Think tankers have been busy, with gender, investment and digital overarching themes. A selection of the latest work by international trade policy think tanks by Maia Wilson, with some input from Iana Dreyer.
E-commerce & services
WTO e-commerce plurilateral: what negotiators need to work out in 2023
World Trade Organization members are aiming to make a final push this year towards their objective of reaching an agreement on ground rules to govern digital trade by the end of 2023. But despite the delivery of a revised negotiating text just before Christmas, there are still multiple obstacles to …
WTO: JSI negotiations on e-commerce run into the sand
Negotiations on a plurilateral agreement to set global ground rules for digital trade are still moving forward – but the pace of progress is glacial.
WTO Corner: TRIPS waiver, e-commerce, food security, 1st MPIA appeal?
Welcome back to our WTO Corner column! WTO members have begun follow-up work on some of the commitments set out in the so-called ‘Geneva package’ agreed at MC12 back in June. By Chris Horseman and Iana Dreyer.
The WTO’s new ‘Geneva Package’: What’s been agreed?
WTO trade ministers have brought the institution’s 12th ministerial to a successful conclusion with a compromise deal on a package of measures on a TRIPS waiver, agriculture, fisheries and WTO reform. The deal, which has been christened the ‘Geneva Package’ by diplomats, also includes a 2-year extension of the existing …
OPINION: WTO e-commerce moratorium : act before it’s too late
The Global Services Coalition calls on World Trade Organization members to prolong the institution’s moratorium on duties on cross-border digital transmissions – and explains why.
WTO e-commerce negotiators seek to enlist more developing countries, accelerate talks
The strictly ‘multilateral’ dimension of the World Trade Organization seems to be in a rut, with the postponement of the 12th ministerial conference having thrown negotiations on issues such as fish subsidies or agriculture into further uncertainty. But, postponement or not, WTO crisis or not, a large subset of members …
“Historic” services deal, Laos, investment: plurilaterals fill MC12 space
You don’t need a ministerial conference to take important decisions at the World Trade Organization. Despite the 12th ministerial conference not happening this week as planned there has been movement in quite a few areas this week.
WTO Corner: TESSD, e-commerce moratorium, Section 232 disputes, DSB delays
An update on recent WTO developments by Rob Francis and Iana Dreyer.
Perspectives: WTO plurilateral agreements should be welcomed
News of agreement on the Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation were a highlight of last week’s World Trade Organization’s Public Forum. Given that full-blown multilateral deals look unlikely in the immediate future in the global trade institution, deepening the trade rulebook among selected countries is better than the …
