Preferential Trade Agreements and the Law and Politics of GATT Article XXIV

Amin Alavi

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DOI: 10.4236/blr.2010.11002                

Abstract

The tasks Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) perform are expressed in their scope and covered issues, thus in order to be WTO compatible these aspects of PTAs should comply with the relevant WTO rules. This paper examines which aspects of PTAs can violate these rules and therefore can be challenged before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, who may initiate such cases and why there hasn´t been more cases dealing with this important issue.

Keywords

WTO, PTAs, GATT Art. XXIV, WTO Dispute Settlement

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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