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Green Room Politics & WTO
Green Room Politics & WTO
Green Room Politics & WTO
Section I
GATT:
Limited membership
Negotiations primarily cantered around issues of Tariff, naturally
the US and the EU were the largest players as they controlled the
majority of global trade in terms of volume.
No system of veto under the GATT regime, a symbiotic relationship
prevailed.
The consensus rule was not abused. Developed countries, particularly the
United States and the European Community, drove the GATT agenda and
negotiations but did not insist on full participation by all countries. In
turn, developing countries did not block progress in trade talks-both
because the accords posed few demands on them and because they made
huge gains from the commitments of the developed countries extended to
them on a most-favored nation basis. Moreover, as the weaker partners in
the GATT, they benefited significantly from the well-functioning of the
multilateral rules-based system.
An A-La Carte system of obligations prevailed, which means
countries could pick and choose their commitments under an
already negotiated agreement.
This changed under the WTO regime.
WTO:
Membership increased phenomenally. (Btw, WTO has the highest
membership among all international organisations).
The scope of negotiations broadened, as tariffs barriers were no
longer the only bone of contention. Intellectual Property,
Investment claims and Agricultural subsidies were raging topics
where the developing countries had a direct stake.
Transition from A-La Carte to Single Undertaking.
WTO members can no longer "free ride" on negotiated agreements.
Starting with the Uruguay Round accords, countries have had to
participate in all of the negotiated agreements as part of a "single
undertaking." This requirement means that developing countries have to
commit to substantially greater reforms of their trade barriers and trade
practices than they did in the past. Consequently, they need to be better
informed about issues under negotiation.
Section II
1. What is the traditional Green Room Process?
The traditional "Green Room" process, is a system of semi-formal
negotiations, in which a relatively small number of self-selected
developed and developing countries get together to decide on divisive
issues, it traditionally excluded too many newly active players in WTO
negotiations and thus had problems building consensus.