Global S&T Development Trend Analysis Platform of Resources and Environment
DOI | [db:DOI] |
The WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender: What It Is, What It Should Consider, and What It Could Be | |
Jack Caporal | |
2021-03-31 | |
出版年 | 2021 |
国家 | 美国 |
领域 | 地球科学 ; 资源环境 |
英文摘要 | The WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender: What It Is, What It Should Consider, and What It Could BeMarch 31, 2021 This commentary is the third of a four-part series that examines the intersection between trade and gender. Though the term “gender” can encompass a variety of identities, the series will limit its consideration of gender differences to differences between women and men, due to limited data availability and other practical considerations. This installment recommends that the WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender incorporate gender-responsive clauses in trade agreements. Over the next several months, CSIS will consider three case studies to inform research on existing gendered trade barriers before producing gender-specific model language for policymakers’ use in future trade agreements. The celebration of March as Women’s History Month has produced several announcements that shine a spotlight on the nexus of gender and trade. On March 1, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala became the first woman and African director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO). On March 8—International Women’s Day—President Joe Biden signed an executive order to establish the White House Gender Policy Council, the first such forum for representatives from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and other federal agencies to report directly to the president on gender-relevant issues. On March 18, Katherine Tai became the first woman and Asian American to lead the USTR. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Tai committed to supporting women’s empowerment in trade in response to questions asked by Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) and Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV). The conclusion of the preceding piece in this four-part series shared that the next commentary would focus on gender in trade agreement negotiations. However, a March 12 statement by the WTO Informal Working Group (IWG) on Trade and Gender led to a shift in the publication timeline. The announcement solidified a work plan for three meetings leading up to the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) in late November, the first of which will occur on April 28. Following this article, the series will revert to the issue of trade agreement negotiations. In advance of that meeting, and in line with ongoing research, this commentary will provide the IWG on Trade and Gender with recommendations to strengthen the efficacy of gender language in trade agreements. The use of gender-specific language—and meaningful follow-up, implementation, and enforcement—is not enough to achieve gender equity in trade. However, its incorporation into multilateral and free trade agreements (FTAs) remains a crucial component of the IWG’s overall goal of increased market access for women. WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and GenderAt the WTO’s Eleventh Ministerial Conference in 2017, 118 countries (of the 164 total WTO members and observers) endorsed the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, committing to reduce trade barriers that contribute to gender inequity. The IWG on Trade and Gender was born from this declaration on September 23. The United States is not a part of this group, though the Biden administration’s establishment of the Gender Policy Council has renewed hope that the United States will join.
At the first formal meeting on February 26, the now-127-member group agreed to Canada’s proposed work plan and meeting schedule to discuss the following four pillars. In the February meeting, Canada proposed drafting a ministerial statement to present at MC12—the biennial summit of member states’ highest-ranking trade representatives—which is scheduled to take place in late November. Trade Recommendations to Work Toward Gender EquityIn preparing its presentation for MC12, the IWG on Trade and Gender can and should consider practical ways to work toward gender equity in trade. For example, it might recommend that WTO member states and observers:
Negotiations of preferential trade agreements and FTAs, which aim to reduce barriers to trade (e.g., tariffs or customs duties) among two or more countries, are crucial opportunities to increase women’s market access. As discussed in this series’ first commentary, women consistently face higher trade barriers than men, which severely limits potential economic growth. By removing these barriers through trade agreements, policymakers can increase women’s market access and start to unlock a possible $13 trillion increase in incremental global GDP. To that end, the IWG on Trade and Gender should incorporate the following set of key recommendations for FTAs into its ministerial statement. CSIS’s full report, to be published in May, will provide additional recommendations and context. CSIS recommends that trade agreements among WTO members:
Challenges and Opportunities for the IWG on Trade and GenderThe WTO has previously convened working groups on specific issues, but the degree to which they have accomplished meaningful change varies—raising the question of whether the IWG on Trade and Gender can lead to actual impact. The WTO established a multilateral Working Group on Trade and Investment during the 1996 Singapore Ministerial Conference. At the 2001 Doha Ministerial Conference, Working Groups on Transparency in Government Procurement and Interaction between Trade and Competition Policy were also established. However, after the WTO members could not agree on launching negotiations and absent substantive outcomes, ministers referred the working groups’ agendas to the WTO General Council. The General Council decided that the issues of trade and investment, transparency in government procurement, and the interaction between trade and competition would not form part of the Doha Work Programme, and since 2004, these working groups have been inactive. The multilateral Working Groups on Trade and Transfer of Technology and Trade, Debt, and Finance, also established at the Doha Ministerial, have lasted longer and produced more deliverables than the aforementioned working groups. As of December 2020, the Working Group on Trade and Transfer of Technology has convened 64 sessions and authored several reports on its progress. The Working Group on Trade, Debt, and Finance has also drafted and presented reports of its activities to the WTO General Council and hosted two meetings in 2020. Consistent meetings and reports are good signs of progress. However, because both groups lack concrete timelines, actionable items, and specific commitments, it has been difficult to track any lasting impact of their work. The IWG on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) was born out of the 2017 Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, like the IWG on Trade and Gender. On November 5, 2020, the IWG on MSMEs “finalized the technical work on a package of six recommendations and declarations aimed at facilitating the participation of smaller businesses in international trade.” Ninety WTO members officially endorsed that package in December 2020; having achieved its stated goal, the IWG on MSMEs has not yet outlined new objectives. The CSIS Trade Commission concluded that the WTO’s pillars of negotiation, dispute settlement, and transparency are broken, but the structure of the informal working groups may enable them to sidestep potential landmines. Both the IWG on MSMEs and the IWG on Trade and Gender exist as plurilateral groups with voluntary membership, which helps them focus their work and avoid the consensus requirement that prevents outcomes from being reached elsewhere at the WTO. The IWGs thus have an opportunity to produce results without the politics that consensus requires. In November, when the groups present their work to the full WTO—which does require consensus to make decisions—WTO members may find it politically infeasible to vote against supporting MSMEs and gender equity. Regardless of its implications for the broader multilateral system, the IWG on Trade and Gender may be more successful than previous WTO working groups thanks to its exceptionally large membership, clear goals, and defined roadmap. If it produces a ministerial statement in November that highlights the role of gender in trade, develops all WTO members’ understanding of the issue, leads to actionable change in the multilateral WTO forum, and sees its work influence FTAs outside the WTO, the group will have made great progress toward its goal while raising expectations for what can be achieved by future working groups.
If the proposed deliverables of the IWG on Trade and Gender do fall prey to the jaws of consensus, however, WTO members—individually and in collaboration—must find another way to drive these goals forward. Now, more than ever, political impetus and economic rationale can hold actors accountable for their commitments to gender equity. As countries begin to recover from the economic consequences of the pandemic, the WTO should continue to support equal market access for half the world’s population as a means of building a stronger, more inclusive, and more just global economy. In the words of Anoush der Boghossian, head of trade and gender at the WTO, “Gender cannot be ignored any longer. The Buenos Aires Declaration put the spotlight on gender more than before, and the WTO can only move forward.” The upcoming IWG on Trade and Gender meetings provide an opportunity for WTO members to consider women’s market access as key to trade policy decisions. CSIS recommends that the group consider the importance of including gender-specific language in trade agreements, which will help mitigate gendered trade barriers, improve market access for women, and lead to global economic growth. In the next and final installment of this series, CSIS will consider the role that gender may or may not play in trade negotiations. Drawing on available data and primary research, it will broadly describe the extent to which the gender of trade negotiators—and of the decisionmakers who determine negotiators’ priorities—may impact the final language of trade agreements. Ally Brodsky is a former research intern and current temporary research assistant with the Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Jasmine Lim is a program coordinator and research assistant with the CSIS Scholl Chair. Jack Caporal is a fellow with the CSIS Scholl Chair. Commentary is produced by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions. Accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in this publication should be understood to be solely those of the author(s). © 2021 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. All rights reserved. |
URL | 查看原文 |
来源平台 | Center for Strategic & International Studies |
引用统计 | |
文献类型 | 科技报告 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/321253 |
专题 | 地球科学 资源环境科学 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Jack Caporal. The WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender: What It Is, What It Should Consider, and What It Could Be,2021. |
条目包含的文件 | 条目无相关文件。 |
个性服务 |
推荐该条目 |
保存到收藏夹 |
查看访问统计 |
导出为Endnote文件 |
谷歌学术 |
谷歌学术中相似的文章 |
[Jack Caporal]的文章 |
百度学术 |
百度学术中相似的文章 |
[Jack Caporal]的文章 |
必应学术 |
必应学术中相似的文章 |
[Jack Caporal]的文章 |
相关权益政策 |
暂无数据 |
收藏/分享 |
除非特别说明,本系统中所有内容都受版权保护,并保留所有权利。
修改评论