Re: WTO Changes.
Originally Posted by
Percy Vere
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Here's a question for that unspecial someone across the North Sea to give us his all powerful "wisdom" on pertaining to bloc voting. How do the Mercasur, ASEAN, etc FTA blocs vote at WTO meetings? DO they follow the same route as the EU and the EU27 or not?
Thanks for deferring to overseas knowledge percy.
In principle, the Wto’s consensus procedure that Swim referred to, gives every member country the power of veto; for example the developing countries were able to resist the inclusion of labour standards on the agenda of the 1999 ministerial summit in seattle. Thus the principle of sovereign equality applies within a mainly consensus-making system. From this principle we infer that all members, whether developing or not, are able to exercise popular control of the Wto decision-making and thus seem to have a voice at the Wto.
In case members cannot reach a decision by consensus, then decision-making takes place through voting with each state having one vote, although it is rarely used, like Swim told you. The voting powers do not depend on members’ contributions to the Wto budget as it is with the IMF and the WB. This, prima facie, means that the organisation fulfils the criterion of political equality of the participants and that the decision-making is formally democratic.
A variation to the rule of equality of voting power exists through a technique of plural voting where an international organisation is a member of the Wto based on Article IX (1) of the Wto Agreement.
So if mercosur, asean, taipei are members of the Wto, under article IX (1) they can follow the same route. If you check the list of Wto members you will not find them, but you will find the EU. Hence the difference.
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