An offer developing countries could not refuse: how powerful states created the World Trade Organisation

2013 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-181
Author(s):  
Igor Abdalla Medina de Souza
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
The World

scholarly journals Die Demontage der multilateralen Wirtschaftsordnung durch die Dritte Welle des Regionalismus

2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (133) ◽  
pp. 599-624
Author(s):  
Heribert Dieter
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The World ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Economic multilateralism is at risk. Both the World Trade Organisation and the International Monetary Fund are undermined by competing regimes at the regional level. Bilateralism in trade is particularly mushrooming and might flourish further after the brealcdown of talks in Cancun. Especially the USA are organising their trading relations outside the WTO. These new regimes both undermine multilateralism as well as strengthen the more powerful nations. Developing countries are once again at the receiving end.

scholarly journals Barriers against Agricultural Exports from Pakistan: The Role of WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement

2003 ◽  
Vol 42 (4II) ◽  
pp. 487-510
Author(s):  
Khalid Mustafa
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Agricultural Exports ◽  
The World ◽  
Sanitary And Phytosanitary Agreement ◽  
The Impact

There has been growing recognition that Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement can impede trade in agricultural and food products. Pakistan, in particular experiences problems in meeting the SPS requirements of developed countries and, it is claimed, this can seriously impede its ability to export agricultural and food products. Attempts have been made to reduce the trade distortive effects of SPS measures through, for example, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) SPS Agreement, although it is claimed that current initiatives fail to address many of the key problems experienced by Pakistan and other developing countries. The present paper explores implications of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement on exports of agricultural and food products from Pakistan. It identifies the problems that Pakistan faces in meeting SPS requirements and how these relate to the nature of SPS measures and the compliance resources available to Government of Pakistan and the supply chain. The paper examines the impact of SPS agreement on the extent to which SPS measures impede exports from Pakistan. It identifies the problems that limit participation of Pakistan in the SPS agreement and its concerns about the way in which it currently operates.

scholarly journals Economic and Development Policy-Making in Nigeria

2012 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elimma C Ezeani
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Internal Constraints ◽  
The World ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractThe difficulties in effective engagement with the global trade environment, especially given the rules-based system of world trade applicable to member states of the World Trade Organisation, are a constant subject for academic and political discourse, particularly when developing countries are involved. One consideration is however often overlooked: the internal constraints which must be faced in these countries along with their added obligations to comply with modern liberalization processes. This article studies these constraints by identifying the challenges facing one of sub-Saharan Africa's largest economies in constructing a stable legal framework for trade and development, which meets domestic needs and complies with the demands of the global market environment.

Three Lessons on the Construction of Export Controls Under WTO Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-115
Author(s):  
Umair Ghori
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Export Controls ◽  
Wto Dispute Settlement ◽  
The World ◽  
Downstream Development

Export controls are gradually emerging as a source of contention within the World Trade Organisation (‘WTO’) law. Resource-exporting developing countries are increasingly finding it difficult to reserve the use of commodities and mineral resources for domestic purposes and downstream development due to the obligations imposed by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (‘GATT’) framework and WTO law. The problem is further exacerbated by the unclear guidelines and the overwhelming import-orientation of the provisions regulating international trade within the GATT/WTO framework. This article synthesises three important lessons that can be gleaned by policymakers from GATT/WTO jurisprudence in the construction of export controls in order to avoid a hostile response from other WTO Members concerned about equitable and free access to resources. The article argues that, as things stand today, GATT provisions leave little room for policymakers to prefer budding domestic sectors. Any preferential policies that seek inward diversion of resources will most likely attract a challenge in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.

World Trade Organization: Establishment, functions, objectives

2004 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-113
Author(s):  
Ivana Popovic-Petrovic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
International Trade ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Fair Competition ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Trends

The establishment of the International Trade Organisation was aimed at completing the process of institutionalisation of the international economic relations. The process began at Bretton Woods in 1944 with the establishment of The International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This integration entity was planned to become a foundation of the post-war order, and was going to have a broader influence and importance than the economic one. A third pillar of the International Trade Organization has never been established, but that is why the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) came into life. It is one of those agreements, whose nearly fifty-year duration had surpassed even the duration of some states. By carrying out trade negotiations, GATT adopted to new needs. However, the moment its integrity got questioned and such a special idea began to die out, the way was found to preserve the GATT achievements and to have the innovative approach join them. This was done with the establishment of the World Trade Organisation, as an international organisation that manages multilateral agreements in the area of trade (GATT), the trade of services (GATS) and the trade aspects of the intellectual property rights. The institution is of multinational and supranational character. It has its own structure that includes the Ministerial Conferences, the General Council and the Secretariat. The WTO continues a long tradition in GATT of seeking to make decisions not by voting but by consensus, although there are also "circles of decision making" that are gradually narrowing down with the degree of the achieved economic power. The WTO is today a primary concept whose main task is to work on bringing into practice the long-standing idea of free trade. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to abide by the basic principles which the WTO has four of. They are: non-discrimination, reciprocity, market approach and fair competition. If one draws a parallel between a product?s life cycle and GATT?s life, one can understand why GATT itself had reached its peak, but was also gradually surpassed. This is why the establishment of the World Trade Organization was a new opportunity to attain all that that GATT had not managed to attain, and to set new goals for the new century. With the establishment of the WTO, GATT was transformed into an organization, and its scopes were considerably broadened. According to the author, there are several challenges before the WTO. Primarily, the process of solving problems on a multilateral level should be continued. Also facing the still powerful forces fighting for the preservation of protectionism, more pronounced in industrial countries although present in developing ones, should be continued. Even if liberalized non-discriminatory trade and investment policy are achieved, the WTO will maintain its importance as a forum for talks on new areas and issues. Perhaps the biggest challenge in the WTO?s future is to work on further integration of developing countries into the world economic trends. The process of decision making itself is perhaps the best opportunity to show to the developing countries that something has changed, the author concludes.

THE G77 AND THE RIGHT TO DEVELOPMENT

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-76
Author(s):  
Serges Djoyou Kamga
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
World Order ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Just World ◽  
Right To Development ◽  
The World ◽  
The Right ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Established in 1964, the G77 is the largest intergovernmental organisation representing developing countries in the United Nations. It was established to ensure a just world order and to ensure the realisation of the controversial right to development (RTD). The aim of this article is to explore the role of the G77 in fostering this realisation. To this end, it examines the platforms on which the G77 operates at the UN and beyond to explore the likelihood to lead to the achievement of the RTD. It finds that the UN Second, Third and Fourth Committees provide opportunities where the G77 can use its number to vote on various issues related to the realisation of the RTD. However, the G77 faces challenges related to the non-binding feature of the right, the constant opposition of many powerful Western countries that take important RTD decisions away from the UN, such as the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund and the G8 and the G20. To mitigate these challenges, the article calls on China’s influence in these fora to claim the RTD.

Exploring the World Trade Organisation's Trade and Environment/Public Health Jurisprudence as a Model for Incorporating a Trade–Labour Linkage into the Organisation's Multilateral Trade Regime: Should African Countries Accept a Policy Shift?

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65
Author(s):  
Tapiwa V. Warikandwa ◽  
Patrick C. Osode
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Trade Regime ◽  
Multilateral Trade ◽  
Appellate Body ◽  
The World ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
The Impact

The incorporation of a trade-labour (standards) linkage into the multilateral trade regime of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been persistently opposed by developing countries, including those in Africa, on the grounds that it has the potential to weaken their competitive advantage. For that reason, low levels of compliance with core labour standards have been viewed as acceptable by African countries. However, with the impact of WTO agreements growing increasingly broader and deeper for the weaker and vulnerable economies of developing countries, the jurisprudence developed by the WTO Panels and Appellate Body regarding a trade-environment/public health linkage has the potential to address the concerns of developing countries regarding the potential negative effects of a trade-labour linkage. This article argues that the pertinent WTO Panel and Appellate Body decisions could advance the prospects of establishing a linkage of global trade participation to labour standards without any harm befalling developing countries.

A Decade of the World Trade Organization and the Trade Performance of Muslim Countries

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 23-44
Author(s):  
Ruzita Mohd. Amin
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
World Trade Organization ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Muslim Countries ◽  
The World ◽  
The Developed Countries ◽  
Merchandise Trade ◽  
Wto Agreements

The World Trade Organization (WTO), established on 1 January 1995 as a successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), has played an important role in promoting global free trade. The implementation of its agreements, however, has not been smooth and easy. In fact this has been particularly difficult for developing countries, since they are expected to be on a level playing field with the developed countries. After more than a decade of existence, it is worth looking at the WTO’s impact on developing countries, particularly Muslim countries. This paper focuses mainly on the performance of merchandise trade of Muslim countries after they joined the WTO. I first analyze their participation in world merchandise trade and highlight their trade characteristics in general. This is then followed by a short discussion on the implications of WTO agreements on Muslim countries and some recommendations on how to face this challenge.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ITS IMPACT ON DYNAMICS OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS, WITH RESPECT TO INDIA

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-24
Author(s):  
Arun Kumar L.S
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
World Trade ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
World Trade Organisation ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Monetary Policies ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
The World ◽  
Present Context

International business is essential for the countries to generate Economic growth or to increase in exports and reduce in imports, it encompasses all commercial and economic activities between the nations to promote the ideas, resources, transfer the goods and services, technologies across the national borders. In every country has limited resources therefore a country cannot produce all the goods and services that it requires. The present context of the world, there is imbalance in production and supply factors due to Covid-19 pandemic, which has resulted in market imbalances (demand and supply). The world economy has been hit hard by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, as on June end more than ten 10 million people around the globe had been affected by this pandemic, India, USA and others are worst hit countries with decrease in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and increase in unemployment rate. It may be useful to also note that prolonged lockdowns will eventually imply production shortfalls, may lead to increase in unemployment; decrease in demand for products, slowly running out stocks. In recent forecast of World Trade Organisation (WTO) indicated a clear fall in world trade between 13 per cent and 32 per cent in 2020, perhaps the highest fall since the Great Depression of 1930s. India and world can overcome the challenges by specific government fiscal and monetary policies, by providing economic relief packages and increase in employment opportunities by digitalisation in all the sectors of the economy to increase in accountability, convenience, and gross production, and investment, job security to casual labours or migrant workers. These factors may change the world present situation to productive or welfare economy. The purpose of the research paper is to explain Economic and Business crisis, due to covid-19 in present situation in India and the world. KEY WORDS: C0VID-19, GDP, ECONOMY and GLOBAL CRISIS.

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