ISDS Case Map
bilateralism & multilateralism
how bilateral, multilateral, regional, unilateral and plurilateral approaches relate (e.g. FTAs vis-à-vis WTO)
The proliferation of bilateral free trade agreements (FTA) will not undermine the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) process but instead may smoothen it, Malaysia's International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz said.
Fifteen years. That is how long China dragged out negotiations for its entry into the World Trade Organization. And there's no reason to believe that finalizing a comprehensive free-trade agreement with Australia will be any less painstaking.
The enthusiasm for bilateral free trade agreements, or FTAs, and regional trade agreements, or RTAs, around Asia-Pacific reflects frustration over the slow pace of multilateral trade reform, once seen as the great hope for regional trade.
There is no point proceeding with a feasibility study into a free trade agreement between Australia and Japan if agriculture is excluded from the deal, Labor says.
Paper presented to the APNFS workshop on Regional & Bilateral Trade Agreements & Looking at Agriculture Subsidies in the North: Common Advocacies for Food Sovereignty (November 2004)
Office of the US Trade Representative has released its 2005 report on country-by-country barriers to US global trade interests.
After weeks of uncertainty, President George W Bush has nominated as US Trade Representative Rob Portman, a Republican Congressman from Ohio, better known for his loyalty to the President than for any experience in international trade negotiations.
Governments within the Asia/Pacific region that are rabid free traders have embarked on a rescue mission for the WTO and APEC through regional and bilateral agreements that are also designed to be WTO-plus.
Regional and bilateral trade agreements have been around since the 1950's. In the last decade however, there has been an increasing spurt of trade pacts being signed all over the world that pose challenges to the multilateral trading system.
USA is forcing Bangladesh to sign a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA), that will bind Bangladesh to work with USA on the successful completion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and will provide extra facilities to USA "without prejudice to each party's rights and obligations" under the WTO.
