Suchergebnisse

The contemporary world is witnessing an interesting and seemingly contradictory phenomenon. At the same time that globalization continues to develop, the World Trade Organization (WTO), itself a direct result of globalization, can make no progress in the negotiations on its Doha Development Agenda—a perceived further step of globalization. Since deeper integration cannot be achieved at the multilateral level, regional and especially bilateral arrangements for liberalizing trade and investment, most of which are in the form of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), have become increasingly common. Notwithstanding their bilateral nature, FTAs are often referred to as regional arrangements (RTAs) since WTO members have an obligation to report such agreements to that multilateral system, where they are reviewed by the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements.