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The WTO: Past, Present and Future – Putting the Problems in Perspective

With a faltering Doha Round, the future of the multilateral trading system is at stake. Taking a historical perspective can be a useful way of bringing in new perspectives in current discussions on the future of the WTO. Reports will be presented followed by commentaries by key discussants.

With a faltering Doha Round, the future of the multilateral trading system is at stake. Much ink has been spilt on the problems and future prospects of the locus of multilateral trade activity – the Word Trade Organization (WTO). Taking a historical perspective can be a useful way of bringing in new perspectives in current discussions on the future of the WTO.

The WTO’s latest World Trade Report provides a comprehensive sixty year history of the world trading system. ECIPE’s Peter Kleen, in a forthcoming Jan Tumlir Policy Essay analyses the past ten years of the WTO and hints at lessons that can be learnt from previous rounds with special focus on the Uruguay Round. This conference will present both reports, followed by commentaries by key discussants.

Programme>>

Summary from the conference>>

Participants: Roderick Abbott, Former Deputy Director General of the WTO, Patrick Low, Chief Economist (Director of Economic Research and Statistics) at the World Trade Organization, Peter Kleen, Senior Fellow of ECIPE and Trade Policy Consultant, Lars Anell, Chairman of ICC’s Commission on Trade and Investment Policy; former Chairman of the GATT, Patrick Messerlin, Professor, GEM, Sciences Po, Signe Ratso, Director Responsible for WTO Affairs, DG Trade, European Commission

Date: 2008-03-27
Time: 14:00 to 17:00
Venue: Hotel Silken Berlaymont Boulevard Charlemagne 11 – 19, Brussels
Contact: Lucy Davis (+32 (0)2 289 1350)