Friday,
26 April 2002
Programme and presentations for the seminar on regionalism and the WTO
> Guide to downloading files.
Annotated Programme
09:00-09:15
Welcoming
Words
Miguel
Rodríguez Mendoza, Deputy Director-General, WTO
09:15-09:45
Session
One: The Changing Landscape of the Global Trading System Back to top
The objective of this session is to introduce the concept of RTAs and to assess its significance in today's global trading system.
New developments in the WTO and in RTAs
- Trends and characteristics on the evolution of RTAs
- Recent developments and forecasts
Panelist:
Clemens
Boonekamp, Director, Trade Policies Review Division, WTO
> Download:
“Regional trade integration under transformation”, Word format,
1318KB
10:00-12:30
Session Two: RTA Market Access and
Regulatory Provisions Back to top
The objective of this session is twofold: it looks at the correlation between market access and regulatory provisions in RTAs and to whether the nature and depth of this relationship facilitates or hinders trade liberalization; and it considers specific RTA regulatory regimes and discusses whether they operate in a manner which may be considered to be WTO-plus or -minus.
Frontiers
of trade liberalization in RTAs: the treatment of “sensitive”
products and the role of origin rules
Panelist:
Antoni
Estevadeordal, Senior Trade Economist, Integration, Trade and
Hemispheric Issues Division, Integration and Regional Programs
Department, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, D.C.
> Download:
“Traditional market access issues in RTAs: An unfinished agenda in
the Americas?”, pdf format, 460KB
Significance
of standards, technical regulations and SPS provisions in RTAs
Panelist:
Joel
P. Trachtman, Professor of International Law, The Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA
> Download:
“Toward open recognition? Standardization and regional integration
under Article XXIV of GATT”, pdf format, 169KB
Contingency
provisions in RTAs
Panelist:
Dean
Spinanger, Senior Research Associate, Kiel Institute of World
Economics, Germany
> Download:
“RTAs and contingent protection: Are anti-dumping measures (ADMs)
really an issue?”, Word format, 1486KB
Economic
integration in trade in services
Panelist:
Rolf
Adlung, Counsellor, Trade in Services Division, WTO
> Download:
“The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) — Relevance for
regional co-operation and integration”, Power Point presentation 100KB
> Download:
“Regional agreements and trade in services: Policy issues”, Word format,
361KB (Paper provided by Aaditya Mattoo and Carsten Fink, Development
Research Group, World Bank)
Other
regulatory provisions in RTAs (investment, competition, trade
facilitation)
Panelist:
Ken
Heydon, Deputy Director, Trade Directorate, OECD
> Download:
“Regulatory provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: “Singapore”
issues”, Word format, 96KB
14:00-16:30
Roundtable:
What Relationship Between the Multilateral Trading System and RTAs? Back to top
Panelists will exchange views on possible synergies between regional and multilateral approaches to trade policy-making and trade liberalization, and on appropriate institutional and legal structures for the management of differing trade regimes, ranging from the multilateral to the bilateral.
Panel:
- Muchkund Dubey, President, Council for Social Development, India
- Jeffrey Schott, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics, U.S.A.
- Patrick A. Messerlin, Director, Groupe d'Economie Mondiale, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, France
- Robert Scollay, Director, APEC Study Centre, New Zealand
- Ramón Torrent, Director, Observatory of Globalisation, University of Barcelona, Spain
Moderator:
Miguel Rodríguez Mendoza, Deputy Director-General, WTO
17:00-18:00
General
Debate Back to top
Moderator:
Miguel Rodríguez Mendoza, Deputy Director-General, WTO