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The Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement and Rulemaking in the WTO: Milestone, Mistake or Mirage?

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  • Bernard Hoekman
Abstract
The Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) embodies the first set of new multilateral rules to have been negotiated under auspices of the WTO, part of a small package of decisions centering on matters of interest to developing countries that was “harvested” from the broader Doha round. This paper analyzes the outcome of the trade facilitation talks, assesses the role of the epistemic community that provided information to negotiators and reflects on the lessons and possible implications of the TFA experience for the prospects for new rule-making and cooperation on regulatory matters in the WTO. The TFA illustrates both the potential and the difficulty of negotiating generally applicable stand-alone agreements in the WTO and demonstrates the importance of issue linkage in achieving cooperation in trade policy matters.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernard Hoekman, 2014. "The Bali Trade Facilitation Agreement and Rulemaking in the WTO: Milestone, Mistake or Mirage?," RSCAS Working Papers 2014/102, European University Institute.
    • Handle: RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2014/102
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    Cited by:

    1. Staiger, Robert & Bagwell, Kyle & Bown, Chad, 2015. "Is the WTO Passé?," CEPR Discussion Papers 10672, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Kyle Bagwell & Chad P. Bown & Robert W. Staiger, 2016. "Is the WTO Passé?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1125-1231, December.
    3. Bernard Hoekman & Ben Shepherd, 2017. "Services Productivity, Trade Policy and Manufacturing Exports," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 499-516, March.
    4. Bernard Hoekman, 2015. "Trade Agreements and International Regulatory Cooperation in a Supply Chain World," RSCAS Working Papers 2015/04, European University Institute.
    5. Decreux, Yvan & Fontagné, Lionel, 2015. "What Next for Multilateral Trade Talks? Quantifying the Role of Negotiation Modalities," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 29-43, January.
    6. Kaewkamol Pitakdumrongkit, 2017. "Beyond The Secretariat: Addressing Governance Issues In Asean Economic Community," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 62(03), pages 741-759, June.
    7. Patrick Leblond, 2015. "La politique commerciale du Canada envers l’Asie : fin de l’ambivalence ?," CIRANO Working Papers 2015s-24, CIRANO.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    trade facilitation; trade agreements; issue linkage; WTO; economic development;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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