scholarly journals The Southern African Development Community Trade Legal Instruments Compliance with Certain Criteria of GATT Article XXIV

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 286
Author(s):  
A Saurombe
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
Customs Unions ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Multilateral Trading System

Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) lays down the legal principles with which regional trade agreements have to conform.  Based on these principles, WTO members have the mandate to determine the legality of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) under the GATT.  Article XXIV permits both regional and bilateral preferential trade agreements leading to the formation of customs unions and free trade areas, and seeks to integrate them in the multilateral trading system envisioned for the world.  SADC is an RTA created under this Article. Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding the provisions and interpretation of Article XXIV, this paper seeks to establish the extent to which the SADC Protocol on Trade and free trade area comply with WTO rules. An analysis of selected Article XXIV provisions and the SADC Trade Protocol provisions will be undertaken in trying to establish this compliance.

scholarly journals African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement and the Mega-Regional Trade Agreements (MRTAs): what are the underlying challenges and prospects for Africa-South-South trade?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 413-432
Author(s):  
Anayochukwu Basil Chukwu ◽  
Tobechi Agbanike ◽  
Lasbrey Anochiwa
Keyword(s):  
Free Trade ◽  
Regional Integration ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Global Trade ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Trade Share ◽  
Almost All

This study examines the possible challenges and prospects of the recent signing of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement on South-South trade. The recent ratification of the agreement by the African Union (AU) Heads of Government and the establishment of the mega-regional trade agreements (MRTAs) by the major global trading economies are the biggest since the establishment of the WTO. One of these regional and continental agreements' principal objectives is to further strengthen trade terms and balance of trade statistics between member nations. Whereas almost all the regional and continental blocs have to a large extent, achieved the purpose of their trade agreements, Africa stands out as the only region whose intra-trade value still constitutes less than 15% of global trade share. Many reasons have been adduced to be responsible for the weak trade performance, one of which is weak regional integration. This study, therefore, concludes that for Africa to achieve significant improvement in global trade, the region needs to encourage regional trade, which will act as a catalyst for transforming the domestic economies and lay a robust foundation for healthy regional competition and integration

Government Procurement in the WTO: A Case for Greater Integration

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-670
Author(s):  
KAMALA DAWAR
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Government Procurement ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The North

This article assesses the regulation of government procurement in the WTO, specifically under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA), the General Agreement on Tariffs in Trade (GATT), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). It compares these findings from leading regional trade agreements (RTAs) with government procurement regulation, most notably the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

Regionalism and the Multilateral Trading System

2018 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
James P. Murphy ◽  
Carolan McLarney
Keyword(s):  
World Trade ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
The Us ◽  
Multilateral Trading System ◽  
The World ◽  
The Multilateral Trading System

Regionalism and the Multilateral Trading System: The Role of Regional Trade Agreements is a discussion about the new reality and the evolution of the reduction of international barriers to freer trade under the World Trade Organization (WTO) formerly the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT). The chapter devotes time to the two largest regional trade agreements (RTAs), the European Union (EU) with 28 countries and North American Trading Agreement (NAFTA) with three countries account for half of all world trade (WTO, 2017a). The US set a course post World War II as the proponent of globalization and freer trade. RTAs at that time were failing or inconsequential. In response to the EU trading block, the US committed to a (Free Trade Area) FTA with Canada and subsequently the NAFTA with Canada and Mexico the rest of the world began to become concerned about being shut out of a preferential trade deal. The main theme of the chapter is that trade liberalization is moving forward because of Regional Trading agreements, not the WTO which is stalled and may never restart in its current form.

New Regionalism in East Asia and its Relationship with the WTO and APEC

2002 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Hoon Lee ◽  
Peter J. Lloyd ◽  
Chung-Mo Koo
Keyword(s):  
East Asia ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
New Regionalism ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Future Evolution ◽  
Trade Area

Since the 1997–98 financial crisis, the countries of East Asia have been giving more attention to ways of expanding intra regional trade that include: the establishment of regional trade agreements (RTAs) such as ASEAN+3; plans to establish a free trade area involving the economies of ASEAN and China; as well as moves towards bilateral trade agreements. The trend towards this new regionalism, the reasons for it, its impact upon the region, its future evolution and prospects are of profound regional, and indeed global, significance This paper reviews the new regionalism in East Asia in recent years, and discusses how it relates with the WTO and APEC.

scholarly journals THE EFFECTS OF MEGA-REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS ON THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM // EFEKTI MEGA-REGIONALNIH SPORAZUMA NA MULTILATERALNI TRGOVINSKI SUSTAV

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vlatka Bilas ◽  
Sanja Franc
Keyword(s):  
Emerging Economies ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
Trading System ◽  
Transatlantic Trade ◽  
Global Standards ◽  
Multilateral Trading System ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
The Multilateral Trading System

The aim of this study is to investigate the motives and effects of mega-regional trade agreements on the multilateral trading system using the example of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Multilateralism and regionalism, although opposite trends, coexist simultaneously. While many arguments can be given for both approaches one has to recognize that the number of regional trade agreements is increasing and that regionalism is becoming a prevailing trend. The response to the regional trade agreements, especially mega-regionals, will mostly depend upon the effect on the third countries’ trade interests. Since it is expected that, over time, many of the currently excluded emerging economies will become a part of some mega-regional agreement, it is not likely that new global standards and rules will be created on a strictly regional but rather on multilateral level.

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