CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

NINO PARSADANISHVILI CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ embrace sustainable development, but how. 4 Difficulties mainly derive from unresolved differences in policy preferences leading governments or international organizations into inconsistent actions. 5 The fact that “trade in services accounts for almost 50 percent of world trade today”, 6 shows the major role of services in addressing poverty especially for Least Developed Countries (LDCs’). 7 In line with the analysis of the existing International Legal Framework for poverty eradication purposes and examining the importance of cooperation or possible controversies between the UN/ILO and WTO agendas the following issues are addressed by the paper: • The 2017 WTO Buenos Aires Ministerial Conference and initiation of the Trade Facilitation for Services Agreement in the form of possible plurilateral 8 and not multilateral agreement; • The UN/ILO and WTO discussions regarding inclusion of Labour Standards in the world trade agenda proving that employment falls within the scope of General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). • Facilitation of the temporary movement of natural persons to deliver services (GATS Mode 4) in line with the special economic needs of developing and least developed countries and the WTO’s strongest growth-promoting effects. 9 For the analysis of the issues raised above this paper consists of seven sections. Part 2 and Part 3 provide an analysis of the international legal framework for trade related aspects of poverty eradication with special focus on Developing and Least Developed Countries. Part 4 analyses the ILO-WTO agenda from the perspective of labour standards. Part 5 presents arguments for the inclusion of employment within GATS. Part 6 touches upon the issue of GATS mode 4 in line with the Trade Facilitation for Services Agreement. Part 7 provides conclusions. UN recognizes WTO’s leading role in poverty eradication The importance of trade in international relations is not a new phenomenon, but hardly any international organization manages to be mentioned in major legal instruments produced within another international organization as it is conducted by the WTO. It is interesting enough to see that throughout the years the UN has been emphasizing the effectiveness of the WTO in regulating major challenges of social and economic nature faced by the world. Even though the UN relies on the WTO, the question remains as to how can the WTO regulate poverty eradication issues in parallel to the negotiation based decision making rule existent within the system. To answer this question, it is necessary to first look at the relevant UN legal documents recognizing the WTO’s importance in poverty eradication. 4 http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/sustainabledevelopment/overview 5 Report of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico, 18-22 March 2002, is available on < http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/monterrey/MonterreyConsensus.pdf>, accessed 14 March 2018, P. 41. 6 Azevêdo Underlines Growing Importance of Services in Global Trade, 17 October 2017, is available on < https:// www.wto.org/english/news_e/spra_e/spra193_e.htm> [accessed 23 August 2018]. 7 WTO doc. TN/S/13. 8 NATENS, Bregt, WOUTERS, Jan. ‘The State of Play and Future of Services Negotiations in the WTO’ (2013) Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law , Vol. 4, p. 235. 9 Governance and the Law (2017) at p. 263, available on [accessed 23 August 2018]. 2.

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