The "Trade Policy Review Mechanism" passed within the framework of the Uruguay Round is intended to increase the transparency of national trade policies and to improve adherence to the rules of GATT. The following article offers a first evaluation of the new instrument.

Developing countries tend to take a negative view of the protection of intellectual property rights as reflected in the TRIPs agreement, as this seems to conflict with their own developmental needs. As the following article points out, there are, however, a number of reasons why developing...

When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was concluded in the late 1940s, there was hardly any mention of international transactions in services. At that time, the issue of international trade in services was of minor importance. In addition, attention was initially focused on...