The systemic effects of recent regionalism

Abstract

From the early 1990s there was a growth in the number of RTAs notified to the WTO. This is sometimes known as ‘New Regionalism’. In an exercise that mapped the location and growth of these RTAs, WTO (2000) enumerated some 172 regional trade agreements known to the WTO and in force on 31 July 2000. In an update of these estimates, the WTO has calculated that the number of RTAs (free trade areas and customs unions) in force on March 2002 has surged to 197 (WTO, 2002). In this chapter this growth is referred to as recent regionalism to distinguish it from the earlier wave.