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Regional/Bilateral Agreements

There are unmistakable signs of a rush to regionalism in agreements on international trade and investment. The number of agreements under negotiation or under consideration is for all intents and purposes, incalculable, changing on a weekly basis. Of the 273 regional trade agreements that had been notified to the WTO as of December 2003, only 120 pre-date 1995. If planned agreements conclude as planned under WTO notification, the end of 2005 will see almost 300 regional trade agreements in force.

What do these developments mean for sustainable development? Specifically, does the rush to regionalism make it easier or harder to achieve sustainable development through international trade? Is there a difference between North-South, North-North and South-South agreements in this regard? IISD has begun working on these questions, and expects this work to accelerate as the rush to regionalism deepens the complexity of the regional-multilateral relationship.

Related Papers

• Brave New Deal? Assessing the May 10th U.S. Bipartisan Compact on Free Trade Agreements (PDF - 176 kb)
  On May 10, 2007, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, powerful members of the newly-ascendant U.S. Democratic Party, announced that they had negotiated a compromise agreement with the Bush Administration and leading Congressional Republicans on critical changes to pending free trade agreements with Peru and Panama. Aaron Cosbey assesses the compromise.

• Regional Integration, Trade and Conflict in Latin America (PDF - 426 kb)
  Alejandra Ruiz-Dana, Peter Goldschagg, Edmundo Claro, Hernán Blanco RIDES, Santiago, Chile, 2007
  This paper analyzes the impact of regional trade integration on conflict and conflict prevention in Latin America. It focuses in particular on the evolution and institutions of Mercosur and the Andean community.

• Regional Integration, Trade and Conflict in Southern Africa (PDF - 266 kb)
  Dr Mzukisi Qobo, South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA), Johannesburg, South Africa, 2007
  This paper analyzes the impact of regional trade integration on conflict and conflict prevention in southern Africa. It focuses in particular on the evolution and institutions of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

• Regional Integration, Trade and Conflict in South Asia (PDF - 323 kb)
  The Sustainable Development Policy Institute, Islamabad, Pakistan, 2007
  This paper analyzes the impact of regional trade integration on conflict and conflict prevention in South Asia. It focuses in particular on the evolution and institutions of three South Asian Regional Trading Agreements: SAARC, SAPTA and SAFTA.

• Regional Integration, Trade and Conflict in Southeast Asia (PDF - 361 kb)
  The Singapore Institute of International Affairs, Singapore, 2007
  This paper analyzes the impact of regional trade integration on conflict and conflict prevention in Southeast Asia. It focuses in particular on the evolution and institutions of ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA).

• Continental Drift: Fractured multilateralism, regional trade agreements and the prospects for peace (PDF - 242 kb)
  With the WTO faltering and the Doha Development Round in trouble, regionalism is on the rise. Oli Brown investigates the security implications of the growth of regional trade agreements in this presentation which was given at the biennial conference of the International Peace Research Association in Calgary, Canada, in June 2006.

• Regional Trade Agreements: Promoting conflict or building peace? (PDF - 274 kb)
  Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have become a defining feature of the modern economy and a powerful force for globalization. The example of the European Union shows that RTAs can build prosperity and peace. However, RTAs can be divisive and exclusive, their terms can hinder development or even trigger violent conflict. This paper analyzes the role that Regional Trade Agreements can play in building, or undermining, peace between and within countries.

• The Rush to Regionalism: Sustainable Development and Regional/Bilateral Approaches to Trade and Investment Liberalization (PDF - 544 kb)
  This paper aims to set out the issues of importance in addressing the links between sustainable development and the rush to regionalism. It begins by describing the trends in regional agreements. It then surveys current practice, asking how the agreements address a number of key issues of importance to sustainable development, both in the context of economic development and the context of environment. Based on that survey, and a survey of the literature, it then sets out a number of key themes, and asks what we know and do not know about each. The concluding section describes the state of research in relation to these themes.

• Sober Reflection: Considering the Rush to Regionalism (PDF - 198 kb)
  This paper, prepared as a contribution to the Sustainable Development Policy Institute's seventh annual Sustainable Development Conference, Troubled Times: Sustainable Development and Governance in the Age of Extremes, asks whether the rush to regionalism in international trade and investment benefits developing countries.

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