Two Single Undertakings--Can the WTO Implement the Results of a Round?

Abstract

The World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement was accepted as a single undertaking and the Doha Round is also treated as a single undertaking. That does not imply that any eventual results of the current negotiations can be seamlessly integrated into the existing WTO agreements all at the same time and for all Members at the same time. The procedures used to implement the results of the Uruguay Round will not necessarily be available within the constraints of the WTO's institutional structure. Conversely, the procedures that are available within the WTO framework were not designed for the purpose of implementing the results of a comprehensive round of trade negotiations and preserving an overall balance of concessions embodied in multiple legal forms. This means that implementation will alter the multilateral nature of the WTO as it presently stands. WTO Members may yet be at liberty to revert to earlier approaches to implementation which are better adapted to the logic underlying the single undertaking approach. This paper reviews the potential form of the results of the Round as it emerges from draft modalities and texts, analyses the challenges ahead and suggests possible ways forward. Oxford University Press 2011, all rights reserved, Oxford University Press.