About two thirds of the WTO's around 150 members are developing countries. They play an increasingly important and active role in the WTO because of their numbers, because they are becoming more important in the global economy, and because they increasingly look to trade as a vital tool in their...

This paper examines multilateralism by looking at the two most important current efforts to devise new multilateral rules binding all nations; the negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) of trade rules and the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate...

Using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model of the world economy (MIRAGE), we simulate the impacts of the most recent drafts circulated in the multilateral trade negotiations arena, augmented by a modest outcome of the negotiation in services. The liberalisation of tariffs is...

The ever-growing number of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) is a prominent feature of international trade. The World Trade Report 2011 describes the historical development of PTAs and the current landscape of agreements. It examines why PTAs are established, their economic effects, and the...

A new “Ministerial” of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will be held in Geneva 15-17 December 2011. Usually, such meeting of member countries at the ministerial level is supposed to unlock the ultimate details before a deal is concluded. The achievement of this ministerial will be more...

The concept of multifunctional agriculture has been suspected of 'disguised' or 'veiled' protectionism by proponents of market-oriented reforms since the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture(URAA). In this article, I review the history and nature of agricultural protectionism and probe the...