Australia’s Trade Minister, Simon Crean, has been a consistent advocate of the need for Australia to address the problems posed by regionalism. At the symposium he argued that: ‘We need to think broadly about this process [multilateralising regionalism] and be creative in advancing it – I’d describe it as bringing in as many partners as possible to undertake deeper liberalisation, in a way that reinforces efforts at the multilateral level.’ Australia’s participation in the upcoming negotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Initiative is one example of this.

Australia has also been involved in other initiatives aimed at trying to mitigate the negative effects of PTAs, including the development of ‘soft law’ approaches such as APEC’s model measures for PTAs. Australia has also been an advocate of efforts to push the WTO to engage with regionalism and it has been a vigorous supporter of the WTO’s new Transparency Mechanism for PTAs.

To be sure, this has sometimes seemed like a lonely battle and WTO members have so far shown little desire to engage collectively on the challenges posed by PTAs. But Baldwin argues that the fate of the multilateral trade system will depend in part on the ability of the WTO to become directly involved in these issues. To that end he proposes an Action Plan that includes measures that could be taken within the WTO. These include further soft law initiatives such as ‘best practice’ approaches; assistance for developing countries to help them negotiate more friendly PTAs; and a role for the WTO in coordinating the multilateralisation of regionalism that is happening around the world.

Australia should be in the forefront of these efforts. Australia is not alone in facing the challenge of discriminatory regionalism: there is great interest among governments in East Asia and Latin America for efforts to find a solution to the problems posed by the explosion of PTAs. Through the Cairns Group, Australia proved the capacity for effective coalitional diplomacy to advance difficult agendas in the WTO – surely it can do the same with respect to PTAs. Progress will not come easily. But to do nothing risks the slide into irrelevance of the WTO. And that would be a tragedy, not just for Australia but for all countries who benefit from the rules-based trade system – an international public good that no other form of trade agreement can provide.

Ann Capling is Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in the Faculty of Arts, and President of the Australian Political Studies Association. In 2007 she was a member of the Warwick Commission on the Future of the Multilateral Trade System.

The symposium was co-sponsored by the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University and the Centre for Public Policy at the University of Melbourne.