Law Commons^™

Multilateralism Or Regionalism; What Can Be Done About The Proliferation Of Regional Trading Agreements?, Luwam G. Dirar

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

Regional trading agreements are treaties entered into by states. States enter into regional trading agreements for different reasons some of which are economic, political and security reasons. Regional trading agreements (herein after RTAs) have been successful in achieving trade liberalization at a much faster speed than the World Trade Organization (herein after WTO). The most notable example of RTAs is the European Communities that has been successful to liberalize both trade in goods and services.

Members of those Regional Trading Agreements create rules of origin. Rules of origin are important in allocating the appropriate duty for imported goods. They tell …

A Legal Appraisal Of The West African Free Trade Area, Adedokun O. Ogunfolu

Cornell Law School Inter-University Graduate Student Conference Papers

African countries after independence in the latter half of the twentieth century embraced the formation of Free Trade Areas (FTAs), provided for under Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT 1947), as an exception to Article I Most Favored Nation (MFN) clause. FTAs were the adopted anodyne to reverse systemic underdevelopment wrought by departing colonialists from Europe and the emergence of the European Union. Sub-Saharan Africa encompasses West Africa, and accounted for 1.1 per cent of world trade in 1991. West African share of world exports with the exception of Nigeria fell from 1.6% in 1980 …