Adoption of the Agenda 3. In every country, Parliament and its members have a constitutional responsibility to represent the people. It is their role to give voice to the concerns and aspirations of the people for a better life. The participants both members of parliaments and representatives of governments may wish to discuss people s concerns relating to trade and the role that parliaments can play to address them. One of the two major roles of parliament and its members is to legislate.
Parliament makes the laws that govern each country.
WTO is a multilateral rules-based system providing for trade negotiations and dispute settlement. These rules need to be translated into national laws and regulations. The participants may therefore wish to exchange views on current trade issues that require legislative action at some point, such as a review of the implementation of Uruguay Round Agreements, on-going negotiations in agriculture or services, accession of new WTO members, an ever growing number of dispute settlement cases and the rise in bilateral and regional trade negotiations and agreements. The second fundamental role of parliament and its members is to oversee the government. Government is accountable to parliament and the latter monitors and seeks to influence government policy and action.