World Trade Governance and Developing Countries

A comprehensive study of developing countries in the GATT/WTO system.

• Explores how the developing countries have shaped and have been shaped by the GATT/WTO committees.
• Investigates the areas of critical importance to developing countries including antidumping, textiles, agriculture, trade and the environment.
• Offers suggestions on how the developing countries can improve their participation in committee meetings.

Acknowledgements vii

About the Author ix

Acronyms xi

Introduction I

Structure of the Book 4

1 The importance of international law and institutions for the world trading system 5

Introduction 5

The institutional structure of the GATT/WTO system 7

The role of international trade institutions 8

2 Developing countries in the GATT committee system prior to the establishment of the WTO 11

Introduction 11

The GATT committees on antidumping practice 11

GATT textiles and clothing committees 20

The Multifibre Arrangement and the TSB 22

GATT agricultural committee 24

Concluding comments 27

3 The impact of developments after the Tokyo Round 28

The change in DC attitudes towards the GATT 28

The reconfiguration of intra-DC relations within the GATT 31

Recent developments and their implications for DC participation in the WTO committees 33

4 Developing countries and the WTO committees since the Uraguay Round 35

The 1995 WTO committee on Antidumping Practices 35

The Textiles Monitoring body 38

The WTO Committee on Agriculture 40

The Committee on Trade and Environment 46

5 Conclusions 55

General overview of the study 55

Recommendations 56

Appendix: Extracts from GATT/WTO documents 60

Notes 70

Bibliography 96

Index 111

Kofi Oteng Kufuor is a Research Fellow in the School of Law at The University of East London and an Associate Fellow of the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House). The first scholarly attempt at a comprehensive analysis of a crucial area of international trade law and institutions, this volume provides critical insights into the role played by developing countries in the GATT/WTO committees. It explores how the developing countries have shaped and been shaped by the committees on anti-dumping, textiles, agriculture, and trade and environment, and suggests how these countries can further improve their participation. In doing so, the book challenges established assumptions about how the developing countries have engaged with the developed countries and with one another under the umbrella of the multilateral trading system.