2014-11-22-wb-roundtable-dakar-summary-of-discusisons-eb4f71f11926bbf1.pdf

This report summarizes the discussions from an international roundtable held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on November 23-24, 2014. The event, hosted by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), focused on reviving the multilateral trading system post-Bali, with a specific emphasis on the interests of least developed countries (LDCs).

• Participants argued that the WTO must reposition its negotiating modalities and operational approaches to remain relevant amidst changes in global trade, such as the rise of services trade, expanding global value chains (GVCs), and the emergence of mega-trading blocs like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), Trans-Atlantic Investment Areas (TAIA), and RCEP.
• There was no consensus on the use of plurilaterals as a negotiating modality. Supporters argued they could rescue the WTO from its current crisis and allow LDCs to remain engaged compared to regional trade agreements (RTAs). Opponents feared plurilaterals would create a "big boy’s club," undermine the principle of single undertaking, and harm special and differential treatment (S&DT) for LDCs.
• Regarding public food stockholding, participants emphasized the need for a permanent solution to support food security for small farmers in developing countries. Four options were considered: accepting the G-33 proposal to exempt administered price purchases from Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) counts, reflecting inflation in price support, refixing reference prices, or treating administered prices below world market prices as green box compatible.
• LDCs face significant barriers to participating in global value chains, including landlockedness, poor connectivity, and cumbersome business processes. According to the GVC participation index, LDCs account for only 8 per cent of total value added, compared to 27 per cent for developing countries and 65 per cent for developed countries.
• The Bali LDC Package, covering Duty-free and Quota-Free (DF-QF) market access, Preferential Rules of Origins, the services waiver, and a Monitoring Mechanism on S&DT, was viewed as a key deliverable. Participants noted that while not the best option, LDCs must work to secure these deliverables and strengthen domestic value addition to avoid onerous rules of origin.
• To move toward the 10th Ministerial Conference (MC-10), three strategies for concluding the Doha Round were discussed: addressing "low hanging fruit" first, pursuing the original comprehensive agenda with specific sequencing (e.g., services first), or using plurilaterals to resolve issues which are then multilateralised and MFN-ised.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (n.d.). 2014-11-22-wb-roundtable-dakar-summary-of-discusisons-eb4f71f11926bbf1.pdf. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-11-22-WB-Roundtable-Dakar-Summary-of-Discusisons.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. 2014-11-22-wb-roundtable-dakar-summary-of-discusisons-eb4f71f11926bbf1.pdf. n.d. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-11-22-WB-Roundtable-Dakar-Summary-of-Discusisons.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=2014-11-22-wb-roundtable-dakar-summary-of-discusisons-eb4f71f11926bbf1.pdf |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-11-22-WB-Roundtable-Dakar-Summary-of-Discusisons.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairsnd20141122wbroundtabledakarsummaryofdiscusisonseb4f71f11926bbf1pdf, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{2014-11-22-wb-roundtable-dakar-summary-of-discusisons-eb4f71f11926bbf1.pdf}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2014-11-22-WB-Roundtable-Dakar-Summary-of-Discusisons.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }