Costs of Implementation of WTO Agreements

Implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round has been a key issue in charting the course of the World Trade Organization (WTO) system over the years since 1997. There had been a substantial overhaul and expansion of the scope of the multilateral trading system in the round, which was concluded against a background of growing world trade, and several international institutions predicted global welfare gains of up to $500 billion, much of which was to benefit developing countries. However, the Asian, Russian, and Brazilian crises of 1997–98 changed the global economic environment; problems emerged with the implementation of the WTO Agreements; and efforts to build on the success by launching a “Millennium Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations” foundered in Seattle in 1999. As a result, the WTO began the new millennium with a great deal of soul searching.