WTO: 2016 NEWS ITEMS

RULES NEGOTIATIONS


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Ambassador Wayne McCook of Jamaica, the chairman of the Negotiating Group on Rules (NGR), reported to members on his recent consultations with delegations on the state of play in the negotiations and how to advance them in the future.

There “remains a clear interest among many delegations for outputs in rules, by MC11,” the chairman told members. “There are varied views about which areas should be pursued, however.”

Mr McCook said that while members expressed interest in all four pillars of the negotiations — anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing measures, regional trade agreements (RTAs), and fisheries subsidies — a “significant number of delegations indicated an interest in fisheries subsidies disciplines”.

“Others are aiming for outcomes on anti-dumping, and a few mentioned horizontal subsidies,” he continued. “RTAs, which were mentioned by only a small number of delegations, are in a somewhat different category, as the Nairobi decision sets forth a more specific path for work.”

On fisheries subsidies, the chairman noted that talks have been taking place among interested members on the issue. While many members said that they prefer a multilateral approach on fisheries subsidies, some have signalled they would be prepared to consider a “plurilateral” approach involving negotiations among a smaller group of interested members, the chairman said. 

Other delegations have spoken of “hybrid” approaches, Mr McCook said.  A model based on the Trade Facilitation Agreement was also mentioned, whereby each member would identify the conditions under which it could take on the agreed commitments and responsibilities.

On anti-dumping, the chairman said a number of members indicated that they would be seeking outcomes at MC11. While most of these members identified transparency and due process issues at least as a starting point, others indicated that they continue to seek more ambitious outcomes on specific issues arising in dumping investigations, such as sunset reviews, injury analysis, and calculation of dumping margins.

Some delegations, however, indicated that while they had hoped for outcomes on anti-dumping, they were no longer sure that such outcomes were realistic, Mr McCook said.  A number of other delegations indicated that they see no prospects for progress on anti-dumping in the NGR.

Turning to horizontal subsidies disciplines, only a few delegations indicated that they will be aiming for outcomes in this area at MC11, the chairman said, but they did not provide specific details as to what sorts of outcomes were envisioned.

New Zealand presented a new submission on fisheries subsidies which was co-sponsored by Colombia, Iceland, Norway, Uruguay and Pakistan. The document sets out five questions to members, with a view to sharing information on developments in the sector as background for further discussion on fisheries subsidies. New Zealand said the paper was intended to inform discussions within the NGR and was not meant to be an interrogation exercise. The paper highlights Target 14.6 of the United Nations’ new Sustainable Development Goals, which commits governments, by 2020, to prohibiting certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and refrain from introducing new such subsidies.

During the discussion, members exchanged initial reactions to the co-sponsors’ paper, and identified their priorities for NGR work aimed at MC11 outcomes. Fisheries subsidies and anti-dumping each were identified by a number of delegations. Only a few delegations cited horizontal subsidies.  Some delegations, however, indicated that they are not seeking MC11 outcomes in the rules area. 

Despite intensive efforts, WTO members were unable to reach agreement at their 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi last December on most of the rules issues. Save for the broad commitment to address rules as stated in paragraph 31 of the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, only the issue of RTAs was the subject of a specific provision in the text (paragraph 28).

Further background on the WTO rules negotiations and previous news items on the talks are available here.

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