Petros C. Mavroidis Trade in Goods

Annotation

This book analyses the establishment and operation of international agreementsregulating trade in goods, focusing on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT).The book outlines the history of the international trading system from thecreation of the first GATT agreement in 1947 to the establishment of the World TradeOrganization in 1994. The major substantive provisions of the GATT are then analysedalongside the other foundational trade agreements of the WTO, clarifying theeconomic rationale for the current legal framework.Throughout the book it ismaintained that the agreements themselves represent `incomplete contracts`, realizedthrough interpretation by the WTO and other judicial bodies. A comprehensiveanalysis of the case-law is provided, where it is argued that a more rigoroustheoretical approach is needed to ensure a greater coherence to the interpretationof the core provisions regulating trade in goods.The book presents an extension andelaboration of the author`s views expressed in The General Agreement in Tariffs andTrade: A Commentary (OUP, 2005).