Regulatory Cooperation and Coherence: The New Frontiers in Trade and Investment

While the WTO includes some disciplines regarding regulatory policies, most notably in the area of mandatory product standards (SPS/TBT), most of the rules and mechanisms that determine how to collaborate on regulatory policies takes place outside the ambit of trade frameworks. In recent years however, there has been an increasing systemising of regulatory cooperation through trade and investment frameworks, particularly through the modern deep integration agreements. This session sought to identify innovative provisions and mechanisms for regulatory cooperation that are emerging from recent bilateral and regional trade agreements. Additionally, the session explored the implications of these practices on both members and non-members, and assessed whether any of these new practices could be harvested for the multilateral level, or by other regional actors. This session was organised under the RTA Exchange, and was moderated by Jacqueline Musiitwa, Founder and Managing Partner at Hoja Law Group; and Governing Board Member at ICTSD.

The biennial Trade and Sustainable Development Symposium (TSDS), held alongside the WTO ministerial conference for over a decade, is the leading multi-stakeholder platform for intellectual enquiry and dialogue on sustainable development and the global trade and investment system. The TSDS – organised by ICTSD in partnership with the Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento (CIPPEC), the Inter–American Development Bank (BID), Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI) and Bolsa de Cereales with the support and collaboration of the Ministerio de Producción, Presidencia de la Nación, Argentina – acts as an inclusive platform outside of the WTO negotiating setting for sharing ideas, engaging in dialogue, and influencing trade policy negotiations. Drawing in participants from government, business and civil society, the Symposium helps to maintain and elaborate a global vision of sustainable development in trade and investment policymaking.