The most important trade advice one can give to leaders participating in the G-20 London Summit is, Do no harm. The risk of harm is real, since the group’s composition and preparatory process, both oriented to financial issues, are ill-suited to trade or the World Trade Organization (WTO). Some countries important in the WTO are not invited to London, but many members of the G20 have little or no role in WTO negotiations in Geneva. Officials responsible for trade policy have not been involved in developing the texts for leaders. Nevertheless many analysts want the G20 to take an activist role on trade. Leaders should resist that temptation in favour of playing a catalytic role.
Though our work and research on matters of global economic governance continues, our posting here does not. For up-to-date information on the latest GEG news and research, please check the main GEG website and Facebook page.
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March 17, 2009 / financial crisis, G20, trade, wto
Tags: G-20, trade, transparency, wto
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March 17, 2009 / financial crisis, G20, imf, trade, world bank, wto
Development should be the centerpiece of reforming the global economic architecture. Pressing to conclude a World Trade Organization (WTO) deal to close the Doha Round based on the current proposals circulating in Geneva would be counter productive. Instead, we offer five policies for reforming global trade that will enable economic development and stimulate the global demand needed for a global recovery.
Tags: developing countries, G-20, trade, wto
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March 17, 2009 / aid, financial crisis, G20, trade, wto
The establishment of the Bretton Woods institutions in 1948 was intended to forestall the sort of crisis that had afflicted global economic and political governance structures in the preceding periods, and which have a striking semblance to the current world economic recession. The weaknesses of the skewed governance configurations built into the institutions charged with coordinating and managing the aftermath of the pre-1948 catastrophe have spurred copious criticisms, particularly from the developing countries whose interests have frequently been threatened by the ways in which these institutions have implemented their respective mandates. For the rest of the twentieth century and in the advent of the new millennium, the developing world has been preoccupied with resisting the current and potential impacts of global economic power relations biased against their sustainable development interests. If not immediately restructured, the status quo could have pervasive, damaging consequences for both the developed countries that now exercise economic and technological supremacy, and the weak, almost totally helpless, developing countries. Only a few developing countries have managed to escape the harsh effects of such distorted power relations.
Tags: developing countries, financial crisis, G-20, wto
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March 17, 2009 / aid, financial crisis, G20, trade, wto
The London G20 Summit is an opportunity to tackle urgent issues related to the impact of the global crisis on international trade and the multilateral trade system. On the trade front, the Summit should show that G20 countries are prepared to avoid protectionist measures and practices, and that they will continue working together to strengthen the WTO system. But at the same time, it is important for G20 participants at the Summit to recognize that effective cooperation on trade-related issues can only be achieved through the collective capacity and mobilization of as many countries as possible. As is true for the EU members of the G20, it should be assumed that other participating emerging countries are, at least to some degree, expressing points of view that stem from consultations with non-participating developing countries from the same region. This would contribute to the international legitimacy of the G20 and strengthen its capacity to impact global realities.
Tags: developing countries, G-20, trade governance, wto
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January 4, 2009 / financial crisis, imf, trade, world bank, wto
When the WTO starts its work for 2009 this week, three items must be at the top of the agenda: debating the selection and mandate of the agency’s Director-General (Pascal Lamy’s current four-year term will expire this August); setting a date for a full Ministerial Conference this year in Geneva; and forging a forward-looking agenda for that meeting.
Tags: Deere, developing countries, Director General, Doha Round, financial crisis, Lamy, leadership, sustainable development, trade, wto
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October 30, 2008 / trade
Don’t waste your energy tweaking at the margins.
This was the crux of Hunter Nottage’s presentation at GEG on 24 October, on the integration of developing countries in the WTO legal regime.
Nottage is Counsel at the Advisory Centre on WTO Law, a Geneva-based non-profit organisation tasked with offering litigation, legal advice, and legal training services to developing countries. Established six-and-a-half years ago, the ACWL aims to reduce the asymmetry of access to the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism by responding to financial constraints and lack of legal expertise that many developing countries face. It has participated in 20 per cent of all DSM activity and lost only one case to date. But the core of Nottage’s presentation was to challenge some of the received wisdom, arguing that in order to improve access to the DSM, it was necessary to reform trade rules rather than focus on procedural changes for disputes.
Tags: arunabha ghosh, trade, wto
