,
10 tweets,
4 min read
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Some odd and something right in this👇🏽 tweet from @TiceRichard to @IanDunt.
What's odd:
1. that "WTO bosses in Geneva" (@WTODGAZEVEDO and his management team?) would intervene by advocating any particular policy. Much more likely...
1/7
What's odd:
1. that "WTO bosses in Geneva" (@WTODGAZEVEDO and his management team?) would intervene by advocating any particular policy. Much more likely...
1/7
Much more likely they would react to any WTO-legal idea (interim/indefinite, FTA/CU) by saying "yes of course you can do that". They would be keen for the UK to sort out the various issues quickly but wouldn't advocate any particular arrangement.
2/7
2/7
Also odd:
2. The WTO is member-driven, so it's not up to the director-general and senior management, but the members. So the real "WTO bosses in Geneva" are the ambassadors. They do what ambassadors do: defend their countries' interests.
3/7
2. The WTO is member-driven, so it's not up to the director-general and senior management, but the members. So the real "WTO bosses in Geneva" are the ambassadors. They do what ambassadors do: defend their countries' interests.
3/7
Something right:
3. The process in the WTO would be quick. It would be quick whatever the UK-EU deal. The WTO Secretariat is a conduit for information.
The real time needed is for the UK and EU to negotiate their deal. Once that's done, ...
4/7
3. The process in the WTO would be quick. It would be quick whatever the UK-EU deal. The WTO Secretariat is a conduit for information.
The real time needed is for the UK and EU to negotiate their deal. Once that's done, ...
4/7
...Once the UK & EU have their agreement, they notify the WTO. The Secretariat looks at the documents, checks formatting and that all the necessary info is included, & circulates the documents to all the members. Yes that only takes days, even if it's a 2,000-page agreement.
5/7
5/7
The UK-EU deal is then discussed at a future Regional Trade Agreements Committee meeting. Last year it met 7 times
Questions are asked and answered, and that's it. Except the rules allow for more stringent questioning if it's an "interim" agreement.
wto.org/english/tratop…
6/7
Questions are asked and answered, and that's it. Except the rules allow for more stringent questioning if it's an "interim" agreement.
wto.org/english/tratop…
6/7
More (and in only 400 words) on why interim agreements are a red herring here:
tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/one…
7/7
tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2019/02/16/one…
7/7
P.S. If @NickBoles said this👇🏽, he's also wrong. The WTO cannot "rule out" the right of members (the UK and EU) to use a provision in a WTO agreement (an interim agreement under GATT Art.24). Might not be wisest way but WTO cannot stop it.
H/T to @rjbarfield1 for alerting me to these tweets
To clarify tweet 5/7⬆️.
This what the WTO Secretariat does once an agreed free trade agreement is handed in (interim or final). It circulates a document like this to all WTO members.
If filled in correctly, it wouldn't even take days. More like 5 mins
docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/S…
This what the WTO Secretariat does once an agreed free trade agreement is handed in (interim or final). It circulates a document like this to all WTO members.
If filled in correctly, it wouldn't even take days. More like 5 mins
docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/S…
