Disruptions of global supply chains have become a thorny challenge for governments, businesses, and consumers worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic. While companies, particularly multinational ones, have been redesigning strategies to restructure their international operations and value chains, governments have also adopted policy and regulatory responses. Governments have tended to prefer individual rather than collective responses to these challenges, relying less on multilateral institutions and preferring measures that reflect their own economic and policy needs and preferences. This, in turn, has caused increasing regulatory divergence and tensions fuelled by geopolitical challenges. All these factors potentially disrupt rather than protect global supply chains. This conference will explore these policy and regulatory responses, their implications for domestic and cross-border commercial activities, and ways to improve regulatory connectivity and coherence for more resilient and stable supply chains.
Bringing together researchers, policymakers and business, the objective of the CIBEL Global Network Conference & Young Scholars Workshop in 2024 is to discuss policies and regulatory frameworks developed by governments domestically and internationally, the interaction between regulatory actions and business strategies, the challenges associated with regulatory divergence, the impact on global supply chains, and steps that have been or can be taken to pursue regulatory connectivity and coherence including through bilateral, regional and international cooperation. The Conference will create a platform for discussions across a wide range of fields including international trade law, international investment law, intellectual property law, competition law, environmental law and dispute resolution, focusing on cutting-edge issues faced by governments and the world economy in restoring efficient and resilient global supply chains.
