| Volume 12 | Number 9 | 12 March 2008 |
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RESOURCES INTEGRATION
OF MARKETS VS. INTEGRATION BY AGREEMENTS. By Nathalie Aminian, K.C.
Fung, and Francis Ng. The World Bank, March 2008. This paper provides
an analysis of the two channels of regional integration: integration
via markets and integration via agreements. Given that East Asia
and Latin America are two fertile regions where both forms of integrations
have taken place, the authors examine the experiences of these two
areas. There are four related results. First, East Asia had been
integrating via markets long before formal agreements were in vogue
in the region. Latin America, by contrast, has primarily used formal
regional trade treaties as the main channel of integration. Second,
despite the relative lack of formal regional trade treaties until
recently, East Asia is more integrated among itself than Latin America.
Third, from a purely economic and trade standpoint, the proper sequence
of integrations seems to be first integrating via markets and subsequently
via formal regional trade agreements. Fourth, regional trade agreements
often serve multiple constituents. The reason why integrating via
markets first can be helpful is because this can give stronger political
bargaining power to the outward-looking economic-oriented forces
within the country. The paper is available online at http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64154159&searchMenuPK=64258669&theSitePK=523679&entityID=000158349_20080304084358&searchMenuPK=64258669&theSitePK=523679. EPA NEGOTIATIONS:
STATE OF PLAY AND STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE WAY FORWARD.
South Centre, February 2008. This Analytical Note describes the
process that led to the conclusion, in the last hours of 2007, of
interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and
20 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries as well as of
a comprehensive EPA with the 15 CARIFORUM states. It overviews the
contents of these agreements and comments on some elements related
to their consistency with WTO rules. On each topic, the note highlights
the developmental implications of the texts that have been initialed.
Finally, it overviews some of the main challenges that ACP governments
now face in the EPA negotiations and provides suggestions regarding
strategic options for the way forward. THE HARMONIZED
SYSTEM - AMENDMENTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON WTO MEMBERS' SCHEDULES.
By Dayong Yu. World Trade Organisation, February 2008. As an internationally
standardized product nomenclature, the Harmonized System (HS) is
used by WTO Members in their schedules of concessions and in the
definitions of product coverage for a number of WTO agreements.
The Harmonized System is normally amended by the World Customs Organization
every four to six years. These amendments pose considerable challenges
for the WTO and its Members. On the one hand, Members need to periodically
update their historical schedules of concessions into the latest
nomenclature. On the other hand, these amendments may have implications
for the definition and thus also the implementation of some WTO
agreements where the product coverage is defined in terms of the
HS. In either case, the product codes and/or descriptions in the
old HS version need to be transposed precisely into those in the
new version of HS nomenclature in order to retain the historical
concessions or the product coverage unchanged. Given the complexity
of HS amendments, this process could be very technical and sometimes
tricky. This paper starts by providing an overview of the HS amendments
and proposing a categorization of those HS changes in the context
of transposition. It then looks back at the history of the introduction
of the HS and its subsequent amendments into the WTO schedules and
assesses the difficulties and problems which have been faced by
WTO Members. On the basis of such analysis, it introduces the successful
procedures and methodologies used by WTO Members and the WTO Secretariat
to deal with the recent HS2002 transposition. The paper also discusses
the implications of the HS amendments to three WTO agreements and
the possible approaches to transpose their product lists into a
new HS nomenclature. The paper is available online at http://www.wto.org/english/res_e/reser_e/ersd200802_e.pdf.
UNTANGLING LINKS
BETWEEN TRADE, POVERTY AND GENDER. By Nicola Jones and Hayley Baker.
Overseas Development Institute, February 2008. This paper examines
why and how trade liberalisation affects men and women in different
ways, drawing on recent evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean,
where governments have signed much-debated Free Trade Agreements.
While these recognise the need to address gender inequalities if
women are to benefit from trade liberalisation, they have not been
accompanied by the necessary social policy measures. The paper ends
by examining policy implications, looking at how trade-related policies
can enhance women's and men's capabilities to take advantage of
new market opportunities, given the patterning and dynamics of poverty
in the region. The brief is available online at http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/briefing/bp38-mar08-trade-poverty-gender.pdf |
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