Trade and Investment Policy
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A Working Group on Trade and Investment Policy was set up as per the Singapore Ministerial Declaration, 1996 and it is looking into the relationship between trade and investment
This decision was adopted after hectic lobbying by EU, and Canada before the Singapore Ministerial. India was left alone at the end of the day. Even Malaysia deserted at the last moment when they got the carrot of ITA In spite of the parallel launch of the MAI at OECD, USA was happy to support it at the WTO |
EU Chile Costa Rica S. Korea Japan Morocco Czech Republic Hungary Switzerland Norway |
Australia Argentina Brazil Hong Kong Lesotho S. Africa USA |
India Malaysia Egypt Pakistan Norway Nigeria |
The Working Group is yet to submit its final report
There is little consensus among members on issues which are to be taken up in case negotiations start, while EU is pushing hard Tactically, EU has proposed a plurilateral agreement, with the participation of all WTO members but without any commitment. US will likely support such a move for other trade-offs |
Trade and Competition Policy
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
A Working Group on Trade and Competition Policy was set up as per the Singapore Ministerial Declaration, 1996 and it is looking into the relationship between trade and competition. South could get in the issue of studying anti-competitive practice also
In the run up to the Singapore Ministerial meeting, the EU and Japan pushed for this issue, while USA was uninterested, due to domestic turf problems |
EU Japan Norway |
USA Mexico South Korea |
India Pakistan Malaysia Kenya South Africa Nigeria |
The Working Group is yet to submit its final report
Like investment, tactically, EU has proposed a plurilateral agreement, with the participation of all WTO members but without any commitment. US will likely support such a move for other trade-offs |
Trade Facilitation
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Singapore Ministerial Declaration instructed the WTO Council for Trade in Goods to start exploratory and analytical work on trade facilitation |
EU Japan USA Switzerland S. Korea |
India Nigeria |
The issue is at the background now, but the situation is fluid |
Government Procurement
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
There is a plurilateral (WTO) agreement on government procurement
As per the Singapore Ministerial Declaration, the WTO has set a Working Group, which includes all members, on Transparency in Government Procurement |
EU USA Canada Switzerland Singapore Japan S. Korea Israel Liechtenstein Hong Kong |
Argentina Australia Bulgaria Czech Republic Chile Colombia Turkey Jordan Poland Panama |
India Pakistan Egypt Malaysia South Africa Nigeria |
A potentially contentious area
Likely to be a part of the negotiating agenda in case new round starts |
Trade and Environment
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
The WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE), established at Marrakesh, is discussing a 10-point agenda
Northern civil society a strong advocate ever since. |
EU USA Canada Japan Norway Switzerland |
Australia S. Korea |
Many developing countries | Discussions at the CTE are not progressing but EU continues pushing as in the past to incorporate environment in all accords |
Trade and Labour Standards
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ever since the first Ministerial meeting, some developed countries have pushed for a working party on trade and labour standards at the WTO, but that did not materialise due to opposition from others, but the issue has not yet died
Many trade unions in both North and South, while mainly Northern NGOs, are big lobbies |
USA Canada Norway Sweden* Germany* (* EU members, but are pressing hard within) |
EU Argentina |
India Pakistan Egypt S. Korea Thailand S. Africa Brazil Hong Kong Malaysia |
There has been some softening of the stance of many of those countries who were pushing hard earlier |
New Round
| Background | For | Fence Sitters | Against | State-of-the-Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Some countries want to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations during the fourth Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held at Doha, Qatar in November 2001, while many others are opposing
The issue, in the form of a ‘millennium round’ came up during the third Ministerial meeting of the WTO, held at Seattle, USA in 1999, but there was no progress Another proposal mooted by the UK for a ‘development round’ which highlighted India’s concerns over anti-dumping for instance |
APEC EU USA Canada Egypt S. Africa Japan Costa Rica Singapore Hong Kong Bangladesh Thailand China |
Mexico New Zealand ASEAN LDCs (but consensus lacking) Malaysia Nigeria |
India Pakistan Mauritius Kenya Zambia Botswana Mauritania |
The situation is fluid with changing country positions
The EU is pushing hard, including consensus building, for a ‘comprehensive round’ while the US is for a ‘limited round’ |