STATEOF PLAYOF THE ARAB REGION...High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab...
Transcript of STATEOF PLAYOF THE ARAB REGION...High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab...
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Mena Hassan Accessions Division
World Trade Organization8 November 2020
OVERVIEW OF WTO ACCESSIONS ANDSTATE OF PLAY OF THE ARAB REGION
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
• Why join the WTO?
• Basic procedures for the Accession process
• Achievements to date
• The state of play in ongoing accessions and Arabaccessions
Outline of Presentation
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Why join the WTO?
TRADE FOR
PEACE
POLICY PREDICTABILITY / TRANSPARENCY
WTO = BRAND NAME
RULE OF LAW
DOMESTIC REFORMS
INSURANCE AGAINST
PROTECTIONISM
PARTICIPATION IN
MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS
+ RULE-MAKING
ENHANCED MARKET ACCESS
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Basic Procedures
Article XII of the Agreement Establishing the WTO (the Marrakesh Agreement)
1. Any State or separate customs territory possessing full autonomy in the conduct of its external commercial relations and the other matters provided for in this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements may accede to this Agreement, on terms to be agreed between it and the WTO. Such accession shall apply to this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements annexed thereto.
2. Decisions on accession shall be taken by the Ministerial Conference. The Ministerial Conference shall approve the agreement on the terms of accession by a two-thirds majority of the Members of the WTO.
WTO ACCESSION: LEGAL BASIS
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3
The accession procedures are outlined in WT/ACC/22/Rev.1, a document developed by the Secretariat inconsultation with Members as a practical, non-binding guide.
The WTO Accession process
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Multilateral Negotiations
Fact-finding Phase
Negotiating Phase
Draft Working Party Report
• Submission of MFTR, Legislative Action Plan, action plans for implementation of specific agreements
• First set of Questions and Responses
• First Working Party meeting
• Attached with draft Decision and draft Protocol on Accession
• Additional Questions and Replies
• Further Working Party meetings
• Factual Summary of Points Raised
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Bilateral Negotiations
Bilateral Contacts
Submission of Initial
Offers
Revision of Offers,Further
negotiations
Bilateral Agreement
Draft Goods and
Services Schedule
• Generally submitted after the first Working Party meeting
• Any Member may request Bilateral Negotiations based on these offers
• Signed in three copies
• Signed agreement must be deposited with the Secretariat
• Reviewed by signatories at the Technical Verification Meeting
• Annexed to the Working Party Report
• Becomes part of the Accession Package
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
STAGE 3: FINAL STEPS
• Adoption of the Accession Packageby Working Party
• General Council/Ministerial Conference approval
• Domestic ratification /acceptance
• Membership
THE ACCESSION PACKAGE
• Decision• Protocol
1
• Report of the Working Party2
• Schedule of Concessions & Commitments on Goods3
• Schedule of Specific Commitments on Services
4
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
3. Achievements to date
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Map of WTO Members and Observers
Turkmenistan: Observer since July 2020
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What has been done so far? 36 accessions completed to date(By accession date)
19
96
19
97
19
98
19
99
-Ecuador-Bulgaria
-Mongolia-Panama
-Kyrgyz Republic
-Latvia-Estonia
20
00
-Jordan-Georgia-Albania-Oman-Croatia
20
01
-Lithuania-Moldova -China
20
02
-Chinese Taipei
20
03
-Armenia-FYR Macedonia
20
04
-Nepal-Cambodia
-Saudi Arabia
20
05
20
07
-Viet Nam-Tonga
20
08
-Ukraine-CaboVerde
-Montenegro-Samoa-Russian Federation-Vanuatu
20
12
-Lao PDR-Tajikistan
20
13
--Yemen
20
14
20
15
-Seychelles-Kazakhstan
-Liberia-Afghanist
20
16
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
WTO ACCESSIONS RESULTS TO DATE
36 accessions, including from 9 LDCs, have been concludedbetween 1996 and 2016• Last Members joined in July 2016, i.e. Afghanistan and Liberia• Article XII Members account for over 20% of WTO membership• Additional 18% of world trade covered by WTO rules - today, 98.1% world
trade conducted under WTO
Average length of accession: 10 years and 2 months (but 12 yearsand 2 months for LDCs)• Shortest: 2 years and 8 months (Kyrgyz Republic, 1998)• Longest: 19 years and 9 months (Kazakhstan and Seychelles, 2015)
4 Arab Accessions concluded to date:• Kingdom of Jordan (joined in April 2000): 6 years and 3 months• The Sultanate of Oman (joined in November 2000): 4 years and 5
months• The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (joined in December 2005): 12 years and
5 months• Yemen (joined in 26 June 2014): 13 years and 11 months
Share of world trade by membership status, 2018
Length of WTO accession process: WP establishment to Membership
Art. XII Members,
17.83%
Original …
Acceding Governments
, 1.65%
Rest of the World, 0.29%
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
4. The State of Play of Accessions and Arab Accessions
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What remains to be done? 23 ongoing accessions, plus ….(By application date)
19
87
19
93
19
96
19
99
19
97
20
01
20
03
20
04
20
05
20
07
21
05
-Sudan -Uzbekistan
-Belarus
-Iran
-Azerbaijan-Andorra
-Lebanese Republic-Bosnia & Herzegovina-Bhutan
-Bahamas-Syrian Arab Rep. -Libya
-Ethiopia
-Iraq-Serbia
-Sao Tomé & Principe
-Comoros-Equatorial Guinea
-Timor-Leste-Somalia
20
17
-South Sudan
-Algeria
19
94
-Curaçao
20
20
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Accession negotiations – state of play
Multilateral negotiations (Rules)
Bilateral negotiations (Market Access)
• Bahamas• Ethiopia*• Sudan*
• Algeria • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Bhutan* • Bosnia &
Herzegovina • Comoros* • Lebanese Rep. • Serbia
Working Party
Established
Factual Summary of Points Raised
Memorandum on Foreign Trade
Regime
Draft Working Party Report
• Andorra • Iran• Iraq• Somalia*• South Sudan*• Timor-Leste*• Uzbekistan
Initial Goods & Services Offer
• Andorra
Revised Goods & Services Offer
• Algeria • Azerbaijan• Bahamas • Belarus • Bhutan* • Bosnia and Herzegovina• Comoros*• Ethiopia* • Lebanese Rep.• Serbia • Sudan*• Uzbekistan
Observer
Draft Goods and Services Schedules
• Turkmenistan • Curaçao• Equatorial
Guinea• Libya• Sao Tomé
and Principe*
• Syrian Arab Rep.
Note:* LDC
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Eight (8) on-going Accessions in the Arab Region
• Algeria (1987)
• Sudan (1994)*
• Lebanese Republic (1999)
• Syrian Arab Republic (2001)
• Iraq (2004)
• Libya (2004)
• Comoros (2007)*
• Somalia (2016)*Notes: * LDCs
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
General Status Accession WP (establishment) Last WPM Next envisaged WPM(based on Secretariat’s assessment)
Strategic focus 2020 Comoros* (2007) 5WPM, September 2020 Q1 2021
Work in progressOn-going efforts to move the WP process
Sudan* (1994) 4WPM, July 2017 TBD
Reactivation On-going efforts to resume the WP process after at least 5 years
Iraq (2004)
Lebanese Republic (1999)
2WPM, April 2008 7WPM, October 2009
TBDTBD
Activation Efforts to start the WP process with MFTR
Somalia* (2016) No WPM held to date TBD
Inactive No WP held at least during last 5 years
Algeria (1987) Libya (2004) Syrian Arab Republic (2010)
14 WPM, March 2014No WPM held to dateNo WPM held to date
Notes: * LDCs
Arab Accessions by Status
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Multilateral negotiations (Rules)
Bilateral negotiations (Market Access)
• Libya
• Syrian Arab Rep.
• Sudan*
• Algeria • Comoros* • Lebanese
Rep.
Working Party
Established
Factual Summary of
Points Raised
Memorandum on Foreign Trade
Regime
Draft Working Party Report
• Iraq
• Somalia*
(No documents submitted)
Initial Goods & Services
Offer
Revised Goods &Services Offer
• Algeria • Comoros*• Lebanese Rep.• Sudan*
Draft Goods and Services
Schedules
Accession State of Play of Arab Countries
Note: * LDC
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Average Length of ongoing Arab Accessions
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
ALGERIA
SUDAN*
LEBANESE REPUBLIC
LIBYA
IRAQ
COMOROS*
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC
SOMALIA*
33 Y 5M
26Y 1M
21Y 7M
16Y 4M
15Y 11M
13Y 1M
10Y 6M
3Y 11M
AVERAGE: 17 Years and 7
Months
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Acceding Government (Working Party establishment)
Number of WP meeting(s) held
Number of documents issued to the WP+
Number of questions replied to by Acceeding Governments+
Algeria (1987) 12 105 1897
Sudan* (1994) 4 88 917
Lebanese Republic (1999) 3 16 474
Syrian Arab Republic (2001) - -
Libya (2004) - 2 -
Iraq (2004) 2 638
Comoros* (2007) 4 45 638
Somalia* (2016) - 1 -
Accession in numbers: Ongoing-Arab Accessions
Notes: * LDC+ Based on the documents circulated to the Working Party, not including the documents which are currently processed by the Secretariat.
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Number of commitments undertaken by Article XII Members
2227
1824
2922 24
29 29 29 26 27 28 28
168
65
39
24 2529
5970
29
63
2635 37
163
30 26
40
28
40
118
40
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Frequency of commitments undertaken by Article XII Members
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Policy Framework for LDC Accessions
2002 General Council Guidelines for LDCs’ Accessions (WT/L/508)– Market Access, WTO Rules, Process, technical assistance
2012 General Council Decision to “strengthen, streamline and operationalize” the 2002 Guidelines” (WT/L/508/Add.1)– Benchmarks on market access on Goods and Services– Transparency in accession negotiations– “Facilitation” by Chairs of SCLDC & Accession Working Parties – Special and differential treatment & transition periods– Technical assistance and capacity building
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
WTO accessions: new “themes”
A larger number of active accessions• New applications – Somalia, Timor-Leste, South Sudan, Curaçao (+
Turkmenistan)• Resumption of accession Working Parties after some years of inactivity
• Comoros (2016), Belarus (2017), Sudan (2017), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2018), Bahamas (2018), Ethiopia (2020), Uzbekistan (2020)
Increased role for technical assistance?• Members’ broad support for WTO accessions, at WP level or through
technical assistance• Strong interest & support from international partners, e.g. IMF, World
Bank, ITC, Arab Monetary Fund, Islamic Development Bank
Fragility and conflict (trade as an engine of peace?)
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Best practices for Accession process
• Establish a clear domestic structure to support the accession process & build capacity of the negotiating team – national coordination – Road Map
• Early identification of benefits and interests, which should be reflected in a negotiating strategy
• Impact assessment of WTO Membership
• Assessment of trade-related legislation and practices to determine conformity with WTO rules
• Establishment of a national steering committee (e.g. ministries, private sector, and civil society representatives)
• Identification of a 'model accession’
• Use of technical assistance & capacity building
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High Level Regional Dialogue for WTO Accessions for the Arab Region, 8-10 November 2020
Q&A session
Slide Number 1Outline of PresentationWhy join the WTO?Basic Procedures���Slide Number 6Slide Number 7Stage 3: Final stepsSlide Number 9Map of WTO Members and Observers�What has been done so far? �36 accessions completed to date�(By accession date)WTO Accessions results to dateSlide Number 13What remains to be done? �23 ongoing accessions, plus ….�(By application date)Accession negotiations – state of play �Slide Number 16Slide Number 17Slide Number 18Average Length of ongoing Arab Accessions Slide Number 20Number of commitments �undertaken by Article XII MembersFrequency of commitments �undertaken by Article XII MembersPolicy Framework for LDC AccessionsWTO accessions: new “themes”�Best practices for Accession processSlide Number 26