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International Trade Law
● Week 1 Introduction
Video 1 Foundation of WTO Law
Outline
- Contextual elements
- Global trends and patterns
- WTO- Think
- WTO institutional structure
- Sources of WTO Law
Questions to address today:
- What is the role of the WTO in international trade?
- What is the historical background of the WTO and the WTO agreements?
- What is the organizational structure of the WTO?
Some people think that the WTO is evil, it does not serve in interest of developing countries
Cost of protectionism
- The global income loss from agricultural distortions worldwide may be equal to over 120
billion
- Especially in developed countries, support to agriculture is estimated to be roughly 1
billion per day
- Over 60% of farmer’s income in OECD countries is the result of state subsidies
The Social Dilemmas
Increasing market access, but Choices for the individual
Distributional dilemma As a consumer
Values dilemma As worker
State goals dilemma As a member of economic class
What policy goals affect trade regulation As a resident of a community
As a citizen, personal values
Video 2: Global trade: trends, patterns and change. What role for the WTO in the years to
come?
The changing shape of global trade
- In 1992, North America and Europe are important trade flow
- In 2014, trade becomes more dimensional
,World trade remains highly concentrated
- Some countries are very active in global trade
Trend: China and India will be the biggest economies in the world by 2050
Trade superpower?
US-China trade war
Video 3: WTO Think
WTO Economic Rationale
- Economic theory is the basis for WTO Law
- Comparative/absolute advantage
- Protectionism/ special interest groups
- Terms of trade/ prisoner’s dilemma (link)
- Nuanced by Blanchard
- Embedded liberalism?
Video 4: The Advent of GATT 1947
Bretton Woods Institutions 1944
- International monetary fund
- International bank for reconstruction and development (now the World Bank)
- And what about beggar -thy- neighbour policies?
→ ITO/ Havana Charter
- Prep conference london 1946, New York 1847, Geneva 1947
- The GATT 47 was conceived as an interim agreement, pending entry into force of ITO,
no status of international organization (agreed to have a WTO)
- Entry into force only by means of provisional protocol of application (PPA), later
Protocols of accession
The Doha Round (Doha Development Agenda)
- Ministerial Conferences Seattle (1999) fails
- Ministerial Conference Doha (Qatar): Launch of DDA 2021
- Ministerial Conference Cancun fails
- Ministerial Conference HK (2005)
- July packages (2006 and 2008)
- 2 Geneva MCs
- Room for optimism? The Bali package and the plurilateralism
- The trade facilitation agreement and the Nairobi packages
- The Buenos Aires MC
- The e-commerce launch of negotiations in Davos (2019)
, - The 16 member interim appeal mechanism (Davos 2020)
Contemporary Problems
- DDA mainly relates to liberalization of trade in agriculture
- Little interest in additional market access after Uruguay Round
- Single undertaking backfired: Deadlock in one area led to comprehensive failure
- Developing countries mainly defensive, amount to almost 50% of word exports
Video 5: Structure of the WTO
Goals of the organization
- Raising standards of living
- Ensuring full employment, growing volume of real income and demand, and increasing
production
- Allowing for sustainable development
Function
- Facilitates the negotiation and conclusion of commercial agreements
- Spurs compliance and policies or restraint by Members with an evolving code of trade
conduct
- Offers to smaller Members a first rate opportunity to influence, depending on their
bargaining power, the regulation of international trade
- Promotes trade growth, diminishing at the same time the inherent systemic uncertainty
through the development of a system for resolving and avoiding trade disputes; promote
interactions between states
Structure
- 3 basic components: 1. Members, 2. Secretariat, 3. Judiciary with a standing appellate
body
- But powers are distributed in an uneven matter (Member-driven)
Members
- Compose the main legislative, executive and judicial bodies
4 roles of members
1. Ministerial conference
2. General council
3. Dispute settlement body
4. Trade policy review body (trade policy of other members)
Secretariat
- Headed by general director
- Chosen by Ministerial conference
- Term determined by MC
- Chooses secretariat staff
- Staffed by international civil servants
, - Loyalty is with organization, not with home country
- Possesses organizational memory, how things work
- Assists dispute settlement panels
→ Legal and economic research
→ Often drafts factual summary of panel reports
→ Directs training programs for developing country representatives
- Short of the European Commission? Not really.
Membership
- Art. 9 and 10 WTOA set out two types of WTO Membership
- Original membership
- Membership through accession
Membership is not limited to states
- Hong Kong and Taiwan are not a state even though it’s controversial
Accession to the WTO
- Membership through accession
- Membership can be gained, but it is not automatic
- Accession has 2 aspects
→ Fulfilling criteria of membership
→ Completing process of accession
The role of private sector and NGOS
- They cannot bring a case in front of the WTO
- Main beneficiaries of WTO rules and commitment
- They can lobby in trade negotiations
- Rights and obligations are derived
Video 6: sources of WTO Law
Authoritative Sources (3.2 DSU)
- Texts of the agreements
- Texts of incorporated international legal instruments, e.g. art. 1:3 TRIPs
Helpful but not necessarily authoritative
- Panel/ Appellate body reports
- General principles of international law
- Customary international law
- Teachings of eminent authority
Other international agreements
- If integrated, just like WTO Agreements’ texts
- If accepted by all Members, perhaps relevant, e.g. EC- Biotech panel report
- If not accepted by all, may be disregarded
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