Da institucionalização aos impasses da OMC e a proliferação de acordos preferenciais de comércio no início do século XXI

Abstract

Since the institutionalization of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in 1995, its important achievements in the promotion of free trade and in the management of the regulations of multilateral bases of the International Trade System have been evident. However, since the last round (still in progress) of the WTO negotiations, which had begun in Doha in 2001, a number of deadlocks were also been revealed, which have resulted in slow progress in understandings, lack of results in the decision making process and lack of political interest of its members. However, a number of deadlocks have also been revealed, which have led to slow progress in understanding, poor results in the decision making process and lack of political interest of its members. These obstacles have left a vacuum in the multilateral International Trade System, which is being filled by the Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). This is the option of countries, mostly of them WTO members, to bargain PTAs, is intrinsically linked to the constraints they encountered in concluding satisfactory agreements in the rounds of multilateral trade negotiations. At the beginning of the 21st century, the expansion of the number of PTAs is at an unequaled growth rate in all regions of the world. From a discussion based on the perspective of International Political Economy, the objectives of this work are: a) to discuss the main deadlocks in the multilateral International Trade System in this century, given the difficulties faced by the WTO over the last two decades; b) from the analysis of the available data, to identify the main configurations and trends of the proliferation of PTAs in the world, processes that have been intensified since the 1990s, but have been a growing trend in the 21st century and taking different normative structures other than the WTO.