Moving Forward in the WTO post-Bali

The report analyzes the deadlock of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and the subsequent shift toward preferential trade agreements (PTAs). It argues that the rise of international supply chain trade (SCT) requires the WTO to move away from a 'silo approach' to policy and instead adopt a framework that addresses the joint impact of tariffs, services, and regulations on value chains. The author suggests using the WTO as a forum for deliberation on new issues—such as digital trade and environmental policies—and proposes a 'code of conduct' for plurilateral agreements to allow subsets of members to advance without requiring full consensus.

• The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) reached a deadlock due to diverging objectives between developed countries, who sought market access in emerging economies, and developing countries, who prioritized special and differential treatment (SDT) and the reduction of agricultural subsidies in rich nations.
• Global trade has shifted toward 'supply chain trade' (SCT), where production is fragmented across multiple countries. This means that traditional 'silo' negotiations focusing on single policy instruments (like tariffs) are less effective because the marginal benefit of one change is reduced if other cost-raising policies are not addressed in parallel.
• The author proposes a 'supply chain-informed approach' to market access, which would involve selecting representative value chains to analyze how various DDA policies jointly create barriers, thereby increasing the number of members with a stake in the outcome.
• There is a growing trend of 'mega-regional' preferential trade agreements (PTAs) such as the TPP and TTIP. While these can be complements to the WTO, they risk the 'balkanization' of trade and may divert foreign direct investment (FDI) toward blocs with superior regulatory convergence.
• The report suggests establishing 'knowledge platforms' or 'supply chain councils' within the WTO to facilitate deliberation and transparency on regulatory policies that are not currently subject to binding disciplines, acting as a precursor to formal agreements.
• To overcome the requirement for full consensus that often blocks progress, the author advocates for the use of Plurilateral Agreements (PAs) under Art. II.3 of the WTO, governed by a 'code of conduct' to ensure they remain open and transparent.
• The Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) from the Bali Ministerial serves as a model for future agreements because it links implementation to the provision of technical and financial assistance, recognizing the resource constraints of developing countries.
• Traditional Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) may inadvertently harm low-income countries by encouraging them to maintain tariffs that lock them out of global production networks, as imports are often necessary to enable exports in a supply-chain economy.

APA

Hoekman, B. (2014). Moving Forward in the WTO post-Bali. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Restoring-Multilat-project-Moving-Forward-in-the-WTO-post-Bali-Hoekman.pdf

Chicago

Hoekman, Bernard. Moving Forward in the WTO post-Bali. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2014. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Restoring-Multilat-project-Moving-Forward-in-the-WTO-post-Bali-Hoekman.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hoekman |first1=Bernard |title=Moving Forward in the WTO post-Bali |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=26 February 2014 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Restoring-Multilat-project-Moving-Forward-in-the-WTO-post-Bali-Hoekman.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hoekman2014moving, author = {Hoekman, Bernard}, title = {{Moving Forward in the WTO post-Bali}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Restoring-Multilat-project-Moving-Forward-in-the-WTO-post-Bali-Hoekman.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }