PROJECT REPORT ON WTO AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE

INTRODUCTION

WTO is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other.The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTOs current work comes from the 198694 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is currently the host to new negotiations, under the Doha Development Agenda launched in 2001. Where countries have faced trade barriers and wanted them lowered, the negotiations have helped to open markets for trade. But the WTO is not just about opening markets, and in some circumstances its rules support maintaining trade barriers for example, to protect consumers or prevent the spread of disease. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the bulk of the worlds trading nations. These documents provide the legal ground rules for international commerce. They are essentially contracts, binding governments to keep their trade policies within agreed limits. Although negotiated and signed by governments, the goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business, while allowing governments to meet social and environmental objectives. The systems overriding purpose is to help trade flow as freely as possible so long as there are no undesirable side effects because this is important for economic development and well-being. That partly means removing obstacles. It also means ensuring that individuals, companies and governments know what the trade rules are around the world, and giving them the confidence that there will be no sudden changes of policy. In other words, the rules have to be transparent and predictable. Trade relations often involve conflicting interests. Agreements, including those painstakingly negotiated in the WTO system, often need interpreting. The most harmonious way to settle these differences is through some neutral procedure based on an agreed legal foundation. That is the purpose behind the dispute settlement process written into the WTO agreements.

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ROLE OF WTO

While the WTO is driven by its member states, it could not function without its Secretariat to coordinate the activities. The Secretariat employs over 600 staff, and its experts lawyers, economists, statisticians and communications experts assist WTO members on a daily basis to ensure, among other things, that negotiations progress smoothly, and that the rules of international trade are correctly applied and enforced. Trade negotiations The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include individual countries commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets. They set procedures for settling disputes. These agreements are not static; they are renegotiated from time to time and new agreements can be added to the package. Many are now being negotiated under the Doha Development Agenda, launched by WTO trade ministers in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. Implementation and monitoring WTO agreements require governments to make their trade policies transparent by notifying the WTO about laws in force and measures adopted. Various WTO councils and committees seek to ensure that these requirements are being followed and that WTO agreements are being properly implemented. All WTO members must undergo periodic scrutiny of their trade policies and practices, each review containing reports by the country concerned and the WTO Secretariat. Dispute settlement The WTOs procedure for resolving trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and therefore for ensuring that trade flows smoothly. Countries bring disputes to the WTO if they think their rights under the agreements are being infringed. Judgements by specially appointed independent experts are based on interpretations of the agreements and individual countries commitments. Building trade capacity WTO agreements contain special provision for developing countries, including longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading opportunities, and support to help them build their trade capacity, to handle disputes and to implement technical standards. The WTO organizes hundreds of technical cooperation missions to developing countries annually. It also holds numerous courses each year in Geneva for government officials. Aid for Trade aims to help developing countries develop the skills and infrastructure needed to expand their trade.

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Outreach The WTO maintains regular dialogue with non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public on various aspects of the WTO and the ongoing Doha negotiations, with the aim of enhancing cooperation and increasing awareness of WTO activities.

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FUNCTIONS OF WTO

The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral trading system. Non-discrimination A country should not discriminate between its trading partners and it should not discriminate between its own and foreign products, services or nationals. More open Lowering trade barriers is one of the most obvious ways of encouraging trade; these barriers include customs duties (or tariffs) and measures such as import bans or quotas that restrict quantities selectively. Predictable and transparent Foreign companies, investors and governments should be confident that trade barriers should not be raised arbitrarily. With stability and predictability, investment is encouraged, jobs are created and consumers can fully enjoy the benefits of competition choice and lower prices. More competitive Discouraging unfair practices, such as export subsidies and dumping products at below cost to gain market share; the issues are complex, and the rules try to establish what is fair or unfair, and how governments can respond, in particular by charging additional import duties calculated to compensate for damage caused by unfair trade. More beneficial for less developed countries Giving them more time to adjust, greater flexibility and special privileges; over three-quarters of WTO members are developing countries and countries in transition to market economies. The WTO agreements give them transition periods to adjust to the more unfamiliar and, perhaps, difficult WTO provisions. Protect the environment The WTOs agreements permit members to take measures to protect not only the environment but also public health, animal health and plant health. However, these measures must be applied in the same way to both national and foreign businesses. In other words, members must not use environmental protection measures as a means of disguising protectionist policies.

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WTO MISSION

The WTO provides a forum for negotiating agreements aimed at reducing obstacles to international trade and ensuring a level playing field for all, thus contributing to economic growth and development. The WTO also provides a legal and institutional framework for the implementation and monitoring of these agreements, as well as for settling disputes arising from their interpretation and application. The current body of trade agreements comprising the WTO consists of 16 different multilateral agreements (to which all WTO members are parties) and two different plurilateral agreements (to which only some WTO members are parties). Over the past 60 years, the WTO, which was established in 1995, and its predecessor organization the GATT have helped to create a strong and prosperous international trading system, thereby contributing to unprecedented global economic growth. The WTO currently has 157 members, of which 117 are developing countries or separate customs territories. WTO activities are supported by a Secretariat of some 700 staff, led by the WTO Director-General. The Secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and has an annual budget of approximately CHF 200 million ($180 million, 130 million). The three official languages of the WTO are English, French and Spanish. Decisions in the WTO are generally taken by consensus of the entire membership. The highest institutional body is the Ministerial Conference, which meets roughly every two years. A General Council conducts the organization's business in the intervals between Ministerial Conferences. Both of these bodies comprise all members. Specialised subsidiary bodies (Councils, Committees, Subcommittees), also comprising all members, administer and monitor the implementation by members of the various WTO agreements. More specifically, the WTO's main activities are: negotiating the reduction or elimination of obstacles to trade (import tariffs, other barriers to trade) and agreeing on rules governing the conduct of international trade (e.g. antidumping, subsidies, product standards, etc.) administering and monitoring the application of the WTO's agreed rules for trade in goods, trade in services, and trade-related intellectual property rights monitoring and reviewing the trade policies of our members, as well as ensuring transparency of regional and bilateral trade agreements settling disputes among our members regarding the interpretation and application of the agreements building capacity of developing country government officials in international trade matters assisting the process of accession of some 30 countries who are not yet members of the organization conducting economic research and collecting and disseminating trade data in support of the WTO's other main activities explaining to and educating the public about the WTO, its mission and its activities.

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The WTO's founding and guiding principles remain the pursuit of open borders, the guarantee of most-favoured-nation principle and non-discriminatory treatment by and among members, and a commitment to transparency in the conduct of its activities. The opening of national markets to international trade, with justifiable exceptions or with adequate flexibilities, will encourage and contribute to sustainable development, raise people's welfare, reduce poverty, and foster peace and stability. At the same time, such market opening must be accompanied by sound domestic and international policies that contribute to economic growth and development according to each member's needs and aspirations

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CHAPTERISATION
I have divided this project into four chapters mainly 1. HISTORY 2. ORGANISATION 3. AGREEMENTS 4. DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

HISTORY
So while the WTO is still young, the multilateral trading system that was originally set up under GATT is well over 50 years old. The past 50 years have seen an exceptional growth in world trade. Merchandise exports grew on average by 6% annually. Total trade in 2000 was 22-times the level of 1950. GATT and the WTO have helped to create a strong and prosperous trading system contributing to unprecedented growth. The system was developed through a series of trade negotiations, or rounds, held under GATT. The first rounds dealt mainly with tariff reductions but later negotiations included other areas such as anti-dumping and non-tariff measures. The last round the 1986-94 Uruguay Round led to the WTOs creation. The negotiations did not end there. Some continued after the end of the Uruguay Round. In February 1997 agreement was reached on telecommunications services, with 69 governments agreeing to wide-ranging liberalization measures that went beyond those agreed in the Uruguay Round. In the same year 40 governments successfully concluded negotiations for tariff-free trade in information technology products, and 70 members concluded a financial services deal covering more than 95% of trade in banking, insurance, securities and financial information. In 2000, new talks started on agriculture and services. These have now been incorporated into a broader agenda launched at the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.

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The work programme, the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), adds negotiations and other work on non-agricultural tariffs, trade and environment, WTO rules such as anti-dumping and subsidies, investment, competition policy, trade facilitation, transparency in government procurement, intellectual property, and a range of issues raised by developing countries as difficulties they face in implementing the present WTO agreements. The deadline for the negotiations is 1 January 2005.

THE ORGANISATION It does this by:

Administering trade agreements Acting as a forum for trade negotiations Settling trade disputes Reviewing national trade policies Assisting developing countries in trade policy issues, through technical assistance and training programmes Cooperating with other international organizations

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Structure The WTO has about 150 members, accounting for about 95% of world trade. Around 30 others are negotiating membership. Decisions are made by the entire membership. This is typically by consensus. A majority vote is also possible but it has never been used in the WTO, and was extremely rare under the WTOs predecessor, GATT. The WTOs agreements have been ratified in all members parliaments. The WTOs top level decision-making body is the Ministerial Conferencewhich meets at least once every two years. Below this is the General Council (normally ambassadors and heads of delegation in Geneva, but sometimes officials sent from members capitals) which meets several times a year in the Geneva headquarters. The General Council also meets as the Trade Policy Review Body and the Dispute Settlement Body. At the next level, the Goods Council, Services Council and Intellectual Property (TRIPS) Council report to the General Council. Numerous specialized committees, working groups and working partiesdeal with the individual agreements and other areas such as the environment, development, membership applications and regional trade agreements.

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THE ORGANISATIONAL CHART

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SCOPE OF WTO IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Membership, alliances and bureaucracy All members have joined the system as a result of negotiation and therefore membership means a balance of rights and obligations. They enjoy the privileges that other member-countries give to them and the security that the trading rules provide. In return, they had to make commitments to open their markets and to abide by the rules those commitments were the result of the

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membership (or accession) negotiations. Countries negotiating membership are WTO observers. How to join the WTO: the accession process Any state or customs territory having full autonomy in the conduct of its trade policies may join (accede to) the WTO, but WTO members must agree on the terms. Broadly speaking the application goes through four stages: First, tell us about yourself. The government applying for membership has to describe all aspects of its trade and economic policies that have a bearing on WTO agreements. This is submitted to the WTO in a memorandum which is examined by the working party dealing with the countrys application. These working parties are open to all WTO members. Second, work out with us individually what you have to offer.When the working party has made sufficient progress on principles and policies, parallel bilateral talks begin between the prospective new member and individual countries. They are bilateral because different countries have different trading interests. These talks cover tariff rates and specific market access commitments, and other policies in goods and services. The new members commitments are to apply equally to all WTO members under normal non-discrimination rules, even though they are negotiated bilaterally. In other words, the talks determine the benefits (in the form of export opportunities and guarantees) other WTO members can expect when the new member joins. (The talks can be highly complicated. It has been said that in some cases the negotiations are almost as large as an entire round of multilateral trade negotiations.) Third, lets draft membership terms. Once the working party has completed its examination of the applicants trade regime, and the parallel bilateral market access negotiations are complete, the working party finalizes the terms of accession. These appear in a report, a draft membership treaty (protocol of accession) and lists (schedules) of the member-to-bes commitments. Finally, the decision. The final package, consisting of the report, protocol and lists of commitments, is presented to the WTO General Council or the Ministerial Conference. If a twothirds majority of WTO members vote in favour, the applicant is free to sign the protocol and to accede to the organization. In many cases, the countrys own parliament or legislature has to ratify the agreement before membership is complete.

The work of the WTO is undertaken by representatives of member governments but its roots lie in the everyday activity of industry and commerce. Trade policies and negotiating positions are prepared in capitals, usually taking into account advice from private firms, business organizations, farmers, consumers and other interest groups. Most countries have a diplomatic mission in Geneva, sometimes headed by a special ambassador to the WTO. Officials from the missions attend meetings of the many councils, committees, working

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parties and negotiating groups at WTO headquarters. Sometimes expert representatives are sent directly from capitals to put forward their governments views on specific questions.

Representing groups of countries ... Increasingly, countries are getting together to form groups and alliances in the WTO. In many cases they even speak with one voice using a single spokesman or negotiating team. In the agriculture negotiations, well over 20 coalitions have submitted proposals or negotiated with a common position, most of them still active. The increasing number of coalitions involving developing countries reflects the broader spread of bargaining power in the WTO. One group is seen as politically symbolic of this change, the G-20, which includes Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, South Africa, Thailand and many others, but there are other, overlapping Gs too, and one C the Cotton Four (C-4), an alliance of sub-Saharan countries lobbying for trade reform in the sector. Coalition-building is partly the natural result of economic integration more customs unions, free trade areas and common markets are being set up around the world. It is also seen as a means for smaller countries to increase their bargaining power in negotiations with their larger trading partners and to ensure they are represented when consultations are held among smaller groups of members. Sometimes when groups of countries adopt common positions consensus can be reached more easily. Sometimes the groups are specifically created to compromise and break a deadlock rather than to stick to a common position. But there are no hard and fast rules about the impact of groupings in the WTO. The largest and most comprehensive group is the European Union and its 27 member states. The EU is a customs union with a single external trade policy and tariff. While the member states coordinate their position in Brussels and Geneva, the European Commission alone speaks for the EU at almost all WTO meetings. The EU is a WTO member in its own right as are each of its member states. A lesser degree of economic integration has so far been achieved by WTO members in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Viet Nam. (The remaining member Laos is applying to join the WTO.) Nevertheless, they have many common trade interests and are frequently able to coordinate positions and to speak with a single voice. The role of spokesman rotates among ASEAN members and can be shared out according to topic. MERCOSUR, the Southern Common Market(Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, with Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as associate members), has a similar set-up. More recent efforts at regional economic integration have not yet reached the point where their constituents frequently have a single spokesman on WTO issues. An examples is the North

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American Free Trade Agreement: NAFTA (Canada, US and Mexico). Among other groupings which occasionally present unified statements are the African Group, the least-developed countries, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) and the Latin American Economic System (SELA). A well-known alliance of a different kind is the Cairns Group. It was set up just before the Uruguay Round began in 1986 to argue for agricultural trade liberalization. The group became an important third force in the farm talks and remains in operation. Its members are diverse, but sharing a common objective that agriculture has to be liberalized and the common view that they lack the resources to compete with larger countries in domestic and export subsidies.

The WTO Secretariat and budget The WTO Secretariat is located in Geneva. It has around 630 staff and is headed by a directorgeneral. Its responsibilities include: Administrative and technical support for WTO delegate bodies (councils, committees, working parties, negotiating groups) for negotiations and the implementation of agreements. Technical support for developing countries, and especially the least-developed.

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Trade performance and trade policy analysis by WTO economists and statisticians. Assistance from legal staff in the resolution of trade disputes involving the interpretation of WTO rules and precedents. Dealing with accession negotiations for new members and providing advice to governments considering membership. Some of the WTOs divisions are responsible for supporting particular committees: the Agriculture Division assists the committees on agriculture and on sanitary and phytosanitary measures, for example. Other divisions provide broader support for WTO activities: technical cooperation, economic analysis, and information, for example. The WTO budget is over 160 million Swiss francs with individual contributions calculated on the basis of shares in the total trade conducted by WTO members. Part of the WTO budget also goes to the International Trade Centre.

UNDERSTANDING THE WTO AGREEMENT

The WTO agreements cover goods, services and intellectual property. They spell out the principles of liberalization, and the permitted exceptions. They include individual countries commitments to lower customs tariffs and other trade barriers, and to open and keep open services markets. They set procedures for settling disputes. They prescribe special treatment for developing countries. They require governments to make their trade policies transparent by notifying the WTO about laws in

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force and measures adopted, and through regular reports by the secretariat on countries trade policies. These agreements are often called the WTOs trade rules, and the WTO is often described as rulesbased, a system based on rules. But its important to remember that the rules are actually agreements that governments negotiated. This chapter focuses on the Uruguay Round agreements, which are the basis of the present WTO system. Additional work is also now underway in the WTO. This is the result of decisions taken at Ministerial Conferences, in particular the meeting in Doha, November 2001, when new negotiations and other work were launched. (More on the Doha Agenda, later.) Six-part broad outline back to top The table of contents of The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations: The Legal Texts is a daunting list of about 60 agreements, annexes, decisions and understandings. In fact, the agreements fall into a simple structure with six main parts: an umbrella agreement (the Agreement Establishing the WTO); agreements for each of the three broad areas of trade that the WTO covers (goods, services and intellectual property); dispute settlement; and reviews of governments trade policies. The agreements for the two largest areas goods and services share a common three-part outline, even though the detail is sometimes quite different. They start with broad principles: the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) (for goods), and the General Agreement on Trade in Services(GATS). (The third area, Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), also falls into this category although at present it has no additional parts.) Then come extra agreements and annexes dealing with the special requirements of specific sectors or issues. Finally, there are the detailed and lengthy schedules (or lists) of commitments made by individual countries allowing specific foreign products or service-providers access to their markets. For GATT, these take the form of binding commitments on tariffs for goods in general, and combinations of tariffs and quotas for some agricultural goods. For GATS, the commitments state how much access foreign service providers are allowed for specific sectors, and they include lists of types of services where individual countries say they are not applying the most-favoured-nation principle of non-discrimination. Underpinning these are dispute settlement, which is based on the agreements and commitments, and trade policy reviews, an exercise in transparency. Much of the Uruguay Round dealt with the first two parts: general principles and principles for specific sectors. At the same time, market access negotiations were possible for industrial goods.

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Once the principles had been worked out, negotiations could proceed on the commitments for sectors such as agriculture and services. In a nutshell The basic structure of the WTO agreements: how the six main areas fit together the umbrella WTO Agreement, goods, services, intellectual property, disputes and trade policy reviews.

Umbrella Goods Basic principles Additional details GATT

AGREEMENT ESTABLISHING WTO Services GATS Services annexes Intellectual property TRIPS

Other goods agreements and annexes Countries schedules of commitments

Market access commitments

Countries schedules of commitments(and MFN exemptions)

Dispute settlement

DISPUTE SETTLEMENT

Transparency

TRADE POLICY REVIEWS

Additional agreements Another group of agreements not included in the diagram is also important: the two plurilateral agreements not signed by all members: civil aircraft and government procurement.

Further changes on the horizon, the Doha Agenda These agreements are not static; they are renegotiated from time to time and new agreements can be added to the package. Many are now being negotiated under the Doha Development Agenda, launched by WTO trade ministers in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001.

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Tariffs: more bindings and closer to zero The bulkiest results of Uruguay Round are the 22,500 pages listing individual countries commitments on specific categories of goods and services. These include commitments to cut and bind their customs duty rates on imports of goods. In some cases, tariffs are being cut to zero. There is also a significant increase in the number of bound tariffs duty rates that are committed in the WTO and are difficult to raise.

GOODS SCHEDULES Members commitments WTO negotiations produce general rules that apply to all Members, and specific commitments made by individual Member governments. The specific commitments are listed in documents called schedules of concessions, which reflect specific tariff concessions and other commitments that they have given in the context of trade negotiations, such as the Uruguay Round. For trade in goods in general, these usually consist of maximum tariff levels which are often referred to as bound tariffs or bindings (GATT Article II). In the case of agricultural products, these concessions and commitments also relate to tariff rate quotas, limits on export subsidies, and some kinds of domestic support. All WTO Members have a schedule of concessions which is either annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the GATT 1994 or to a Protocol of Accession. The content of the schedules change over time to take account of different modifications, such as GATT Article XXVIII negotiations or rectification procedures. This is the reason why determining a Member's concession for a specific tariff line could involve, in some cases, examining several different legal instruments. The WTOs rules the agreements are the result of negotiations between the members. The current set were the outcome of the 198694 Uruguay Round negotiations which included a major revision of the original General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). GATT is now the WTOs principal rule-book for trade in goods. The Uruguay Round also created new rules for dealing with trade in services, relevant aspects of intellectual property, dispute settlement, and trade policy reviews. The complete set runs to some 30,000 pages consisting of about 30 agreements and separate commitments (called schedules) made by individual members in specific areas such as lower customs duty rates and services market-opening. Through these agreements, WTO members operate a nondiscriminatory trading system that spells out their rights and their obligations. Each country receives guarantees that its exports will be treated fairly and consistently in other countries

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markets. Each promises to do the same for imports into its own market. The system also gives developing countries some flexibility in implementing their commitments.

Goods It all began with trade in goods. From 1947 to 1994, GATT was the forum for negotiating lower customs duty rates and other trade barriers; the text of the General Agreement spelt out important rules, particularly non-discrimination. Since 1995, the updated GATT has become the WTOs umbrella agreement for trade in goods. It has annexes dealing with specific sectors such as agriculture and textiles, and with specific issues such as state trading, product standards, subsidies and actions taken against dumping.

Services Banks, insurance firms, telecommunications companies, tour operators, hotel chains and transport companies looking to do business abroad can now enjoy the same principles of freer and fairer trade that originally only applied to trade in goods. These principles appear in the new General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). WTO members have also made individual commitments under GATS stating which of their services sectors they are willing to open to foreign competition, and how open those markets are.

Intellectual property The WTOs intellectual property agreement amounts to rules for trade and investment in ideas and creativity. The rules state how copyrights, patents, trademarks, geographical names used to identify products, industrial designs, integrated circuit layout-designs and undisclosed information such as trade secrets intellectual property should be protected when trade is involved.

Dispute settlement

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The WTOs procedure for resolving trade quarrels under the Dispute Settlement Understanding is vital for enforcing the rules and therefore for ensuring that trade flows smoothly. Countries bring disputes to the WTO if they think their rights under the agreements are being infringed. Judgements by specially-appointed independent experts are based on interpretations of the agreements and individual countries commitments. The system encourages countries to settle their differences through consultation. Failing that, they can follow a carefully mapped out, stage-by-stage procedure that includes the possibility of a ruling by a panel of experts, and the chance to appeal the ruling on legal grounds. Confidence in the system is borne out by the number of cases brought to the WTO around 300 cases in eight years compared to the 300 disputes dealt with during the entire life of GATT (194794).

DEVELOPING OUNTRIES
Development and trade Over three quarters of WTO members are developing or least-developed countries. All WTO agreements contain special provision for them, including longer time periods to implement agreements and commitments, measures to increase their trading opportunities and support to help them build the infrastructure for WTO work, handle disputes, and implement technical standards. The 2001 Ministerial Conference in Doha set out tasks, including negotiations, for a wide range of issues concerning developing countries. Some people call the new negotiations the Doha Development Round. Before that, in 1997, a high-level meeting on trade initiatives and technical assistance for leastdeveloped countries resulted in an integrated framework involving six intergovernmental

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agencies, to help least-developed countries increase their ability to trade, and some additional preferential market access agreements. A WTO committee on trade and development, assisted by a sub-committee on least-developed countries, looks at developing countries special needs. Its responsibility includes implementation of the agreements, technical cooperation, and the increased participation of developing countries in the global trading system

Technical assistance and training The WTO organizes around 100 technical cooperation missions to developing countries annually. It holds on average three trade policy courses each year in Geneva for government officials. Regional seminars are held regularly in all regions of the world with a special emphasis on African countries. Training courses are also organized in Geneva for officials from countries in transition from central planning to market economies. The WTO set up reference centres in over 100 trade ministries and regional organizations in capitals of developing and least-developed countries, providing computers and internet access to enable ministry officials to keep abreast of events in the WTO in Geneva through online access to the WTOs immense database of official documents and other material. Efforts are also being made to help countries that do not have permanent representatives in Geneva Trade and development The WTO Agreements recognize the link between trade and development. More than two thirds of WTO Members are developing countries. At the Doha Ministerial Conference, in November 2001, Trade Ministers launched the Doha Development Agenda. With this Agenda, WTO Members have placed development issues and the interests of developing countries at the heart of the WTOs work. In the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration the central importance of the development dimension of the Doha Work Programme was emphasized and there was a recommitment to making it a meaningful reality. At the same time, the Aid for Trade Initiative was launched, designed to help developing countries build supply-side capacity in order to expand trade. Building trade capacity Developing countries face special difficulties in benefiting as they should from the multilateral trading system. This page describes the efforts made by WTO to meet their special needs by building trade capacity to enable them to trade more effectively.

Introduction

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Helping developing countries participate more fully in the global trading system is one of the WTO's most important activities. Those developing countries which trade successfully tend to be those which have made the most progress in alleviating poverty and raising living standards. But there are countries, including a large number of least-developed countries (LDCs) where trade is failing to make the contribution that it should be making to economic growth and poverty reduction. The main thrust of WTO work to redress this is the Doha Development Agenda, but Members have recognized that building trade capacity is anessential complement to the DDA. There are a variety of ways in which the WTO provides assistance to build trade capacity in developing countries, but instructing developing country delegates on how their countries can gain through the trading system is the central focus of the organization's efforts. The vast bulk of WTO technical assistance spending is dedicated towards helping officials better understand complex WTO rules and disciplines so that they can implement WTO agreements in ways which will bolster their trading regimes and negotiate more effectively with their trading partners. Broader and more effective dissemination of such knowledge has facilitated the participation of developing country trade officials in the Doha round and in other WTO activities. Enhancing trade capacity involves other forms of assistance too, including building more efficient ports and road networks, providing customs officials with automated equipment and teaching entrepreneurs how to take advantage of business opportunities in the global marketplace. Work of this nature is largely the responsibility of other international organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank. Some programmes, particularly those involving infrastructure, require significant funding not only from international organizations but also direct contributions from national governments. To be truly effective, any programme of trade capacity building requires all these elements to come together in a co-ordinated fashion. For this reason many WTO activities in this area involve close co-operation with other international organizations. Assistance to developing countries has always been on WTO's work schedule, but the scale and scope have become much broader with the Aid for Trade initiative.

Why is building trade capacity important? Because many countries simply don't have the human, institutional and infrastructural capacity to participate effectively in international trade. Without that, these countries won't be able to expand the quantity and quality of goods and services they can supply to world markets at competitive prices.

human capacity refers to the professionals governments rely on for advice on WTO matters: trade lawyers, economists, skilled negotiators. A country that lacks these professionals is clearly at a disadvantage when implementing existing trade agreements, when negotiating new ones, and when handling trade disputes.

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institutional capacity refers to the institutions businesses and governments rely upon for trade, such as customs, national standards authorities, and the delegation representing the country at the WTO. Trade ultimately suffers if these institutions are inadequate. infrastructure refers to the physical setup required for trade to happen: roads, ports, telecommunications. Again, countries lacking infrastructure will find it difficult to develop trade.

The WTO's trade rules, negotiating forum and dispute settlement system are not goals in themselves. They are necessary preconditions for free and predictable trade, but are not always sufficient to create results. WTO Members have recognized that the multilateral system needs to be accompanied by improvements in trade capacity. 10 things the WTO can do The world is complex. The World Trade Organization is complex. This booklet is brief, but it tries to reflect the complex and dynamic nature of trade and the WTOs trade rules. It highlights benefits of the trading system, but it doesnt claim that everything is perfect. Were it a perfect system, there would be no need for further negotiations and for the system to evolve and reform continually.

Nor does this booklet claim that everyone agrees about everything in the WTO. Thats one of the most important reasons for having the system: its a forum for countries to thrash out their differences on trade issues. That said, there are a number of reasons why were better off with the system than without it. The WTO can ... WTO can cut living costs and raise living standards WTO can settle disputes and reduce trade tensions WTO can stimulate economic growth and employment WTO can cut the cost of doing business internationally WTO can encourage good governance WTO can help countries develop WTO can give the weak a stronger voice WTO can support the environment and health WTO can contribute to peace and stability WTO can be effective without hitting the headlines Aid for Trade

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Aid for Trade aims to help developing countries, particularly least-developed countries, develop the trade-related skills and infrastructure that is needed to implement and benefit from WTO agreements and to expand their trade. The success of the initiative depends on creating closer cooperation in national capitals between trade, finance and development officials of WTO member governments. This needs to be matched by close cooperation at the international and regional level among intergovernmental organisations with core responsibilities in these areas and their member governments. Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2012-2013 The Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2012-2013, issued on 15 November 2011, is based on the theme deepening coherence and focuses on five key areas: resource mobilization, mainstreaming of trade into development plans and programmes, regional trade integration, private sector development, and monitoring and evaluation of Aid for Trade. The Work Programme aims to promote deeper coherence and an on-going focus on Aid for Trade among the trade and development community, notably on showing results, which will generate continued impetus to the implementation process. It includes a calendar of meetings, culminating in a Fourth Global Review of Aid for Trade envisaged for 2013. This calendar will be regularly updated to provide information on progress achieved in the various areas of the Aid for Trade Initiative.

Role of the WTO in Trade Practises The role of the WTO is to:

encourage additional flows of Aid for Trade from bilateral, regional and multilateral donors to support requests for trade-related capacity building from beneficiary countries support improved ways of monitoring and evaluating the initiative. encourage mainstreaming of trade into national development strategies by partner countries.

The Enhanced Integrated Framework is the main mechanism through which least-developed countries access Aid for Trade.

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The Standards and Trade Development Facility maintains close contacts with the Aid for Trade initiative. It complements this global scheme through projects and monitoring of aid flows at an operational, issue-specific level. > Fact sheet on Aid for Trade > Presentation Aid for Trade: why, what and how?

Background The Aid for Trade initiative was launched at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December 2005. In February 2006 the WTO established aTask Force, with the aim of operationalizing Aid for Trade. The Task Force recommended in July 2006 that Aid for Trade should focus on identifying the needs within recipient countries, responding to donors and acting as a bridge between donors and developing countries. It also recommended the establishment of a monitoring body in the WTO, which would undertake a periodic global review based on reports from a variety of stakeholders Working in cooperation The WTO works in cooperation with an Advisory Group that the Director-General established in 2007 following the recommendations of the 2006 Aid-for-Trade Task Force. The main objective of the Advisory Group is to take forward the Task Force recommendations by encouraging coordination among the key players in the Aid for Trade initiative. The Advisory Group members are: the African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IMF, Inter-American Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, ITC, OECD, UNCTAD, UNDP,UNECA, UNIDO, World Bank and the World Customs Organization.

Implementation/monitoring In 2007 the WTO's Aid for Trade initiative moved into its first stage of implementing the 2006 recommendations of the Aid for Trade Task Force. The WTO started by establishing a system of monitoring Aid for Trade at three levels:

global monitoring of overall Aid for Trade flows, based on work carried out by the OECD monitoring the commitment of individual donors to provide additional Aid for Trade monitoring how the needs of developing countries for additional Aid for Trade are being presented to, and met by, the international donor community, including the development banks.

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A Symposium Identifying Indicators for Monitoring Aid for Trade was held on 15-16 September 2008.

Regional reviews Working with its partner agencies, the WTO is also encouraging the holding of a limited number of national and sub-regional Aid-for-Trade reviews which will road-test current Aid-for-Trade plans, identify priorities, and agree on how these plans and priorities should be implemented. The aim of these reviews initially was to raise awareness of Aid-for-Trade. More recently, the Regional Reviews showcase real-world examples of Aid-for-Trade strategies in progress and create incentives for other countries and sub-regions to follow. The results of these regional reviews are profiled in the Global Reviews on Aid-for-Trade. Global review One of the recommendations of the Aid-for-Trade task force was that a Global Periodic Review be convened yearly by the Monitoring Body in the WTO. The purpose of the Global Review is to strengthen the Monitoring and Evaluation of Aid-for-Trade to provide strong incentive to both donors and recipients in advancing the Aid-for-Trade agenda.

Trade facilitation Trade facilitation has become an important subject in the Doha Round negotiations. The saving from streamlining procedures could be 2%15% of the value of the goods traded, according to estimates by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The World Bank says that for every dollar of assistance provided to support trade facilitation reform in developing countries, there is a return of up to US$ 70 in economic benefits. Currently, there are high levels of bureaucracy and unnecessary costs, due to:

vast amounts of red tape document requirements that lack transparency and involve duplication lack of cooperation between traders and customs agencies lack of automatic data submission.

At some border crossings, cargo can take up to 30 days to be cleared. The introduction of simpler procedures and greater transparency could help to significantly improve trade flows. According to some estimates, the average customs transaction involves 20-30 parties, 40 documents, 200 data elements (30 of which are repeated at least 30 times) and the re-keying of 6070 per cent of all data at least once. With the lowering of tariffs, the cost of complying with customs formalities exceeds in many instances the cost of duties to be paid.

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The OECD estimates that up to 7 per cent of the US$ 12,000 billion value of international trade each year is swallowed up by the cost of documentation. The objective of the WTO's trade facilitation negotiations is to clarify and improve three articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) concerning:

the transit of goods fees and formalities (documentation and procedures) the transparency of laws and regulations.

The aim is to ease border procedures and to facilitate the movement, release and clearance of goods. A successful conclusion to the negotiations would:

allow governments to apply and conduct border controls more efciently allow traders to move their goods across borders more quickly and easily reduce transaction costs and hence reduce prices for consumers and producers reduce transit costs in landlocked countries reduce bureaucracy and corruption facilitate trade for small and medium-sized businesses burdened with excessive bureaucracy and red tape add to members' GDP by making trade less costly.

An APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) study estimated that trade facilitation programmes would generate gains of about 0.26 per cent of GDP for the 21 APEC countries. Savings in import costs would be between 1-2 per cent of such costs for developing countries in the APEC region. According to the World Bank, increased efficiency at ports and airports could increase global trade in manufacturing by up to US$ 377 billion a year and triple the benefits for consumers from tariff reductions. The gains would be from streamlining customs, reducing bribery and corruption, better infrastructure and more efficient cross-border services, and speeding up business through use of the Internet. Doha Round negotiations WTO members have made proposals on how to clarify and improve the three GATT articles. These proposals have been negotiated and refined over the past few years. The proposals include:

use of the Internet for publishing information that is useful to traders and in general improving the availability of information - according to the OECD, improvements in information availability would save 1.8 per cent of transaction costs

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establishing advance rulings on tariff classification and applicable duties to expedite customs clearance - according to a study by the OECD, advance rulings would achieve the single biggest reductions in trade costs (up to 3.7 per cent) introducing pre-arrival clearance - to allow goods to be released immediately upon arrival expediting and simplifying the release and clearance of goods enhancing transparency in customs rulings and administrative procedures developing a uniform administration of trade regulations streamlining fees and charges and establishing more discipline in their application - for example, prohibition of the collection of unpublished fees and charges, reduction/minimization of the number and diversity of fees and charges, and prohibition of consular fees - according to the OECD, this could cut 1.7 per cent of total costs improving coordination among border agencies - according to the OECD, this cooperation would have a significant cost reduction potential, of up to 2.4 per cent creating a single window to submit data only once to one agency establishing discipline for transit formalities and documentation requirements.

To assist developing country members to implement the results of the negotiations, the draft text for a new trade facilitation agreement contains provisions for special and differential treatment. These provisions would allow developing countries to delay the implementation of each provision of the text according to their needs. The current draft text reflects the views of all WTO members, incorporating their ideas for improving the situation. It is called the draft consolidated negotiating text (TN/TF/W/165) (currently in its 12th revision). Since this text was first drafted, members have been working to refine the text and reduce the number of brackets (indicating areas where members are not in agreement). All WTO members have been actively involved in the negotiations since everybody is aware of the importance of trade facilitation in light of the increase in trade around the world. Several coalitions have been formed by members that have common goals. These coalitions are particularly useful for countries that have a small presence at the WTO. The most active coalitions are the African group, least-developed countries (LDCs) and the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group. In order to help developing countries negotiate more effectively, the WTO Secretariat conducted a technical assistance programme that helped each participating country to identify its particular

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needs and priorities in the trade facilitation negotiations. This programme was implemented in cooperation with the International Monetary Fund, OECD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Customs Organization and the World Bank, as well as the national governments of many WTO members. The WTO Secretariat also oversees a technical assistance programme that brings technical experts from the capitals of African and LDC countries to participate in some of the trade facilitation negotiation meetings. Once the trade facilitation negotiations have been concluded, the WTO Secretariat will implement technical assistance programmes to help members understand and meet their obligations under this new agreement:

RIVALRY AMONG THE EXISTINGFIRMS The strongest of the five competitive forces is usually the jockeying for position and buyers favorthat goes among rival firms. In case of textile industry there is intense rivalry among the firmsdue to the following factors: a) Diverse competitors Attempts by cross-border competitors to gain stronger footholds in each others domestic marketboost the intensity of rivalry, especially when foreign rivals have lower costs or very attractiveproducts. In case of Pakistani textile sector, so far Indian, Korean, and Chinese companies areonly close rivals. No doubt, that competition between all the countries is quite intense. All areengaged in consistent homework, just to break and attract each other customers towardthemselves. Elimination of quota system in 2007 will further boost up this rivalry among firms indifferent countries. b) Customers switching cost The lower the cost of switching, the easier it is for rival sellers to raid one anothers customer. If any company not gives the quality and price buyers want, they would definitely go for othertextile companies.
c) High exit barriers

Huge investments of financial, human and marketing resources are required to enter in thisbusiness because of need for plants which can produce quality with consistency and need forprocurement at high level. After obtaining such plants it takes years to recover the fixed costsand to breakeven so rivalry tends to be more vigorous when it costs more to get out of abusiness than to stay in and compete. Thus, rivalry is strong, as the firm has to stay andcompete with existing rivals. d) Competitors cost saving Cost saving is the key to survival in this sector. The companies having cost advantages over theircompetitors are doing well in this industry. Currently many organizations are introducing the costsystems to be more cost efficient and to take edge on competitors

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POTENTIAL ENTRY OF NEW COMPETITORS New Entrants to market bring new production capacity. Garment is the commodity that is usedthroughout the year. Moreover the industry is attractive, so there are threats of potential newentrants. But on the other side these threats are not intense due to high entry barriers andexisting condition of the economy. a) Huge investment is required The larger the total rupees investment and other resources needed to enter the marketsuccessfully, the more limited the pool of potential entrants. Production of branded garmentsrequires huge investment of financial, human, technical and marketing resources. At themoment, the threat of new entrants is low but in the future foreign firms can be a big threat. b) Economy of scale Scale economies deter entry because they force potential competitors either to enter on a large-scale basis (a costly and perhaps risky move) or to accept a cost disadvantage (and lower profitability). Without achieving the economy of scale it is difficult to compete in the market.More over new entrants in the textile business may encounter scale-related barriers not just inthe production, but also in advertising, marketing, distribution, financing, and raw material availability. c) Cost disadvantages Existing firms may have cost advantages not available to potentials entrants. In the industry of branded garments these advantages include access to good supply sources and the benefits of learning and experience curves etc. d) Brand preference Once the brand image is formed, than it is difficult for any other firm to introduce its products intothe market so unless and until it has low price and superior quality. As inExport of garments only few quality textile companies exist in Pakistan, so buyers will preferthese companies on the other newly introduced firms. e) Government regulatory policies It is an entry barrier because different licenses and permits are required from those registeredcompanies, which want to deal in manufacturing business and especially on international level.

Trade Raises Incomes

Lowering trade barriers allows trade to increase, which adds to incomes national incomes and personal incomes. But some adjustment is necessary

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The WTOs own estimates for the impact of the 1994 Uruguay Round trade deal were between $109 billion and $510 billion added to world income (depending on the assumptions of the calculations and allowing for margins of error). Other economists have produced similar figures. In Europe, The EU Commission calculates that over 198993 EU incomes increased by 1.11.5% more than they would have done without the Single Market. So trade clearly boosts incomes. Trade also poses challenges as domestic producers face competition from imports. But the fact that there is additional income means that resources are available for governments to redistribute the benefits from those who gain the most for example to help companies and workers adapt by becoming more productive and competitive in what they were already doing, or by switching to new activities.

Trade stimulates economic growth, and that can be good news for employment.

This is a difficult subject to tackle in simple terms. There is strong evidence that trade boosts economic growth, and that economic growth means more jobs. It is also true that some jobs are lost even when trade is expanding. But a reliable analysis of this poses at least two problems: First, there are other factors at play. For example, technological advance has also had a strong impact on employment and productivity, benefiting some jobs, hurting others. Second, while trade clearly boosts national income (and prosperity), this is not always translated into new employment for workers who lost their jobs as a result of competition from imports. The picture is not the same all over the world. The average length of time a worker takes to find a new job can be much longer in one country than for a similar worker in another country experiencing similar conditions. In other words, some countries are better at making the adjustment than others. This is partly because some countries have more effective adjustment policies. Those without effective policies are missing an opportunity.
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There are many instances where the facts show that the opportunity has been grasped where freer trade has been healthy for employment. The EU Commission calculates that the creation of its Single Market means that there are somewhere in the range of 300,000900,000 more jobs than there would be without the Single Market. Often, job prospects are better in companies involved in trade. In the United States, 12 million people owe their jobs to exports; 2 million of those jobs were created between 1993 and 1997. And those jobs tend to be better-paid with better security. Between 1987 and 1992, employment growth in companies involved in exporting was around 18% higher than in other comparable companies. The facts also show how protectionism hurts employment. The example of the US car industry has already been mentioned: trade barriers designed to protect US jobs by restricting imports from Japan ended up making cars more expensive in the US, so fewer cars were sold and jobs were lost. In other words, an attempt to tackle a problem in the short term by restricting trade turned into a bigger problem in the longer term. Even when a country has difficulty making adjustments, the alternative of protectionism would simply make matters worse.

The system shields governments from narrow interests.

The GATT-WTO system which evolved in the second half of the 20th Century helps governments take a more balanced view of trade policy. Governments are better-placed to defend themselves against lobbying from narrow interest groups by focusing on trade-offs that are made in the interests of everyone in the economy.

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One of the lessons of the protectionism that dominated the early decades of the 20th Century was the damage that can be caused if narrow sectoral interests gain an unbalanced share of political influence. The result was increasingly restrictive policy which turned into a trade war that no one won and everyone lost. Superficially, restricting imports looks like an effective way of supporting an economic sector. But it biases the economy against other sectors which shouldnt be penalized if you protect your clothing industry, everyone else has to pay for more expensive clothes, which puts pressure on wages in all sectors, for example. Protectionism can also escalate as other countries retaliate by raising their own trade barriers. Thats exactly what happened in the 1920s and 30s with disastrous effects. Even the sectors demanding protection ended up losing. Governments need to be armed against pressure from narrow interest groups, and the WTO system can help. The GATT-WTO system covers a wide range of sectors. So, if during a GATT-WTO trade negotiation one pressure group lobbies its government to be considered as a special case in need of protection, the government can reject the protectionist pressure by arguing that it needs a broad-ranging agreement that will benefit all sectors of the economy. Governments do just that, regularly.

The system encourages good government.

Under WTO rules, once a commitment has been made to liberalize a sector of trade, it is difficult to reverse. The rules also discourage a range of unwise policies. For businesses, that means greater certainty and clarity about trading conditions. For governments it can often mean good discipline.
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The rules include commitments not to backslide into unwise policies. Protectionism in general is unwise because of the damage it causes domestically and internationally, as we have already seen. Particular types of trade barriers cause additional damage because they provide opportunities for corruption and other forms of bad government. One kind of trade barrier that the WTOs rules try to tackle is the quota, for example restricting imports or exports to no more than a specific amount each year. Because quotas limit supply, they artificially raise prices, creating abnormally large profits (economists talk about quota rent). That profit can be used to influence policies because more money is available for lobbying. It can also provide opportunities for corruption, for example in the allocation of quotas among traders. There are plenty of cases where that has happened around the world. In other words, quotas are a particularly bad way of restricting trade. Governments have agreed through the WTOs rules that their use should be discouraged. Nevertheless, quotas of various types remain in use in most countries, and governments argue strongly that they are needed. But they are controlled by WTO agreements and there are commitments to reduce or eliminate many of them, particularly in textiles. Many other areas of the WTOs agreements can also help reduce corruption and bad government. Transparency (such as making available to the public all information on trade regulations), other aspects of trade facilitation, clearer criteria for regulations dealing with the safety and standards of products, and non-discrimination also help by reducing the scope for arbitrary decision-making and cheating. Quite often, governments use the WTO as a welcome external constraint on their policies: we cant do this because it would violate the WTO agreements.
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GLOBALIZATION AND THE WTO

The WTO has become the most prominent symbol of globalization and the complex changes that are driving the world economy. As such it has become the target for all opponents of globalization as events in Seattle in December 1999 showed clearly. Despite the criticism, the WTO is a powerful example of a rules-based international system to promote more open trade and investment worldwide. On the one hand, the WTO is a magnet for countries seeking to participate in the benefits of the globalization process. More that 40 emerging and developing countries have joined in the past five years and a further 30 are currently waiting to get in. On the other hand, the WTO is regarded by the opponents of globalization as the focal point for their concerns. It may be that the WTO has become a victim of its own success. Along with its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), it has been a key instrument in opening markets and boosting prosperity through

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successive rounds of multilateral trade liberalization. It is also a powerful example of a rules-based international system, run by its member governments via a consensus-based system of decision-taking involving all its members. Far from favouring the rich and powerful countries, international trade rules and WTO disciplines give the poorer countries the chance to defend themselves against pressures from powerful trading partners. The WTO is based on nondiscrimination. Rich and poor countries alike can be challenged if they violate an agreement, and they have an equal right to challenge others through the WTO's dispute settlement procedures. The second half of the 20th century saw an unprecedented expansion of world trade, which has also brought unprecedented economic growth. Since 1948, annual economic statistics have invariably shown growth in world trade outstripping economic growth. In other words, trade has been the engine of economic growth. This means that economic activity is more and more dependent upon trade as the years go by. The World Bank has estimated that a 40 percent cut in trade protection by 2005, through the reduction of tariffs in manufacturing and of other trade barriers in agriculture and services, would boost global output by about 500 billion dollars. In 1998, world merchandise exports were worth over five trillion dollars, and in volume terms that represents an 18-fold increase over 1948. Although the world's population has more than doubled, to reach six billion this year, exports per capita are eight times as high in real terms as in 1948. The figures are so huge that it is difficult to take them in. Behind them is the reality that trade has contributed enormously to world growth and prosperity over the half century, bringing better jobs and more resources for education, health and other social spending. Despite the poverty that still exists in too many countries, the fact is that the world is far more prosperous now than it has ever been.

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TENTATIVE CONCLUSIONS

Mode IV affects both the international politics of trade and migration. It therefore falls under the broad category of trade and issues. In order to understand the impact on the multilateral level, it is necessary to look at how Mode IV is mediated by domestic and bureaucratic politics. The degree to which Mode IV mobilises new actors will depend partly upon certain domestic thresholds of tolerance through which the social impacts of market liberalisation are mediated. Mode IV affects the politics of trade by drawing in a range of interests groups and government departments with interests in migration. This leads to the emergence of new veto

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players at the multilateral level. Mode IV affects the politics of migration because its social consequences draw in different government ministries. This leads different ministries to engage in different strategies of ministerial forum-shopping and institutional choice at the multilateral level. Because of its domestic and bureaucratic implications the migration-trade linkage inherent to Mode IV appears to be cooperation-diminishing rather than cooperation-enhancing for both issue-areas. On a theoretical level, the analysis highlights interesting elements of the relationship between regime complexity and domestic politics: 1) Whether or not complexity is cooperation-enhancing or cooperation-diminishing will be mediated by conditions at the domestic level. 2) In the context of complexity, it is not only unitary states that engage in forum shopping and cross-institutional strategies but also different government ministries pursuing specific agendas and normative goals. So the analytical challenge before us is to assess how the different veto players at the domestic and multilateral level will interact with trade circles and what factors will affect outcomes at different moments in time to

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International Trade. International Organization , 61, 735-761 Drezner, D. W. (2007). All Politics Is Global: Explaining International Regulatory Regimes. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Haas, E. B. (1980). Why Collaborate? Issue-Linkages and International Regimes., International Organization, 32 (3), 357-405. Keohane, R. O. (1982). The Demand for International Regimes. International Organization , 36 (2), 325-355. Milner, H. V. (1992). International Theories of Cooperation Among Nations: Strengths and Weaknesses. World politics , 44 (3).

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