluggish and the pace of trade liberalisation has slowed a relapse into protectionism has been avoided and world trade volumes have surpassed the pre-crisis peak by some 25 per cent. The world trading system seems to have passed this most strenuous of tests. This chapter examines how two great changes in the global economic landscape deepening trade integration (trade as a means of production as well as consumption) and the rising weight of developing countries are changing trade and investment flows and creating new challenges for policy-makers.