regional trade agreements: PROGRAMME AND PRESENTATIONS

14 November 2003

Seminar on Regional Trade Agreements and the

WTO

> Guide to downloading files.

> background objectives

09:00-09:15
Welcoming Words
Roderick Abbott, Deputy Director-General, WTO

  

09:15-09:45
Session 1: RTAs, the multilateral trading system and the doha development agenda: current trends and future directionsBack to top

As negotiations of RTAs assume an ever more prominent role on the trade agenda of many WTO Members, keeping track of the number and scope of these agreements is becoming an increasingly elusive task. Taking stock of recent developments both regionally and multilaterally, in the context of the negotiations on RTA rules of the Doha Development Agenda, will provide an overview of the current global trading landscape and offer hints on its possible future directions.

  • RTAs and the multilateral trading system: recent developments in the global and regional trade agendas
    Clem Boonekamp, Director, Trade Policies Review Division, WTO
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 1415KB
    > Download: Paper, Word document 693KB

  

09:45-10:45
Session 2: RTAs and MFN in the global economy: divergent or convergent paths?Back to top

There is an active debate on the impact that the proliferation of RTAs may have on the objective of multilateral trade liberalization and its underlying principles of non-discrimination and transparency. Recent developments in the global/regional landscape can be viewed from different prisms.

  • The case for free trade and the role of RTAs
    Donald MacLaren, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Melbourne
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 223KB
    > Download: Paper, pdf document 386KB

  • Competitive liberalization and the role of RTAs
    Jeffrey J. Schott, Senior Fellow, Institute for International Economics (IIE), USA
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 57KB

  

11:00-12:00
Session 3: RTAs as a development tool: to what extent and under which conditions?Back to top

Case studies of South-South and North-South integration will clarify the significance of RTAs as instruments to enhance trade, foster economic development and facilitate the integration of developing economies into the global trading system.

  • Lessons from South-South Agreements: the case of Latin America
    Alberto J. Dumont, Secretary for Industry, Trade and Small and Medium Enterprises, Argentina, former Vice-Chair of the CRTA, WTO

  • North-South Agreements: Integrating developing countries into the World Trading System?
    Sanoussi Bilal, Senior Programme Officer, ECDPM, The Netherlands
    > Download: presentation, pdf document, 390KB
    > www.acp-eu-trade.org   > www.ecdpm.org

  

12:00-13:00
Session 4: Regulatory provisions in RTAs: can and should they be symmetrical?Back to top

Depending on its design, the trade regulatory regime enforced among parties to a given RTA may operate in a manner which adds to or detracts from parallel trade liberalization efforts pursued in other contexts. The discussion in this session will focus on the impact of concurrent trade regulatory regimes, and will explore possible paths leading to a more harmonious global trade regime.

  • A legal overview of RTAs' regulatory provisions: crossing the boundaries of GATT Article XXIV?
    James H. Mathis, Department of International Law, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 58KB
    > Download: Paper, Word document 186KB
    > Download: Power Word document 40KB

  • Facilitating or hindering trade: the role of rules of origin in RTAs
    Antoni Estevadeordal, Senior Trade Economist, Integration and Regional Programs Department, Inter-American Development Bank, USA
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 265KB
    > Download: Paper, pdf document 1605KB

  • Standards, technical regulations and SPS provisions in RTAs
    Sungjoon Cho, Assistant Professor, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, USA
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 96KB

  • Safeguards in RTAs
    Joost Pauwelyn, Associate Professor of Law, Duke Law School, USA
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 93KB
    > Download: Paper, Word document 25KB

  • Trade and competition policy: anti-dumping and anti-trust policies in RTAs
    Ian Wooton, Professor of Economics, University of Strathclyde, UK
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 943KB

  

16:15-17:45
Session 5: Extending RTAs beyond goods trade: trade in services, investment agreements and intellectual propertyBack to top

The characteristics and economic effects of RTAs in trade in services, of provisions on intellectual property and of the growing number of investment agreements being concluded both within and outside RTA frameworks are ill known. Are interlinkages and layers adding to an ever more complex global trading system?

  • Economic integration in trade in services
    Carsten Fink, Economist, Development Research Group, The World Bank
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 173KB
    > Download: Paper, pdf document 201KB

  • Investment provisions in RTAs
    William A. Dymond, Executive Director, Centre for Trade Policy and Law, Carleton University, Canada
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 36KB

  • Intellectual Property provisions in RTAs and TRIPS
    David Vivas-Eugui, Programme Manager of Intellectual Property, Technology and Services, International Center for Trade and Sustainable Development
    > Download: PowerPoint presentation 234KB
    > Download: Paper, pdf document 327KB

  

17:45-18:00
Wrap-up session and Concluding Remarks

Clem Boonekamp, Director, Trade Policies Review Division, WTO