This is a collection of papers dedicated to the memory of well-known WTO staffer Bijit Bora who died suddenly in 2006. The papers include applied analysis of questions of policy in international trade in fields related to Bora's interests, including foreign direct investment, trade in services, competition policy, and trade and development. It contains previously unpublished papers by Bora himself on the impact of the WTO.

The historic growth in world trade, large container ships and information technology have triggered profound changes in international trade. A few years ago, customs officers at the border were meticulously checking goods and documents before releasing a shipment to the trader. A business could be confident that a shipment that had cleared customs complied with all applicable regulations. Today, to reduce congestion and give the trade quick access to their goods, customs have introduced risk management principles and a large number of shipments clear customs automatically. Controls have moved from the border to the trader's premises and it is during site visits that customs officers check the business compliance records. Moving from frontier checks to audit based controls has transferred a high level of responsibility and risk to the trader. It is now the duty of the trader to identify and report any error or irregularity and to keep an impeccable audit trail from initial quotation to receipt of payment. For the business, failing to provide satisfactory compliance records will result in delayed shipments and serious disruption in the supply chain. This will in turn impact on financial performance indicators such as Days in Inventory, Days Sales Outstanding and of course Cash Flow. The business will also have to endure in depth customs audits during which customs officers will inspect each step of the audit trail disrupting day-to-day business operation. Errors uncovered during these audits will yield heavy financial penalties and a customs debt. Ultimately, customs risk will impact on shareholders value. Customs and finance reporting should receive the same level of attention. However, if all companies check carefully their tax returns, only a few check their import or export declarations with the same scrutiny. Managing customs risk is often seen as a cost centre but it is also a source of competitive advantage. A sound customs management can reduce or remov

The international trade regulatory system is a dynamic system that has been evolving throughout its history. Tension and conflict are part of the system. While calls for the abolition of the principal trade regulation authority, the WTO, have failed to understand this nature of the system, proponents for reforms have so far not paid sufficient attention to the evolving nature of tension and conflict. This book examines the evolving dynamics in international trade regulation from the conclusion of GATT in 1947 to the current crisis facing the WTO, from a perspective of emerging powers of developing countries with a focus of China as the latest force that demands reforms of the international trade regulatory regime. There is an extensive body of scholarship on ideological struggles, the rise of developing countries, geopolitical contest, the emerging powers (especially China), the use, misuse or abuse of trading rules, etc. There is however a lack of a single concise research book that synthesises these underlying causes and factors into a coherent and precise analytical theme. This book attempts to fill this research gap by building upon the existing scholarship and placing the various tensions and conflicts in a perspective that treats them as dynamic factors that have propelled a continuing process of evolution of the international trade regulation. The book will interest those researching on international trade regulation and as well as development studies.

The Rise of Asia examines emerging trends and patterns of foreign trade and investment in Asia with a view to contributing to the policy debate on how development strategies should be adopted in response to challenges to economic globalization.

The existing body of knowledge in this subject area has predominantly been shaped by the experiences of the newly industrialized countries (NICs) in East Asia. This volume is inspired by the conviction that generalization from the NIC experience is hazardous because the on-going process of economic globalization over the past two decades has dramatically transformed the international context of national development policy making. Moreover, as 'embracing market', albeit at varying degree and rapidly, has now become an Asia-wide phenomenon, it is vital to look at the issues from a broader relational perspective, paying attention to opportunities for intra-regional division of labour within the wider context of global economic integration.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars with an interest in Asian studies, economics, political economy and globalization.

The European Union has launched an important debate on the future of the EU budget from 2013. This discussion is to cover all aspects of EU revenue and expenditure, including that on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The CAP has been radically transformed in recent years, but the issue of its reform, including its goals, its effectiveness in reaching them and the question of division of responsibility and financing between the EU and member states, is once again at the centre of attention. This collection features well-known experts in the field and aims to contribute to the debate on the present state and future prospects of the CAP and other EU policies. The topics covered range from the EU budget to food safety, rural development, sustainable food consumption, and the influence of international trade negotiations. Many of the ideas presented here are original and controversial and intended to fuel the debate on this important topic. For instance, there are various proposals for the EU budget, the division of responsibilities between the EU and its member states, and the shape of the CAP post-2013.

This book considers the issue of biodiversity in developing countries in relation to intellectual-property rights, community rights and human rights. Drawing together a number of case studies of developing countries rich in biological and genetic resources including India, South Africa and Brazil, the book examines the access to PGRs and their utilizations in the contexts of scientific and commercial oriented activities pursued both in the source and user countries. Exploring how community rights are protected in national biodiversity-related regulations and some international legal instruments, Marcelin Tonye Mahop also discusses the relationship between community rights and human rights in the context of biodiversity. The book looks at the issue of bio-piracy, asking whether this phenomenon should only be seen as a North South clash, whereby biodiversity rich countries of the Southern Hemisphere blame developed countries and their actors as its principal perpetrators. While recognizing that developing countries' actors play a role in this bio-piracy phenomenon, the book goes on to suggest alternative measures for the legal protection of community rights at the national level with the possibility of national and international enforceability.

Essential reading for students and scholars of intellectual-property rights, biodiversity regulations and human rights, this book will also be of great value to researchers and members of professional organizations working in these subject areas. National and regional negotiators in the international processes dealing with the issues covered in the book will find it a useful tool that can help them to understand various facets of these processes.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in East Asia as regional economies rush to catch up with the rest of the world - but what difference do they make? This book answers that question by providing an up-to-date assessment of the quality and impact of FTAs in the region. Featuring a collection of papers originally written for the prestigious Research Institute for Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) in Tokyo, it presents contemporary analysis and insights into the evolution of recent FTAs. The book is suitable for use by trade policy negotiators, policy analysts, and people developing business strategies in organizations, as well as graduate students and researchers in the field.

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in East Asia as regional economies rush to catch up with the rest of the world - but what difference do they make? This book answers that question by providing an up-to-date assessment of the quality and impact of FTAs in the region. Featuring a collection of papers originally written for the prestigious Research Institute for Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) in Tokyo, it presents contemporary analysis and insights into the evolution of recent FTAs. The book is suitable for use by trade policy negotiators, policy analysts, and people developing business strategies in organizations, as well as graduate students and researchers in the field.

This book examines the formation, nature and effect of the arbitrators' contract, addressing topics such as the appointment, challenge, removal and duties and rights of arbitrators, disputing parties and arbitration institutions. The arguments made in the book are based on a semi-autonomous theory of the juridical nature of international arbitration and a contractual theory of the legal nature of these relationships. From these premises, the book analyses the formation of the arbitrator's contract in both ad hoc and institutional references. It also examines the institution's contract with the disputing parties and its effect on the arbitrator's contract under institutional references. The book draws from national arbitration laws and institutional rules in various jurisdictions to give a global view of the issues examined in it. The arbitrator's contract is analysed from a global perspective of arbitral law and practice with insights from various jurisdictions in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America.

The primary focus of the book is an analysis of the formation of the arbitrator's contract and the terms of this contract and the institution's contract. The primary question of the consequences (if any) of the breaches of the terms of these contracts and its impact on the exclusion or limitation of liability of arbitrators and institutions is also analysed with the conclusion that since these transactions are contractual and the terms can be categorised as in any normal contract, then normal contractual remedies can be applied to the breaches of these terms.

International Commercial Arbitration and the Arbitrator's Contract will be of great value to arbitration practitioners and researchers in arbitration. It will also be very useful to students of arbitration on the topics of arbitrators and arbitration institution.

Convergenomics is about the megatrends that are shaping how people behave and organizations work. In this insightful analysis, Sang Lee and David Olson describe how globalization, digitization, changing demographics, changing industry mix, deregulation and privatization, commoditization of processes, new value chains, emerging new economies, deteriorating environment, and cultural conflicts have led to what they define as a convergence revolution. Lee and Olson discuss this convergence revolution from the perspectives of technology, industry, knowledge, open-source networking and bio-artificial convergence, and they explain how human systems are transformed by what they have named convergenomics. Understanding convergenomics can lead to innovative strategic approaches and, the authors contend, more agile businesses are already employing these approaches to become and remain competitive and to generate greater value in a world radically changed by e-commerce. Business leaders and 'students' of strategy at all levels will learn from this book how revolutionary developments can be embraced rather than feared, and how technology that is potentially frightening in its complexity can be harnessed and used to enable productive collaboration and gain competitive advantage.

Nicholas Owen (d. 1759) was an impoverished Irish sailor with little formal education. He kept a record of 'remarkable axcedents' that occurred during his sea voyages and during his life as a slave trader in Africa.

This new book brings together contributions from recognized experts in trade policy, discussing and evaluating economic integration in the Western Hemisphere, the alternative trade strategies being pursued in this area and Latin American relationships with United States and Canada. These essays provide progress reports concerning the different regional and sub-regional groupings that have developed within the hemisphere and discuss the inter-relationships of Western Hemispheric trading arrangement with the multilateral trading systems. The difficulties encountered in hemispheric trade negotiations and the implications for the countries involved are also considered. This book will be of great interest to students and researchers engaged with international trade and economic policy, as well as policy specialists in business organizations and government.

This book explores the essential nature of regionalism by conducting a comprehensive analysis of more than 30 regionalist proposals made by Japan and other Asian countries throughout the post-war period.

Shintaro Hamanaka examines the whole post war period and covers all regionalist proposals since then, while most existing studies cover only the development of Asian regionalism in the recent decade. A significant number of cases in the proposed book enable the readers to go beyond an understanding of each regionalist project, to a deeper understanding of theoretically generalizeable behavior pattern of Japan and other countries. The book also comparatively analyzes political, financial and trade regionalisms.

The central aim of the book is to reveal the fact that policies with regard to regionalism have a pattern, in this case with a principal, though not an exclusive focus, on Japan. The author demonstrates that the behavior pattern of external policy is extremely consistent in terms of the membership of regionalist organizations and discusses whether this new approach to regionalism holds explanatory power vis-?-vis regionalism outside Asia.

This book will be of interest to scholars, postgraduate students and policy makers in the fields of international relations, Asian studies, international trade and regionalism.

This book brings together a collection of papers that Robert M. Stern and his co-authors have written in recent years. The collection addresses a variety of issues pertinent to the global trading system. One group of papers deals with globalization in terms of what the public needs to know about this phenomenon and the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whether some countries may be hurt by globalization, how global market integration relates to national sovereignty, and how and whether considerations of fairness are and should be dealt with in the global trading system and WTO negotiations. A second group of papers consists of analytical and computational modeling studies of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trading arrangements and negotiations from a global and national perspective for the United States and other major trading countries. The remaining papers include an empirical analysis of barriers to international services transactions and the consequences of liberalization, and issues of international trade and labor standards.

This book brings together a collection of papers that Robert M Stern and his co-authors have written in recent years. The collection addresses a variety of issues pertinent to the global trading system. One group of papers deals with globalization in terms of what the public needs to know about this phenomenon and the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), whether some countries may be hurt by globalization, how global market integration relates to national sovereignty, and how and whether considerations of fairness are and should be dealt with in the global trading system and WTO negotiations. A second group of papers consists of analytical and computational modeling studies of multilateral, regional, and bilateral trading arrangements and negotiations from a global and national perspective for the United States and other major trading countries. The remaining papers include an empirical analysis of barriers to international services transactions and the consequences of liberalization, and issues of international trade and labor standards.

This book analyses one of the most controversial areas in the political economy of international trade, namely the issues surrounding the creation of new trade rules . Various concerns are addressed, including the environment, labour standards, intellectual property rights, trade facilitation, competition policy, investment and government procurement, to many conventional trade topics including the trade and development linkage.
Nanda combines theoretical analysis with valuable insights derived from interactions with trade negotiators, politicians and activists, arguing for a dynamic policy framework, particularly in developing countries, with regular upgrading. He questions the effectiveness of the current global trade order in promoting development, highlighting not only the inability of conventional economics to capture the reality of international trade but also the neglect of some basic principles of economics. Nanda also argues that the WTO is not the right forum for addressing development issues because trade liberalization has traditionally been its objective.

International Business and Institutions after the Financial Crisis provides an in-depth discussion and offers new insights concerning the ways in which firms from developed and developing countries are performing in the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. This book examines various issues from different viewpoints, particularly that of institutions, and draws on research conducted in different country settings. This book examines various issues from different viewpoints, particularly that of institutions, and draws on research conducted in different country settings.

The international trade negotiations that were launched throughout Latin America in the 1990s created significant challenges for developing countries because of their complexity. In order to make informed decisions and successfully legitimize negotiating positions, governments and stakeholders required research, evidence and data from knowledgeable sources such as local technicians and academics.

This book provides empirical-based analyses on the role of this research in the policymaking process. Each case study is based on primary fieldwork - either at the national or sectoral level - which was guided by the following overarching questions: Who are the main actors producing useful research for trade policymakers? Who are the main financial supporters of such work? What use do policymakers give to research? The volume offers a deep analysis of the nexus and interactions between the academic and public spheres, among researchers and decision-makers. Contributors also address the main obstacles for creating a virtuous circle between research and decision-making as they examine the links between the research centers, think tanks and international organizations who produced the information and the Latin American governments who used it.

Should there be firmer restrictions on trade, with more policies aimed at protecting its environmental impacts, or would the environment benefit most from unrestricted free trade? Do importing countries have a responsibility only to their local ecosystems, or are they also responsible for environmental degradation caused by the production of traded goods in exporting countries? Trading the Environment examines both the dependence and the effects of international trade on the earth's life support systems and looks at ways in which trading regulations could be adapted to promote ecologically sustainable economic development. It addresses the issues from a fully integrated approach, focusing on the interrelations between ecosystems, economic development and trade. The authors provide a carefully constructed ecological and economic analysis of trade and the environment, examine the existing legal and institutional frameworks and set out 16 recommendations to achieve environment beneficial trade at both national and international levels. Trading with the environment was originally commissioned by the Swedish government and is already regarded thereon essential reference. It makes an excellent introduction as well as constructive analysis, both for students and for policy-makers and professional economics and other scientists working on the issues. Published in 1995

Trade liberalisation and openness, as linchpins for development have been flagships of conventional economic policy advices to most African countries over the last few decades. Much of the orientation of the focus however has been on the impact of international trade on development rather than the requirements that development should inform the shaping of the international trading system so that African countries may be able to benefit from such trade. This view has permeated both academic debate and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) Negotiation between the European Commission and groups of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States.

This timely volume advances an alternative set of inter-related, interdisciplinary perspectives and debates which contribute to overlapping genres and discourses, notably how rules of origins may stifle the development dimension of EPAs, how special agricultural safeguards may be used in balancing the effects of trade liberalisation on small farm holders in Africa. It also discusses the centrality of aid for trade in trade negotiations, and mainstreaming development in the EPAs debate to enhance domestic supply side in Africa and the various regional integration processes in the region.

This book focuses on areas of trade that may inform the development dimension of international trade. With this edited volume, a team of specialists provide a comprehensive survey of ACP ?EU trade and Africa trade relation in the global context, placing it in its legal, economic and political contexts. The book innovative approach coupled with a stimulating and accessible writing style, allows the reader to engage fully with the content. It will be of most value to students, scholars and related policymakers of international, development and trade economics.

Why do some countries get rich and other countries don't? Does one country's gain mean another country's loss? How do we address the biggest challenge of all: the fact that our environment suffers when we all want to have our share of the cake? These key questions in international economics and business are addressed in this timely book. Covering issues such as economic growth, the drivers of economic growth and international competition, pollution and the division of labor, the book focuses on China's emergence, but examples of other countries provide context and perspective. Written in a jargon-free style yet extremely well-researched, it is suitable for economists and non-economists alike.

Trade liberalization, as promoted by the World Trade Organization (WTO), has become one of the dominant drivers and most controversial aspects of globalization. Trade sustainability impact assessments (SIAs) were introduced as a means of generating better understanding especially of the social and environmental impacts of trade liberalisation, and of making those impacts more consistent with sustainable development. This book takes a hard look at the experience of Trade SIAs to date, and the extent to which they have achieved their objectives and improved the outcomes of trade negotiations. It proposes several ways in which Trade SIAs could be made more effective, and illustrates these in respect of controversial sectors in which trade liberalisation has been implemented or proposed, including commodities, services and investment. Finally the book makes proposals beyond SIA through which some of the conflicts between trade liberalization and sustainable development could be more effectively addressed. Written by top researchers and experts on trade SIAs, this book is vital for researchers, academics, post-graduate students and policy makers working on any aspect of impact assessment, international trade or globalisation more generally. In addition, the book will provide a particularly useful background for those considering how the environment and trade interrelate at both global and regional levels, with some particular insights on climate change and trade policies.

By sharing one of the longest land borders in the world, the United States and Mexico will always have a special relationship. In the early twenty-first century, they are as important to one another as ever before with a vital trade partnership and often-tense migration positions. The ideal introduction to U.S.-Mexican relations, this book moves from conflicts all through the nineteenth century up to contemporary democratic elections in Mexico.

Dominguez and Fernandez de Castro deftly trace the path of the relationship between these North American neighbors from bloody conflicts to (wary) partnership. By covering immigration, drug trafficking, NAFTA, democracy, environmental problems, and economic instability, the second edition of The United States and Mexico provides a thorough look back and an informed vision of the future. "

Before his untimely death in 2000, the brilliant young Israeli economic historian Klug conducted a thorough survey into the different theories of international trade. The results of this are now available here for the first time with an introduction from Warren Young and Michael Bordo.

Utilizing the inter-temporal open economy model as a case study, Theories of International Trade illuminates the phenomenon of recurrence and the problem of recurring doctrines in economic thought and analysis. This compelling book will be of interest to scholars in the history of economic thought, and to international economists in general.