Press Release – Professor Jane Kelsey
The WTOs constitution, the Marrakesh Agreement, says agreements among subgroups, known as plurilaterals, are exceptional and can only be adopted by consensus.
The game-plan of powerful countries to remake the World Trade Organization (WTO) suffered a major set back at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon this week, according to Jane Kelsey, Professor Emeritus in Law at the University of Auckland.
As Dr Kelsey explains, the WTO is founded on the principle of multilateralism, where all members play an equal role and all have their issues addressed. The WTO’s constitution, the Marrakesh Agreement, says agreements among subgroups, known as plurilaterals, are exceptional and can only be adopted by consensus.
The United States, European Union and allies had an explicit goal at this ministerial: to clear the way to replace multilateralism with plurilateralism, so more powerful countries can cherry pick their preferred topics for “global” rulemaking and by-pass the requirement for consensus decisions.
“Once that is normalised, we expect a tsunami of plurilaterals that sinks the multilateral system,” Dr Kelsey observed.
Adoption of the Investment Facilitation Agreement (IFA), misleadingly described as being “for development”, at the MC14 was meant to provide the precedent for consensus support for plurilaterals. It failed, despite enormous pressure on developing countries from powerful proponents, including China.
India has led the opposition based on concerns over the systemic impacts (although there is also deep scepticism among some countries about the supposed benefits from the deal).
But Dr Kelsey warned that “the proponents will not give up. We expect a new strategy that builds on previous practices that ignore the WTO’s own rules and processes and bully and bribe developing countries to agree. If not adopted in the WTO, they will threaten to go it alone outside the WTO, further marginalising developing countries and their agenda.”
The most likely strategy was used to adopt another plurilateral this week, on electronic commerce, that was never going to achieve consensus. It has been pursued without a WTO mandate. Some 66 participants (of the 166 WTO Members) announced they would adopt the deal outside the WTO, while still describing it as a WTO agreement.
Professor Kelsey predicted that the same strategy will be proposed for the IFA. “We also hear many developing countries, who are reluctant participants, may use that as an excuse to abandon the deal.”
“This scenario is rapidly becoming a litmus test for whether the WTO’s powerful players and their champion the Director -General, can achieve what she referred to yesterday as the “WTO reborn”.
Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
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