Development at the World Trade Organization

Seeking to open paths for reconsidering the trade and development relationship at the WTO, this book takes into account both the heritage of the trade regime and its present dynamics. It argues that the institutional processes for creating and implementing trade rules at the WTO and the actual regulatory outcomes are inseparable. A consideration of the development dimension at the WTO must examine both jointly.

It shows that the shortcomings of the Doha Development Round are in part due to the failure to assess trade rules as part of the legal processes and institutions that produced them. This book devotes significant analysis to the systemic impact of the WTO as an institution on developing and least developed members. From a pragmatic perspective, it provides a coherent and systematic analysis of the legal meaning, the implementation, and the adjudication of special and differential treatment rules for developing members. It then evaluates the different regulatory approaches to trade and development from a more theoretical perspective. The book finishes by presenting a range of proposals for a better balance between trade liberalization and the development needs of many WTO members.

Sonia Rolland conducts research and teaches at Northeastern University School of Law, Boston (USA). Her work focuses on public international law and trade law, and is informed by regular exchanges with delegates and members of the WTO community. She has practiced law in Washington DC and has clerked at the International Court of Justice (The Hague). She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge (UK), a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan (USA), an M.A. from the Universite Paris 10-Nanterre (France) and the Diplome of the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (France).