The WTO contract is essentially a government contract with important repercussions on private parties` interests. WTO Members enjoy wide discretion when it comes to regulating the way in which private interests will be represented; the WTO contract itself imposing only an obligation to perform the...

Where the rights of foreign investors are harmed in disputed maritime areas, the question arises whether these investors can invoke international investment agreements (IIAs) to seek redress. IIAs cover both bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral investment agreements (MIAs). BITs...

The Brazil-Taxation dispute concerns the complaints taken to the World Trade Organisation by the European Union and Japan against seven different Brazilian industrial subsidy programmes. One concerned the automotive sector and represents a clear case of policies dictated by strong domestic...

Trade policy commitments to lower import tariffs and to maintain tariffs at low levels entail short and long-run political-economic costs and benefits. Empirical work examining the relationship between such commitments and the exercise of trade policy flexibilities is still relatively nascent,...