In this blog, GEG’s Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck argues that Ministers should use this Ministerial Conference to take leadership and push discussion of institutional reform and governance higher up the multilateral trade system’s official agenda.
With just over one week remaining before the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference (30 November – 2 December 2009), WTO reform and the functioning of the multilateral trade system have emerged as top agenda items for political discussion. Long overdue, this will be the organization’s first Ministerial Conference in nearly four years (see my post in January calling on governments to regularize bi-annual Ministerial Conferences as mandated in the WTO’s founding agreement).
WTO Members and the Secretariat have already been grappling for several months over what the substance of the Ministerial Conference should be. Member states have agreed that this will not be a ‘negotiating meeting’ and should not divert political energy from the Doha Round negotiations. In lieu of a Ministerial Declaration, the only formal outcomes will be the Chairman’s summary of the discussions and Ministerial decisions on two issues: e-commerce and so-called non-violation complaints under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
The Ministerial Conference should not, however, be downplayed as mere ‘housekeeping’. As I argued on this blog in April, this year’s Ministerial Conference is a critical opportunity for dialogue on the systemic challenges facing the WTO, how to strengthen multilateralism in trade, and how to ensure that the multilateral trade system better delivers on its commitments to sustainable development and the needs of developing countries.
If earlier in the year, some analysts questioned whether Ministers could be convened for any purpose less ambitious than closing the Doha Round, WTO members and indeed the WTO Secretariat now seem poised to engage in the kind of serious deliberative process of policy dialogue and agenda-setting that has been too often missing since the WTO’s establishment. Although no Ministerial Decisions are expected to be taken on matters related to organizational reform, a number of governments have made proposals that, among other reform-related matters, are likely to come up for discussion at the Ministerial (see below). It is vital that Ministers grasp this opportunity. Indeed, Ministerial-level engagement and debate is vital for ensuring that the multilateral trading system is fit to take on emerging challenges, address existing shortcomings, and to respond to a changing global political economy – as is a process for engaging stakeholders and experts.
Even if no formal decisions on reform are taken (or an appropriate process for ongoing discussion), the Ministerial Conference provides a criticial opportunity for Ministers to informally prepare the ground for stronger leadership on the WTO’s strategic direction, both in the international arena and with domestic constituencies. A statement in October by the WTO’s General Council Chairman, Mario Matus, reflected the growing recognition of the importance of re-engagement by Ministers in this ‘oversight’ function, noting that this Ministerial would be ”a regular gathering of Ministers to engage in a broader evaluation of the functioning of the multilateral trading system” and an “opportunity for discussion and direction at Ministerial level across all the WTO’s activities.”
This week, at the last WTO General Council meeting before the Ministerial Conference, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy echoed this view, declaring that “what is needed more than anything in the current economic situation is a platform for ministers to review the functioning of this house in its entirety and to renew their commitment to a strong, well functioning multilateral trading system.” He described the upcoming ministerial conference as “a unique occasion for the WTO membership to send a number of strong signals to the world with respect to the entire WTO waterfront of issues – from monitoring and surveillance to disputes, accessions, Aid for Trade, technical assistance and international governance.”
Reform-related Proposals Submitted for Discussion at the Ministerial
Within this broad agenda, several particular reform issues will likely emerge in discussion following formal proposals submitted over the past few months. In mid-October, for instance, India submitted a proposal with 13 other countries proposing text for inclusion in the Chairman’s summary to be issued at the conclusion of the 7th Ministerial conference, which would have called on the WTO General Council to “establish an appropriate deliberative process to review the organization’s functioning, efficiency and transparency and consider possible improvements, while bearing in mind the high priority we attach to the successful conclusion of the DDA negotiations” and for a progress report at the subsequent Ministerial (see WT/MIN(09)/W/1). The proposal drew many positive reactions, but tensions also emerged. Several delegations lamented inadequate consultation before the proposal was submitted, and called for a greater focus on concerns about democratizaton and development.
Also in October, two complementary proposals on the accession process emerged. The first proposal came from Cambodia and Tanzania and called for improved implementation of the 2002 Guidelines on LDC accessions ”so as to facilitate and accelerate the WTO accession negotiations with acceding LDCs”. Referring to the results of a Roundtable on LDC Accessions held in late September 2009, the proposal calls for improved transparency on LDC’s accession, strict respect for the 2002 Guidelines, a greater mandate for the Director-General as a facilitator, annual progress reports on LDCs’ accessions, and greater assistance for accession countries. Importantly, the proposal also reiterated the request that LDC accessions be an agenda item at the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference. A subsequent proposal from Cambodia reiterated the call for greater assistance from WTO members and the Secretariat to enable the accession to the WTO of LDCs (which comprise 40 percent of the accession candidates) (see WT/MIN(09)/1/Add.1.). Notably, Cambodia formally requested that a process be established by the Chairman of the General Council, the Director-General and the General Council to consider the LDC proposal.
A second proposal was submitted by Gabon on behalf of an Informal Group of Developing Countries, which emphasized the asymmetry in negotiating power between existing members and acceding developing countries, and the “lack of clear rules on the accession process”. The statement also raised concerns that acceding countries face demands that go beyond their level of development, and current WTO rules. The proponents called for an opportunity for dialogue with WTO members on these matters outside the context of their accession negotiations and for the accession process to be included among the systemic issues on the agenda for discussion at the forthcoming Geneva Ministerial Conference (WT/GC/W/611).
Deliberations on WTO reform and strengthening multilateralism call for political leadership. In the 15 years since the World Trade Organization (WTO) was established, the issue of institutional reform – whether it is needed, in what form, and via what kind of process – has been an ever-present issue for the organization and its Member States. Ministers should use this Ministerial Conference to push such issues higher up the multilateral trade system’s official agenda, strongly anchored in concerns for transparency, efficiency, sustainable development, democratization and addressing the needs of developing countries, particularly the smaller and weaker among them.
As an input to this process, Oxford’s Global Economic Governance Programme has partnered with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) to publish a discussion draft of Strengthening Multilateralism: A Mapping of Proposals on WTO Reform and Global Trade Governance, by Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck and Catherine Monagle. For more on this publication on GEG’s website, click here or on ICTSD’s website, click here.
Dr. Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck is a Senior Researcher at Oxford’s Global Economic Governance Programme and Director of its Global Trade Governance Project. She is also the co-editor (with Ricardo Meléndez-Ortiz) of Rebuilding Global Trade: Proposals for a Fairer, More Sustainable Future and the author of The Implementation Game: The TRIPS Agreement and the Global Politics of Intellectual Property Reform in Developing Countries (Oxford University Press, 2008).
[...] ICTSD this week also released a discussion draft of a new joint report entitled “Strengthening Multilateralism: A Mapping of Proposals on WTO Reform and Global Trade Governance,” by Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck and Catherine Monagle. Deere-Birkbeck also posted a separate article to the Global Economic Governance Programme blog entitled, “Momentum Builds for Discussion of Reform at WTO Ministerial Conference.” [...]