THE WAY FORWARD. 9.1 The Public Accounts Committee based this review on the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Appendix 1). The Committee is pleased that the Chief Minister has responded favourable to these stating:-
9.2 Both reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General have a recommendation relating to the development of the Code of Conduct for Ministers for dealing explicitly with the relationship between Ministers and officials.
9.3 The Chief Minister has agreed with the recommendation, stating that work was already being undertaken in that area. For any Code to be functional, however, it must include sanctions and clarity about who has the authority to invoke the sanctions.
9.4 Prior to this, however, a major issue inherent in the creation of such a document needs to be addressed: that of the lack of corporate responsibility within the Council of Ministers, as mentioned earlier in this report. This in itself, impacts on the full impact of any Code which could currently be developed.
9.5 A Code of Conduct for Ministers for dealing explicitly with the relationship between Ministers and officials is an appropriate tool. However, it is useless without the ability to sanction when someone breaches it. RECOMMENDATION
9.6 The Privileges and Procedures Committee must draw up a thorough and robust system of investigation and resulting sanctions which can be implemented to ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct for both States Members and the Council of Ministers.
9.7 A second recommendation contained within both reports relates to establishing arrangements for independent oversight of the relationships between Ministers and officers. Committee Member Xx X. Fearn asked the Chief Minister for his view on independent oversight:-
9.8 A modernisation programme is under consideration.
9.9 The third recommendation in both reports related to performance management and dealing with behaviour that impedes effective performance management, The Chief Minister was asked about this and stated:
9.10 When discussing the ways in which the difficulties surrounding the Chief Executive’s position may best be addressed, as contained within the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, ‘The Former Chief Executive – Compromise Agreement’, the Chief Minister expressed the opinion that;
9.11 The Chief Minister was very positive in the direction he wished to move forward. All the Comptroller and Auditor General’s recommendations would be examined and implemented where possible...
THE WAY FORWARD. Based on the discussion in this chapter, it can be argued that the most immediate action needed is to operationalize the development-friendly aspects of the GATS. BOX 13.7 SOME OF INDIA’S PROPOSALS ON REMOVING LIMITATIONS ON THE MOVEMENT OF NATURAL PERSONS • Multilateral norms need to be established to reduce the scope for discriminatory practices in the use of economic needs tests. • Clear criteria need to be laid down for ■ Applying such tests.
THE WAY FORWARD. For forty years of operations, BOAD has acquired extensive experience, a know-how and a sound expertise in funding and implementing both national and regional investment projects. The Bank provides an added value to the development drive of the WAEMU member countries. Today, it is considered as a regional development instrument. Mindful of the huge challenges to be taken up in future by its member countries, the Bank has formulated a new strategy in order to cope. In this connection, the long-term vision of the institution is: “BOAD: a solid development bank for economic integration and transformation in West Africa.“ Such a vision provides an indication of the Bank’s mission relevant to the current economic context of the sub-region. In conformity with the stated mission and vision, the strategic directions of the 2015-2019 strategic plan are as follows :
Area 1 : Accelerating regional integration through sustained infrastructure financing; Area 2 : Support for inclusive growth, food security and sustainable development; Area 3 : Support for businesses and States, development of financial engineering and services;
THE WAY FORWARD. In order to progress the full implementation of the endorsed Action Plan, the Partnership organisations recognise that this can only be achieved with the cooperation of each. And that each Partner will need to be prepared to give up something – control, land, or finance, for example – for the common good. The Partners have therefore agreed the following Key Actions.
THE WAY FORWARD. It is imperative for India to not only have strong rules of origin provision under the CEPA but also it must enforce them. To get duty-free access to the Indian market under the CEPA, the required value addition in the UAE has been kept at 40 percent, which is significantly higher than other FTAs where value addition requirement is generally 30-35 percent. The CEPA would also have an effective enforcement mechanism in place. This will reduce the excessive surge in imports. To enhance the utilization of CEPA it is also important to ensure that the cost of compliance remains at the minimum level. Services. The Government of India has prioritized at least six countries to engage with under the new FTA policy, with the UAE at the top of the list for an early harvest deal. The United Kingdom, the European Union, Australia, Canada, Israel, and a group of Gulf Cooperation Council countries are the others (GCC). In due future, the early harvest agreement will be expanded into a comprehensive FTA. The UAE is the eighth-largest investor in India: The UAE has invested $11 billion between April 2000 and March 2021. Investment by Indian companies in the UAE is estimated to be over $85 billion The UAE is India’s second-largest export destination after the US, with exports valued at approximately $29 billion in FY20. India was the UAE’s second-largest trading partner in 2019, with bilateral non-oil trade valued at $41 billion The UAE is currently India’s third-largest trading partner with bilateral trade in FY20 valued at $59 billion. Indian Diaspora in UAE: Indian expatriate community of approx. 3.5 million (as per International Migrant Stock 2020 released by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is reportedly the largest ethnic community in UAE constituting roughly about 30 percent of the country’s population. Military exercises between India and UAE: Both countries have come together in the past to have bilateral as well as multilateral military exercises: FTAs help in trade, job creation, and economic growth and also serve as a diplomatic tool for improving international relations Eg: ASEAN countries impose a 20% duty on the import of leather goods however for India this is 0%. number of tariff lines. The list of products on which the partners agree to reduce duty is called a positive list. India MERCOSUR PTA (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela) is such an example. However, in general, PTAs do not cover su...
THE WAY FORWARD. It would be desirable to reduce the GATS to a treaty that is restricted to the promotion and protection of international trade in services. MFN would be respected by all WTO Members, sub- ject to certain exceptions including measures to protect core labour standards. WTO Members would be able to make specific access commit- ments under modes 1 and 2, comprising appro- priate national treatment of foreign services. Modes 3 and 4 would be removed from the GATS, which would also no longer be an in- strument for the general liberalisation of na- tional economies through pro-competitive de- regulation and re-regulation (deletion of Articles VI 4-5 and Article XVI 2). In the present circumstances, there is admittedly little chance of realising such reform. But in the absence of profound reform, popular opposition to the GATS is likely to go on growing. And it should be possible for WTO Members to open a debate on the functioning of the GATS. Mean- while, it is important to: - Avoid, in future, the inclusion of GATS negotia- tions in global rounds of WTO talks like the DDA round. Such rounds may facilitate nego- tiation by permitting trade-offs across the ar- eas covered: services, agriculture, manufac- tured goods, etc. But such cross-sector bar- gaining, even within services, comes at the cost of transparency and democratic control, which are particularly important in services, given the regulatory implications. Also, recip- rocal, cross-sector bargaining is difficult under the GATS because of the technical complexity of services negotiations - as each service sector has its own regulatory particularities, it is diffi- cult to value concessions. The advances made after the Uruguay Round suggest that sepa- rate sectoral and issue-based negotiations are more likely to succeed. - Ensure more transparency and more meaning- ful stakeholder consultations at all levels, including at the WTO. - Ensure the involvement of other international organisations concerned by the issues or sec- tors under negotiation. In accordance with GATS Article XXVI, the WTO must arrange for consultation and co-operation with the United Nations and its specialised agencies and with other intergovernmental organisations con- cerned with services. It is for example unac- ceptable that, as is presently the case, postal services are negotiated within the WTO in the absence of the Universal Postal Union.
THE WAY FORWARD. Strategies
THE WAY FORWARD. The Doha work programme gives developing countries the opportunity to advance their proposals for changes to the ASCM (Das, 2002). These proposals—included in the ‘Compilation of Outstanding Implementation Issues Raised by Members’— can be addressed in negotiations on WTO rules, with the objective of achieving greater policy space for human development. Given the successful use of subsidies by the East Asian ‘tiger’ economies, the revised agreement should provide other developing countries with the option of using this policy instrument for industrial development. Subsidies should be exam- ined from the perspective of domestic policy space. A new category of non-action- able subsidies essential to the development of developing countries would be an important step forward, providing these countries with more flexibility to imple- ment export subsidies. REFERENCES
THE WAY FORWARD. The Project Objectives, Business Need and Service Scope having been identified, a workshop was held to develop the Critical Success Factors and Options for delivery of the project.
THE WAY FORWARD. To provide for a proper preparation of the alignment with European legislation, it is deemed necessary to install an informal working group (IWG) on PTI as these new elements might not be covered by the work of the current existing GRs. Furthermore such an IWG would allow PTI experts to participate, as usually they are not well represented in any of the groups dealing with type-approval issues. In addition, providing a platform for discussions on PTI which should result in a consensus on possible amendments to existing rules and on the envisaged new rules would smooth the decision making process within WP.29 and AC.4.
