5. DELIBERATION: Substantive dialogue causes states to buy in to the WTO.

The WTO is a ‘member-driven’ organization. It works through many WTO Committees and other bodies in which all its members participate, subject to their choice. Bolstering the regular work of WTO bodies is one avenue for revitalizing the organisation’s deliberative function. These entities provide venues for members to discuss policies relevant to the respective subject areas covered by existing agreements and how these are changing. They provide opportunities for policy dialogue and consideration of options to avoid or limit adverse trade effects of policies that are not, or only partially, covered by current WTO agreements and member commitments.

Self-reflection should include policy dialogue on emerging issues and areas of opportunity and more generally seek to (re-)establish a common understanding of whether and how WTO bodies can be more useful to the government departments in national capitals that deal with each of the issue areas they cover. One element of such a process is for WTO members to determine what information they need to engage productively with each other in different WTO bodies. Noncompliance with many of the notification requirements included in WTO agreements in a timely or comprehensive manner has become a source of contention. Rather than seeking to enforce compliance with all existing notification requirements, it would be more constructive for WTO Committees to ask themselves what information is needed to fulfil their mandate and most usefully help economic actors and citizens navigate and understand the trading system.

Shifting the focus from a “business as usual” approach centred on defending long-standing positions on mandates and work programs of Committees and other WTO bodies to one that starts with members asking what each entity’s activities (tasks) should be and how they can more effectively pursue them may make the ‘normal business’ activities of WTO bodies more salient to the constituencies with a stake in the subject areas covered by the different WTO agreements.

A greater emphasis on jointly determining (learning about) what constitutes good practice in each of the policy areas covered by a Committee through sharing of national experiences, supported by background papers and analysis from the secretariat, could also form the basis of a more effective approach to dealing with economic development concerns. As each Committee brings together officials responsible for specific trade policies, they offer the opportunity to engage in deeper substantive discussions on what types of policies will foster sustainable development.

A development-focused policy dialogue in the various WTO bodies could consider factual questions: What kind of treatment could help countries develop industries in sectors where they have comparative advantages? A basic focus of such discussion should be on identifying the scope for greater differentiation among developing countries on an issue-by-issue basis.

The Committees are also appropriate venues for discussion of what can be learned from the operation of PTAs in their respective policy areas. PTAs may pursue innovative approaches towards cooperation on trade policies. A regular focus at Committee level on national experiences with different PTAs would not only improve transparency, but more important, support a process of learning about approaches that might be multilateralized through instruments such as a reference paper that countries could sign on to.

It is vital that policy dialogue is framed as an open process with a view to consider whether there is a problem and to learn from experience as opposed to starting from the premise that this reflects a search for rules. The latter may well be a solution, but first it is necessary for there to be a common understanding of an issue and whether and how rules are needed to address it. The process should not be framed as a prelude to negotiations, as this is a key factor why some WTO members have opposed policy dialogue on new matters in the first place.