Transparency and Participation in the National Trade Policy Process: the Canadian example

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Transparency and Participation in the National
Trade Policy Process the Canadian example

• Robert Wolfe
• Associate Professor
• School of Policy Studies
• Queens University, Kingston, Canada
• wolfer_at_post.queensu.ca

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Is the Doha rhetoric enough?

• 10.   we are committed to making the WTO's
  operations more transparent, including through
  more effective and prompt dissemination of
  information, and to improve dialogue with the
  public. We shall therefore at the national and
  multilateral levels continue to promote a better
  public understanding of the WTO and to
  communicate the benefits of a liberal,
  rules-based multilateral trading system.
• And does Sutherland Chapter V miss the point?
• Information in Geneva VITAL
• legitimacy of WTO may not depend on organizations
  that pay most attention

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Premises

• Trade liberalization not the only objective
  human agency, development as freedom (Sen)
• Participation at home contributes to sustainable
  development (Cosbey) by ensuring consideration of
  environment social cohesion and growth
• Transparency ensures accountability in a more
  diffuse policy process

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Key dimensions for trade policy

• accurate, objective and timely information
  promotes transparency and accountability and
  enables citizens to participate in the public
  policy process.
• Consultation processes seek the views of
  individuals or groups on policies that affect
  them directly or in which they have a significant
  interest.

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Some principles

• New legal texts must be congruent with the
  informal practices and mutual expectations of
  actors
• Officials cannot make up their countrys
  interestslearn from citizens and firms engaged
  in trade as importers and exporters producers
  and consumers.
• What problems do actors encounter? What new
  opportunities do they wish to pursue?
• Where are rules as codified in WTO discordant
  with daily practices in the trading system?
• How are market practices interfering with the
  aspirations of citizens? (WHOSE interests are
  reflected in policy?)

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Transparency and the TPRM

• What if the TPRM asked more directly about
  domestic policy transparency and consultation
  mechanisms?
• Report itself a valuable source of information
• What might first report on Canada find?
• What lessons should we draw for the TPRM process?

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Can TPRM do more?
yes

• Canada 2003
• The Government also consults regularly with the
  public to muster support for trade policy.
  Interested parties are invited to submit their
  views regarding specific WTO trade and
  investment-related issues thanks to a
  "Consultations with Canadians" website.

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Canadian consultation industry growing for more
than 20 years

• 1999 (est) 300 public consultations, from
  national climate change process to dialogue with
  rural Canadians about their priorities.
• Summer 2004, province of Ontario consulting its
  citizens on teacher workloads, mandatory
  retirement, rent control, urban sprawl, rural
  communities, drinking water, and new securities
  legislation

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History of trade policy consultations

• GATT tariffs seen as budget secrecy
• but industry lobbyists were consulted anyway
• Tokyo Round (1970s) requires consultation with
  provinces and business plus coordination of the
  federal public service on trade policy
• Canada-US FTA and Uruguay Round (1980s) move
  behind the border changes demands for
  consultation
• WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle (1999)
• post-MAI
• extensive public participation in preparations
  and then attendance

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The foundation

• Data is the essential factual basis for policy
  debate
• Statistics Canada is a leading statistical agency

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Information on departmental website

• Discussion papers
• Briefings
• newsletters
• publication of legislation and regulations
• negotiating texts
• submissions to the WTO on disputes in which
  Canada is involved

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Trade policy consultations

• Wide range of participants who can contribute
  useful information, and/or whose support will be
  needed.
• Other government departments, provinces,
  municipalities
• Broad and sectoral industry associations, civil
  society organizations, firms, academics
• Citizens
• Canadian mechanisms to engage all of them

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Who should be consulted, and how?

• Technical information can be sought by officials
  from experts or economic actors.
• Exploring compromise on a difficult issue can be
  done in more broadly based multistakeholder
  settings where all sides are able to listen to
  contending points of view.
• Trying to build a consensus might best be done in
  Parliamentary hearings.

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Why are Canadian consultations so elaborate?

• behind the border negotiators need domestic
  information jurisdiction and authority widely
  dispersed engage a wider public
• Consultations especially contribute to policy
  analysis when available expertise is limited.
• Example in agriculture and in services, diffuse
  not concentrated groups, and individuals, so new
  mechanisms needed
• Growing trade interest of citizens and civil
  society organizationspublic concerns political
  not economic governance not instrumental

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Challenges?

• Difficult work of detailed negotiations does not
  excite public interest, except from farm groups
• Changing nature of consultations, or problem
  adapting mechanisms to new players involved
• Cost of participation, for proponents and
  opponents of liberalized trade.
• Principles broadly agreed, in Canada.
• Contributing analysis takes money and/or
  expertise not available to all groups

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Substantive questions for a TPRM

• Do consultations alter the way government
  perceives public interest or is policy still
  dominated by whoever has the ear of government?
• Are consultations used to help build consensus
  among stakeholders, narrowly or broadly defined?
• provide information to clarify negotiating
  objectives
• Do they help negotiators understand what citizens
  want?
• obtain information, for example on offensive
  interests and defensive concerns in the services
  negotiations

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Process questions

• frequency of consultations
• resources allocated
• numbers of citizens involved
• participant satisfaction

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Other process indicators

• Quality of statistics
• General WTO regulatory transparency
• Publication of laws and regulations
• Notification of new measures to trading partners
• Independent administration and adjudication
• Availability of negotiating proposals, dispute
  settlement submissions
• Opportunities to participate/comment

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Risks of more in TPRM?

• Imagines governance relationships (between
  citizens and the state) typical in Canada but not
  necessarily elsewhere