May 29, 2009
IN THIS ALERT:
Services in Doha: What’s on the Table
The services offers that WTO members have put forward in the Doha Round are generally significantly more restrictive than current policies in services, according to a recent World Bank Policy Research Working Paper. The paper says that, at this stage, the Doha Round promises somewhat greater security of access to services markets but “not an iota of liberalization.” Uruguay Round commitments are on average 2.3 times more restrictive than current policies, and the best offers submitted so far in the Doha negotiations, while improving somewhat on Uruguay Round commitments, are still on average 1.9 times more restrictive than actual policies.
For a copy of the report, click here.
Deputy DGs to Remain, 7 th Ministerial Conference to be Held from Nov 30 – Dec 2
On May 26, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy informed the informed the General Council that he intends to retain the four deputy directors-general in their current positions. In addition, the WTO General Council agreed to hold the Seventh Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 30 - December 2, 2009. The general theme for discussion will be “The WTO, the Multilateral Trading System and the Current Global Economic Environment”. The meeting is separate from the Doha round negotiations and is meant to address several “housekeeping” issues. For a copy of the statement on the Deputy DGs, click here. For a copy of the statement on the Ministerial Conference, click here.
Lamy: “Stress Test” of Multilateral Trading System Still to Come
In a May 26 report to the WTO General Council, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said that “it is crucial that we keep our monitoring system on the alert and that we advance towards the conclusion of the Doha Round.” He added that, “A more solid house will resist the strong political winds which we unfortunately have to forecast.” For a copy of his report, click here.