The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries

This paper discusses the different agreements and decisions reached in the Bali Ministerial Conference and the potential implications for the post-Bali work program. The results of the Bali Ministerial Conference are analyzed taking the perspective of the developing countries (though recognizing tha...

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Autores principales: Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio, Laborde Debucquet, David
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150295
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author Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio
Laborde Debucquet, David
author_browse Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio
Laborde Debucquet, David
author_facet Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio
Laborde Debucquet, David
author_sort Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This paper discusses the different agreements and decisions reached in the Bali Ministerial Conference and the potential implications for the post-Bali work program. The results of the Bali Ministerial Conference are analyzed taking the perspective of the developing countries (though recognizing that this is a heterogeneous group). Because agricultural topics—in particular, food security—have been key issues in the negotiations, they receive a more detailed treatment. It is recognized, however, that discussing agricultural issues in isolation will not provide an adequate picture of the Bali negotiations. Therefore, this paper provides some historical and conceptual background on each of the topics negotiated, while also including enough legal detail regarding the texts and specific trade discussions to serve as a basic reference. Besides the specific substance of the agreements and decisions, a general important consideration is that, given the fears that a failure in Bali would have led to further fragmentation of the global trading system and the marginalization of many developing countries due to increasing imbalances in negotiating power, the Bali agreements and the November 2014 decision reinforce the WTO as the multilateral anchor of the global trade system. Notwithstanding potential criticisms about the limitations of the Bali agreements, developing countries should consider the strengthening of the multilateral system as a positive development: to the extent that individually many of them remain small players in the global arena, they should have a strong interest in a transparent, rule-based multilateral trading system that limits old-style power politics in global trade.
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spelling CGSpace1502952025-11-06T06:43:50Z The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio Laborde Debucquet, David international agreements trade policies wto trade developing countries trade agreements international trade This paper discusses the different agreements and decisions reached in the Bali Ministerial Conference and the potential implications for the post-Bali work program. The results of the Bali Ministerial Conference are analyzed taking the perspective of the developing countries (though recognizing that this is a heterogeneous group). Because agricultural topics—in particular, food security—have been key issues in the negotiations, they receive a more detailed treatment. It is recognized, however, that discussing agricultural issues in isolation will not provide an adequate picture of the Bali negotiations. Therefore, this paper provides some historical and conceptual background on each of the topics negotiated, while also including enough legal detail regarding the texts and specific trade discussions to serve as a basic reference. Besides the specific substance of the agreements and decisions, a general important consideration is that, given the fears that a failure in Bali would have led to further fragmentation of the global trading system and the marginalization of many developing countries due to increasing imbalances in negotiating power, the Bali agreements and the November 2014 decision reinforce the WTO as the multilateral anchor of the global trade system. Notwithstanding potential criticisms about the limitations of the Bali agreements, developing countries should consider the strengthening of the multilateral system as a positive development: to the extent that individually many of them remain small players in the global arena, they should have a strong interest in a transparent, rule-based multilateral trading system that limits old-style power politics in global trade. 2015-05-22 2024-08-01T02:51:20Z 2024-08-01T02:51:20Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150295 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/160716 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/149930 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/159275 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio and Laborde Debucquet, David. 2015. The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1444. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150295
spellingShingle international agreements
trade policies
wto
trade
developing countries
trade agreements
international trade
Díaz-Bonilla, Eugenio
Laborde Debucquet, David
The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries
title The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries
title_full The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries
title_fullStr The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries
title_full_unstemmed The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries
title_short The Bali Agreement: An assessment from the perspective of developing countries
title_sort bali agreement an assessment from the perspective of developing countries
topic international agreements
trade policies
wto
trade
developing countries
trade agreements
international trade
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150295
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