Syrian Accession to WTO: Requirements and Opportunities . Discussion

1. Syrian Accession to WTO:Requirements and Opportunities. Discussion Discussion José María García Alvarez-Coque Universidad Politécnica de Valencia

2. Syrian accession to the WTO: Not only in the interest of Syria • Many developing countries in the world would like to see the multilateral system reinforced • A ruled-based system for everybody is needed to avoid unilateral trade policies.

3. WTO advantages for developing countries? The Uruguay Round experience • The Agreement on Agriculture imposed limits on market access, export competition and domestic subsidies. • But… • Negotiations were controlled by the “Quad” (US, EU, Canada and Japan). • The new rules were comfortable for industrial economies. • Agricultural support in industrial countries remained high.

4. Developing countries did not give up… • Negotiations were resumed in the Doha Development Agenda. • Objectives for developing countries: • Substantial improvements in market access. • Strengthening the Special and Differential Treatment. • Substantial reduction (elimination) of export-subsidies and trade-distorting domestic support in industrial economies. • The Cancun Conference represented a test of the level of organization of developing countries.

5. Two examples…….. The G-20 • prevented current trade talks from being monopolized by the Quad. • Agricultural negotiations are at a hot point. • But a more favorable setting for developing countries can be envisaged. • has underlined the effect of US and EU cotton subsidies on international prices. The “cotton initiative”

6. To conclude….. • Developing countries start to trust the system (they take part on it). • Prospects for achieving positive outcomes are not too bad. • WTO rules constrain domestic trade policies. But there are still degrees of freedom. • Trade liberalization is the result of a balanced negotiation and mutual concessions, and not of unilateral decisions.