Law of WTO : Regional Integration Agreements - Essay Example

However, even as the WTO’s noble objectives were gaining ground, bilateral trading agreements were likewise given an imprimatur by the WTO, referred to as Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) or Regional Integration Agreements (RIA). Under this system, a country may enter into an agreement with another country granting favourable treatment to it, but without necessarily granting the same treatment to other WTO Members (WTO, 1995). RTAs or RIAs have been criticized as discriminatory as they run counter to the objectives set out by the WTO.

This paper will analyse the reasons why bilateral agreements continue to flourish and their effect on global trading as well as the role of the WTO, and of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), in the execution and implementation of RTAs or RIAs. A better perspective will be gained if the functions of each of the organizations, including the principles it espouses are examined vis-à-vis the other trading organizations. Discussion shall be made in sequence, in accordance with the manner of its creation.

The WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between and amongst nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, negotiated and signed by the world’s trading nations and ratified by their respective legislative bodies. The goal is to help producers of goods and services, exporters, and importers conduct their business (WTO, 1995) without apprehension or discrimination. The WTO, according to its website, promotes peace, settles disputes, provides a level playing field through its rules, improves the cost of living, provides a better choice of products, increases salaries, encourages economic growth, promotes efficiency, promotes good governance and shields governments from lobbying (WTO, 1995).

Some of the listed functions of the WTO are to administer WTO trade agreements between