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How Should the WTO Launch and Negotiate a Future Round?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

JOHN S. ODELL
JOHN S. ODELL*
Affiliation:
School of International Relations, University of Southern California
*
* Email: odell@usc.edu.
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Abstract

If WTO Members wish to launch a new round to follow Doha, setting the agenda will require a complex negotiation as in the past, however Doha ends. To reduce the serious information problems they face and prepare the way, advocates should commission an independent research team to produce a comprehensive negotiation analysis before they decide to move further. Reaching an agreement on an agenda will depend on the procedural rules that apply in the agenda negotiation and the subsequent Round. They should consider four rules that seem legitimate today and most likely to help Members find a joint-gain agenda. Reaching an agenda agreement could also depend in part on decisions by WTO chairs during this negotiation. Experience illustrates the potentials and possible pitfalls for them to avoid.

Type
Review Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 117 - 133
Copyright
Copyright © John S. Odell 2014 

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