9 November 2023
This forum will examine and debate prospects for trade liberalisation within the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) region. Over the last decade, the world has witnessed erosion in confidence in the stability of the global trading system as governed by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The WTOs Doha Development Round has been abandoned, the Appellate Body of the WTOs Dispute Settlement Mechanism is unable to review appeals since the term of the last sitting Appellate Body member expired on 30 November 2020, and confidence in prospects for trade liberalisation have been shaken by the recent US/China trade war. This forum will examine alternative prospects for trade liberalisation through plurilateral agreements and the implementation of trade facilitation within the APEC region.
- The Hon Dr Craig Emerson, Director, Australian APEC Study Centre, RMIT University “Plurilateral agreements within APEC: giving effect to APEC’s pathfinder approach”
- Randall Brugeaud and Dr. Paul Hubbard, Simplified Trade System Implementation Taskforce “implifying Australia’s Cross-Border Trade Environment” and “Paperless trade for Producivity”
- Associate Professor Robert Waschik, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University “Trade Liberalization in APEC: Tariffs and Trade Facilitation”