WTO Law and Developing Countries

Developing countries comprise the majority of the membership of the World Trade Organization. Many developing countries believe that the welfare gains that were supposed to ensue from the establishment of the WTO and the results of the Uruguay Round remain largely elusive. Though often aggregated under the ubiquitous banner ‘developing countries’, their multilateral trade objectives - like their underlying policy interests and the concerns - vary considerably from country to country and are by no means homogenous. Coming off the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ongoing Doha Development Round, launched in that Middle Eastern city in the fall of 2001 and now on ‘life support’ so to speak, was inaugurated with much fanfare as a means of addressing the difficulties that developing countries face within the multilateral trading system. Special and differential treatment provisions in the WTO agreement in particular are the focus of much discussion in the ongoing round, and voices for change have been multiplying, due to widespread dissatisfaction with their effectiveness, enforceability, and implementation.

Developing countries make up the majority of the membership of the World Trade Organization. Many developing countries believe that the welfare gains that were supposed to ensue from the establishment of the WTO and the results of the Uruguay Round remain largely unachieved. Coming on the heels of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the ongoing Doha Development Round, launched in that Middle Eastern city in the fall of 2001, is now on 'life support'. It was inaugurated with much fanfare as a means of addressing the difficulties faced by developing countries within the multilateral trading system. Special and differential treatment provisions in the WTO agreement in particular are the focus of much discussion in the ongoing round, and voices for change are multiplying because of widespread dissatisfaction with the effectiveness, enforceability, and implementation of those special treatment provisions.

Introduction Petros Mavroidis and George Bermann; 1. The legal status of special and differential treatment provisions under WTO agreements Edwini Kessie; 2. Trade preferences to small developing countries Nuno Limao and Marcela Olarreaga; 3. China in the WTO 2006: 'Law and its limitations in the context of TRIPS' Frederick M. Abbott; 4. Developing countries in the WTO service negotiations: doing enough? Juan A. Marchetti; Comment on Marchetti Kal Raustiala; 5. Developing countries and the protection of intellectual property rights: current issues in the WTO Jayashree Watal; 6. Participation of developing countries in the WTO - new evidence based on the 2003 official records Hakan Nordstrom; Comment on Nordstrom Jeffrey Dunoff; 7. Developing countries and GATT/WTO dispute settlement Marc Busch and Eric Reinhardt; 8. Representing developing countries in WTO dispute settlement proceedings Niall Meagher; Comment on Meagher Chad P. Bown; 9. Compensation and retaliation: a developing country's perspective Mateo Diego-Fernandez; 10. A preference for development: the law and economics of GSP Gene Grossman and Alan Sykes; Comments on Grossman and Sykes: Joel Trachtman, Jeffrey Dunoff and Jeffrey Kenner; 11. The GSP fallacy: a critique of the appellate body's ruling in the GSP case on legal, economic, and political/systemic grounds Anastasios Tomazos; 12. Is the WTO doing enough for developing countries? Patrick Low; Comment on Low Wilfred J. Ethier.

This book was originally published in 2007. Developing countries make up the majority of the membership of the World Trade Organization. The treatment of developing countries within the WTO varies from case to case. This book examines the differences, as well as the varied reactions to the Uruguay and Doha Rounds.