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"This book is a comprehensive and non-technical introduction to the institutional mechanics, economics, and politics of the world trading system as embodied in the WTO. The WTO is the primary organization through which member states will manage their trade relations. It is also the forum in which attempts will be made in the future to expand the coverage of multilateral rules to new policies such as competition (antitrust) law and investment regulations. Understanding the reach and relevance of the organization is therefore important, and requires an interdisciplinary approach. Few countries allow unfettered market forces to determine the pattern and structure of trade and investment. Instead, governments develop policy in response to domestic political forces, taking into account likely reactions by trading partners. In discussing the WTO, the authors take a political economy-based approach that can explain these fundamental aspects of the 'real' world. This in turn helps to explain the successes and failures of international co-operation in trade policy, the primacy of negotiated solutions, and the challenges facing the WTO in the years to come as further efforts are made to extend the reach of multilateral policy disciplines. Extensive references are made to the existing literature, and guides to further reading are provided at the end of each chapter."--Jacket.

In 2016, the Government of India proposed negotiations on an agreement to facilitate trade in services to complement the 2013 WTO agreement on facilitation of trade in goods. The proposal did not find much support, but plurilateral talks launched at the 2017 WTO ministerial conference in Buenos Aires encompass policy areas that are very relevant from a services trade facilitation perspective. This paper argues that participating in the current plurilateral talks can do much to achieve services trade facilitation objectives by identifying good regulatory practices. Although elements relevant to services trade facilitation are on the table in the WTO, there are important gaps. Identifying priorities for complementary international cooperation to facilitate trade in services on a plurilateral basis requires initiatives that bring together governments, services industry associations and sectoral regulators.