§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what powers the World Trade Organisation will have once the general agreement on tariffs and trade is ratified to require a country that refuses to bring its legislation into line with a GATT ruling to change its laws.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe proposed World Trade Organisation (WTO) will have no powers to compel members to bring domestic legislation into conformity with the adverse findings of dispute settlement proceedings. In such circumstances, the member would be able to choose between bringing measures into conformity with WTO rules, offering compensatory market access concessions—either temporary or permanent—or accepting retaliatory withdrawal of market access concessions by the aggrieved member. Both compensatory and retaliatory measures would be proportional to the impairment involved—there is no punitive or coercive element.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what role he envisages for the World Trade Organisation once the GATT is ratified.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe proposed World Trade Organisation (WTO) will organise and help give effect to the structure of rules and market access commitments agreed among its prospective members in the course of the Uruguay round, as well as providing a forum for future trade negotiations as its members see fit. Each member of the WTO will itself be responsible for following those rules and implementing its market access commitments, assisted by the WTO secretariat. The secretariat will be fully accountable to WTO members.
§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the World Trade Organisation will be democratically accountable.
§ Mr. NeedhamThe proposed World Trade Organisation (WTO) will provide an institutional structure to give effect to the rules and market access commitments agreed between prospective members of the WTO in the Uruguay round. As such it will be fully accountable to its members.