World Trade Organization Members Research Articles

How Can International Trade Law Discipline Nudging Through Ecolabels?

This essay focuses on government-administered voluntary ecolabels, which could act as a nudge by altering consumer preferences toward labelled products. Consequently, they de facto compel producers to join the ecolabel schemes familiar to local consumers or dominant in the individual market to avoid being disadvantaged vis-à-vis domestic producers. Given this background, nudging with ecolabels needs to be analysed mainly with respect to the national treatment principle under international trade law. This principle regulates voluntary ecolabels under Articles D and E of the TBT Agreement Annex 3 and Article III:4 of the GATT 1994. These articles ensure that products from any World Trade Organization (WTO) member are treated no less favourable than ‘like products’ of national origin. However, the ‘like products’ definition is unclear under these clauses. Within the scope of this paper, ‘likeness’ is defined as products in a close competitive relationship. This determination can primarily be made from the consumers’ perspective. The essay hence focuses on the de facto discrimination between domestic and imported products due to ecolabels. Following this, it argues that such discrimination does not violate the national treatment principle because ecolabels also affect the ‘like’ product analysis by altering consumer preferences. Ecolabelling, Voluntary Ecolabels, Informational Regulation, Nudge, Nudging, International Trade Law, National Treatment Principle, De facto Discrimination, Likeness Analysis, Consumer Preferences

THE IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TECHNOLOGY ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE

This paper studies the complex impact mechanism of AI (artificial intelligence) technology on international trade. This provides an answer to how different countries use AI technology to increase their own international trade volume. This article is based on an analysis of cross-sectional data for 139 countries in 2021. This paper uses the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method to perform a analysis on the cross-sectional data. This paper finds that the membership of World Trade Organization (WTO) has obvious significance for a country to use AI technology to promote exports. In countries with a high Government AI Readiness Index, AI technology has a significant role in promoting the growth of international trade. However, there is a significant negative correlation between the number of patent applications for AI-related technologies and imports and exports across countries. Besides, the number of patent applications for AI-related technologies has a direct heterogeneous impact on the imports of countries with different income groups. AI technology is an emerging technology. To study the impact of this technology on international trade, multiple factors of AI technology must be considered at the same time. For countries that are not members of the WTO, joining the WTO can make better use of AI technology to promote the development of their international trade. Between the complex relationship between the number of patent applications for different AI-related technologies and international trade, countries with different income groups should develop AI technologies that are beneficial to their own international trade.

The Second Wave of the Fisheries Subsidies Negotiations: Overcapacity, Overfishing, and Other Disciplines

The Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS) was concluded by the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in June 2022. It was negotiated following the mandate contained in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6 adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. In the AFS, WTO Members were able to agree on subsidy prohibitions relating to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, overfished stocks and unregulated waters. However, the AFS fails to address part of the SDG 14.6 mandate concerning subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing. For this reason, WTO Members have, shortly after the conclusion of the AFS, engaged in a second wave of negotiations to address the missing elements in SDG 14.6, as well as other provisions left out of the AFS. At the time of writing, the WTO Negotiating Group on Rules has produced a draft text containing the proposals of Members on overcapacity and overfishing, including a sustainability carve-out and special and differential treatment for developing countries. In addition, this text includes a subsidy prohibition with respect to subsidies contingent upon or tied to fishing and fishing related activities in waters outside the subsidizing Member’s jurisdiction and a notification obligation concerning the use of forced labour. The challenge is, therefore, to produce a text that is agreeable to both the representatives of Members sitting at the WTO Ministerial Conference and the stakeholders of each WTO Member who will decide, domestically, whether to ratify the agreement. fisheries subsidies, IUU fishing, overfished stocks, overcapacity, overfishing, forced labour, waters outside the jurisdiction

Effect of the accession to the world trade organization on commercial services exports

The literature on the trade effects of the membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has essentially focused on trade in goods, including goods exports. The present analysis has investigated the effect of the WTO membership on commercial services exports for 25 Article XII Members (i.e., countries that joined the WTO under Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO) over the period from 2005 to 2019. Results, based on the two-stage probit least squares estimator have revealed that the WTO membership increased significantly commercial services exports, including both modern and traditional services exports in Article XII members, and promoted services export diversification. Using the two-step system generalized method of moments estimator, the analysis has shown heterogenous effects of the membership in the WTO on commercial services export performance among Article XII Members relatively to Non-Article XII WTO Members.

Impact of global trade agreements on agricultural producer prices in Asian countries

Following global trade agreements, Asian countries have been highly aggressive in implementing free trade. These conditions will impact all sectors, including agriculture. This study aims to examine the impact of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), World Trade Organization membership (WTO), and the Doha Round implementations on agricultural producer prices in Asian countries (PPI). The study was conducted using secondary data from 1991 to 2020. The data for 28 Asian countries were analyzed using the first difference General Method of Moments (GMM). The results show that implementing the GATT raises the PPI, but implementing the WTO has the reverse impact. PPI is unaffected by the Doha Round. Inflation, exchange rate, value-added, human capital, and land area equipped for irrigation are all positive contributors to PPI. Several recommendations are made to increase PPI in Asian countries: increasing commitment to agricultural fair trade, increasing agricultural value-added, improving educational opportunities for agricultural business players, and prioritizing agricultural infrastructure investment.

PROVISIONS ON IMPORTATION OF ELECTRONICALLY TRANSMITTED DIGITAL GOODS STUDY CASE: INDONESIA

In a world increasingly reliant on e-commerce, the need for comprehensive international trade regulations, ensuring fairness and inclusivity in this digital trade has become paramount. In 1998, the World Trade Organization (WTO) introduced a moratorium on customs duties for electronic transmissions, signalling a commitment to a tariff-free environment for digital commerce. However, this decision has sparked extensive debates among WTO members, particularly concerning the definition and scope of electronically transmitted content. The study delves into Indonesia's provision for imposing customs duties on digital goods transmitted electronically, offering insights into its policy background, legal framework, and implementation procedures. Employing descriptive qualitative research methods, this study aims to provide a holistic understanding of Indonesia's customs duties provision for digital imports through electronic transmission. It captures the nuances of this policy by presenting real-world data, observations, and interviews with stakeholders. Indonesia Government has regulated the importation of digital goods through electronic transmission with the issuance of the MoF Regulation Number 190 Year 2022 regarding Import Provisions for Home Use. The provisions include three main points: exclusion from some provisions of importation of tangible goods, a minimum requirement of filled-in element data in customs import declaration, and a monitoring and submissionmechanism. In conclusion, the provisions of digital goods importation, which Indonesia has implemented, accommodates usefulness and easiness to the importers in declaring import declaration. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the number of import declaration documents for digital goods since the regulation`simplementation in January 2023.

Legal Analysis of Export Subsidies under the Agreement of Subsidy and Countervailing Measures

Export subsidies, for several decades now, have attracted significant attention due to their undesirable impacts on international trade. In the Uruguay Round 1994, the World Trade Organization (WTO) generated the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) which contains global rules to regulate the different types of subsidies and to offset their adverse effects on other WTO Members. This paper, through its three sections, therefore aims to provide a legal analysis of the provisions of export subsidies contained in Articles 3 and 4 of the ASCM. By doing so, this paper answers the question of whether the ASCM is sufficient to cease the distortive effect of the export subsidy. To that end, doctrinal legal research has been conducted through analysis of the black letter of law and the case laws. In conclusion, the ASCM succeeded in giving the export subsidies per se prohibited nature, either in law or in fact. Unfortunately, the mere repayment of the amount of the subsidy is not always a sufficient remedy. As such, punitive countermeasures must be introduced to implement remedial provisions and to deter export subsidies.

Reforming the WTO through Inclusive and Development-friendly Plurilaterals

Updating the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has become imperative to address the dynamic challenges confronting modern trade. Plurilateral agreements can be a viable option for responding to trade issues where achieving multilateral consensus in the full WTO membership is difficult. However, plurilaterals should follow an inclusive and development-focused framework for participation. They should have a layered architecture of rights and obligations and encompass capacity-building measures. WTO Members should also initiate plurilaterals on topics which are of particular concern to developing countries and which can help achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The G20 (Group of 20) can play a decisive role in fostering discussion and mutual understanding on plurilaterals. WTO, reforming the WTO, plurilateral agreements, Joint Statement Initiatives, G20, developing countries, inclusive trade, multilateral negotiations

Researching China’s Development and Globalization in an Era of US-China Tensions

The role that China is perceived to present for the global economy—much less global security—has changed remarkably since China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001. During the height of neoliberalism and third-wave democracies, China appeared more open to foreign capital than the developmental states of East Asia, which had restricted foreign direct investment (FDI) in favor of domestic industrialization during a comparable stage of economic development. Through the first 15 years of China’s WTO membership, many in academia and the policy world depicted a modernizing China undergoing market transition, in parallel to Eastern European countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Promoting food security through public stockholding – Indian perspective and challenges at the WTO

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the applicable legal framework, various concerns regarding the price support methodology and the merits and pitfalls of the Bali peace clause that currently shields India’s public stockholding (PSH) policy, to provide suggestions on moving forward in the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.Design/methodology/approachAt the WTO, PSH for food security is considered a trade-distorting price support measure when food stocks are purchased from farmers at administered prices instead of market prices. The price support is measured by a specific methodology stipulated under the Agreement on Agriculture. India is concerned that the price support methodology overestimates the actual support provided to the farmers and makes India susceptible to violating the WTO law.FindingsThe paper explains the domestic implications for India arising due to the applicable WTO law. Given the centrality of India’s PSH programmes in ensuring food security, India must seek more clarity on the interpretation of Article 18.4 of the AoA and the ambiguous provisions of the Bali peace clause.Originality/valueThe paper provides a timely and updated analysis of the contentious issue of PSH for food security, exclusively from the Indian perspective, highlighting the persisting challenges for India in WTO agriculture negotiations. This is timely as many WTO members have raised serious concerns about India’s market price support policies recently and this analysis informs the reader about the underlying issues.

Hong Kong as a separate customs territory: Past, present and prospect

This article reviews the journey of Hong Kong attaining and retaining the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership as a separate customs territory, and examines the present challenges for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to maintain its status within the multilateral trade system. By exploring the related facts and laws, the article concludes that Hong Kong has been a separate customs territory member of the GATT and WTO by virtue of the multilateral trade rules, and other countries are not entitled to revoke the HKSAR's separate customs territory status through unilateral measures. Given the past journey and present challenges with the separate customs territory status of Hong Kong, the following prospects can be drawn. The HKSAR remains qualified to possess full autonomy when conducting external commercial relations. A malfunctioning Appellate Body of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) may be incapable to safeguard the interests of HKSAR as a separate customs territory.

Effect of the Duration of Membership in the World Trade Organization on Trademark Applications

This article has examined the effect of the duration of membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the submission of trademarks by countries’ residents. The analysis used an unbalanced sample of 124 countries (including developed and developing countries) and, primarily, the binominal regression approach supplemented by the generalized method of moments estimator, which was utilized for the robustness check. Results have shown that the effect of the duration of WTO membership on trademarks works through the channel of trade costs. This effect is positive for less developed economies and negative for relatively advanced economies. These findings reflect the fact that as countries spend more time as WTO members, they experience a higher submission of patents in relation to trademarks, especially if they enjoy an improvement in their real per capita income (and export complex products). Furthermore, countries that receive higher Aid for Trade flows (which help to reduce trade costs) experience yet a higher number of trademark applications, but to a lesser extent than patent filings.

Assessing the Effect of Joining the World Trade Organization on Trade Performance: A Study of CIS Countries

This research delves into the impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) membership on trade dynamics in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, focusing on the potential augmentation or diversion of trade resulting from CIS countries’ WTO accession. The study context is grounded in the interplay between regionalism, represented by regional trade agreements and historical connections, and global integration facilitated by WTO membership. The study also scrutinizes the potentially complicating role of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) regional bloc, referencing the ‘Spaghetti Bowl’ phenomenon of overlapping trade agreements. The gravity model of trade serves as a conceptual foundation to understand the effects of WTO membership and regional trade agreements on trade costs. Empirical results suggest that WTO membership has not enhanced trade for the CIS. Instances of trade within the CIS region where there is only one WTO member have resulted in a positive trend, even though there is no robust evidence that it is due to WTO membership. The EAEU enhances trade and serves as a trading bloc within the region. This study highlights that while the WTO strives to foster trade liberalization and growth, its effects can be region-specific and complex, as demonstrated by the CIS region’s experience. The research also hints at the importance of intra-regional trade and unique regional factors as critical determinants of trade patterns, which can enhance broader trade expansion and economic development.

The least developed countries' Services Waiver, Aid for Trade for services and services exports

AbstractIn 2011, Trade Ministers of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) adopted a Decision that allows WTO Members to accord preferential treatment to services and service suppliers originating in least‐developed countries (LDCs). In 2013, another Ministerial Decision was adopted to operationalise the 2011 Waiver Decision. This paper has examined whether the Waiver Decision had been effective in promoting LDCs' commercial modern and traditional services exports and whether Aid for Trade (AfT) flows in favour of the services sectors were instrumental in achieving this objective. The analysis has used 43 LDCs over the period 2005–2018 and the difference‐in‐difference framework along with the two‐step system generalised method of moments estimator. The control group includes 20 Low‐Income Countries (designated as such by the International Monetary Fund) from which LDCs (as defined by the United Nations) are excluded. The analysis has revealed that the Waiver Decision led to higher modern commercial services exports at the expense of traditional commercial services exports. Moreover, as LDCs improved their trading capacity over time (thanks to the cumulative AfT flows for services), the Waiver Decision induced greater modern commercial services exports, but exerted a mixed effect on LDCs' traditional services exports.

Finance and export diversifications Nexus in Russian regions: Role of trade globalization and regional potential

We investigate if financial development (FD) can reduce the export concentration in regional context, corroborating the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, sanctions and investment potential. Given the considerable heterogeneity in data across regions and over time, we apply the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) to analyze panel time-series data from 2009 to 2019. Our finding shows that bank credit disbursement as a proxy of FD drives export diversification in all quantiles (q10-q90), where the role of FD is pronounced at middle to higher quantiles. Besides, the impact of financial development on trade diversification is profound in the regions with higher business potential compared to the lower business potential. We affirm that the adaption of WTO membership elevates trade diversification through promoting competitiveness and providing nascent exporting sectors opportunities to grow. Surprisingly, the economic sanctions imposed in 2014 promoted Russian regional trade diversification. We provided several practical policy implications.

Geographical Indications in Vietnam: Protection and Legal Issues

Geographical indications (GIs) are means of identifying the source and denoting the quality and reputation of regionally distinct goods. (Kevin. M. Murphy (2003), ‘Conflict, Confusion, and Bias Under TRIPs Articles 22-24’, American University International Law Review, Volume 19, Issue 5/2003.) They contribute to enhancing the goods’ value, thereby generating profits for entrepreneurs and countries. Vietnam, a country with many agricultural and regional products, has been actively integrating with the world, typically by becoming a member of the WTO (World Trade Organization (Member List at, https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_ e/org6_e.htm (accessed 04 May 2023))) and participating in agreements such as the European Union-Vietnam The Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) (European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement), https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-11/ EVFTA-guidance_0.pdf (accessed 04 May 2023) and the TRIPs (Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/27-trips.pdf (accessed 04 May 2023)). To align its legal framework with international standards, Vietnam has amended and supplemented to its Intellectual Property (IP) Law of 2005 in 2009, 2019, and 2022, introducing new regulations on GIs. These changes have had a significant impact on the protection of GIs in Vietnam. With this in mind, we analyse the current GI protection provisions in Vietnam’s IP laws and assess their compatibility with the requirements in international agreements. We will also explore the influence of the GI protection provisions on the actual registration and utilization of GIs in Vietnam. Based on our findings, we have prepared recommendations to improve Vietnam’s regulations on GI protection and enhance the practical effectiveness of those GI protection measures. Geographical Indications, TRIPs Agreement, EVFTA Agreement, Vietnam Intellectual Property Law, Geographical Indication Protection, Vietnam, Agricultural products, Homonymous Geographical Indications

Does it matter where your ancestor come from? Genetic distance and bilateral foreign direct investment

AbstractThis paper selects 141 countries from 2009 to 2020 to investigate the impact of genetic distance on bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI). Through theoretical and empirical analysis, we get the following conclusions. First, genetic distance has a significant negative impact on bilateral FDI by increasing transaction costs. This conclusion still holds after several robust checks. Second, genetic distance has different effects on bilateral FDI for different countries: (1) If at least one of the two countries is a low‐income country, genetic distance will have a significant negative impact on their FDI, but no significant impact on both high‐income countries; (2) if at least one of the two countries is not a member of the Belt and Road Initiative, genetic distance will have a significant negative impact, but no significant impact on both member countries; and (3) genetic distance has a significant negative impact only when both countries are World Trade Organization members. Third, further analysis shows that a smaller genetic distance has no significant effect on bilateral FDI, and only when the genetic distance is larger than the average would a significant negative impact exists. This paper provides policy recommendations for promoting bilateral investment.

Comparative analysis of state support for agricultural producers in Russia and in the world

Despite numerous trade disputes within the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the overestimation of the support level for agriculture by individual countries of the world, subsidizing farmers by their own governments not only does not decrease, but also tends to increase in general. In the conditions of the WTO member countries open markets, the world countries food security, including Russia, largely depends not only on the competitiveness of their own agriculture, but also on the support of their own agricultural sector commensurate with other states. Based on this, it is an urgent task to track the scale of state influence on the industry in other countries in order to avoid excessive competition of imported products. Thus, the purpose of the article is to study the dynamics of state support for agriculture in the countries of the world based on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) data. The results of the work are detailed information on the comparative level of state support for the agro-industrial complex in the countries of the world, and the amount of support for the Russian agricultural industry corresponds to the world average. To process the information received in order to present the results of the work as accessible as possible, tabular and graphical methods are used.

Russia’s WTO membership: Assessing the impact on foreign trade

The paper assesses some of the consequences of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Whereas much discussion about its costs and benefits happened during the WTO negotiations and in the first years after the accession, there was little said on the real consequences afterwards. The aim of the research is to assess the degree of fulfillment of the accession expectations after a decade. The research method is the analysis of panel data on the world trade for 2000-2019 (an econometric model based on the gravity model of foreign trade). It has been established that the WTO accession ultimately benefited for Russian foreign trade. However, this effect has been offset by increased political tensions since 2014. The objections to the WTO also turned out to be predominantly justified. The most positive economic consequences of the WTO exist for exporters of low value added goods. The criticism of the WTO participation by machine builders is understandable: although they are among the beneficiaries, the effects on exports and imports are comparable.

Duration of the Membership in the World Trade Organization and Aid for Trade Flows

In examining the effect of membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the amounts of Aid for Trade (AfT) that accrue to developing countries, Lee et al. (2015) (The World Economy, 38, 2015 and 1462) have found that developing country members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) received higher AfT flows than non-WTO developing members. The present paper deepens the analysis by Lee et al. (2015) by investigating the effect of the duration of WTO membership on the amounts of AfT flows that accrue to recipient countries. The duration of membership in the WTO captures both the membership in the WTO and the time spent by a country in the organization. The main argument in this analysis is that the duration of WTO membership matters more than the mere WTO membership for the degree of liberalization in AfT recipient countries’ trade regimes and their participation in international trade, the latter being a critical determinant of the AfT flows supplied by donors. This analysis has relied on a panel dataset of 136 countries over the period from 2002 to 2019, and the two-step generalized method of moments estimator. It has established that countries receive higher AfT flows as their membership duration increases, and the amounts of these resource inflows increase as recipient countries further liberalize their trade regime and further participate in international trade. Additionally, the effect of the duration of WTO membership on total AfT flows depends on donor-countries’ commercial self-interest in recipient countries, including the latter’s economic growth performance and endowment in natural resources.