The order of World Trade Organization (WTO), which deals with international trade at the global level, allows handling also regional level under certain conditions. In this context, agreements (RTA) have been signed and trend continues. Such treaties named differently whereas they essentially same functions. On other hand, while there is an advanced dispute settlement mechanism within WTO, simi...

ABSTRACT The EU’s weak promotional policy towards sustainability in its free trade arguments is up for revision. Labour and environmental standards need to be tightened. They were given a boost on balance by remarkable panel ruling of January 2021 the long-standing EU–Korea labour dispute. Compliance ought subject regular dispute settlement between governments. Sanctions must added toolbox, goi...

Many recent international agreements sponsored by bodies such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO), aim to facilitate the global free flow of goods, services and capital, by opening markets under the threat of trade sanctions. Nation States signing such agreements, in particular the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), agree to suffer a sovereignty deficit in order to...

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) have become an increasingly prominent feature of the international trade environment, with salient examples being the widening and deepening of the European Union (EU), the success of the Mercosur, and the formation of the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA). In fact, a majority of the active agreements notified to gatt through 1995 were signed in ...

a r t i c l e i n f o The number of preferential trade agreements has greatly increased over the past two decades, yet most existing arrangements take the form of free trade areas, and less than 10% can be considered to be fully fledged customs unions. This paper develops a political economy model of trade policy under imperfect competition to provide a positive explanation for the prevalence o...