To date, government procurement has been effectively carved out of the main multilateral rules of the WTO system. This paper examines the systemic and other ramifications of this exclusion, from both an economic and a legal point of view. In addition to relevant elements of the WTO Agreements,...

This paper argues that deadlock in the Doha Round of trade negotiations is due to the increasing complexity of economic globalization. It represents a transformative shift on the part of Member nations away from the current model of trade multilateralism and towards smaller negotiating...

Why is further multilateral trade liberalisation proving so difficult to achieve? This paper shows that Article XXIV itself, the set of WTO rules governing trade block formation, undermines the multilateral liberalisation process. Trade block formation under Article XXIV can be thought of as a...

This article contributes a counter-example to the discussion about the negative effects of regionalism on the multilateral trading order. The article analyses the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) negotiations during the Uruguay Round and shows that France was induced to accept a...

While the WTO process of multilateral trade liberalization encounters increasing resistance, in part because the most difficult issues have finally risen to the top of the agenda, market-based forces are contributing to international economic integration. One of the most potent are cross-border...

This paper provides a legal analysis of the significance of standards, technical regulations and SPS provisions (collectively, "TBTSPS") in regional trade agreements ("RTAs") in relation to the multilateral trading system. From a normative perspective, it examines the way in which RTA regulation...