WTO-Plus Commitments on the Elimination of Export Duties: Evidence of a Two-Tier Membership?

16 Pages Posted: 25 Oct 2014 Last revised: 25 Apr 2017

See all articles by Dylan Geraets

Dylan Geraets

KU Leuven; KU Leuven - Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies

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Date Written: October 24, 2014

Abstract

This descriptive paper examines the prevalence of ‘WTO-plus’ commitments in accession protocols of newly acceded Members, with a focus on commitments on the elimination of export duties. It presents preliminary results of a mapping exercise carried out with respect to these commitments and seeks to answer two questions. First, can any general conclusions be drawn as to the prevalence of these commitments or are they, per definition, country-specific. Second, has the political nature of the WTO accession process allowed for the creation of a two-tier membership. The first question is answered by relying on data gathered as part of the ongoing PhD-research project conducted by the author. The project aims to construct a typology of WTO-plus commitments to allow for a more detailed analysis of the relationship between these commitments and the baseline obligations in the covered agreements. The accession of China to the WTO is commonly considered as the prime example of the inclusion of WTO-plus obligations in accession protocols. The paper tries to answer the question whether this particular accession was truly unique in nature, or whether the inclusion of “Plus” obligations is less exceptional than often assumed. Additionally, the accession protocols of other recently acceded-Members are examined to establish whether the hypothesis holds. In the PhD-research project this comparative methodology will also be applied to map WTO-plus commitments in other areas, such as anti-dumping and transparency. The second question will be answered in two stages. In a preliminary stage, international institutional law will be used to by analyzing the way in which the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body has dealt with this type of WTO-plus commitment in its jurisprudence. The second stage deals with the question of hierarchy: Accession Protocols are negotiated with the WTO Membership, by each country willing to accede to the WTO. This poses questions as to their exact position in the system of WTO law. To establish whether evidence of a two-tier membership is present, one first has to turn back to the question whether Accession Protocols are a separate (or independent) legal instrument or an “integral part” of the WTO system of covered agreements. If newly acceded Members do not benefit from the general exceptions in order to balance their more stringent, WTO-plus, obligations, this may support the conclusion that the membership of the World Trade Organization is becoming, in fact, two-tiered.

Suggested Citation

Geraets, Dylan, WTO-Plus Commitments on the Elimination of Export Duties: Evidence of a Two-Tier Membership? (October 24, 2014). FGV Direito SP Research Paper Series (Special Edition), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2514533 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2514533

Dylan Geraets (Contact Author)

KU Leuven ( email )

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Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant B-3000
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KU Leuven - Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies ( email )

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Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

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