Can the existing multilateral trading system, embodied by the World Trade Organization (WTO), withstand the tectonic shifts in global trade geography or waves of crisis-provoked protectionism? What is the nature of these challenges? Should parliamentarians be concerned with the proliferation of regional and bilateral trade agreements? With the Doha Round seeming endless, are there any alternatives to the "rounds" as such?

These questions were central to a lively interactive debate that took place at Centre William Rappard, the WTO Headquarters in Geneva, during a parliamentary panel held on 16 September.  The panel was organized by the IPU and the European Parliament as part of the 2010 WTO Public Forum - a popular annual rendez-vous of diplomats, scholars, civil society, the business sector and parliamentarians interested in the multifaceted work of this uniquely important intergovernmental organization.

When it comes to political decisions on ways to prevent economic collapse and social recession, legislators are facing hard choices, said the participants.  Many parliaments are increasingly wary of legally enforceable ceilings on farm subsidies and trade tariffs set from the outside, i.e. the WTO.  In an atmosphere of swelling antipathy to globalization, this fuels public misgivings about the credibility of multilateral institutions.

Other participants pointed out that the benefits of a rules-based, stable and predictable multilateral trading system had been proven once again during the recent financial crisis.  The WTO system's in-built deterrence mechanisms stood firm, serving to avert any significant surge in trade-restricting measures.  In the words of WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, "protectionism was the only dog that did not bark during the crisis".  The menace of all-out protectionism had been forestalled and global trade was expected to pick up by more than eight per cent in 2010.

After the end of the parliamentary panel, Mr. Lamy held a separate meeting with the members of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO.  The Conference is supposed to hold its next session in early 2011, and the Director-General expressed his view that holding the session on WTO premises would be a "reasonable path to take".  Should these plans materialize parliamentarians responsible for international trade questions in their respective parliaments would have an opportunity to meet - for the first time ever - on the territory of the WTO itself.  Another important step on the way to building a meaningful parliamentary dimension of the WTO.

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