WTO RULES AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS ON NIGERIAN TRADE 2
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND
Nigeria is a middle-income country with a mixed economy and an emerging market, with growing financial, service, communications, technology, and entertainment sectors. It has the world’s 21st largest economy in terms of nominal GDP and the 20th largest in terms of purchasing power parity.
It is Africa’s largest economy; its re-emerging, though currently underperforming, the manufacturing sector is the continent’s third-largest, producing a large proportion of goods and services for the West African sub-region. Nigeria recently revised its economic analysis to account for rapidly growing GDP contributors such as telecommunications, banking, and the film industry (Adeleyo, 2002).
Nigeria’s trade relations are centered on the oil and gas industries. Following the 2005 economic reforms, the government is attempting to diversify its export profile beyond the oil sector, such as minerals and agricultural products.
Oil and natural gas are Nigeria’s most important export products. According to 2007 figures, the country exports approximately 2.327 million barrels per day. Nigeria is ranked eighth in the world in terms of total oil exports. Nigeria had approximately 36.2 billion barrels of oil reserves in 2009. Prior to the rise of oil production in the 1970s, agricultural production was Nigeria’s largest export sector. After the country became primarily an oil-intensive economy, agriculture took a back seat. Nonetheless, it employs nearly 70 percent of the total working population.
Nigeria’s import trade is able to balance export revenue due to high international oil prices. According to 2009 figures, the country’s imports totaled more than $42.1 billion. The most important imports are machinery, heavy equipment, consumer goods, and food products. A large portion of imports come from the EU, specifically the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. China, the United States, and South Korea are also significant import trading partners.
Many restrictive business and financial regulations have been repealed or reviewed, and Nigeria’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has strengthened the country’s position in the multilateral trade system. The World Trade Organization (WTO) governs trade rules between nations on a global or near-global scale. There are several perspectives on the WTO.
It is a trade liberalization organization (Weldon, 1999). It is a venue for governments to negotiate trade treaties. It’s where they go to settle trade disputes. It has a set of trade rules in place (Hart, 1997). Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments go to try to resolve trade disputes with one another. The first step is to communicate. Negotiations gave birth to the WTO, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations.
The majority of the WTO’s current work stems from the Uruguay Round negotiations, which took place from 1986 to 1994, as well as earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The World Trade Organization is currently hosting new negotiations under the “Doha Development Agenda,” which was launched in 2001.
Where countries faced trade barriers and desired to lower them, the negotiations aided in trade liberalization (santos, 2009). However, the WTO is not solely concerned with trade liberalization; in some cases, its rules support the retention of trade barriers, such as to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease. All of this, however, necessitates an examination of World Trade Organization rules and their implications for Nigerian trade.
Because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities, the WTO agreements are lengthy and complex. Agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking, telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and product safety, food sanitation regulations, intellectual property, and a variety of other topics are covered. However, a few simple, fundamental principles run through all of these documents. These principles serve as the basis for the multilateral trading system (Adeyemi, 1999).
1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT
One of the most obvious ways to encourage trade is to lower trade barriers. Customs duties (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that limit quantities selectively are examples of trade barriers.
Since Nigeria ratified the World Trade Organization Treaty in December 1994, there has been some attention paid to the economic implications of the treaty for the Nigerian economy. Nigeria ratified the World Trade Organization Treaty in December 1994, becoming a funding member of the organization in January 1995.
The researcher wants to know how Nigerian external trade has fared since she became a signatory to the World Trade Organization in 1995, and how adherence to the organization’s provisions has affected non-oil exports and trade liberalization in Nigeria. WTO agreements, however, allow countries to implement changes gradually through progressive liberalization. Developing countries, such as Nigeria, are usually given more time to meet their obligations.
1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES
The following are the study’s objectives:
1. To investigate the World Trade Organization’s rules.
2. To investigate the effects of World Trade Organization rules on Nigerian trade.
3. Investigate the impact of trade liberalization on Nigerian trade.
1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
1. What are the World Trade Organization’s rules?
2. What impact do World Trade Organization rules have on Nigerian trade?
3. What impact has trade liberalization had on Nigerian trade?
1.6 THE STUDY’S SIGNIFICANCE
The findings of this study will draw the attention of the government, economic managers, and the general public to the issues associated with full trade liberalization. It will also help policymakers choose trade policy options, as the issues raised in this study will serve as a guide.
It will contribute to the existing literature on the trade dynamics between developed and developing countries, as well as between center and peripheral states. Finally, we hope that the study’s findings will spur further research in this field, expanding our understanding of the role of third-world economies in the global trade system.
1.7 STUDY SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS
This research will look at the World Trade Organization’s rules and how they affect both internal and external trade.
STUDY LIMITATIONS
Financial constraint- Inadequate funding tends to impede the researcher’s efficiency in locating relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as in the data collection process (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will conduct this study alongside other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.
REFERENCES
Adeyemi A. Larry (1999): “How Nigeria Can Push for Fair Trade at the World Trade Organization Summit.” The 22nd of November, 1999, The Guardian Newspaper. PP. 5859.
M. Hart (1997): The World Trade Organization and the Political Economy of Globalization. Journal of World Trade Law, Economics, and Public Policy, October 1997, Vol. 31, No. 5. Pp 79 – 82
“WTO and the Nigerian Economy,” Olu Adeleyo, 2002. P. 24 of the Business Guardian on Wednesday, August 7, 2002.
Santos T. Dos (2009): The Crisis of Development Theory and Dependence in Latin American Underdevelopment (ed) by Harry Berustan pengium Books Ltd. 1073.
Weldon Bello, Focus on Trade: The Iron Cage: The World Trade Organization, the Bretton Woods Institution, and the South, No. 41, November 1999.
Do You Have New or Fresh Topic? Send Us Your Topic