Development and building trade capacity
Canada - Certaines mesures affectant l’industrie automobile
Le 31 mai 2000 l’Organe d’appel a publié son rapport sur l’affaire “Canada - Certaines mesures affectant l’industrie automobile”.
Canadá - Determinadas medidas que afectan a la industria del automóvil
El 31 de mayo de 2000 el Órgano de Apelación hizo público el informe sobre el caso “Canadá - Determinadas medidas que afectan a la industria del automóvil”.
Canada - Certain Measures Affecting the Automotive Industry
On 3 July 1998 Japan requested consultations with Canada in respect of measures being taken by Canada in the automotive industry. Japan contended that under Canadian legislation implementing an automotive products agreement (Auto Pact) between the US and Canada only a limited number of motor vehicle manufacturers are eligible to import vehicles into Canada duty free and to distribute the motor vehicles in Canada at the wholesale and retail distribution levels. Japan further contended that this duty-free treatment is contingent on two requirements: Canadian value-added (CVA) content requirement that applies to both goods and services; and manufacturing and sales requirement. Japan alleges that these measures are inconsistent with Articles I:1 III:4 and XXIV of GATT 1994 Article 2 of the TRIMs Agreement Article 3 of the SCM Agreement and Articles II VI and XVII of GATS.
The Role of Trade-Led Economic Growth in Fostering Development
The United Nations' post--2015- development agenda is taking shape. Like its predecessor the Millennium Development Goals the post--2015- agenda will reshape development policy priorities for governments and non-governmental actors alike in many cases galvanising new attention thinking and financing to tackle the priorities it identifies. This essay reviews the historical and ongoing role played by trade in sustained high growth and human development progress and makes the case that the post--2015- development agenda should include considerations related to trade rules and supply-side capacity. Given the strong links between trade-led growth economic upgrading and poverty reduction the paper argues that trade led economic growth must be prioritised in the post--2015- development agenda.
Aid for Trade, Foreign Direct Investment and Export Upgrading in Recipient Countries
This paper examines empirically whether Aid for Trade (AfT) programmes and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows affect export upgrading and if so whether their effects are complementary or substitutable. Export upgrading entails export diversification (including overall export diversification as well as diversification at the intensive and at the extensive margins) and export quality improvement. The empirical analysis shows that total AfT flows have a strong positive impact on export upgrading and that LDCs as compared to Non-LDCs are the most important beneficiaries of this positive impact. While the impact of FDI inflows on export diversification in host economies is mixed these flows do exert a strong positive impact on export quality upgrading. Furthermore the impact of FDI on export diversification is higher in LDCs than in Non-LDCs. Incidentally AfT and FDI inflows appear substitutes (in an economic theory sense) in achieving export diversification and complementary in their effect on the improvement of export quality in recipient countries including LDCs. Results obtained on the impact of components of total AfT are inconclusive as they suggest both complementarity and substitutability with respect to FDI inflows in affecting export upgrading in recipient countries. Overall empirical results suggest that AfT and FDI inflows are effective in influencing export upgrading in recipient countries. However the results also highlight the importance of the interplay between these two kinds of capital flows in affecting export development strategies and FDI policies of recipient countries notably LDCs. We can infer from this study that AfT flows appear to play a particularly important role in ensuring that FDI inflows do not lead to further export concentration by putting in place the necessary conditions for export diversification.
Competition Policy and Poverty Reduction
This paper examines the role of competition law and policy as tools for poverty reduction and development. The authors put forward five related principles building upon the important work on related issues that has been done by the OECD the International Competition Network (ICN) UNCTAD and civil society organizations such as CUTS in recent years in addition to the earlier work done on these topics in the WTO Working Group on the Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy when that body was active from 1997 through 2003. Together these principles comprise the "holistic approach" to competition law and policy which is referenced in the title of the paper: First the focus of policy makers in using competition policy as tool for poverty reduction should be on approaches that are relatively easy to implement but have a trackrecord of being effective and economically sound. Second for competition policy reforms and legislation to be successful public acceptance and support is critical and must be an essential focus of related initiatives. Third to serve as an effective tool of poverty reduction competition policy needs to address the needs of the citizens of poorer societies in their capacities as producers (and therefore as users of extensive input goods and services including public infrastructure) in addition to their capacities as final consumers/households. Fourth it is posited that "competition policy" is more than just "what competition agencies do" and includes the full spectrum of measures that governments employ to enhance competition and improve the performance of markets. Fifth in order to address the challenges posed by the changing landscape of competition policy worldwide new forms of international co-operation may need to be considered. The paper then develops the application of these principles with respect to five specific areas in which competition policy can contribute to poverty reduction namely: (i) the reform of public and business infrastructure sectors particularly in the context of developing and transition economies; (ii) the complementary roles of competition law enforcement and market liberalization in public procurement markets; (iii) various related dimensions of competition policy as they relate to public health objectives; (iv) the addressing of possible monopsonistic practices in international supply chains that may affect the ability of developing country producers to reap gains from participation in international markets; and (v) measures to address the enduring problem of international cartels which despite an impressive record of prosecutions by developed jurisdiction competition agencies over the past decade continue to impose substantial costs on developing economies. The paper concludes with some observations regarding the future of international cooperation in the competition policy sphere.
Achieving Bangladesh’s Tourism Potential
Bangladesh's international image is not as a popular tourism destination and many people might be surprised to learn it has three World Heritage sites including the Sundarbans tiger reserves. Moreover it is part of important travel circuits for cultural and religious tourism and has demonstrated potential for sports tourism. The objective of this working paper is to critically test the assertion that pro-poor "green" tourism is one of the best development options for the majority of least developed countries (LDCs) -- a challenging task in Bangladesh in the face of the country's success as an exporter of readymade garments -- by comparing tourism to the available alternatives with regard to the crucial government priorities of export diversification employment generation and the "green economy". It is well-known that Bangladesh is under strong pressure to diversify its exports to generate new employment (especially in rural areas) and to respond to critical environmental issues. The government has identified over 30 "thrust sectors" (including tourism) to help address these challenges but otherwise tourism is rarely mentioned as a major trade and development option for Bangladesh. Within the limitations of data availability this working paper reaches the conclusion that greater efforts to develop "green" tourism would be highly beneficial for facilitating rural development environmental and cultural protection gender equality and export diversification in services. The most obvious current impediments are inadequate infrastructure lack of investment and (typically election year) political conflict but behind these factors appear to be a serious lack of stakeholder coordination insufficient regulatory and administrative transparency and coherence as well as some government reluctance to relinquish greater commercial autonomy in tourism to the private sector. This paper offers extensive analysis and some suggestions to help address the impediments including the recommendation to create a Bangladesh Tourism Stakeholders Forum.
LDC Poverty Alleviation and the Doha Development Agenda
Despite being a leading export sector and source of foreign exchange for most (non-oil exporting) LDCs tourism never makes the headlines of the WTO's Doha Development Agenda negotiations. When tourism's impressive potential for poverty alleviation is considered the lack of attention is even more striking. Reasons for the apparent neglect are complex and include a lack of awareness of tourism as an export sector the fragmented nature of the industry and low political influence exaggerated concerns over "leakages" misunderstandings about poverty alleviation and tourism and the "poker playing" characteristic of trade negotiations. The evident results are missed opportunities to address services infrastructure constraints (one of the greatest impediments to increasing LDC tourism revenues and value-added) as well as a failure to address sufficiently tourism's agricultural industrial and Aid for Trade linkages. Existing national-level investment promotion objectives as well as DTIS and TPR reports can be helpful for identifying priorities for both GATS negotiations and Aid for Trade. The focus should not necessarily be on making GATS commitments but rather on ensuring that the importance of tourism for LDCs is acknowledged and acted upon. Indeed governments can always further liberalize on a unilateral basis; in the context of the DDA however they can request greater access to trading partners' markets in exchange as well as gain valuable international attention and publicity.
Thoughts on How Trade, and WTO Rules, Can Contribute to the Post-2015 Development Agenda
In September 2015 Heads of State and Government will gather in New York to agree the post-2015 development agenda. The role that trade will play in this agenda is neither clear nor agreed. Yet an open non-discriminatory rules-based multilateral trading system underpins sustainable development - a concept that lies at the core of much of the post-2015 debate to date. Indeed sustainable development is recognized as an objective in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO). With the aim of stimulating discussion this paper asks the question of how trade and WTO rules can contribute to the post-2015 development agenda? In reply the author offers some thoughts on 10 contributions that trade and WTO rules can make to the post 2015 development agenda. The list is indicative not exhaustive. The 10 contributions highlight the complex way in which trade and trade policy interact with the evolving debate on the post-2015 development agenda - a debate which encompasses issues ranging from poverty eradication inclusive growth climate change mitigation decent work food security access to health services and sustainable development financing to name but a few of the topics under consideration. The paper organizes the 10 indicative contributions around three headings: trade rules as part of the enabling environment for the achievement of the post-2015 development agenda; the role that trade and trade policy can play in meeting specific goals (including possible Sustainable Development Goals); and the contribution that Aid for Trade can make.
Infrastructure Provision and Africa’s Trade and Development Prospects
Transitioning from the post-2008 financial meltdown to a sustained period of global growth and prosperity involves a major challenge: how to ensure the effective management of international economic interdependence. Trade growth good governance and sustainable development constitute essential ingredients to any solution as is a fairer distribution of the gains of trade. Two issues stand out in this conversation. The first concerns the unfinished business of the global fight against the scourge of poverty which impacts one region more than most: Africa. At the same time a key pre-requisite for economic performance - affordable and efficient public infrastructure and services – remains lacking in this region – notably in Sub-Saharan Africa. To address this the region itself has initiated a major long-term continent-wide infrastructure development programme which is intended to fix this problem sustainably - namely the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). Its success foreshadows an economic transformation that will potentially usher in an emergent Africa in the 21st century. Secondly in one area of economic activity – trade in government procurement markets - the revised WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is emerging as a multi-dimensional tool of trade governance and development. The thesis of this paper is that GPA participation by African countries - a prospect which to date they have declined to take up - holds strong potential to reinforce the positive effects of PIDA and to contribute to the region's growth and development more generally. Developing this thesis the paper examines the possible application of the GPA to support Africa's infrastructure programme drawing on its three dimensions of instrument of governance market access instrument and 'policy space' instrument in support of the development financial and trade needs of developing countries. Based on the analysis the paper concludes that the potential benefits outweigh the potential costs of participation in the GPA by African countries and accordingly that the GPA merits consideration by the region in this regard. A successful implementation of the infrastructure programme also portends a significant expansion in the size of the African government procurement market. Were African countries to accede to the Agreement in this context it would constitute not only a big rise in membership numbers but also a significant expansion in the value of market access under the Agreement. The broad outlines of a potential win-win scenario for both African countries and GPA Parties thus begin to emerge. The paper nonetheless acknowledges that delivering these benefits would involve significant practical and political challenges. It concludes that if the challenges can be overcome and the mutual benefits delivered the revised GPA would have been demonstrated as an effective tool for balancing flexibility and reciprocity in the government procurement sector consistent with sustainable development principles with the capability to deliver win-win benefits for a broad range of stakeholders in the post-2015 era.
Developing Countries in the WTO Services Negotiations
The aim of this paper is to analyse developing countries’ participation so far in the current round of services negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda. The paper analyses developing countries’ negotiating positions as evidenced by their multilateral negotiating proposals; their initial offers; and to the extent allowed by the incomplete and sketchy information available their participation in bilateral market access negotiations. A number of basic themes are raised: the essential role of services for economic development; the high costs imposed by trade protection; the benefits of liberalization; the need to make use of the WTO forum to enhance credibility and sustain domestic regulatory reform programmes; the challenges of regulatory reform and the importance of appropriate sequencing; and the benefits arising from seeking further market access overseas in those areas where developing countries have a comparative advantage.