The Kyoto Protocol stipulates that industrialised countries and countries with economies in transition, i.e. the group of Annex I countries, shall reduce their overall emissions of carbon dioxide and other five greenhouse gases by at least 5 % as compared to their 1990 emission levels. This...

Since its inception in 1995, more than 330 disputes have been raised under the WTO Dispute Settlement System. The major players in world trade – the EU and the USA – are also the busiest users of this instrument. After looking at links between economic integration and WTO involvement and a...

Aid for Trade supports developing and least-developed countries in building their trade capacity and in increasing their exports by turning market access opportunities into market presence. It does so by addressing four key areas: trade policy & regulations; economic infrastructure; building...

This paper looks at the various trade policies WTO Members have put into place to foster women's economic empowerment. The analysis below is based on the information provided by WTO Members as part of their Trade Policy Review (TPRs) process from 2014 to 2018. Reports from the WTO Secretariat,...

Globally, special economic zones (SEZs) are created to boost exports and promote investment by providing units located inside the zones with certain fiscal and non-fiscal incentives that are not available to and/or are different from those given to units in the domestic tariff area (DTA). In...

A major challenge for the multilateral trading system is to secure the benefits of trade liberalization without infringing on the freedom of governments to pursue legitimate domestic objectives. The difficulty lies in distinguishing between two types of situations. In one, a non-protectionist...

The objective of this paper is to assess the adequacy of multilateral rules dealing with monopolies and state enterprises, particularly in the domain of services. This paper argues that since these rules depend largely on the other obligations undertaken by Members, a variety of exemptions and...

This study argues that trade policies regarding financial services are an important - but typically neglected - determinant of capital flows and financial sector stability. Financial services trade liberalisation which promotes the use of a broad spectrum of financial instruments and allows the...

Duplication, delays or discrimination in CAPs can significantly increase trade costs, and this risk is reflected in the growing importance of CAPs in WTO discussions and bilateral and regional free trade agreements. This paper conducts an empirical study of the trade issues that WTO Members...