| Abstract: | Many explanations have been offered for the current difficultiesof the World Trade Organization (WTO). In fact, the system appearsto have managed many of these challenges reasonably well, includingthe increase in the number of members, its ‘mediaeval’decision-making procedures, the changing geopolitical environment,the rapid growth of preferential trade arrangements (PTAs),the complexity of its agreements, and concerns about erosionof unilateral preferences. By contrast, the near-exhaustionof the traditional fuel of industrial-country non-agriculturaltariffs, the increasing importance of non-trade concerns, andincomplete adjustment to a new, multi-polar negotiating systemappear to be important factors requiring further examination. |
