The Warwick Commission are gathering in Singapore for a special session with Lee Yi Shyan, Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry. The event will see the Commission present its analysis on the future of the multilateral trade system after the Doha Round and discuss the implications of its report with key Singaporean policy makers and researchers. The workshop in Singapore is one of a series planned in key cities around the world as part of the Warwick Commission’s efforts to generate discussion about this global issue.

The Warwick Commission, a panel of leading specialists on world trade is this week publishing the results of its 10 month study of the state of the world trade system. They are concerned about what they see as a dwindling commitment to multilateralism in global commerce and critical of national political leaders' reliance on "the politics of blame and responsibility avoidance" in trade talks.  They call for an end to the reliance on consensus decision-making in future negotiations; a bigger role for the World Trade Organization in the delivery of Aid for Trade to developing countries; escalating financial compensation as a means to resolve some trade disputes and a high level 'reflection exercise' on the future of the trade system by the members of the WTO.

In its first overseas meeting, the Warwick Commission on ‘The Multilateral Trading System after Doha’ meets in Toronto on 15/16 June 2007. An initiative of the University of Warwick, one of the UK’s leading universities, the Commission is Chaired by the Hon. Pierre Pettigrew and is made up of 17 other leading experts on world trade. With future meetings and evidence gathering planned for Warwick, England, (September) and New Delhi, India, (October), the Warwick Commission will present its report on the future of the world trade system in Geneva, in December 2007.