The New Multilateralism: The Shift to Private Global Regulation

Non-state actors are increasingly engaged in authoritative decision-making over standards. As a result, frameworks for governing international economic transactions are increasingly being maintained by the private sector, both with and without government cooperation. Typically, these privately set standards help underpin cross-border exchanges, and increasingly help facilitate global trade beyond what World Trade Organization (WTO) rules or other government-to-government agreements have been able to do. This model of non-intrusive government vigilance could constitute a sort of “trusteeship,” promoting private regulation where it legitimately serves the public interest, while having governments act as guardians against abuse. Canada should give this phenomenon a more explicit place in its global commerce and competitiveness strategies.