The Global Economic Governance Programme is pleased to announce the release of a discussion draft of Strengthening Multilateralism: A Mapping of Proposals on WTO Reform and Global Trade Governance, by Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck and Catherine Monagle, and jointly published with the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD). (For a PDF version of the publication from GEG’s website click here. or from ICTSD’s website, click here).
This mapping study starts from the premise that the WTO is a valuable and indispensable multilateral institution. However, after a sixty-year history, the multilateral trading system faces a suite of challenges and needs to be strengthened to better reflect the different political and economic times we live in, address the sustainable development challenges we face, and support the new aspirations of our generation. It is in this positive spirit that we publish Strengthening Multilateralism.
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. While calls for strengthening multilateralism and for WTO reform have been more acute at particular junctures in the WTO’s recent history – most particularly following the Seattle, Cancun and Hong Kong Ministerial Conferences – they have been a constant theme of academic commentary and analysis, civil society and business advocacy, parliamentary discussion, and Member State concern. Renewed interest in proposals to strengthen the multilateral trade system and the functioning of the WTO is already evident in preparation for the Seventh Ministerial Conference to be held from 30 November – 2 December 2009.
This ‘mapping study’ compiles a sampling of the numerous proposals and political statements on reform of the WTO put forward since 1995. The mapping comprises an overview, two Annexes and an extensive reference list for interest readers. The first Annex gathers a sample of political statements and decisions from WTO member states, the WTO Secretariat, and heads of international organizations that speak to the need for strengthening multilateralism, and reform of the WTO and global trade governance. The second Annex similarly compiles a sample of reform proposals, but this time focuses on contributions from academics and stakeholders.
This discussion draft represents the first iteration of the mapping study and is a work-in-progress. This document will be open for comments and inputs until 1 February 2010. To facilitate feedback, a Wiki space for comments on the discussion draft of Strengthening Multilateralism can be accessed at: http://strengtheningmultilateralism.wikispaces.com/.
Copies are available on-line at ICTSD’s website and via Oxford University’s Global Economic Governance Programme. The final publication is scheduled for early 2010. A web-based version of the final annexes to the report will be published on line with a facility for online collaboration to update and supplement the database of reform proposals.
This report builds on the existing work of both ICTSD and GEG. In particular, it follows our earlier joint publication Rebuilding Global Trade: Proposals for a Fairer, More Sustainable Future, a compilation of short essays on trade and global economic governance published in advance of the G20’s London Summit in April 2009.
At GEG’s Global Trade Governance Project, this literature review represents the latest phase of scholarly research designed to help bolster understanding of how to make global economic governance work better for developing countries. Surprisingly, while the body of scholarly research on WTO reform has grown, no similarly comprehensive effort has been made to systematically compile an overview of the range of proposals already on the table, and importantly, to organize them according to the WTO function at hand and to differentiate their proposed purposes.
Dr. Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck is a Senior Research at GEG 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 (2009) 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).
These are the kind of events that should be organized for the purpose of promoting international development. Many writers believe that globalization is antithetical to the growth of developed and more importantly, developing countries, which is a grave misconception. The problem is not really globalization, but how it is managed by national governments. A good economy does not only entail promoting economic growth, but also the ability to manage economic downturns, as there will always be good and bad seasons in a normal economic cycle. Therefore, we cannot be arguing against globalization, but improving upon it. Once again, I commend the Global Economic Governance Program for coming up with this excellent program.
WTO must be reformed to reflect the global imbalances in trade, otherwise it will always be seen as an agent that perpetuates the interest of the West and undermines the idea of free trade.
[...] Governance, by Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck and Catherine Monagle. For more on this publication, click here. Dr. Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck is a Senior Researcher at Oxford’s Global Economic Governance [...]
[...] 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 [...]