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Embracing Diversity: Plurilateral Agreements and the Trading System*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

BERNARD M. HOEKMAN  and
PETROS C. MAVROIDIS
BERNARD M. HOEKMAN*
Affiliation:
European University Institute and Center for Economic and Policy Research
PETROS C. MAVROIDIS
Affiliation:
European University Institute and Columbia University
*
*Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Plurilateral agreements in the WTO context allow sub-sets of countries to agree to commitments in specific policy areas that only apply to signatories, and thus allow for ‘variable geometry’ in the WTO. Current WTO rules make it much more difficult to pursue the plurilateral route than to negotiate a preferential trade agreement outside the WTO. We argue that this is inefficient from a global welfare and trading system perspective and that WTO Members should facilitate the negotiation of new plurilateral agreements on regulatory matters.

Type
Review Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , January 2015 , pp. 101 - 116
Copyright
Copyright © Bernard M. Hoekman and Petros C. Mavroidis 2014 

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