PARLIAMENTARY SESSION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE WTO PUBLIC FORUM 2016 27 September 2016, WTO Headquarters, Room S3
	Organized jointly by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament

	Over recent years, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has established a tradition of holding annual public events where participants from government, parliament, civil society, the business sector, academia and the media jointly reflect upon the functioning of the multilateral trading system and analyse the institutional state of the WTO. The Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament have been associated with WTO public forums on a number of occasions, having jointly organized parliamentary events within the overall programme of such fora. WTO Public Forum 2016 will be held on WTO premises in Geneva (Centre William Rappard) from 27 to 29 September, under the overall theme Inclusive Trade. As part of the Forum's programme, which includes a great number of separate events, the IPU and the European Parliament will organize a Parliamentary Session entitled How can global value chains make trade more inclusive? A legislative perspective. A detailed programme of the session will be posted here shortly. Global value chains (GVCs) have transformed the world trade and become an important feature of global production patterns. Faced with insufficient data on the actual impact of this change on trade policies, legislators seek to improve their understanding of what kind of trade policies are required to ensure that GVCs serve the objectives of inclusive and sustainable growth and the creation of decent jobs for both women and men. How can parliaments contribute to ensuring the inclusiveness and sustainability of GVCs? What tools do they have at their disposal to promote sustainable environmental and social practices and policy frameworks? The objective of the session is to come up with evidence-based proposals for ways of enhancing the efficiency of parliamentary oversight of the international trading system in the era of GVCs and globally networked economies. The Parliamentary Session will take place from 4 to 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 27 September, in Room S3 at WTO Headquarters. The Session will be open to all parliamentarians and other participants duly accredited to the WTO Forum, subject to the limits of the room's seating capacity. Interpretation into English, French and Spanish will be provided by the WTO Secretariat. Important notice: All participants in the WTO Public Forum are responsible for their own visa, travel arrangements and accommodation in Geneva. For practical reasons, the IPU Secretariat is not in a position to help parliamentary delegates with accommodation and other practical arrangements in Geneva, which remain the sole responsibility of each delegate. Participants are required to register by 18 September 2016 at the latest, using the on-line registration facility, to be opened on the WTO website on 7 June 2016. No on-the-spot registration will be possible. Registration is handled by the WTO Secretariat.

Updated on 7 June 2016

DOCUMENTS AND LINKS

	Information note about the Parliamentary Session	[English] [French]
	On-line registration for WTO Public Forum 2016	[English] [French]
	WTO Public Forum 2016 (main page)	[English] [French]
	2016 Annual session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Reducing trade costs: why speedy legislative action on the Trade Facilitation Agreement is of paramount importance" (WTO Public Forum 2015)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Post-Bali agenda: where does parliamentary oversight fit in?" (WTO Public Forum 2014)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Trade in natural resources - curse or blessing? A parliamentary perspective" (WTO Public Forum 2011)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Can the existing multilateral trading system cope with the emerging challenges?" (WTO Public Forum 2010)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Can protectionism protect trade? The legislator's perspective" (WTO Public Forum 2009)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Trade and climate change: Is trade killing our planet?" (WTO Public Forum 2007)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "The perceived loss of "sovereignty" due to WTO accords: should parliamentarians be concerned?" (WTO Public Symposium 2005)	[English] [French]
	Parliamentary Panel "Parliaments and the WTO" (WTO Public Symposium 2003)	[English] [French]
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Updated on 27 September 2016
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME
WEDNESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2016
16:00 - 17:30 WTO Headquarters Room S3		PARLIAMENTARY SESSION How can global value chains make trade more inclusive? A legislative perspective
		Moderator: Ms. Emma McClarkin, Member of the Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament
		Panelists: Ms. Nurhayati Ali Assegaf, MP, Indonesia Ms. Inmaculada Rodriguez-Pinero, Member of the European parliament Ms. Barbara Bijelic, OECD Senator Saud Majeed, Member of Parliament, Pakistan