Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Dispute settlement between developing countries: Argentina and Chilean price bands
- 2 Argentina and GATS: a study of the domestic determinants of GATS commitments
- 3 Rock ‘n’ roll in Bangladesh:protecting intellectual property rights in music
- 4 Barbados: telecommunications liberalization
- 5 Services commitments: case studies from Belize and Costa Rica
- 6 Inter-agency policy co-ordination in Botswana
- 7 Brazil and the G20 group of developing countries
- 8 Cambodia's accession to the WTO: ‘fast track’ accession by a least developed country
- 9 Canada and the WTO: multilevel governance, public policy-making and the WTO Auto Pact Case
- 10 The SPS Agreement and crisis management: the Chile–EU avian influenza experience
- 11 Shanghai's WTO Affairs Consultation Center: working together to take advantage of WTO membership
- 12 Costa Rica's challenge to US restrictions on the import of underwear
- 13 Fiji: preparing for the end of preferences?
- 14 The road to Cancún: the French decision-making process and WTO negotiations
- 15 Decision-making processes in India: the case of the agriculture negotiations
- 16 Protecting the geographical indication for Darjeeling tea
- 17 The Indian shrimp industry organizes to fight the threat of anti-dumping action
- 18 Indonesia's shrimp exports: meeting the challenge of quality standards
- 19 Patents, parallel importation and compulsory licensing of HIV/AIDS drugs: the experience of Kenya
- 20 Kenya's participation in the WTO: lessons learned
- 21 Learning by doing: the impact of a trade remedy case in Korea
- 22 Laos: the textile and garment industry in the post-ATC era
- 23 Malawi in the multilateral trading system
- 24 Malaysia: labelling regulations on natural rubber condoms and the WTO TBT Agreement
- 25 Malaysia: strategies for the liberalization of the services sector
- 26 Mauritius: co-operation in an economy evolving for the future
- 27 How regional economic communities can facilitate participation in the WTO: the experience of Mauritius and Zambia
- 28 Mexico's agricultural trade policies: international commitments and domestic pressure
- 29 Mongolia's WTO accession: expectations and realities of WTO membership
- 30 Nepal: the role of an NGO in support of accession
- 31 Nepal: exports of ayurvedic herbal remedies and SPS issues
- 32 Import prohibition as a trade policy instrument: the Nigerian experience
- 33 The Pacific island nations: towards shared representation
- 34 Victory in principle: Pakistan's dispute settlement case on combed cotton yarn exports to the United States
- 35 Pakistan: the consequences of a change in the EC rice regime
- 36 Philippines: stakeholder participation in agricultural policy formation
- 37 Philippines: adopting the transaction basis for customs valuation
- 38 The reform of South Africa's anti-dumping regime
- 39 The impact of GATS on telecommunications competition in Sri Lanka
- 40 Thailand: conciliating a dispute on tuna exports to the EC
- 41 Uganda's participation in WTO negotiations: institutional challenges
- 42 Uruguay in the services negotiations: strategy and challenges
- 43 Vanuatu's suspended accession bid: second thoughts?
- 44 Public and private participation in agricultural negotiations: the experience of Venezuela
- 45 Preparation by Vietnam's banking sector for WTO accession
- Index
43 - Vanuatu's suspended accession bid: second thoughts?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 December 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 Dispute settlement between developing countries: Argentina and Chilean price bands
- 2 Argentina and GATS: a study of the domestic determinants of GATS commitments
- 3 Rock ‘n’ roll in Bangladesh:protecting intellectual property rights in music
- 4 Barbados: telecommunications liberalization
- 5 Services commitments: case studies from Belize and Costa Rica
- 6 Inter-agency policy co-ordination in Botswana
- 7 Brazil and the G20 group of developing countries
- 8 Cambodia's accession to the WTO: ‘fast track’ accession by a least developed country
- 9 Canada and the WTO: multilevel governance, public policy-making and the WTO Auto Pact Case
- 10 The SPS Agreement and crisis management: the Chile–EU avian influenza experience
- 11 Shanghai's WTO Affairs Consultation Center: working together to take advantage of WTO membership
- 12 Costa Rica's challenge to US restrictions on the import of underwear
- 13 Fiji: preparing for the end of preferences?
- 14 The road to Cancún: the French decision-making process and WTO negotiations
- 15 Decision-making processes in India: the case of the agriculture negotiations
- 16 Protecting the geographical indication for Darjeeling tea
- 17 The Indian shrimp industry organizes to fight the threat of anti-dumping action
- 18 Indonesia's shrimp exports: meeting the challenge of quality standards
- 19 Patents, parallel importation and compulsory licensing of HIV/AIDS drugs: the experience of Kenya
- 20 Kenya's participation in the WTO: lessons learned
- 21 Learning by doing: the impact of a trade remedy case in Korea
- 22 Laos: the textile and garment industry in the post-ATC era
- 23 Malawi in the multilateral trading system
- 24 Malaysia: labelling regulations on natural rubber condoms and the WTO TBT Agreement
- 25 Malaysia: strategies for the liberalization of the services sector
- 26 Mauritius: co-operation in an economy evolving for the future
- 27 How regional economic communities can facilitate participation in the WTO: the experience of Mauritius and Zambia
- 28 Mexico's agricultural trade policies: international commitments and domestic pressure
- 29 Mongolia's WTO accession: expectations and realities of WTO membership
- 30 Nepal: the role of an NGO in support of accession
- 31 Nepal: exports of ayurvedic herbal remedies and SPS issues
- 32 Import prohibition as a trade policy instrument: the Nigerian experience
- 33 The Pacific island nations: towards shared representation
- 34 Victory in principle: Pakistan's dispute settlement case on combed cotton yarn exports to the United States
- 35 Pakistan: the consequences of a change in the EC rice regime
- 36 Philippines: stakeholder participation in agricultural policy formation
- 37 Philippines: adopting the transaction basis for customs valuation
- 38 The reform of South Africa's anti-dumping regime
- 39 The impact of GATS on telecommunications competition in Sri Lanka
- 40 Thailand: conciliating a dispute on tuna exports to the EC
- 41 Uganda's participation in WTO negotiations: institutional challenges
- 42 Uruguay in the services negotiations: strategy and challenges
- 43 Vanuatu's suspended accession bid: second thoughts?
- 44 Public and private participation in agricultural negotiations: the experience of Venezuela
- 45 Preparation by Vietnam's banking sector for WTO accession
- Index
Summary
The problem in context
The background to accession
Vanuatu began its WTO accession process in July 1995, and the main momentum towards membership came in 1997 with the advent of a structural adjustment package known as the Comprehensive Reform Programme (CRP). This set of reforms aimed to improve governance, enhance the role of the private sector, increase economic growth and further liberalize the economy. As part of this last process the programme was directed at reducing trade barriers within the context of WTO membership. The import-substitution policy, followed since independence in 1980, was failing. The economy was generally closed, while Vanuatu had always run a visible trade deficit; some policy-makers and politicians felt that the economy should integrate more into the global economy.
A further impetus towards accession was that all Vanuatu's neighbours and principal trading partners were WTO members – Fiji, the Solomon islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. There was a feeling that trade relations would be enhanced under the WTO framework.
Economic conditions
The CRP did not meet many of its objectives. Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) declined in the following five years: per capita GDP was no higher in absolute terms in 2003 than in 1998, and is now about US$1,150. Exports fell 40% during the same period, incoming investment fell faster than world-wide foreign direct investment trends and government expenditure increased as a proportion of GDP.
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- Chapter
- Information
- Managing the Challenges of WTO Participation45 Case Studies, pp. 590 - 606Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005
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