Press Release: WTO and IMF Sign Cooperation Agreement
IMF News, December 9, 1996
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- Published: December 9, 1996
Context and rationale
- A far-reaching globalization of economic activity has resulted in an ever-growing interdependence among different areas of economic policy.
- Trade and financial policies and developments are increasingly interlinked within countries and in the way they affect other countries.
- Given their responsibilities in these areas, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) moved to strengthen their relations by signing an Agreement for future cooperation and collaboration.
- The Agreement was signed in Singapore on the opening day of the WTO's first Ministerial Conference.
Key facts and signatories
- Press Release No. 96/61
- Date: December 9, 1996
- Signed by:
- Mr. Renato Ruggiero, Director-General, WTO
- Mr. Michel Camdessus, Managing Director, IMF
Main elements of the Agreement
- The Agreement focuses on three main elements:
- It lays the basis for carrying forward the WTO's Ministerial mandate to achieve greater coherence in global economic policy by cooperating with the IMF as well as with the World Bank.
- It provides channels of communication to ensure that the rights and obligations of Members are integral to the thinking of each organization, reflecting synergies in the work and responsibilities of the IMF and the WTO.
- It accords observer status to the IMF and WTO in certain of each other's decision-making bodies:
- Grants the WTO observer status to appropriate meetings of the IMF's Executive Board, when it considers trade issues.
- Grants observer status to the IMF in most WTO bodies.
Information sharing and operational benefits
- The Agreement provides better access for both organizations to each other's information and data to avoid unnecessary duplication.
- Expected uses of shared information:
- The IMF's macroeconomic information will assist the WTO Secretariat in preparing in-depth and regular Trade Policy Reviews of each WTO Member.
- The IMF will have access to a wide range of WTO information, including its Integrated Data Base, which contains trade statistics and information of WTO Members' tariff rates; this is expected to help the Fund in its surveillance and lending activities.
Institutional relationship and next steps
- The Agreement formalizes mechanisms for interaction while building on a long-standing friendly and largely informal relationship between the institutions.
- The institutions emphasize the need for day-to-day dialogue to develop in a natural way, creating a more fruitful, two-way relationship.
- With the institutional footing now in place, it is anticipated that work will start soon to address issues related to achieving better coherence in global economic policy making, an area where the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank each have distinctive roles.
Source: Press Release No. 96/61, December 9, 1996 — Press Release: WTO and IMF Sign Cooperation Agreement