RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS: WORKING PAPERS
“Agricultural products” and “fishery products” in the GATT and WTO: a history of relevant discussions on product scope during negotiations
The WTO Agreement on Agriculture applies to those “agricultural products” as defined in its Annex 1. This definition expressly excludes “fish and fish products” from the scope of application of the Agreement. In light of this exclusion, the paper is intended to provide a historical account of the relationship between agricultural products and fishery products in the context of the negotiations leading to and during the GATT period up to the conclusion of the Uruguay Round, and some of its implications for WTO negotiations.
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Developments in the sector
In recent decades, postal services have undergone radical changes from a regulatory, operational and technological perspective throughout the world.
Technological changes have confronted operators with new forms of competition from other communication services (e.g. e-mails), but also presented new opportunities, e.g. the use of technology in the just-in-time shipment of goods by express delivery companies. This is a rapidly growing area which is playing a key role in supply chain management and logistics. Market-oriented reforms have been undertaken in most countries: public postal operators have been corporatized and/or privatized and the scope of postal monopolies reduced. Furthermore, new regulatory issues have arisen as a result of the liberalization of postal markets.
history
Early years: emerging environment debate in GATT/WTO
Trade and environment, as an issue, is by no means new. The link between trade and environmental protection both the impact of environmental policies on trade, and the impact of trade on the environment was recognized as early as 1970.
Growing international concern about the impact of economic growth on social development and the environment led to a call for an international conference on how to manage the human environment. The 1972 Stockholm Conference was the response.
The 1971 GATT study
In 1972, the UN held a Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. During the preparations in 1971, the Secretariat of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was asked to make a contribution.
On 5 March, the new Director-General met with the Group of Least Developed Countries as well as the Friends of the System, an alliance of small and mid-sized members from different regions and development levels that are committed to a well-functioning multilateral trading system.
DG Okonjo-Iweala also addressed the first meeting of the Structured Discussions on Trade and Environmental Sustainability, at the invitation of the 53-member group that is exploring ways trade and the WTO can better contribute to achieving environmental goals.
In her discussions with the LDC Group, the Director-General noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had reversed one or even two decades of development progress for many LDCs, and that it continued to disrupt key LDC exports, whether of tourism services, commodities or manufactures. Trade and the WTO had a critical role to play, she said, both in making COVID-19 vaccines more affordable and accessible, and in driving a global recovery