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Poison in the wine? Tracing GATS-minus commitments in regional trade agreements

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  • Adlung, Rudolf
  • Miroudot, Sébastien

Abstract

Commitments in regional trade agreements (RTAs) that fall short of the same countries' obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) are a relatively frequent phenomenon. However, they have gone widely unnoticed in the literature to date and drawn very little attention in relevant WTO fora either. Nevertheless, 'minus commitments' are potentially poisonous and, for various reasons, would deserve close attention. Given the broad definitional scope of the GATS, extending inter alia to commercial presence, such commitments may impinge upon the rights of third-country investors in the RTA economies. Their existence casts doubts on the legal status of the respective agreements under the GATS and can have severe implications for the trading system overall. If not complemented by comprehensive Most-favoured-Nation clauses, the RTAs concerned are disconnected from the WTO and virtually impossible to multilateralize. Based on a review of some 80,000 commitments in 66 agreements, this study seeks to develop a reasonably comprehensive picture of the frequency of 'minus commitments' and their dosage in terms of sectors, measures and modes of supply. It also discusses potential remedies from a WTO perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Adlung, Rudolf & Miroudot, Sébastien, 2012. "Poison in the wine? Tracing GATS-minus commitments in regional trade agreements," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2012-04, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wtowps:ersd201204
    DOI: 10.30875/262f4dfa-en
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sébastien Miroudot & Ben Shepherd, 2014. "The Paradox of ‘Preferences’: Regional Trade Agreements and Trade Costs in Services," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(12), pages 1751-1772, December.
    2. Yoshifumi Fukunaga & Hikari ISHIDO, 2013. "Assessing the Progress of Services Liberalization in the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA)," Working Papers DP-2013-07, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    3. Lucian, Cernat & Ana, Norman-López & Ana, Duch T-Figueras, 2014. "SMEs are more important than you think! Challenges and opportunities for EU exporting SMEs," DG TRADE Chief Economist Notes 2014-3, Directorate General for Trade, European Commission.
    4. Sébastien Miroudot & Ben Shepherd, 2015. "Regional Trade Agreements and Trade Costs in Services," RSCAS Working Papers 2015/85, European University Institute.
    5. Erik der Marel & Sébastien Miroudot, 2014. "The economics and political economy of going beyond the GATS," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 205-239, June.
    6. Messerlin, Patrick, 2013. "The Mercosur�EU Preferential Trade Agreement: A view from Europe," CEPS Papers 7764, Centre for European Policy Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade in Services; GATS; Regionalism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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