WTO

The UK is a founding member of the WTO, and has been a contracting party to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade since 1948. Since acceding to the EU, the UK’s commitments and role in the WTO have been subsumed under the EU’s common commercial policy. On leaving the EU it will participate in the WTO in its own right. It will then need to define its position across the main functions of the WTO: the negotiation and administration of WTO agreements; dispute settlement; and surveillance.

The negotiations arm of the WTO is perhaps the most well-known. Negotiations usually take place in “rounds”. The current round, launched in Doha, Qatar in 2001 has seen only very limited progress. Its chief results have been a new agreement on trade facilitation, and an agreement on liberalising trade in Information Technology.

Less well known, but nevertheless of great importance, is the administrative function of the WTO. This function is undertaken by a variety of councils and committees that administer specific agreements or deal with specific issues (such as trade and development and trade environment). The General Council oversees all of this work. Within the work of these bodies, the UK will need to defend positions and put its concerns to others. To take one example, the work of the committee on Technical Barriers to Trade deals with the nexus between domestic regulation (e.g. on health or environmental matters) and trade. The UK can bring specific trade concerns relating to the regulation of other members, and can expect to be challenged in a similar manner

The WTOs dispute settlement function, as its name indicates, deals with litigation between members states. Member states challenge the laws and policies of others that are found to contravene WTO law or commitments undertaken under WTO agreements. The adjudication of disputes occurs in the first instance by panels, whose findings can be appealed through the Appellate Body. The UK has limited direct experience of dispute settlement, and will need to rapidly build its capacity to participate in disputes as complainant, defendant or as a third party.

The least well known part of the WTO is its surveillance function, which is managed by the WTO’s Trade Policies Review Body. All WTO members are subjected to periodic reviews, with the periodicity based on the share of world trade. The four largest members – the US, the EU,  Japan and China – are reviewed every two years. Most other countries are reviewed on a 4 year basis, which is the timetable likely to apply to the UK. The reviews are undertaken by WTO staff economists. The purpose of the review process is to have an open discussion about the member states’ trade policies. The process is often beneficial to participating countries since it provides them with an objective assessment of their policies.

International trade in goods, Trade services, Professional services brexit, brexit professional services, brexit network, trade expertise, trade expertise network, Trade knowledge, trade knowedge exchange, trade compliance, trade tools, barriers to international trade, effects of tariffs, brexit trade, brexit trade deals, post brexit trade deals, post-brexit trade deals, brexit trade, brexit trade deals, trade after brexit, brexit trade agreements, brexit analysis, trade analysis,

Filter:

Commentary

India’s Strategic Role in Global Trade: Navigating Challenges and Capitalising on Opportunities.

India has emerged as a significant player in the international trading system, particularly as a leading exporter of services. However, its engagement in global trade rulemaking has been marked by a cautious approach. As the global trade landscape undergoes significant changes, India faces both challenges and opportunities that will shape its future role in the […]

Read more

Commentary

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – policy issues and impacts

The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) enters its initial transition phase in October 2023. The measure is part of the EU’s Green Deal and “Fit for 55” policy package, which aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030.  Like many measures implemented in a “second-best” policy environment, it raises a […]

Read more

Commentary

Trade Knowledge Matters Podcast – Season 1 Review

This year we decided to try something new with TKE and launched our very first podcast, ‘Trade Knowledge Matters’. When we first had the idea, we hadn’t anticipated the upheavals that would affect us all this year. Creating this medium for us has been quite the adventure and encouraged each of us to step out […]

Read more

Commentary

Miraculous catch or struggling to stay afloat? Early thoughts on the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference.

    And so,  in the final watch of the night, the WTO’s negotiators cast their nets one final time, and reeled in a collection of declarations and decisions. The “Geneva Package” isn’t  a haul of biblical proportions. But it did include a multilateral agreement, that has been over 20 years in the making, on eliminating the  […]

    Read more

    Commentary

    The Times, They Are a-Changin’

      The consequences of the war in Ukraine will be far reaching because the conflict is acting as a catalyst for deep-seated shifts in global economic governance, and trade in particular. Nearly fifty days after Russia invaded Ukraine, the costs of war are escalating at every level. The death toll, difficult to determine for a variety […]

      Read more

      Commentary

      Trade and Climate Change – Five Points to Consider

        With COP-26 starting today and one month to go until the 12th  WTO ministerial conference, the trade-climate nexus is under the spotlight yet again. We will host a panel to discuss these questions. You can register here. In the meantime, here is a quick overview of some of the questions by way of background. We […]

        Read more

        Commentary

        Reflections on the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement

          Agreement at last After more than four years of seemingly interminable negotiation following the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum decision to leave the European Union, the parties finally concluded a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) at the very last practicable moment, on Christmas Eve 2020.  Ratification was rushed through both Houses of the UK Parliament on […]

          Read more