World trade is increasingly being dominated by preferential trade agreements that have taken precedence over multilateral trade negotiations. Within Asia and the Pacific an explosion of bilateral deals is taking place that seems likely to produce a tangle of hub-spoke trade blocs centered on...

To become operational, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) must harmonize Rules of Origin (ROO) across Africa's Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) along two dimensions: regime-wide rules and product-specific rules. This paper describes and evaluates these ROO across the major...

This paper argues that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) are not substitutes, and while PTAs are without doubt here to stay, dispensing with a multilateral venue for doing business in trade matters is not a serious option. It is therefore necessary to...

Rules of origin (ROO) are pivotal element of the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA). ROO are basically established to ensure that only eligible products receive preferential tariff treatment. Taking into consideration the profound implications of ROO for enhancing trade flows and facilitating...

Many developed and developing countries have been offering special schemes to benefit least developed countries (LDCs) from trade through increased market access. However, effective utilization of market access opportunities by the LDCs may be constrained by the rules of origin (RoO) criteria...

To become operational, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) must harmonize Rules of Origin (ROO) across Africa's Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) along two dimensions: regime-wide rules and product-specific rules. This paper describes and evaluates these ROO across the major...

Doctor of Philosophy

Rules of origin are used to determine a product's eligibility for preferential tariffs under a free trade agreement and have major implications for the extent of trade under the agreement and the growth of regional value chains. Firms choose to comply with rules of origin when the benefits of...

World trade volume is in retreat for the first time in more than two decades and the contraction is on a scale not seen since the global recession following the second oil shock of 1979–1980. The United States (US) is at the epicenter of the crisis and is a major source of external demand for...

World trade volume is in retreat for the first time in more than two decades and the contraction is on a scale not seen since the global recession following the second oil shock of 1979-1980. The United States (US) is at the epicenter of the crisis and is a major source of external demand for...