Plurilateral Agreements: A Viable Alternative to the World Trade Organization?

The paper looks at some issue-based plurilateral agreements — such as the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), the Financial Services and Basic Telecommunication Services Agreements, and the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) — with the aim of pointing to their crucial role in resolving the stalemate at the WTO and the Doha Round and the accelerating proliferation of free trade agreements (FTAs). It also suggests possible areas where new plurilateral agreements — whether single or multiple issue-based — can be developed. The paper highlights the importance of plurilateral agreements as a mechanism complementary to the WTO and FTAs in enhancing the governance of the global trade system, and outlines conditions that need to be fulfilled to address the needs of developing countries.