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To Trade Or Not To Trade
The United States should focus on a new round of trade negotiations that would emphasize worldwide participation rather than simply focusing on the regional ascension of nations like China, a top European trade official said last week.
But speaking last Thursday to the 10th Annual Seminar on Trade and Investment sponsored by the European Institute, European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the United States and Europe might not be very close to an agreement for another round of World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations.
"The difficulty is that we have been exploring each flexibility on a conditional basis, so it is hard to gauge what would stick at the end. And it is clear that we had very differing levels of awareness and consent from our respective 'authorizing environments,'" like Congress and the European Parliament, Lamy explained.
"[U.S. Trade Representative] Charlene Barshefsky said the other day that she thought we are relatively close on most points," Lamy added. "I'm not so sure. I fear we are short of agreement on several difficult issues. The U.S. has found it difficult to pursue this exercise since last spring."
During his visit to Washington last week, Lamy met privately with Barshefsky to discuss the status of multiple trade disputes involving agricultural products and issues like the foreign sales corporation tax break, which provides U.S. companies with a $4 billion tax breaks for companies that export. The United States contends that the tax break simply offsets punitive tax measures within Europe. The EU argues that the measure is an export subsidy specifically prohibited by WTO rules. Lamy also told a conference that the United States and European Union must work harder to do a better job "of managing EU-U.S. disputes on a day-to-day basis."
Global Panel Examines Dispute-Resolution Tactics
The proliferation of technology and competition among companies that create it will force regulators increasingly to resolve disputes in various ways, experts and dispute-resolution providers at the International Conference in Dispute Resolution in Electronic Commerce said this week.
"The digital economy is introducing profound structural change in the provision of dispute-resolution services," said Francis Gurry, assistant director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). "Today, users benefit from competition among the dispute-resolution providers."
Leading dispute-resolution service providers gathered in Geneva this week to examine the methods and changes in arbitration and mediation that may be facilitated by technological advances. Nearly 250 participants worldwide — representatives from groups including the American Arbitration Association, the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, eResolution, the International Chamber of Commerce and Square Trade — attended a two-day conference.
Keynote speaker Yves Fortier, president of the London Court of International Arbitration, the world's oldest arbitration institution, told conference attendees Monday that the impact of technology is creating a new set of requirements for dispute resolution. "Whether the question is the protection of domain names, transactional security, the establishment and use of crypto-secured digital identities or any other issue arising in the context of electronic commercial transactions, the need for efficient and effective dispute resolution cannot be overstated," Fortier said.
Meanwhile, the Ad Hoc Advisory Panel on Privatization met for a second time at WIPO headquarters in Geneva last week to address ways of ensuring that nations formulating privacy laws consider related intellectual-property issues. The nine-member panel of senior-level policymakers and academicians said intellectual property should play a far more important role in the structuring of privacy policies than previously had been thought.
The members pondered the importance of determining the value of intellectual-property assets, as well as the need for better management of those assets and improved awareness of their strategic importance to business development. The panel is expected to issue conclusions and recommendations from this week's discussions and an earlier round of talks in May 2000. It is scheduled to present a final report to the WIPO Director General Kamil Idris early next year.
Moving To Competition In The New Economy
India is moving to replace its Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) with a Competition Law Authority. The IndiaTimes reported that the likely name of the new panel would be the Competition Commission of India.
Sources within the government ministry said last week that the old MRTPC could close within the year, paving the way for a more modern competition commission, headed by the former chairman of the current monopoly commission. The government proposes to place the bill in Parliament for clearance during the winter session while also moving a bill for repeal of the 1969 Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act. That draft bill is expected to be presented to Law, Justice and Company Affairs Minister Arun Jailtley in the next few days.
Meanwhile, India's planning commission is establishing a special group to outline a plan for making the country an international powerhouse in the knowledge economy, according to Commission Deputy Chair Krishna Chandra Pant. Pant said the country's leaders are looking to capitalize on India's wealth of skilled workers and move the nation to higher economic growth through increased investment and entrepreneurship.
- by Maureen Sirhal
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