3rd Global Congress and Open A.I.R. Conference

Reclaiming the World Trade Organisation: A Modest Proposal for a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Knowledge as a Public Good

Key question and themes to be addressed:

The global community is confronted with an undersupply of global public goods, including but not limited to those involving knowledge goods. The current international trade architecture lacks the capacity to address free riding or the general undersupply of global public goods. The proposal for a WTO Agreement on the Supply of Knowledge as a Public Good frames the WTO as the institution to host an international instrument to address the chronic undersupply of global public goods thus providing a timely solution to a pressing global challenge.

There are increasing calls for a larger supply of public goods and a variety of proposals that involve government commitments to increase the supply of global public goods in specific areas, including but not limited to major projects such as the Kyoto Protocol to the International Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and the proposed WHO Biomedical R&D Treaty. The aforementioned agreements, in addition to other and existing and proposed agreements are important, but are not a sufficient response to the under-supply of global public goods.

This session will evaluate a proposal for a trade framework and a multilateral agreement that would involve negotiations and binding commitments to support the creation of and access to certain public goods. In particular, the provision of global public goods involving knowledge would be enhanced by the creation of an agreement within the WTO that would feature binding commitments by governments to undertake actions to increase the supply of a heterogeneous class of public goods, operating in a fashion analogous to binding commitments to reduce tariffs and subsidies or to liberalise trade in services.

Presentation slides available below.