Dolphins, Turtles, Mad Cows and Butterflies - A Look at the Multilateral Trading System in the 21st Century

The WTO proposals to launch the Millennium Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations failed in Seattle in late 1999. This paper tries to identify the main reasons for the failure of Seattle and other issues confronting the WTO at the start of the 21st century. It also tries to draw some lesson from Seattle which cover traditional negotiating issues as well as proposals to bring new areas within the coverage of the WTO. It also reviews confidence-building measures now being undertaken in the WTO, and asks whether there is cause to be concerned at trends in trade and trade policies. It then looks at how research can contribute to resolving some of the key policy issues facing the WTO and tries to determine some kind of priority for such work. Finally, the paper provides some tentative conclusions.