tralac’s Annual Conference took place in Cape Town, South Africa on 8-9 September 2011.  The keynote presentation was by Patrick Low, Chief Economist at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The WTO’s 2011 World Trade Report focuses on the WTO and preferential trade agreements (PTAs).  Patrick provided an overview of key trends in PTAs; the reasons why countries enter into these agreements, the relationship between PTAs and the multilateral trading system, as well as the scope of modern PTAs.  A key finding of the report, is that PTAs are increasingly going beyond tariff liberalization; including many non-tariff issues, specifically regulatory issues.  In short the inclusion of behind-the-border issues in many PTAs reflects important developments in the architecture of global production networks and the pursuit of efficiencies in production, distribution and trade.

Click here to read more about the tralac Annual Conference 2011, including the Conference Report and Opening Remarks by Trudi Hartzenberg.

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PODCASTS:

Session 1 - Regional Trade Agreements: Global Trends

Listen to Patrick Low’s presentation (in 2 parts):

Part 1:   [00:18:49, 2205KB] :

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Part 2:   [00:20:51, 2446KB]:

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Session 2 – What do global trends in Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) mean for Africa?

Listen to Gerhard Erasmus‘ presentation (in 2 parts):

Part 1:   [00:13:03, 1530KB] :

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Part 2:   [00:12:38, 1480KB] :

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Listen to Hildegunn Nordas‘ (OECD) presentation (in 2 parts):

Part 1:   [00:11:04, 1297KB] :

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Part 2:  tralacAnnConf2011 D1S2 Hildegunn Nordas [00:11:06, 1302KB] :

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Session 3 – Negotiating the Tripartite Free Trade Area: where are we heading?

Listen to Paul Kalenga‘s presentation (in 2 parts):

Part 1:  [00:14:21, 1683KB] :

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Part 2:  [00:14:02, 1647KB] :

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Cape to Cairo – An Assessment of the Tripartite Free Trade Area  by Taku Fundira [00:06:06, 716KB] :

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The need to harmonize the rules of origin regimes in the region  by Eckart Naumann [00:12:08, 1423KB] :

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Negotiating services under the Tripartite FTA  by Paul Kruger [00:05:56, 697KB] :

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Problematic trade remedy provisions in the Draft Tripartite Agreement  by Willemien Viljoen [00:07:14, 849KB]:

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Mobility of Business Persons in East and Southern Africa  by JB Cronjé [00:06:37, 776KB] :

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Industrial development in the Tripartite-FTA  by Sean Woolfrey [00:12:08, 1423KB] :

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