Annual Report

Annual Report
Author: United States International Trade Commission
Publisher:
Total Pages: 100
Release: 1998
Genre: United States
ISBN:

Poland 2000

Poland 2000
Author: Wto
Publisher: Bernan Press
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2000-11
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780890592700

The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) is a permanent feature of the World Trade Organisation as set up under the Marrakesh Agreement in January 1995. Under the TPRM, the trade policies of all WTO Members are subject to periodic review. The reviews are conducted by the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) on the basis of a policy statement by the Member under review and a comprehensive report drawn up by the WTO Secretariat. This report covers Poland's economic environment, trade policy regime framework and objectives, trade policies and practices by measure and trade policies by sector. The report concludes that Poland's economy has been successfully transformed to a market economy, is performing robustly and that future growth prospects are favourable. Real GDP in Poland has gone up by one quarter above pre-transition levels and GDP per capita averaged US$4,000 in 1999. The priority target of accession to the EU would create the opportunity for further reform. The report notes however that rural poverty and regional development remain key problems and that import growth exceeded export growth throughout the 1990s, and that exports, hit hard by developments in Russia, contracted by 11per cent in 1999. As a result, Poland's trade and current account deficits widened considerably, approaching 9per cent of GDP in 1999.

Domestic Regulation and Service Trade Liberalization

Domestic Regulation and Service Trade Liberalization
Author: Pierre Sauve
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 246
Release: 2003-08-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0821383434

Trade in services, far more than trade in goods, is affected by a variety of domestic regulations, ranging from qualification and licensing requirements in professional services to pro-competitive regulation in telecommunications services. Experience shows that the quality of regulation strongly influences the consequences of trade liberalization. WTO members have agreed that a central task in the ongoing services negotiations will be to develop a set of rules to ensure that domestic regulations support rather than impede trade liberalization. Since these rules are bound to have a profound impact on the evolution of policy, particularly in developing countries, it is important that they be conducive to economically rational policy-making. This book addresses two central questions: What impact can international trade rules on services have on the exercise of domestic regulatory sovereignty? And how can services negotiations be harnessed to promote and consolidate domestic policy reform across highly diverse sectors? The book, with contributions from several of the world's leading experts in the field, explores a range of rule-making challenges arising at this policy interface, in areas such as transparency, standards and the adoption of a necessity test for services trade. Contributions also provide an in-depth look at these issues in the key areas of accountancy, energy, finance, health, telecommunications and transportation services.

Trade and Gender

Trade and Gender
Author: Anh-Nga Tran-Nguyen
Publisher: United Nations Publications
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2004
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

Equal rights between men and women are enshrined as a fundamental human right in the UN Charter, and reflected in various internationally agreed instruments, such as the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Although there has been notable progress in some areas, in most nations women are still at a disadvantage in terms of their role and position in the economic and political arenas. This publication examines the gender dimension of trade and seeks to identify policy challenges and responses to promote gender equality in light of increasing globalisation. Issues discussed include: economics of gender equality, international trade and development; multilateral negotiations on agriculture in developing countries; gender-related issues in the textiles and clothing sectors; international trade in services; gender and the TRIPS Agreement; the impact of WTO rules on gender equality; human rights aspects; fair trade initiatives; the role of IT in promoting gender equality, the Gender Trade Impact Assessment and trade reform.