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WTO, rules, commitments, tariffs, standards, trade wars, geographical indications, and more
UK-EU tariffs, tariff quotas, services, media, leadership, GATT Art24, continuity deals, and more
Trade, direct democracy
Crisis, reform, negotiations, disputes, amendments, agriculture, access to medicines, trade facilitation
Headlines
Intellectual property, waiver and COVID-19
Does the new draft move the talks forward?
Updated July 21, 2021
Bolivia’s bid to import a Canadian COVID-19 vaccine May 12, 2021
2 EU papers, 3 proposals June 5, 2021 | Waiver: too soon to predict despite US support May 7, 2021 | Voting in the WTO? It won’t happen May 19, 2021 | Waiver: explanation and background February 21, 2021
> More on intellectual property | More on the waiver
Negotiations
Optimism after WTO ministers meet on fisheries subsidies, despite splits July 15, 2021
• Updated links
• More on the fisheries subsidies talks
India and South Africa challenge alternative approach to WTO talks
February 22, 2021
WTO reform: how wide should the window be set?
Thoughts on WTO reform and transparency. With Robert Wolfe
Photos by Jay Louvion April 26, 2020
Short: Summary. Long: 1 Transparency | 2 External transparency | 3 Negotiations | 4 Does transparency help or hinder?
Down a rabbit hole in search of the Wensleydale deal with Norway June 8, 2021
‘Without transparency, trade agreements are just words on paper.’
‘Countries do not negotiate in meetings of the full membership, even behind closed doors’
‘Our focus here is only on the tension between external and internal transparency’
WTO AGRICULTURE
Ambition and cynicism collide
The strange atmosphere of the WTO agriculture talks Updated Jul 22, 2021
With note on new approaches to domestic support Feb 4, 2021 and OECD support figures Jun 27, 2021
Long read
From COVID-19 into 2021
Lessons for WTO work on agricultural trade and support
1. ‘WTO rules are not prescriptions’ 2. What’s happened 3. Prospects
(Plus References)
December 31, 2020
UK-Australia deal: when a cap on farm goods is not a cap June 18, 2021
The US splits its tariff quotas for UK and EU exports July 15, 2021
Tariff quotas and Britain’s WTO commitments Sep 2018. Updated
What’s happening? | Comments | Beginners’ guide
Trump-Lighthizer
The US’s claim that it is a victim in the WTO is based on a truly blinkered view. And that’s being generous
June 21, 2020
dIRECTOR-GENERAL
Dire meeting shows scale of Dr Ngozi’s task Mar 5, 2021
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the new WTO chief
Sailing close to the wind February 18, 2021 | Let’s not get carried away February 15, 2021 | US ends deadlock Updated February 5, 2021 | A saviour? Or a butler? June-July 2020
Dispute settlement
Crisis, but the WTO does …
Appeals in deep freeze since December 2019
Short: Why isn’t the WTO dead? Long: Explanation
Aug 21, 2019; May 3, 2020
Stop-gap: Arbitration, alternative appeals Aug 3, 2020
… much more than disputes
Law of the jungle? Far from it
Rules-based trade is not just about disputes
and The ‘dead’ WTO is surprisingly busy
Dec 11, 2019; Jan 17, 2020; Feb 11, 2021
What have the UK and Switzerland agreed on trade post-Brexit?
Rewritten January 15, 2021
The UK’s rolled-over deals after the Brexit transition January 1, 2021
Is ‘Melton Mowbray’ still protected in the EU after Brexit?
August 29; December 26, 2020
‘WTO terms’ will apply in all future UK-EU trade. But how much?
A sliding scale of trade barriers
Summary | Part 1: WTO terms | Part 2: goods | Part 3: services and more
May 27, 2020
Behind the Rhetoric
‘Public stockholding for food security’ August 24, 2020
Another ‘safeguard’ against import surges? August 30, 2020
Primers
The WTO and implications for the UK, EU, Brexit
and international trade policy
These posts explain the WTO, how it works, its member-driven structure, and the UK’s and EU’s relationship with it.
What is the WTO?
What is the WTO? And is it undemocratic?
August 18, 2018
Introducing the WTO elephant and its dodgy health
December 17, 2017
Real beginners’ guides
Tariffs and the WTO
July 28, 2018
Tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) and the WTO
September 9, 2018
GATT Article 24
June XXIV, MMXIX
‘WTO terms’
They apply in any future UK-EU trade relationship. But how much?
Summary
Part 1 ‘WTO terms’
Part 2 goods
Part3 services and more
May 27, 2020
More guides
Geographical indications
What are geographical indications? And for post-Brexit UK?
May 5; September 26, 2018
Will ‘Melton Mowbray’ stay protected in the EU after the Brexit transition?
August 29, 2020
.
Standards
Standards, regulations and trade in goods
September 5, 2018
More on geographical indications
‘GI View’, Rolling over names
January 5 & 10, 2021
Problem trade
Dealing with problem trade measures — not just dispute settlement
December 11, 2019
The WTO is surprisingly busy — considering it’s supposed to be dead
January 17, 2020
More on the WTO below. See also archived primers, all primers
On Brexit
Brexit and WTO commitments, WTO rules, free trade agreements,
Brexit more generally, presentations and evidence
Brexit and WTO commitments
Post-Brexit tariffs
1. The Hilton beef quota: a taste of what post-Brexit UK faces in the WTO Aug 10, 2016
2. This EU tariff takes the biscuit. Plus a really nerdy look at annex 1 Aug 18, 2016
3. Oranges: a litmus test of UK post-Brexit tariff negotiations Aug 27, 2017
Tariff quotas
What’s really happening on tariff quotas and Britain’s WTO commitments?
Plus
Comments received from organisations and other countries Sep 12, 2018
The limits of ‘possibility’: Splitting the lamb-mutton quota for the UK and EU–27 Jan 6, 2017
Tariffs
Four years on, still basic mistakes on tariffs at the very top of UK politics
September 18, 2020
Services
If the EU and UK fall back on WTO commitments what does this mean for services? Mar 11, 2020
Brexit and WTO rules
GATT Article 24
A real beginner’s guide Jun XXIV, MMXIX
Article 24 in depth Jun 27, 2019
One last go. The red herring in less than 400 words Feb 16, 2019
Iain Duncan Smith & co are wrong about GATT Art24, Brexit and getting out of jail Telegraph, Sep 2, 2019
.
The myth of a 10-year grace period, Brexit and trade talks with the EU
December 27, 2018
A bit of fun: Brexit through the magic land of Eksive
May 1, 2019
VIDEO GATT Article 24: They still don’t get it
YouTube, November 9, 2019
Leaders, rules, borders
UK and ‘WTO leadership’ Nov 8, 2017
How to be a trade champion Nov 21, 2017
The UK was already under WTO rules Feb 8, 2017
The Trade Facilitation Agreement and Brexit Aug 16, 2018 | Does the WTO require countries to control their borders? No and yes Jul 18, 2018
Free trade agreements, UK and EU relations
Rolling over EU agreements
The UK’s rolled-over deals after the Brexit transition January 1, 2021
Grandfathering EU free trade deals for the UK: a look at an actual text (S.Korea): It won’t be automatic
February 13, 2018
Text of the UK-S.Korea free trade agreement
September 3, 2019
Text of the UK-Japan trade agreement, chapter by chapter October 24, 2020
Which UK geographical indications are in its trade deal with Japan? October 26,2020
What have the UK and Switzerland agreed on trade post-Brexit? February 5, 2019; completely overhauled January 15, 2021
Types of agreement
Types of a possible future UK-EU trade deal. By Alan Swinbank, Reading University
January 10, 2017
In a nutshell: Brexit and the UK’s trading relations with the EU. 5 graphics summarising the 4 main options September 19, 2016
‘No deal’ on UK-EU trade is worse than ‘Australia-style’
November 30, 2020
See also archived posts on Brexit, everything on Brexit
On Switzerland
Trade
What have the UK and Switzerland agreed on trade post-Brexit?
February 5, 2019; completely overhauled January 15, 2021
See also archived posts on Switzerland, everything on Switzerland
On THE WTO AND TRADE
Policy and reform, negotiations and rule-making,
dispute settlement
Policy and reform
How wide should the WTO window be set?
With Robert Wolfe. Thoughts on WTO reform and transparency April 26, 2020
Short: Summary
Long: 1 Transparency | 2 External transparency | 3 Negotiations | 4 Does transparency help or hinder?
(Photos by Jay Louvion)
the new director-general
Analysis: Let’s not get carried away Feb 5, 2021
First statements sail close to the wind Feb 18, 2021
US ends deadlock over selection Feb 5, 2021
Was the WTO choosing saviour? Or a butler? Jul 23, 2020
Dire first meeting shows size of Okonjo-Iweala’s task
If this was an indication of members’ willingness to listen to the new director-general they had picked, then she must be disappointed
Mar 5, 2021
Negotiations and rule-making
Agriculture
2021: Where ambition and cynicism collide
Updated July 22, 2021
Domestic support: the Cairns Group’s re-think
Feb 4, 2021
Behind the rhetoric
‘Public stockholding for food security’ Aug 24, 2020
Does the WTO need another ‘safeguard’ against import surges? Aug 30, 2020
Fisheries subsidies
Optimism after WTO ministers meet on fisheries subsidies, despite splits July 15, 2021
Updated links | More on the talks
More agriculture
Long read: From COVID-19 into 2021
1. ‘WTO rules are not prescriptions’ | 2. What’s happened | 3. Prospects (Plus References) Dec 31, 2020
History: the 20-year saga Mar 23, 2020
Plurilaterals
India and South Africa pour cold water on alternative approach to WTO talks Feb 22, 2021
Intellectual property
Does the new draft move the talks forward? July 1, 2021
Bolivia’s bid to import a Canadian COVID-19 vaccine May 12, 2021
2 EU papers, 3 proposals June 5, 2021
Voting in the WTO? May 19, 2021
> More articles and explanations on the waiver
Dispute settlement
Crisis
Blinkered view: Trump and Lighthizer were wrong about WTO disputes
June 21, 2020
Short: By Christmas the WTO will be dead — or will it?
August 21, 2019; updated
Long: A bit of bother down at the WTO court — Why? And is it a killer?
August 21, 2019; updated
Stop-gap: Arbitration, an alternative way to appeal August 3, 2020
Technical notes:
1. WTO Appellate Body members and their terms 2. Zeroing 3. Dispute settlement is not essential (but it helps) 4. Appeals into the void
5. Stages in WTO dispute settlement
It’s working
How the WTO deals with problem trade measures—it’s not just dispute settlement
The Appellate Body is in a deep freeze, but those who think it will drag trade into the law of the jungle are in for a surprise
December 11, 2019; updated
The WTO is surprisingly busy — considering it’s supposed to be dead
January 17, 2020
VIDEO: The WTO and the global trading system (Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, YouTube, 54 mins)
— Adam Posen, Vince Cable, Stuart Harbinson, Peter Ungphakorn, David Tinline
June 10, 2020
Authorised retaliation
Spot the difference: US tariffs on Scotch are not part of a tariff war
BBC Question Time was wrong about tariffs. It matters.
February 15, 2020
More on the crisis
Yes, the WTO needs fixing—but not the way this NY Times piece imagines
December 27, 2020
See also: archived posts on the WTO; everything on: agriculture, trade negotiations (category, tagged), trade facilitation, G20
Header photo: Norway reflections by David Mark from Pixabay, CC0
