New Delhi India, Namibia and South Africa have questioned the validity of so-called multilateral agreements on e-commerce, domestic service rules and investment facilitation by World Trade Organization (WTO) member states. He said such talks cannot be called multilateral as they do not have WTO approval and its rule book should not be amended.
The Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) is broadly defined as a multilateral negotiation tool initiated by a group of WTO members on certain issues without following the decision-making rules of the multilateral body.
The members negotiating such an initiative aim to conclude the process ahead of the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva in late November.
India and other developing countries are concerned about the introduction of new trade rules in the framework of the WTO covertly through the JSI agreements, despite the lack of consent of all member states.
The 1979 Tokyo Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations led to multilateral codes that created a fragmented system – while some parties had GATT rules in place, others had multilateral codes. This created considerable complexity in determining which obligations were applicable in relation to which contracting party.
But the preamble of the Marrakesh Agreement that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1994, highlighted the concerns of its members over the fragmentation of multilateral rules following the multilateral code of the Tokyo Round and to develop a “integrated, more viable and sustainable multilateral”. was in favor. The trade system that includes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the results of previous trade liberalization efforts, and all results from the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations.
The three countries argued earlier this month, “Therefore, going back to multilateral agreements would be a step in the wrong direction and contrary to the determination and resolve enshrined in the preamble of the Marrakesh Agreement.”
However, India, Namibia and South Africa did not question the rights of members to meet and discuss issues, but said that WTO fundamentals should be followed when such negotiations could lead to amendments to the WTO rulebook. Is. “As a result of the JSI negotiations, any attempt to introduce new rules into the WTO without meeting the requirements of Articles IX and X of the Marrakesh Accords will be considered any issue without the necessary consent of any group of members to the WTO. set precedent for bringing in any new rules or amendments to existing rules bypassing the collective oversight of members; usurping the limited WTO resources available for multilateral negotiations. Most importantly, such The approach would undermine the balance in agenda setting and result in members disregarding existing multilateral mandates through consensus in favor of issues without a multilateral mandate, thereby marginalizing or excluding issues that are largely membership. difficult but important.
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