Transcript CUTS Centre for International Trade, Economics & Environment

A Presentation on
CUTS Centre for International Trade,
Economics & Environment (CUTS CITEE)
January 2008
Coverage









A Brief History of CUTS
An Overview of CUTS
A Brief History of CUTS CITEE
An Overview of CUTS CITEE
Recently Concluded and/or Ongoing Projects
Methodology of Work
Modalities of Work
Indicators of Some Achievements
Future Plans
2
A Brief History of CUTS
 In 1983, CUTS began its journey with a rural
development communication initiative,
a wall newspaper Gram Gadar
(Village Revolution). It is published regularly
and reaches every nook and corner of
Rajasthan, even remote villages where radio is
the only medium of communication. It has been
instrumental in providing a forum for the
oppressed classes to get justice.

A non-profit, non-governmental organisation with its headquarters in
Jaipur, India, two resource centres in Calcutta and Delhi in India and four
resource centres outside India: Nairobi, Kenya; Lusaka, Zambia; Hanoi,
Viet Nam; London, UK
3
An Overview of CUTS
 CUTS Centre for Competition, Investment & Economic
Regulation: To be a Centre of excellence on regulatory issues
 CUTS Centre for Consumer Action, Research & Training: To
enable people, in particular women, to achieve their rights to
basic needs and sustainable development through a strong
consumer movement
 CUTS Centre for Human Development: To be an innovative Centre
for strategic interventions to raise the living standards of people
 CUTS Safety Watch: To achieve for the citizens the right to be
protected against unsafe goods, services and environment
 CUTS Institute for Regulation & Competition: Enhancing
Knowledge, Strengthening Capacity
4
An Overview of CUTS
Credo
 Maintaining transparency and accountability
 Marrying the cold of research with the hot of advocacy by extensive
networking
 Emphasising on outcomes and not just outputs
 Fostering partnership for development: actively pursuing research
and advocacy activities in more than 20 countries, particularly in
Africa and Asia
 Linking grassroots with the policy-makers and vice-versa
 Adopting a middle path while advocating for ‘liberalisation with safety
nets’
5
A Brief History of CUTS CITEE
 1993: Involvement with trade and regulatory
issues since early 1990s when the Uruguay Round
was at its peak – published a booklet titled
“All About GATT – a consumers’ perspective”
 1994: Compelling reason – no consumer organisation from the South was
engaged in the UR debate – Consumer International’s Global Policy and
Campaigns Committee on Economic Issues, with CUTS as its Co-Convenor
 1995: Launched a civil society network: South Asia
Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment –
a demand-driven initiative
6
A Brief History of CUTS CITEE
The Early Years
 Immediate objectives since its establishment in 1996 were to:
• Comprehend the issues
• Strengthen the capacity of CSOs and other stakeholders
• Networking with Southern and Northern governments and CSOs
• Present a credible Southern civil society voice
 One of the five founding members of the Geneva-based
International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development
 Advisory Committee on International Trade, Department of Commerce,
Government of India
7
A Brief History of CUTS CITEE
Some Significant Past Activities








1997: An Agenda for India at the WTO
1998: Multilateralisation of Sovereignty
1999: Fostering Equity and Accountability in the Trading System
2000: South Asian Study on Liberalisation and Poverty
2001: South Asian Civil Society Network on International Trade Issues
2002: EU-India Network on Trade and Development
2003: Linkages between Trade and Non-trade Issues
2004: International Working Group on the Doha Agenda on Singapore
Issues
 2005: Grassroots Reachout and Networking in India on Trade and
Economics (GRANITE)
 2006: Strategic Review of WTO-Provided TRTA
 2007: Mainstreaming Development in the WTO
8
An Overview of CUTS CITEE
CUTS’ Vision
 Consumer sovereignty in the framework of
social justice and equality, within and across
borders
CUTS CITEE’s Mission
 Pursuing economic equity and social justice
within and across borders by persuading
governments and empowering people
9
An Overview of CUTS CITEE
Current Programme Areas
 WTO Issues
• Closely keeping track of the Doha round and beyond
• Capacity building of grassroots CSOs
• Advocacy with trade negotiators and policy-makers
 Regional Economic Cooperation
• South-South economic cooperation
• South-North economic cooperation
 Developmental Issues
• Trade liberalisation and poverty reduction
• Linkages between trade and non-trade issues
• Role of institutions in pro-poor growth
10
An Overview of CUTS CITEE
Resources






Headquartered in Jaipur, India and resource centres in India and abroad
12 Fellows
20 professional staff
In-house support staff for editing, layouting, documentation, etc
A 15-member International Advisory Board
More than 50 networking partners in more than 20 countries in Africa and
Asia
 A well-maintained library cum documentation centre with more than 6,000
books and subscription of about 50 journals and e-newsletters in a month
Finances
Year
Amount (US$mn)
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
0.78
0.66
1.10
1.55
11
Recently Concluded and/or Ongoing Projects
WTO Issues
 WTO Doha Round and South Asia: Linking Civil Society with Trade
Negotiations, Phase 2 – supported by Oxfam Novib, The Netherlands
 Identification of hurdles faced by independent Indian Health Service
Personnel in selected countries under GATS Mode IV – commissioned by
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (through World
Health Organisation, India Office)
 Strategic Review of WTO Provided Trade-Related Technical Assistance
(WTO TRTA) – commissioned by WTO Secretariat
 Devising A Comprehensive IBSA Strategy for WTO Agriculture
Negotiations – supported by AusAID, Australia
12
Recently Concluded and/or Ongoing Projects
Regional Economic Cooperation
 Trade Facilitation Needs Assessment in South Asia – commissioned by
UNDP’s Regional Centre in Colombo, Sri Lanka
 South-South Economic Cooperation: Exploring the Relationship between
India and the Greater Mekong Sub-region – supported by Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation, Switzerland
 South-South Economic Cooperation: Exploring the IBSA Initiative –
supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland
 Regional Economic Cooperation in South Asia – supported by India Office of
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Germany
13
Recently Concluded and/or Ongoing Projects
Regional Economic Cooperation
 EU-India FTA: Feasibility and Scope of A Deep Integration – commissioned
by Directorate General of Trade, European Commission (through
University of Sussex, UK)
 Capacity Building for the Fast Tracking of the East African Common
Market – supported by Kenya Office of DFID, UK and Canadian
International Development Agency’s NEPAD Outreach Fund
 Operationalising South-South Trade between India and Selected LDCs in
Eastern and Southern Africa – supported by Regional Trade Facilitation
Programme, Pretoria (an initiative of DFID, South Africa and others)
14
Recently Concluded and/or Ongoing Projects
Developmental Issues
 Linkages between Trade, Development and Poverty Reduction – supported
by Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Netherlands and Department for
International Development, UK
 Grassroots Reachout and Networking in India on Trade and Economics –
supported by Royal Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi and Oxfam Novib, The
Netherlands
 Mainstreaming International Trade into National Development Strategy
(MINTDEV): A Pilot project in Bangladesh and India – supported by Royal
Norwegian Embassy, New Delhi
15
Recently Concluded and/or Ongoing Projects
Developmental Issues
 Improving Institutions for Pro-Poor Growth – supported by Department for
International Development, UK (through Institute of Development Policy
and Management, Manchester University, UK)
 Enabling Developing Countries to Seize Ecolabel Opportunities –
supported by European Commission (through UNEP)
16
Methodology of Work
Three Pillars
Research
Advocacy
Networking
17
Modalities of Work
Main Features of Research




Emphasising on fieldwork-based research involving stakeholders
Quantitative and qualitative research
Political and socio-economic analysis
In-house, network-based and outsourced research
Main Features of Advocacy
 Sensitisation of CSOs
 Advocacy with other stakeholders – business chambers, farmers’
organisations, trade unions, etc
 Advocacy with policy-makers – trade negotiators, trade policy-makers,
parliamentarians, sub-national governments, etc
 Partnerships at different levels
18
Modalities of Work
Main Features of Networking
 Ranging from grassroots CSOs to international NGOs to policy-makers and
other stakeholders at national and international levels
 Dynamic information dissemination and outreach
 Organising multi-stakeholder events
 In partnership with Brussels-based EIAS and Sussex University formed EUIndia Network on Trade and Development
19
Indicators of Some Achievements
 Working closely with the governments of South Asia, South East Asia and
Eastern and Southern Africa
 Advisory Committee on International Trade, Department of Commerce,
Government of India (3 terms)
 Indian official delegation to Hong Kong Ministerial Conference of the WTO
Members
 Served at the WTO D-G’s Informal NGO Advisory Body
 Accredited to UNCTAD, UNESCAP, UNDP, UNEP, etc
Some examples of outcomes
 Indian Ecomark Scheme
 Amendments of the Indian Patent Act
 Inter-State Trade Council
 Pro-development and pro-poor National Foreign Trade Policy of India
 Globalisation and India: Myths and Realities
20
Future Plans
WTO Issues
 WTO Doha Round and Delivering on Development: Unpacking Development
in the WTO
 Domestic Preparedness in Developing and Least Developed Countries for
Implementing the WTO’s Doha Round’s Agreements
 Mentorship of African Countries on SPS Issues
21
Future Plans
Regional Economic Cooperation
 Sustainability Impact Assessment of the EU-India FTA
 Political Economy of South Asian Free Trade Agreement
 Operationalisation of South-South Trade Cooperation
 Preferential Trade Agreements and India – A Political Economy Approach
22
Future Plans
Developmental Issues
 Gender Dimensions of Trade Liberalisation in India
 Improving Trade and Regulatory Governance in Africa and Asia
 Operationalisation of Aid for Trade – Poverty Impact of Aid Effectiveness
23