[PASSED] Resolving WA Trade Disputes

[Auralia]

This proposal is the second of two proposals relating to international trade and the World Assembly. The first is World Assembly Trade Rights.

Resolving WA Trade Disputes
Category: Free Trade | Strength: Significant

Recognizing the numerous benefits of international trade to the economies of all World Assembly member nations,

Regretting that trade disputes between member nations serve as a barrier to international trade, resulting in severe political and economic consequences,

Believing that it is therefore in the World Assembly's interest to establish an impartial mediation and arbitration body tasked with resolving international trade disputes,

Realizing that failing to do so would constitute a extreme hazard to national populations,

The General Assembly,

1. Mandates that all member nations involved in a trade dispute enter into independent bilateral or multilateral negotiations, as appropriate, for a reasonable length of time in order to make a good faith attempt to peacefully and amicably resolve the issue;
2. Extends the mandate of the World Assembly Trade Commission to include non-binding mediation and binding arbitration services for international trade disputes rooted in a member nation's violation of international trade law or its own national laws;
3. Clarifies that such mediation and arbitration may only occur:
   
   1. with the initial explicit, uncoerced consent of all the member nations involved in the dispute, and
   2. after any independent bilateral and multilateral negotiations have failed;
4. Stipulates that such mediation and arbitration must proceed as follows:
   
   1. the World Assembly Trade Commission must assemble a mediation or arbitration panel, consisting of unbiased adjudicators with the required qualifications and experience to fulfill their duties,
   2. the member nation which requested mediation or arbitration must present the panel with a legitimate allegation that a member nation involved in the dispute has violated international trade law or its own national laws, and that this violation is a chief cause of the dispute,
   3. each member nation involved in the dispute may present arguments and evidence pertaining to this allegation to the panel, and must comply with any reasonable request made by the panel for evidence necessary to make an informed ruling on the allegation,
   4. the panel will consider all evidence presented and present a ruling detailing whether the allegation is true, as well as any actions on the part of member nations required to remedy the issue,
   5. any member nation involved in the dispute may appeal a recommendation or ruling by the panel, on the grounds that the evidence presented was improperly considered, to a separate appellate panel, which will release a final ruling or recommendation based exclusively on the evidence presented to the original panel;
5. Authorizes the World Assembly Trade Commission to impose any applicable financial penalties on member nations which consented to the arbitration process but refused to comply with a final ruling by an arbitration panel or its corresponding appellate panel, as appropriate.

[Auralia]

Updated. It's ready for comments, I think, though it's still a work in progress.

[Skusterfield]

Most trade disputes are (at least officially) caused by diferences in local law (very old is the German "Reinheitsgebot": nobody could export beer to Germany, because only German beer was legal, more recent is the European ban on American beef (and visa versa) ).

Solving trade disputes without giving up souvereignity is close to impossible.

The proposal should have guidelines of fighting protectionism (maybe regulating is the highest achievable option).

[Sionis Prioratus]

We dead set against any expansion of powers of that vile monstrosity called ITA. Give it a different name, and we may talk.

Yours in earnestness,

[Auralia]

We dead set against any expansion of powers of that vile monstrosity called ITA. Give it a different name, and we may talk.

Yours in earnestness,

What? What's wrong with the ITA?

[Glen-Rhodes]

We dead set against any expansion of powers of that vile monstrosity called ITA. Give it a different name, and we may talk.

So you're fine with all the authorities this would give the ITA... as long as it's given to a different committee? That's pretty petty. Also completely illogical and wasteful.

What? What's wrong with the ITA?

What's wrong with the ITA is that I created it.

Anyways, I will have some ideas for this at a later point. Unfortunately, there are more pressing issues for me right now. :\

[Sionis Prioratus]

We dead set against any expansion of powers of that vile monstrosity called ITA. Give it a different name, and we may talk.

Yours in earnestness,

What? What's wrong with the ITA?

A run amok bureaucracy hell-bent on World Subjugation. Do not be swayed by the persecution complex of some unwell delegations, Your Excellency.

We would like to remind Your Excellency that the World Assembly Trade Commission (WATC) is still extant, albeit in a reduced capacity. This endeavour could restore some of its former glory.

Yours in good ideas,

[Auralia]

What? What's wrong with the ITA?

A run amok bureaucracy hell-bent on World Subjugation. Do not be swayed by the persecution complex of some unwell delegations, Your Excellency.

We would like to remind Your Excellency that the World Assembly Trade Commission (WATC) is still extant, albeit in a reduced capacity. This endeavour could restore some of its former glory.

Yours in good ideas,

I really don't care which organization we use. I find it silly that anyone else would, too.

[Sionis Prioratus]

A run amok bureaucracy hell-bent on World Subjugation. Do not be swayed by the persecution complex of some unwell delegations, Your Excellency.

We would like to remind Your Excellency that the World Assembly Trade Commission (WATC) is still extant, albeit in a reduced capacity. This endeavour could restore some of its former glory.

Yours in good ideas,

I really don't care which organization we use. I find it silly that anyone else would, too.

As Your Excellency wishes. Not choosing an organization that would garner more support is silly. But, oh well.

Yours giving up,

[Auralia]

I really don't care which organization we use. I find it silly that anyone else would, too.

As Your Excellency wishes. Not choosing an organization that would garner more support is silly. But, oh well.

Yours giving up,

Do you seriously plan to oppose this proposal because of the name of the organization used?

[Sionis Prioratus]

As Your Excellency wishes. Not choosing an organization that would garner more support is silly. But, oh well.

Yours giving up,

Do you seriously plan to oppose this proposal because of the name of the organization used?

That's not the right angle, Your Excellency. What I do oppose is to give even more powers to the already very powerful ITA. Yes, I do seriously plan to oppose this proposal if ITA is given even more power. Fortunately, the creation of a new committee is not needed: we can use the dust-gathering, extant World Assembly Trade Commission (WATC) instead.

Its original mission, until it was stricken in a most disgraceful way, was:

World Assembly Economic Union [Struck out by Resolution #45]
A resolution to reduce barriers to free trade and commerce.

Category: Free Trade
Strength: Strong
Proposed by: New Leicestershire

Description: The World Assembly, resolved to strengthen the special bonds of friendship and cooperation among our nations; contribute to the harmonious development and expansion of world trade; provide a catalyst to broader international cooperation; create an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in our nations; reduce distortions to trade and ensure a predictable commercial framework for business planning and investment;


1.ENCOURAGES the free, fair and open trade/transfer of all goods, services, raw materials, commodities and labor between member states without prejudice;

2. ESTABLISHES the World Assembly Trade Commission (WATC) to arbitrate any and all trade disputes which may arise concerning the implementation of this legislation. Such arbitration may include, but is not limited to, cases involving alleged price dumping by WA members upon WA members, disputes over the interpretation of the terms and conditions of this resolution, and any alleged violations by member states;

3. AUTHORIZES the WATC to implement a process for the gradual elimination of protectionist devices restricting the trade of all goods, services, raw materials, commodities and labor, including but not limited to tariffs, duties, subsidies, subventions and quotas employed by WA member nations.

- The process will be conducted through a series of meetings convened by the WATC at its own discretion, but at least one per decade, with the goal of eventual elimination of all protectionist devices employed by WA member nations;

- Decisions arrived at by the WATC in the scheduled meetings are binding;

4. RECOGNIZES that certain domestic programs such as fuel subsidies, government stipends and small business loans are not protectionist in nature. Authorizes the WATC to review these programs and declare any that are not in fact protectionist in nature to be outside the scope of this resolution;

5. DECLARES that nations may apply reasonable restrictions on trade in the following cases:

- to ensure the stability of industries supplying essential products (such as military equipment or other items vital to national security);
- in times of severe economic crisis, where such measures are required to ensure a stable supply of essential products;
- to collect revenue for the sole purposes of economic recovery following severe collapse;
- in other special circumstances, as determined by the WATC.

6. AFFIRMS the right of nations to impose regulations, including embargoes, for cultural, safety, environmental, human rights, ethical or other reasons, on goods and services and their manufacture, subject to WATC approval;

7. EMPHASIZES that WA member nations reserve the right to employ retaliatory tariffs towards non-WA nations to prevent price dumping and authorizes the WATC to review and rule upon alleged cases of price dumping by WA members upon WA members;

8. REQUIRES member governments to establish programs to alleviate the possible impact of this resolution on workers and their families. Examples of the services provided by such programs are job retraining, help with relocation of displaced workers and training or assistance in small business start-ups.

Votes For: 2,841
Votes Against: 1,622

Implemented Sun Dec 7 2008

[WAR26 on NS] [WAR26 on NSwiki] [Official Debate Topic]

Fortunately, it functions still in a limited capacity by virtue of:

Access to Life-Saving Drugs
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

Category: Social Justice
Strength: Significant

1) An appropriate part of World Health Authority’s budget shall be directed for buying and distributing, when and where necessary, high-cost life-saving medications and vaccines. Negotiations shall take place between the agencies and patent holders so as to achieve a minimum acceptable price, one that does not hamper the industries affected nor further research, nor depletes the WA economic resources or otherwise adversely impacts the multitude of activities dependant on WA funding.

2) Life-saving medications’ and vaccines patents may be temporarily waivered only in the most extraordinary of situations, like in the presence of imminent or unfolding public health catastrophes, such as lethal airborne diseases with a small period of incubation, strictly for as small a period as necessary, as determined by the WHA and only after every other venue of emergency negotiations between the WA and the patent holders have been exhausted.

3) If such a waiver is to be proclaimed, patent holders shall receive financial compensation proportional to the period between such proclamation and the suspension of said waiver, after a through audit of the values disputed, done by the WHA, the WA Trade Commission, and the WA General Accounting Office, in an appropriate time frame, and always mindful of the imperative of not to adversely impact the universe of WA-funded activities. [...]

Yours in amity,

[Auralia]

Look, I really don't care which organization is used. I suppose we could use the WATC if you really want, but that's not exactly the most important question at this point.

Do you have any other comments about the proposal?

[Libraria and Ausitoria]

We agree the WATC would be more natural.

Other than that, we support this proposal.

[Auralia]

It seems, though, that the WATC no longer exists for any practical purposes, while the ITA is used thoroughly in several resolutions dealing with international trade.

[Auralia]

The ITA provisions of WATR have been moved to this old draft of mine.

[Knootoss]

I echo the concerns of Sionis Prioratus about using the ITA name. We can start afresh here and I strongly encourage that Auralia pick a different name for the bureaucracy involved. ITA leaves a bad taste in the mouth of many nations. WATC would be preferable.

As for the rest, I'd suggest adding a mission and being a lot more specific about the procedures. It also needs a decent preamble justifying its existence.

[Glen-Rhodes]

I echo the concerns of Sionis Prioratus about using the ITA name. We can start afresh here and I strongly encourage that Auralia pick a different name for the bureaucracy involved. ITA leaves a bad taste in the mouth of many nations. WATC would be preferable.

ITA leaves a bad name in your mouth. The other thousand voters aren't petty enough to care about what the acronym is. The fact is that the ITA already exists. We don't need to create an entirely new bureaucracy to do what the ITA already does.

[Knootoss]

The general electorate probably does care very little. At the same time there are a lot of active and ancient General Assembly delegates that would resent the expansion of a Glen-Rhodes bureaucracy so inventing a new name or, better yet, a name that is associated with New Leicestershire would generate a lot of free good will.

[Auralia]

This is ridiculous. So I'm going to settle this democratically. I'm setting up a poll, where nations can choose between the ITA or the WATC. At the time of submission, I'll use whichever organization has more votes.

Now, can we please get back to the substantive provisions of the proposal?

[Glen-Rhodes]

The general electorate probably does care very little. At the same time there are a lot of active and ancient General Assembly delegates that would resent the expansion of a Glen-Rhodes bureaucracy so inventing a new name or, better yet, a name that is associated with New Leicestershire would generate a lot of free good will.

Congratulations on jumping the shark. This is whole new low for personal animosity. Oh dear, it's three letters than Glen-Rhodes threw together! Better treat it like the plague!

[Sanctaria]

This is ridiculous. I'm adding a poll - ITA or WATC?

WATC.

Only because WAAA-TIC sounds better than EYE-TA.

[Auralia]

Sorry, I just added a third option. You'll need to re-vote.

[Sanctaria]

Sorry, I just added a third option. You'll need to re-vote.

Bother.

[Auralia]

Major update made to the proposal. The mandate and procedures of the ITA are now very clear (I hope).

[Urgench]

We commend the honoured delegation of Auralia for making some very promising revisions and on their constructive and reasonable response to the feedback of other delegations. We see the current draft as offering a useful basis for further discussion.

Yours,