Remaking Trade for a Sustainable Future Project
The Remaking Trade Project began in June 2021 with the aim of re-examining the foundations of international trade policy and identifying how it can better contribute to what we see as the sustainability imperative of the 21st century – and the sustainable development mandate contained in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) own 1994 Marrakesh Agreement. The result of this work is the framework for trade system reform that is set out in the Villars Framework Report.
The Remaking Trade Project reform agenda promises to reinvigorate the WTO, create an international trade system that is fit for purpose in the 21st century, better connect to today's public values and priorities, and thereby demonstrate the trade system's legitimacy and rebuild political support for trade.
A Partnership Between
Workshops and White Papers
The Project’s reform agenda will emerge from a series of workshops to be held at a variety of venues across the world. Each workshop will bring together 30-35 thought leaders for a deep dive into a specific problem facing the trading system and will be undergirded with a set of white papers that present the critical issues and possible reform proposals. These gatherings will explore the contours of the issues presented, the reasons for the pushback they create against the trading system, alternative paths forward, and an assessment of the reforms that are required.
Steering Committee
The Project is guided by a Steering Committee made up of a diverse group thought leaders that draws quite consciously from both the “old guard” of the trade community and a “next generation” of trade leaders. This group offers a wide range of perspectives on how the trading system might be better aligned with the world community’s commitment to a sustainable future.
