The paper introduces the WTO Trade Monitoring exercise and shows how the idea and the principles behind the current Trade Monitoring effort have much earlier origins than the financial crisis. It also provides an overview of selected trends and developments identified by the monitoring exercise...

This study departs from conventional studies regarding World Trade Organization (hereinafter “WTO”) disputes’ legal impact on China’s domestic governance through China’s implementation of WTO Dispute Settlement Body rulings. Instead, it explores, from the perspective of political...

After technology’s decade of disillusion, societies confront the decade of decision as Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications gain power and use cases proliferate. As a general purpose technology with applications that potentially touch on virtually every human endeavour, the integration of...

One of the global key drivers of development is investment, with most investors moving from the developed world to invest in the developing regions of the world which are rich in natural resources such as the African continent. These investment activities naturally come with disputes. However,...

As the World Trade Organization finally changes its leadership after a long impasse to install a female candidate from the emerging world, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala, it seems like a good time to review the experience of one of the WTO’s most transformative moments, namely the accession of the most...

Trade negotiations occur through time and between the governments of many countries. An important issue is thus whether the value of concessions that a government wins in a current negotiation may be eroded in a future bilateral negotiation to which it is not party. In the absence of rules that...

U.S. safeguard actions have run into problems with the WTO's Panel and Appellate Body reviews for failing to ensure that injury caused by non-import factors is not attributed to imports. This paper reviews the subtle legal and economic differences between U.S. trade law (Section 201) and the...

In the international arena, there is an emergence of a new type of trade agreements namely Mega-regional trade agreements. These mega-regional trade agreements are increasing in number and their unique characteristics have made them quite visible in any international trade agreement discourse....

East Asian countries have become much more active in utilizing the WTO dispute settlement system to assert their legal rights. The dispute settlement experience so far for these countries has shown strong tendency of domestic governments to defend economic interest of major industries. Their...

Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) can be regarded as an incentive for an inventor or an author, granted or recognized by a state. IPR are enforceable erga omnes within the boundaries of the state. Member States of the Paris Convention Union and other relevant conventions are expected to...