The impasse in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations is further strengthening members' resolve to conclude such agreements as a flurry of new RTA initiatives have emerged in recent months whose effects will be felt in the years to come. The objective of this paper is not to assess the pros and cons of RTAs; rather to raise awareness of the magnitude of the RTA phenomenon, the main trends and characteristics of this proliferation with quantitative and qualitative indicators. This paper builds upon a previous survey and aims at updating the numbers and verifying the trends observed at that time as well as the state of play of the DDA negotiations on WTO rules applying to RTAs.

Published in 2007

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