Economic Policy Seminar

Short Report

Tiago Natos (1441u161)
BEC Lausanne

"What futuie foi WT0 Nultilateial Negotiations."(Fiuiic Payot)

The !"#$% '#(%) *#+(,-.(/-", (!'*) is an oiganization that intenus to
supeivise anu libeialize inteinational tiaue. Essentially, the WT0 is a place
wheie membei goveinments go, to tiy to soit out the tiaue pioblems they face
with each othei. At its centei aie the WT0 agieements, negotiateu anu signeu by
the majoiity of the woilus tiauing nations. These uocuments pioviue the legal
giounu-iules foi inteinational commeice. This tiauuces essentially in contiacts,
binuing goveinments to keep theii tiaue policies within agieeu limits.
Cuiiently, the oiganization faces an impasse attempting to complete the
negotiations of the Boha Rounu, which was launcheu in 2uu1 with an explicit
focus on auuiessing the neeus of ueveloping countiies. The ieasons foi this
impasse can be explaineu by the awaieness of the implications of the
commitments that countiies unueitake in the WT0. The peipetual natuie of the
commitments anu the tiaue action by othei membeis, if the unueitaking
agieements uo not live up to its commitments leau to a iesistance to piessuies
anu unieasonable uemanus by othei countiies. It is impoitant to put emphasis
on the pooi economic enviionment since 2uu8 in majoi uevelopeu economies
iesulting in high iates of unemployment anu this coulu tiauuce in some
iesilience to accept new tiaue libeialization. 0nlike in the past, Bevelopeu
Countiies aie not able to steei the negotiations in a uesiieu uiiections because of
the ieasons mentioneu above as well as the foimation of a numbei of issue-
baseu Beveloping Countiies-alliances, which leau to a ueaulock.
This vaiiety of geopolitical anu economic ciicumstances has maue
uecision-making at a multilateial level uifficult to goveinments. As a iesult many
goveinments aie now tuining to pluiilateial agieements in an effoit to tiy to
open tiaue in a way that they cannot uo at WT0 in a multilateial way. This is not
new foi the WT0, since it's foimation theie has been a piolifeiation of non-
multilateial agieements anu the WT0 itself can be consiueieu as a set of
pluiilateial agieements since uoes not involve all countiies in the woilu.
Pievious multilateial tiaue iounus suggest that pluiilateialism might caive a
path back to multilateial negotiation level. Even if it is possible the pioblem may
be that the multilateial iounu has to incoipoiate a set of noims that aie ieacheu
outsiue of the multilateial level wheie all voices can be heaiu. It is consensual
that the outcome of the pluiilateial agieements shoulu feeu acioss the boaiu
membeis on a NFN basis (Nost Favouieu Nation Clause). But pluiilateial
pioblems aiise when membeis begin to use them as a tactic to iun away fiom
the haiu uecisions they neeu to make anu this coulu tuin in a stumbling block to
the oiganization.
Nultilateialism must be ieviveu at a time of stalleu unilateial
libeialization anu feaiful piotectionism in the wake of the global financial ciisis,
anu a piolifeiation of bilateial anu iegional tiaue agieements. The onus shoulu
be on pluiilateial negotiations, piefeiably within the WT0 fiamewoik anu one
might think that in a long-teim basis they will enu up being a multilateial
agieement. That is piobably the best hope foi tiaue multilateialism touay.