Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-wxhwt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T21:08:22.690Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - What subjects are suitable for WTO agreement?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2009

Brian Hindley
Affiliation:
Reader Trade Policy Economics, London School of Economics
Daniel L. M. Kennedy
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
James D. Southwick
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota
Get access

Summary

The European Community (EC) is pressing for a new round of trade negotiations, and it proposes an agenda that includes, inter alia, new World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements on environmental issues; labour standards; competition policy; and treatment of foreign investment. Following on the heels of the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), this proposal to extend WTO disciplines to further areas of economic activity raises the question of which issues are suitable for WTO agreements, and which not.

Members of the WTO have different views on the question. Some Members see the WTO, and the strong Dispute Settlement Understanding, as potential means of solving all manner of problems. They place no restriction on topics for WTO agreements except, perhaps, a requirement that the issue has a “trade-related” aspect. But that is not a demanding condition: most issues have some link with international trade. This view therefore suggests that many issues could properly become the subject of agreements in the WTO.

A conflicting response is driven by concerns about national sovereignty. Many developing countries – but not only developing countries – feel that the outcome of the Uruguay Round compromised their sovereignty. Such countries reject the idea of “intrusive” new agreements. Almost by definition, though, new WTO agreements that are effective will seem intrusive. Concern about national sovereignty therefore suggests that new agreements, if there are to be any at all, must have very strong justification.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Political Economy of International Trade Law
Essays in Honor of Robert E. Hudec
, pp. 157 - 170
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Deardorff, Alan V. (1990) Should Patent Protection Be Extended to All Developing Countries? 13 World Economy497–508CrossRefGoogle Scholar
European Commission (1999) The EU Approach to the Millennium Round, July 8 COM (1999) 331 Final, available on the CEC website
Grossman, Gene M. & Elhanan, Helpman (1994) Protection for Sale, 84(4) Am. Econ. Rev.833–850Google Scholar
Hindley, Brian (1986) A Comment on Jagdish Bhagwati's Geneva Association Lecture, inThe Emerging Service Economy 35–39 (Pergamon Press, Orio Giarini ed.)
Sauvé, Pierre & Americo Beviglia Zampetti (2000) Subsidiarity Perspectives on the New Trade Agenda, 3 J. Int'l Econ. L. 83–114CrossRef
Stegeman, Klaus (2000) The Integration of Intellectual Property Rights into the WTO System, 23:9World Economy1237–1267CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×