§ Dr. PalmerTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps her Department is taking to strengthen the World Trade Organisation's capacity to monitor the effect of present trade agreements on developing countries. [105063]
§ Clare ShortThe WTO does not have a mandate to monitor the impact of trade agreements. It does have a responsibility to monitor developments in world trade and 73W the implementation of trade agreements which it fulfils with resources from its core budget. My Department has committed £16 million of trade related technical assistance to developing countries, of which details have been placed in the House of Commons Library. This includes payments to a trust fund at the WTO to develop the capacity of developing countries to fulfil their responsibilities as WTO members and implement agreements. It also includes support for the capacity building programmes in UNCTAD and the ITC, and research to assess aspects of the effect of trade liberalisation on developing countries, for example, the effects of trade liberalisation on poverty, and the impact of WTO agreements such as the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement. Studies on the impact of the Uruguay Round trade agreements by the World Bank and other bodies show that developing countries should benefit, relative to their GDP, as much as, if not more than, developed countries. Similar studies in advance of the expected new Round by the European Commission and others, offer a similar prognosis.
§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent research reports she has received on the economic impact of the first five years of the World Trade Organisation trading regime on developing countries. [105584]
§ Clare ShortThe WTO, World Bank and the academic community have completed many reports on the economic impact of the World Trade Organisation trading regime. Ex-post assessment of the impact of changes to the world trade rules agreed under the Uruguay Round presents problems as it is almost impossible to disentangle the ex-post impact of multilateral trade liberalisation from the many other factors that have an impact on world trade and developing country economies. However, economic modelling can help to give some indication of the possible benefits which have been estimated to be between !13 billion and !125 billion for developing countries.
This research work also suggests that developing countries stand to gain at least as much as developed countries from the Uruguay Round as a proportion of GDP, although, the distribution of benefits among developing countries is not evenly spread. South East Asia does well, there are also benefits for South Asia, but sub-Saharan Africa may face a small welfare loss.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent representations her Department has made to the World Trade Organisation concerning procedural reform. [106334]
§ Clare ShortMy Department has not made any representations to the World Trade Organisation concerning procedural reform. This work is being led by the Department of Trade and Industry.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with the United States of America concerning reform of the World Trade Organisation since 1 December 1999. [106333]
§ Clare ShortI have not had any discussions with colleagues from the United States concerning reform of the World Trade Organisation since the WTO in Seattle.