The scope and depth of bilateral and regional preferential trade agreements (RTAs) negotiated over the past 15 years has expanded beyond traditional market access and preferential tariffs to include provisions on a wide range of issues, including trade facilitation. This study is a first attempt...

While to an economist, business person or policy maker, movement of goods, services and foreign direct investment should logically be covered in the same agreement, history has not allowed this to happen. International legal regimes are spinning into greater fragmentation as the number of...

Disputes involving trade and investment in services are a rarity in the WTO. Up to now, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism (DSM) has addressed over 130 cases, of which a handful concerned trade and investment in services. It is possible to identify three relevant reasons that may explain, at...

On July 6, 2023, 112 WTO members concluded text negotiations on an Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement. This Perspective outlines its contents, identifies its benefits and suggests further actions that should be taken.