Agriculture plays a critical role in the majority of African Countries’ economy. The sector is not only a major employer but also a significant source of export earnings and hence it has a high multiplier effect. This very fact makes agricultural market access issues of major concern to...

There are countries that do not fall under the prevailing definitions of developed and developing country that are employed by the World Trade Organization (WTO). The WTO fails to take into account the special circumstances and needs of these countries. While such special circumstances and needs...

We discuss most favoured nation (MFN) treatment in trade agreements, and its significance for developing countries, suggesting that its value to individual countries depends critically on the relevant model solution concept used to evaluate it. We analyze both rights to MFN treatment in foreign...

Few fields of international law have developed as dramatically as international intellectual property law. Proliferating international agreements on IP law (and aspects thereof) and in particular the inclusion of IP law in trade agreements have brought about ever-higher standards of IP...

The current crisis engulfing the multilateral trading system has crystalized in the dispute over the (re-)appointment of the members of the World Trade Organization’s Appellate Body. While the legislative arm of the organization has never lived up to its potential, its dispute settlement arm...

Escape mechanisms from trade agreements are necessary because such agreements are incomplete, self-enforcing, contracts negotiated when the future is unknown. The essence of multilateral escape mechanisms is the principle of equivalent withdrawal of concessions, which allows trade agreements to...

This paper traces the evolution of the global trading system from the 19th century to the present-day GATT/WTO arrangements, calling attention to the key roles of reciprocity and non-discrimination and taking note of how the system is now challenged by the new paradigm of global market...

We first provide a brief critique of the utilitarian principle as a guide to fairness in the world trading system. We then turn to the alternative conception of fairness in terms of economic equity, exploring the meaning of its two components: equality of opportunity and distributive justice. We...

The World Trade Organization's (WTO) Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) is charged with monitoring, examining, and ensuring the compliance of notified RTAs. We develop a comprehensive dataset covering 290 regional economic integration agreements and ask whether oversight and...

The general rules of the multilateral system cover trade in energy, although they are arguably not designed to specifically tackle major issues pertinent for energy trade. The traditional focus of GATT has been market access of domestic manufactured products abroad rather than access to foreign...