TRADE BLOC

A trade bloc is a type of intergovernmental agreement, often part of a regional intergovernmental organization, where regional barriers to trade, (tariffs and non-tariff barriers) are reduced or eliminated among the participating states. Historic economic blocs include the Hanseatic League, a trading alliance in northern Europe in existence between the 13th and 17th centuries and the German Customs Union (Zollverein) initiated in 1834, formed on the basis of the German Confederation and subsequently German Empire from 1871. Surges of trade bloc formation were seen in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as in the 1990s after the collapse of Communism. By 1997, more than 50% of all world commerce was conducted under regional trade blocs.[2] Economist Jeffrey J. Scott of the Peterson Institute for International Economics notes that members of successful trade blocs usually share four common traits: similar levels of per capita GNP, geographic proximity, similar or compatible trading regimes, and political commitment to regional organization.[3] Advocates of worldwide free trade are generally opposed to trading blocs, which, they argue, encourage regional as opposed to global free trade.[4] Scholars and economists continue to debate whether regional trade blocs are leading to a more fragmented world economy or encouraging the extension of the existing global multilateral trading system.[5][6] Trade blocs can be stand-alone agreements between several states (such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) or part of a regional organization (such as the European Union). Depending on the level of economic integration, trade blocs can fall into different categories, such as:[7] preferential trading areas, free trade areas, customs unions, common markets and economic and monetary unions.

NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT (NAFTA)

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA; French: Accord de libre-change nord-amricain, ALNA; Spanish: Tratado de Libre Comercio de Amrica del Norte, TLCAN) is an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America. The agreement came into force on January 1, 1994. It superseded the CanadaUnited States Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Canada. In terms of combined purchasing power parity GDP of its members, as of 2007 the trade bloc is the largest in the world and second largest by nominal GDP comparison. NAFTA has two supplements: the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) and the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). Following diplomatic negotiations dating back to 1986 among the three nations, the leaders met in San Antonio, Texas, on December 17, 1992, to sign NAFTA. U.S. President George H. W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas, each responsible for spearheading and promoting the agreement, ceremonially signed it. The signed agreement then needed to be ratified by each nation's legislative or parliamentary branch. The agreement's supporters included 132 Republicans and 102 Democrats. NAFTA passed the Senate 61-38. Senate supporters were 34 Republicans and 27 Democrats. Clinton signed it into law on December 8, 1993; it went into effect on January 1, 1994.[3][4] Clinton, while signing the NAFTA bill, stated that "NAFTA means jobs. American jobs, and good-paying American jobs. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't support this agreement."

Trade The agreement opened the door for open trade, ending tariffs on various goods and services, and implementing equality between Canada, USA, and Mexico. NAFTA has allowed agricultural goods such as eggs, corn, and meats to be tariff-free. This allowed corporations to trade freely and import and export various goods on a North American scale. Trade balances The US goods trade deficit with NAFTA was $94.6 billion in 2010, a 36.4% increase ($25 billion) over 2009. The US goods trade deficit with NAFTA accounted for 26.8% of the overall U.S. goods trade deficit in 2010. The US had a services trade surplus of $28.3 billion with NAFTA countries in 2009 (the latest data available).

Investment The US foreign direct investment (FDI) in NAFTA Countries (stock) was $327.5 billion in 2009 (latest data available), up 8.8% from 2008. The US direct investment in NAFTA countries is in nonbank holding companies, and in the manufacturing, finance/insurance, and mining sectors. The foreign direct investment, of Canada and Mexico in the United States (stock) was $237.2 billion in 2009 (the latest data available), up 16.5% from 2008.

Industry Maquiladoras (Mexican factories that take in imported raw materials and produce goods for export) have become the landmark of trade in Mexico. These are plants that moved to this region from the United States, hence the debate over the loss of American jobs. Hufbauer's (2005) book shows that income in the maquiladora sector has increased 15.5% since the implementation of NAFTA in 1994. Other sectors now benefit from the free trade agreement, and the share of exports from non-border states has increased in the last five years while the share of exports from maquiladora-border states has decreased. This has allowed for the rapid growth of non-border metropolitan areas, such as Toluca, Len and Puebla; all three larger in population than Tijuana, Ciudad Jurez, and Reynosa. Agriculture From the earliest negotiation, agriculture was (and still remains) a controversial topic within NAFTA, as it has been with almost all free trade agreements that have been signed within the WTO framework. Agriculture is the only section that was not negotiated trilaterally; instead, three separate agreements were signed between each pair of parties. The CanadaU.S. agreement contains significant restrictions and tariff quotas on agricultural products (mainly sugar, dairy, and poultry products), whereas the MexicoU.S. pact allows for a wider liberalization within a framework of phase-out periods (it was the first NorthSouth FTA on agriculture to be signed). NAFTA has increased U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico and Canada even though most of this increase occurred a decade after its ratification. The study focused on the effects that gradual "phase-in" periods in regional trade agreements, including NAFTA, have on trade flows. Most of the increase in members agricultural trade, which was only recently brought under the purview of the World Trade Organization, was due to very high trade barriers before NAFTA or other regional trade agreements.[20] Mobility of persons According to the Department of Homeland Security Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, during fiscal year 2006 (i.e., October 2005 through September 2006), 73,880 foreign professionals (64,633 Canadians and 9,247 Mexicans) were admitted into the United States for temporary employment under NAFTA (i.e., in the TN status). Additionally, 17,321 of

their family members (13,136 Canadians, 2,904 Mexicans, as well as a number of thirdcountry nationals married to Canadians and Mexicans) entered the U.S. in the treaty national's dependent (TD) status.[21] Because DHS counts the number of the new I-94 arrival records filled at the border, and the TN-1 admission is valid for three years, the number of non-immigrants in TN status present in the U.S. at the end of the fiscal year is approximately equal to the number of admissions during the year. (A discrepancy may be caused by some TN entrants leaving the country or changing status before their three-year admission period has expired, while other immigrants admitted earlier may change their status to TN or TD, or extend TN status granted earlier).

EUROPEAN UNION

The European Union (EU) is an economic and political union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe.[12][13] The EU operates through a system of supranational independent institutions and intergovernmental negotiated decisions by the member states.[14][15] Institutions of the EU include the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors, and the European Parliament. The European Parliament is elected every five years by EU citizens. The EU's de facto capital is Brussels. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and the European Economic Community (EEC), formed by the Inner Six countries in 1951 and 1958, respectively. In the intervening years the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. The Maastricht Treaty established the European Union under its current name in 1993.[16] The latest major amendment to the constitutional basis of the EU, the Treaty of Lisbon, came into force in 2009. The EU has developed a single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area (which includes 22 EU and 4 non-EU states) passport controls have been abolished.[17] EU policies aim to ensure the free movement of people, goods, services, and capital,[18] enact legislation in justice and home affairs, and maintain common policies on trade,[19] agriculture,[20] fisheries, and regional development.[21] The eurozone, a monetary union, was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002. It is currently composed of 17 member states. Through the Common Foreign and Security Policy the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. Permanent diplomatic missions have been established around the world. The EU is represented at the United Nations, the WTO, the G8, and the G-20. With a combined population of over 500 million inhabitants,[22] or 7.3% of the world population,[23] the EU in 2012 generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of 16.584 trillion US dollars, constituting approximately 23% of global nominal GDP and 20% when measured in terms of purchasing power parity, which is the largest nominal GDP and GDP PPP in the world.[24] The EU was the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize.[25]

LEADERS President of the Commission- Jos Manuel Barroso (EPP) President of the European Council- Herman Van Rompuy (EPP)

ESTABLISHMENT - Treaty of Paris 23 July 1952 - Treaty of Rome 1 January 1958 - Merger Treaty 1 July 1967 - Treaty of Maastricht 1 November 1993 - Lisbon Treaty 1 December 2009

MEMBER STATES

Austria Belgium Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary United Kingdom

Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden

Governance Main articles: Institutions of the European Union and Legislature of the European Union The European Union has seven institutions: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Central Bank, the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Auditors. Competencies in scrutinising and amending legislation are divided between the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union while executive tasks are carried out by

the European Commission and in a limited capacity by the European Council (not to be confused with the aforementioned Council of the European Union). The monetary policy of the eurozone is governed by the European Central Bank. The interpretation and the application of EU law and the treaties are ensured by the Court of Justice of the European Union. The EU budget is scrutinised by the European Court of Auditors. There are also a number of ancillary bodies which advise the EU or operate in a specific area.

SOUTH ASIAN ASSOCIATION FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical union of the eighth member nations that are primarily located in South Asia contingent.[9] Its secretariat is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal.[10] The idea of regional political and economical cooperation in South Asia was first coined in 1980 and the first summit held in Dhaka on 8 December in 1985 led to its official establishment by the governments of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.[11][12] In the intervening years, its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states.[11] Afghanistan was the first to have been accessed in the physical enlargement of the SAARC in 2007.[13] The SAARC policies aim to promote welfare economics, collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia, and to accelerate socio-cultural development in the region.[14] The SAARC has developed a role in external relations around with world. Permanent diplomatic relations have been established with the EU, the UN (as an observer), and other multilateral entities.[14] On annual scheduled basis, the official meetings of leaders of each nation are held; meetings of foreign secretaries, twice annually.[14] The next summit is expected to be held in Kathmandu in 2013, but the official dates for the summit is yet to be determined.

Current members

Observers

Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka

Australia[42] China European Union[43] Japan[43] Iran Mauritius[44] Myanmar South Korea United States[45]

Potential future members

China has expressed interest in upgrading its status from an observer to a full member of SAARC. Supported by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka. Burma has expressed interest in upgrading its status from an observer to a full member of SAARC.[30] Russia has expressed interest in becoming an observer of SAARC. Supported By India.

SAARC summits No Date Country Host Host leader

1st

78 December 1985

Bangladesh

Dhaka

Ataur Rahman Khan

2nd

1617 1986

November

India

Bangalore

Rajiv Gandhi

3rd

24 November 1987

Nepal

Kathmandu

Marich Man Shrestha

Singh

14th

34 April 2007

India

New Delhi

Manmohan Singh

15th

13 August 2008

Sri Lanka

Colombo

Mahinda Rajapaksa

16th

2829 April 2010

Bhutan

Thimphu

Jigme Thinley

17th

1011 2011[48]

November

Maldives

Addu

Mohammed Nasheed

18th

2013[49]

Nepal

Kathmandu

Khil Raj Regmi

Objectives Of SAARC The objectives and the aims of the Association as defined in the Charter are:[25]

to promote the welfare of the people of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realise their full potential ; to promote and strengthen selective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia; to contribute to mutual trust, understanding and appreciation of one another's problems; to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in the economic, social, cultural, technical and scientific fields; to strengthen co-operation with other developing countries; to strengthen co-operation among themselves in international forums on matters of common interest; and to co-operate with international and regional organisations with similar aims and purposes. to maintain peace in the region

ASIA-PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies[1] that seeks to promote free trade and economic cooperation throughout the AsiaPacific region. It was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional trade blocs in other parts of the world; to fears that highly industrialized Japan (a member of G8) would come to dominate economic activity in the Asia-Pacific region; and to establish new markets for agricultural products and raw materials beyond Europe (where demand had been declining).[2] APEC works to raise living standards and education levels through sustainable economic growth and to foster a sense of community and an appreciation of shared interests among Asia-Pacific countries. APEC includes newly industrialized economies, although the agenda of free trade was a sensitive issue for the developing NIEs at the time APEC founded, and aims to enable ASEAN economies to explore new export market opportunities for natural resources such as natural gas, as well as to seek regional economic integration (industrial integration) by means of foreign direct investment. Members account for approximately 40% of the world's population, approximately 54% of the world's gross domestic product and about 44% of world trade.[3] For APEC Economic Trends Analysis in 2012, see.[4] An annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting is attended by the heads of government of all APEC members except the Republic of China (who is represented by a ministerial-level official under the name Chinese Taipei as economic leader[5]). The location of the meeting rotates annually among the member economies, and until 2011, a famous tradition involved the attending leaders dressing in a national costume of the host member.

Member economies

APEC currently has 21 members, including most countries with a coastline on the Pacific Ocean. However, the criterion for membership is that the member is a separate economy, rather than a state. As a result, APEC uses the term member economies rather than member countries to refer to its members. One result of this criterion is that membership of the forum includes Taiwan (officially the Republic of China, participating under the name "Chinese Taipei") alongside People's Republic of China (see Cross-Strait relations), as well as Hong Kong, which entered APEC as a British colony but it is now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. APEC also includes three official observers: ASEAN, the Pacific Islands Forum and the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council.[1]

APEC's Three Pillars To meet the Bogor Goals, APEC carries out work in three main areas: 1. Trade and Investment Liberalisation 2. Business Facilitation 3. Economic and Technical Cooperation APEC and Trade Liberalisation According to the organization itself, when APEC was established in 1989 average trade barriers in the region stood at 16.9 percent, but had been reduced to 5.5% in 2004.[19] APEC's Business Facilitation Efforts APEC has long been at the forefront of reform efforts in the area of business facilitation. Between 2002 and 2006 the costs of business transactions across the region was reduced by 6%, thanks to the APEC Trade Facilitation Action Plan (TFAPI). Between 2007 and 2010, APEC hopes to achieve an additional 5% reduction in business transaction costs. To this end, a new Trade Facilitation Action Plan has been endorsed. According to a 2008 research brief published by the World Bank as part of its Trade Costs and Facilitation Project, increasing transparency in the region's trading system is critical if APEC is to meet its Bogor Goal targets.[20] The APEC Business Travel Card, a travel document for visa-free business travel within the region is one of the concrete measures to facilitate business. In May 2010 Russia joined the scheme, thus completing the circle.[21] Proposed Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific APEC first formally started discussing the concept of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific at its summit in 2006 in Hanoi. However, the proposal for such an area has been around since at least 1966 and Japanese economist Kiyoshi Kojima (ja)'s proposal for a Pacific Free Trade agreement proposal. While it gained little traction, the idea led to the formation of Pacific

Trade and Development Conference and then the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council in 1980 and then APEC in 1989. In more recent times, economist C. Fred Bergsten has been the foremost advocate of a Free Trade Agreement of Asia-Pacific. His ideas convinced the APEC Business Advisory Council to support this concept.

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was established in 1964 as a permanent intergovernmental body. It is the principal organ of the United Nations General Assembly dealing with trade, investment, and development issues. The organization's goals are to "maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis."[1] The creation of the conference was based on concerns of developing countries over the international market, multi-national corporations, and great disparity between developed nations and developing nations. In the 1970s and 1980s, UNCTAD was closely associated with the idea of a New International Economic Order (NIEO). The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964 to provide a forum where the developing countries could discuss the problems relating to their economic development. UNCTAD grew from the view that existing institutions like GATT (now replaced by the World Trade Organization, WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank were not properly organized to handle the particular problems of developing countries. The primary objective of the UNCTAD is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology. The conference ordinarily meets once in four years. The first conference took place in Geneva in 1964, second in New Delhi in 1968, the third in Santiago in 1972, fourth in Nairobi in 1976, the fifth in Manila in 1979, the sixth in Belgrade in 1983, the seventh in Geneva in 1987, the eighth in Cartagena in 1992 and the ninth at Johannesburg (South Africa) in 1996. The permanent secretariat is in Geneva. One of the principal achievements of UNCTAD has been to conceive and implement the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). It was argued in UNCTAD that to promote exports of manufactured goods from developing countries, it would be necessary to offer special tariff concessions to such exports. Accepting this argument, the developed countries formulated the GSP scheme under which manufacturers' exports and some agricultural goods from the developing countries enter duty-free or at reduced rates in the developed countries. Since imports of such items from other developed countries are subject to the normal rates of

duties, imports of the same items from developing countries would enjoy a competitive advantage. Currently, UNCTAD has 194 member states and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. UNCTAD has 400 staff members and an bi-annual (20102011) regular budget of $138 million in core expenditures and $72 million in extra-budgetary technical assistance funds. It is a member of the United Nations Development Group.[2] There are non-governmental organizations participating in the activities of UNCTAD.[3] MEMBERS As of October 2012, 194 states are UNCTAD members:[4] all UN members and the Holy See. UNCTAD members are divided into four lists, the division being based on United Nations Regional Groups[4] with six members unassigned: Armenia, Kiribati, Nauru, South Sudan, Tajikistan, Tuvalu. List A consists mostly of countries in the African and Asia-Pacific Groups of the UN. List B consists of countries of the Western European and Others Group. List C consists of countries of the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC). List D consists of countries of the Eastern European Group. The lists, originally defined in 19th General Assembly resolution 1995 serve to balance geographical distribution of member states' representation on the Trade Development Board and other UNCTAD structures. The lists are similar to those of UNIDO, an UN specialized agency. Meetings The inter-governmental work is done at five levels of meetings:[5]

The UNCTAD Conference held every four years: o UNCTAD VIII in Cartagena, Colombia on 825 February 1992 o UNCTAD IX in Midrand, South Africa on 27 April 11 May 1996 [6] o UNCTAD X in Bangkok, Thailand on 1219 February 2000 [7] o UNCTAD XI in So Paulo, Brazil on 1318 June 2004 [8] o UNCTAD XII in Accra, Ghana on 2125 April 2008 [9] o UNCTAD XIII in Doha, Qatar on 2126 April 2012 The UNCTAD Trade and Development Board the Board manages the work of UNCTAD between two conferences and meets up to three times every year; Four UNCTAD Commissions and one Working Party these meet more often than the Board to take up policy, programme and budgetary issues; Expert Meetings the commissions will convene expert meetings on selected topics to provide substantive and expert input for Commission policy discussions.

UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), French/Spanish/Portuguese acronym ONUDI, is a specialized agency in the United Nations system, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. The Organization's primary objective is the promotion and acceleration of industrial development in developing countries and countries with economies in transition and the promotion of international industrial cooperation. It is also a member of the United Nations Development Group.[

Overview UNIDO believes that competitive and environmentally sustainable industry has a crucial role to play in accelerating economic growth, reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Organization therefore works towards improving the quality of life of the world's poor by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise in the following three interrelated thematic areas:

Poverty reduction through productive activities; Trade capacity-building; and Energy and environment.

Activities in these fields are strictly aligned with the priorities of the current United Nations Development Decade and related multilateral declarations, and reflected in the long-term vision statement, business plan and mid-term programme frameworks of UNIDO. In order to fulfill these objectives, UNIDO

assists developing countries in the formulation of development, institutional, scientific and technological policies and programmes in the field of industrial development; analyzes trends, disseminates information and coordinates activities in their industrial development; acts as a forum for consultations and negotiations directed towards the industrialization of developing countries; and provides technical cooperation to developing countries for implementing their development plans for sustainable industrialization in their public, cooperative and private sectors.

UNIDO thus works largely in developing countries, with governments, business associations and individual companies. The Organization's "service modules" are Industrial Governance and Statistics, Investment and Technology Promotion, Industrial Competitiveness and Trade, Private sector Development, Agro-Industries, Sustainable energy and Climate Change, Montreal Protocol, and Environmental management.

UNIDO was established as a UN programme in 1966 with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1985. In 2004, UNIDO established the UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador programme. In 2010, UNIDO created two new flagship publications, Making It: Industry for Development and UNIDO Times.

MEMBERS Members of the UN, or of UN specialized agencies, or of the IAEA, are eligible for membership with UNIDO.[10] The process of becoming a Member of the Organization is achieved by becoming a party to the Constitution. Observer status is open, upon request, to those enjoying such status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, unless the UNIDO General Conference decides otherwise. The Conference has the authority to invite other observers to participate in the work of the Organization in accordance with the relevant rules of procedure and the provisions of the Constitution. As of 14 August 2013, 172 States are UNIDO Members,[3][11] all of them being UN members. UNIDO Members are divided into four lists,[12] with Turkmenistan still unassigned. List A consists of all UNIDO countries in the African + Asian Groups of UN (along with Israel, while excluding Cyprus, Japan and Turkmenistan). List B consists of all UNIDO countries in WEOG group of UN (along with Cyprus and Japan, and excluding Israel). List C consists of all UNIDO countries in GRULAC group of UN. List D consists of all UNIDO countries in the Eastern European group of UN

Overview UNIDO believes that competitive and environmentally sustainable industry has a crucial role to play in accelerating economic growth, reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Organization therefore works towards improving the quality of life of the world's poor by drawing on its combined global resources and expertise in the following three interrelated thematic areas:

Poverty reduction through productive activities; Trade capacity-building; and Energy and environment.

Activities in these fields are strictly aligned with the priorities of the current United Nations Development Decade and related multilateral declarations, and reflected in the long-term vision statement, business plan and mid-term programme frameworks of UNIDO. In order to fulfill these objectives, UNIDO

assists developing countries in the formulation of development, institutional, scientific and technological policies and programmes in the field of industrial development; analyzes trends, disseminates information and coordinates activities in their industrial development; acts as a forum for consultations and negotiations directed towards the industrialization of developing countries; and provides technical cooperation to developing countries for implementing their development plans for sustainable industrialization in their public, cooperative and private sectors.

UNIDO thus works largely in developing countries, with governments, business associations and individual companies. The Organization's "service modules" are Industrial Governance and Statistics, Investment and Technology Promotion, Industrial Competitiveness and Trade, Private sector Development, Agro-Industries, Sustainable energy and Climate Change, Montreal Protocol, and Environmental management. UNIDO was established as a UN programme in 1966 with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and became a specialized agency of the United Nations in 1985. In 2004, UNIDO established the UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador programme. In 2010, UNIDO created two new flagship publications, Making It: Industry for Development and UNIDO Times. Executive heads UNIDO Directors[2] 19671974 19751985 UNIDO Directors-General[2] 19851992 19931997 19982005 2006 June 2013 July 2013 Domingo L. Siazon Jr. ( Philippines) Mexico) Argentina)

Executive

Ibrahim Helmi Abdel-Rahman ( Abd-El Rahman Khane (

Egypt)

Algeria)

Mauricio de Maria y Campos ( Carlos Alfredo Magarios ( Kandeh Yumkella ( LI Yong () (

Sierra Leone) China)

EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA, in French 'Association europenne de librechange' : AELE) is a free trade organisation between four European countries that operates in parallel with and is linked to the European Union (EU). The EFTA was established on 3 May 1960 as a trade bloc-alternative for European states who were either unable or unwilling to join the then-European Economic Community (EEC) which has now become the EU. The Stockholm Convention, establishing the EFTA, was signed on 4 January 1960 in the Swedish capital by seven countries (known as the "outer seven"). Today's EFTA members are Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway and Switzerland, of which the latter two were founding members. The initial Stockholm Convention was superseded by the Vaduz Convention, which enabled greater liberalisation of trade among the member states. EFTA states have jointly concluded free trade agreements with a number of other countries. Three of the EFTA countries are part of the European Union Internal Market through the Agreement on a European Economic Area (EEA), which took effect in 1994; the fourth, Switzerland, opted to conclude bilateral agreements with the EU. In 1999, Switzerland concluded a set of bilateral agreements with the European Union covering a wide range of areas, including movement of people, transport, and technical barriers to trade. This development prompted the EFTA states to modernise their Convention to ensure that it will continue to provide a successful framework for the expansion and liberalization of trade among themselves and with the rest of the world.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on 1 January 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1948.[5] The organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participant's adherence to WTO agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments[6]:fol.910 and ratified by their parliaments.[7] Most of the issues that the WTO focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations, especially from the Uruguay Round (19861994). The organization is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus on addressing the needs of developing countries. As of June 2012, the future of the Doha Round remained uncertain: the work programme lists 21 subjects in which the original deadline of 1 January 2005 was missed, and the round is still incomplete.[8] The conflict between free trade on industrial goods and services but retention of protectionism on farm subsidies to domestic agricultural sector

(requested by developed countries) and the substantiation of the international liberalization of fair trade on agricultural products (requested by developing countries) remain the major obstacles. These points of contention have hindered any progress to launch new WTO negotiations beyond the Doha Development Round. As a result of this impasse, there has been an increasing number of bilateral free trade agreements signed.[9] As of July 2012, there were various negotiation groups in the WTO system for the current agricultural trade negotiation which is in the condition of stalemate.[10] WTO's current Director-General is Roberto Azevdo,[11][12] who leads a staff of over 600 people in Geneva, Switzerland. History

The WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), was established after World War II in the wake of other new multilateral institutions dedicated to international economic cooperation notably the Bretton Woods institutions known as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. A comparable international institution for trade, named the International Trade Organization was successfully negotiated. The ITO was to be a United Nations specialized agency and would address not only trade barriers but other issues indirectly related to trade, including employment, investment, restrictive business practices, and commodity agreements. But the ITO treaty was not approved by the U.S. and a few other signatories and never went into effect. GATT rounds of negotiations

The GATT was the only multilateral instrument governing international trade from 1946 until the WTO was established on 1 January 1995.[19] Despite attempts in the mid-1950s and 1960s to create some form of institutional mechanism for international trade, the GATT continued to operate for almost half a century as a semi-institutionalized multilateral treaty regime on a provisional basis.

FROM GENEVA TO TOKYO

Seven rounds of negotiations occurred under GATT. The first real GATT trade rounds concentrated on further reducing tariffs. Then, the Kennedy Round in the mid-sixties brought about a GATT anti-dumping Agreement and a section on development. The Tokyo Round during the seventies was the first major attempt to tackle trade barriers that do not take the form of tariffs, and to improve the system, adopting a series of agreements on non-tariff barriers, which in some cases interpreted existing GATT rules, and in others broke entirely new ground. Because these plurilateral agreements were not accepted by the full GATT membership, they were often informally called "codes". Several of these codes were amended in the Uruguay Round, and turned into multilateral commitments accepted by all WTO

members. Only four remained plurilateral (those on government procurement, bovine meat, civil aircraft and dairy products), but in 1997 WTO members agreed to terminate the bovine meat and dairy agreements, leaving only two.

URUGUAY ROUND Well before GATT's 40th anniversary, its members concluded that the GATT system was straining to adapt to a new globalizing world economy.[23][24] In response to the problems identified in the 1982 Ministerial Declaration (structural deficiencies, spill-over impacts of certain countries' policies on world trade GATT could not manage etc.), the eighth GATT round known as the Uruguay Round was launched in September 1986, in Punta del Este, Uruguay.[23] It was the biggest negotiating mandate on trade ever agreed: the talks were going to extend the trading system into several new areas, notably trade in services and intellectual property, and to reform trade in the sensitive sectors of agriculture and textiles; all the original GATT articles were up for review.[24] The Final Act concluding the Uruguay Round and officially establishing the WTO regime was signed 15 April 1994, during the ministerial meeting at Marrakesh, Morocco, and hence is known as the Marrakesh Agreement

GATT 1994 is not however the only legally binding agreement included via the Final Act at Marrakesh; a long list of about 60 agreements, annexes, decisions and understandings was adopted. The agreements fall into a structure with six main parts:

The Agreement Establishing the WTO Goods and investment the Multilateral Agreements on Trade in Goods including the GATT 1994 and the Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIMS) Services the General Agreement on Trade in Services Intellectual property the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Dispute settlement (DSU) Reviews of governments' trade policies (TPRM)[26]

In terms of the WTO's principle relating to tariff "ceiling-binding" (No. 3), the Uruguay Round has been successful in increasing binding commitments by both developed and developing countries, as may be seen in the percentages of tariffs bound before and after the 19861994 talks.[27]

FUNCTIONS Among the various functions of the WTO, these are regarded by analysts as the most important:

It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements.[36][37] It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.[38][39]

Additionally, it is the WTO's duty to review and propagate the national trade policies, and to ensure the coherence and transparency of trade policies through surveillance in global economic policy-making.[37][39] Another priority of the WTO is the assistance of developing, least-developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training.[40] The WTO is also a center of economic research and analysis: regular assessments of the global trade picture in its annual publications and research reports on specific topics are produced by the organization.[41] Finally, the WTO cooperates closely with the two other components of the Bretton Woods system, the IMF and the World Bank.