The Doha Development Agenda And Beyond The WTO The

the doha development agenda and beyond the wto: the role of parliamentarians? tuesday 30 april 2002 10:00-1:00pm summary report

The Doha Development Agenda and Beyond
"The WTO: The role of Parliamentarians?"
Tuesday 30 April 2002
10:00-1:00pm
Summary Report
Moderators:
Mr. Mike Moore, Director-General, WTO
Dr. Caroline Lucas, Member of the European Parliament
Dr. Lockwood Smith, Member of Parliament, New Zealand
Opened by the Director-General of the WTO, Mr. Mike Moore this session
gathered parliamentarians, representatives of the Members, as well as
NGOs.
In his opening remarks, the WTO Director-General laid emphasis on the
importance for the WTO to maintain a dialogue with parliamentarians
who are, as elected by the people, the accountable representatives of
civil society. They had an essential role to play with regard to the
ratification of the results of negotiations concluded in WTO. In that
respect, it was important to assist them to perform their duties more
effectively. This Working Session was thus a good opportunity for
parliamentarians to exchange views and reflect on parliamentary
scrutiny.
Dr. Caroline Lucas highlighted that the role of parliamentarians
should go further than monitoring and reporting alone. She made the
case for a Parliamentary Assembly of the WTO which would have a more
prominent role to play in the form of parliamentary scrutiny, and also
in the wider efforts to reform the WTO processes, and its rules. She
stressed the need to make the ratification process, such as would be
the case with the Doha Development Agenda, a meaningful one and
pointed out to the need to develop benchmarks and indicators, against
which parliamentarians can judge the results of the new round of
multilateral trade negotiations.
Dr. Lockwood Smith noted that WTO is composed of Members represented
by Governments who are elected and take decisions by consensus.
Therefore, any Member Government has a veto in the WTO. In his
opinion, there was no crisis of legitimacy in the WTO as such.
However, politicians have a responsibility to maintain contact with
the people and explain what WTO is all about, including the dangers of
protectionism.
The parliamentarians present at the Working Session participated
actively in the discussion. Parliamentarians praised this opportunity
to debate on their role with regard to WTO issues and the need to
ensure the support of the people for the multilateral rules based
trading system, as embodied by the WTO. It was felt that WTO was far
removed from the people, and in particular at the local level, where
the concerns of the citizens, regarding jobs and standards of living,
is primarily expressed.
Greater coherence was sought between WTO and the UN System. The case
for parliamentary involvement was made for the WTO as well as for
other organizations. The question of one body or a proliferation of
parliamentary assemblies was raised. In respect of the WTO, as a
follow-up to the decision taken by parliamentarians present in Seattle
on the occasion of the third WTO Ministerial Conference, and
reconfirmed by those present in Doha during the Fourth Ministerial
Conference, some parliamentarians proposed during this workshop to
speed up the process of the creation of a Standing Body or a
Parliamentary Assembly to WTO.
Participants felt that in one way or another, a parliamentary
dimension to WTO would help parliamentarians to better understand
WTO's work and subsequently help them do a better job at home in
responding to the concerns of their constituencies and enact
legislation in their national parliaments.
However, there were some divergences about the nature and constitution
of such a Parliamentary Assembly or Standing Body to the WTO. This
concept needed therefore to be explored further, particularly with
regard to its wide-ranging implications and the details of its
practical application.
Greater coordination among the various organizations of
parliamentarians at the regional and international level was supported
to ensure effectiveness and to avoid the dispersion of the effort in
working towards the establishment of such a mechanism, especially to
ensure the involvement of parliamentarians from developing countries,
who do not have the resources to afford capacity building and
attendance at international meetings of parliamentarians.
If the time was not yet ripe for a Parliamentary Assembly, the need
for parliamentarians to assemble was strongly supported.