The Many Challenges for WTO

Context: The current impasse in the WTO negotiations has led member countries to believe in the necessity of carrying out urgent reforms, even as the debate is likely to throw up some difficult choices for developing countries like India. 

Challenges for WTO:

• Background: For the first time in its 25-year history, the World Trade Organization (WTO) will be led by a woman, as both the contending candidates for the Director-General (D-G) post are women.
• Doha Development Agenda:
  • Developed countries: sought to jettison in favour of a new agenda that includes, amongst others, e-commerce, investment facilitation, MSMEs and gender.
• Balancing the diverse and varied interests: of the 164 member countries, and especially, for reconciling competing multilateral and national visions, for the organisation to work efficiently.
• Global economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic further affects WTO’s effective functioning.
• Non-functioning of WTO dispute settlement mechanism, especially the revival of its Appellate body.
• The push for change in definition of “Developing country”:
  • Will deeply impinge on the status of emerging economies such as India, China, South Africa, Turkey, Egypt, et cetera.
• Issues related to the fisheries subsidies negotiations.
• The consensus-based decision-making: Which makes dissension by even one member stop the process in its track. 

Way forward:

• To continue developing country status: negotiate a longer phase-out period, or an acceptable formula based on development indices, etc.
• Seeking permanent protection: for traditional and artisanal farmers who are at the subsistence level of survival and in he fisheries subsidies negotiations.
• Successful implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement in 2017.
• Countering COVID-19:
  • Ensuring that supply chains remain free and open, recommending a standard harmonised system with classification for vaccines, and by the removal of import/export restrictions.
  • Voluntary sharing and pooling of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): By removing barriers to intellectual property and securing a legal framework within the WTO TRIPS Agreement.
  • Allow compulsory licensing and agreement of a patent without the authorisation of its owner under certain conditions.

Conclusion: There is a need to build trust among its members that the WTO needs greater engagement by all countries, to stitch fair rules in the larger interest of all nations and thwart unfair trade practices of a few.