WORLD TRADE LAW IN CONTEXT

Running head : WORLD TRADE LAW IN CONTEXT

The Implications of Regional Trade Agreements

Abstract

The varied nature of resource endowments in different parts of the world has necessitated increased international trade to enable countries to export what they produce so as to facilitate the importation of that which they do not produce . In essence therefore , countries are depend upon each other in the development and acquisition of economic resources , a situation that calls for international legal frameworks to define the nature and scope of international cooperation . It is this need

that gave rise to the concept of regional trade agreements Although regional trade agreements have been effective in boosting international trade , they are also susceptible to manipulations and discriminatory practices because they can lead to unethical unfavourable trade practices against non-member countries in the name of regional preferences

Introduction

Regional trade agreements are bilateral and multilateral pacts between different countries with regards to the lifting of barriers to free trade such as tax and non-tax tariffs , trading fees and quotas (Ball McCulloch , 1999 . The main objective of regional trade agreements is to fasten to achieve mutually benefiting increased trading capacities among countries . The process of globalisation has seen increased economic cooperation among different countries in the form of regional trade agreements .1These relationships have culminated to the signing of regional trade agreements defined by basic principles of international laws and relations . Although many regional economic organisations basically represent intra-continental relationships among countries such as the European Union Customs Union (EUCU...