 "WTO,Trade Facilitation Agreement , global trade, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , GATT,Doha Round, Intellectual Property Rights ,")
A multilateral, rule-based trading system is our best bet for promoting global trade. Nearly everyone agrees with that. It’s a pity then that the WTO made no significant rules for promoting businesses in the past 20 years. The Trade Facilitation Agreement signed in 2013 at Bali was just a weak face-saver for the WTO leadership.
Shifting focus from the core trade issues like reducing tariffs is the main reason. Most negotiating energy is spent on the non-trade issues that are of interest to few developed countries. The history of trade negotiations confirms this. Let us have a quick recap.
The General Agreement
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper
