Transcript UNCTAD and WTO Two multilateral organisations dealing with trade: More differences than similarities

Two multilateral organisations
dealing with trade:
UNCTAD and WTO
More differences than similarities
Manuela Tortora
Chief, Technical Cooperation
UNCTAD
1
THE DIFFERENCES LIE ON:
• The origins
• The mandates
• The institutional functioning
• The thinking on trade and development
• The strenghts and weaknesses
2
THE ORIGINS
From GATT to WTO
UNCTAD: 1964
•
•
•
•
•
Keynes’ ideas on post-war
international economic governance

The context of North-South and
East-West
tensions

Non-Aligned Movement and Group
of 77

The link between trade and
development (Prebisch thinking)

1st UNCTAD Ministerial Conference
in Geneva;
Permanent secretariat established
The Bretton Woods agreements
(1944)
1947: the ITO, the Havana Charter
and the GATT
GATT Rounds of trade negotiations
until the Uruguay Round (1986-94)
1995: WTO is established outside
the UN system
3
THE MANDATE
WTO
UNCTAD:
Integrated treatment of trade,
investment and related issues=
wide mandate
•Rules-based organisation,
negotiates binding multilateral
trade law (“legislative” role)
•Dispute settlement mechanism
with mandatory decisions, can
apply sanctions (“judicial” role)
•Mandate confined to the
existing trade agreements and
to the scope of the negotiations
•
Research on trade and
development issues
•
Consensus-building through
intergovernmental machinery
•
Technical cooperation on all the
topics of UNCTAD work
4
THE FUNCTIONING
WTO
UNCTAD
•
No links with the UN machinery
•
Permanent governmental bodies to
monitor the implementation of the
trade rules
•
Negotiating governmental bodies
•
Neutral Secretariat
•
Accession has to be negotiated
•
Limited role of non-governmental
stakeholders
•
•
•
•
•
•
Intergovernmental machinery linked to
UN General Assembly and ECOSOC
Secretariat part of the UN Secretariat
(part of same budget)
Development-oriented and independent
secretariat
Political role (“soft law”)
Automatic membership
Wide participation of nongovernmental stakeholders
5
THE IDEAS ON DEVELOPMENT
WTO
UNCTAD
•
Same trade disciplines for all
but…
•
Trade is one of the instruments
leading to development…
•
…Special treatment for
developing countries
•
…but no automatic links between
trade liberalisation, poverty
reduction, and development
•
The “Doha Development Round”
launched in 2001
•
Multidimensional links between
trade and development
•
Trade liberalisation and
implementation of trade rules
lead to development
•
Special and differential treatment is
key for all developing countries
•
No “one size-fits-all” development
models
6
STRENGHTS AND WEAKNESSES
WTO
• Binding trade law
• Powerful “judicial”
mechanism
BUT
• Increasing complexities of
multilateral negotiations
• Increasing regional and
bilateral trade agreements
UNCTAD
• Trust and credibility among
developing countries
• Independent research
BUT
• Only a political role (no “teeth”)
• Limited human and financial
resources
7
UNCTAD’s INTEGRATED VISION OF TRADE AND
DEVELOPMENT and THE SCOPE OF ITS WORK:
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS
TRADE
SUPPLY-SIDE
PRODUCTIVE
CAPACITY
POLICIES
TRADE
POLICY
AND
NEGOTIATION
SUPPORT
SERVICES
POLICIES
8
SOME UNCTAD IDEAS
(NOW USED OUTSIDE UNCTAD)
• Special and differential treatment for developing countries
• Coherence between national policies and international economic
environment (MDG 8)
• Policy space and “no-one-size-fits-all”
• Links between investment, science and technology, ICTs and trade flows
• Link between trade and environment
• Role of commodities in international trade
• Development-friendly WTO rules on trade in services
• LDCs’ terms of WTO accession
• Work on debt reduction (HIPC) and debt sustainability
• Role of competition law and policies in development processes
• Work on trade facilitation
• Research on non-tariff barriers to market access
9
SOME NUMBERS
• UNCTAD secretariat: 400 staff
• Annual Regular budget: US $ 57 million
• Extra-budgetary funds: US$ 35 million (2005)
• No field offices
10
Main UNCTAD publications
Annual analytical reports:
- Trade and Development Report
- World Investment Report
- LDCs Report
- Information Economy Report
- Report on Africa
…. and many other publications
all available on UNCTAD website:
www.unctad.org
11
UNCTAD Intergovernmental machinery:
The Ministerial Conference (every 4 years), reports
to the UN General Assembly and ECOSOC
Executive body: the Trade and Development Board,
one high level annual session, reports to the UN
General Assembly and Ecosoc
Three annual Commissions on:
Trade in goods and services, and commodities
Investment, technology and related financial issues
Enterprise, business facilitation and development
 Several Expert Meetings on specific issues
12