Previous studies of WTO dispute settlement have sought to evaluate whether a Member’s legal capacity influences its odds of bringing litigation before the multilateral trade regime. Because direct measures of legal capacity are elusive, these studies have had to use indirect proxies, such as per capita income or number of delegates in Geneva. Yet, the reliability of these measures is questionab...

In the mid-1990s, the policy debate within the WTO focused on whether regional trade agreements (RTAs) were building blocks or stumbling blocks for the WTO system, essentially questioning whether regionalism was appropriate at all from an economic policy perspective. Given the proliferation of RTAs since that time and the inability to roll back the clock, that policy debate has been replaced by...

This article, based on a lecture given at the inauguration ceremony for the new Advisory Centre on WTO Law, describes the broader world trading landscape into which this new Centre emerges. Taking into account the possible implications of the events on September 11, this article provides a brief analysis of the current trade policy climate, asserting the necessity of institutions for the succes...

Reflections on the progress of the WTO over the last two decades highlights low developing country participation in its dispute settlement system as a fundamental failing of the multinational trading system. Recurrently, this low participation rate has been attributed to the cost of the WTO’s legalistic model in Panel and Appellate Body proceedings, creating a concern of bias. Yet, by focussing...

Earlier Sections in this Report have sought to understand why international cooperation in trade matters seems to make sense to governments and how such cooperation translates into institutions and rules. We will now focus on the main achievements of multilateral trade cooperation over the last six decades and explore some of the core challenges and issues that the system faces today. The Secti...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is the most influential institution in the world in terms of trade and investment with sophisticated and complex rules and regulations observed by all member states. WTO membership brings about different opportunities and challenges for different countries depending on their readiness and internal strength. In the case of Vietnam, two groups of issues need ana...

The creation of the WTO revived the use of "safeguard" measures to protect troubled industries against surges in import competition. Many of these measures have now been challenged in the WTO dispute resolution process, and in each case the process has found the challenged measure to be a violation of WTO law. This paper examines the WTO rules on safeguards from an economic perspective, and off...

China’s joining of WTO in 2001 has completely changed its economic structure and its entry in WTO proved to be a landmark event in the global economy. As a result, China’s trade relations with the world have improved significantly particularly with India. Both, India and China are the fastest growing economies in the world since they have grown at rate of 8% and 10% GDP respectively. The total ...

Underlying the emergence of a global administrative law is the recognition of the fact that increased global interdependence has led to a situation where decision making has moved beyond national boundaries. This research project is an effort to view diverse international governance structures from an administrative law perspective so as to identify some patterns of commonality and connection s...

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) which became operational on 1 January 1995 is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO provides the legal framework for world trade, and it has been given extensive regulatory and supervisory powers. Whereas the GATT was solely concerned with trade liberalization based on tariff concessions, the WTO’s approach embraces discus...