Gatekeepers of Global Commerce - Rules of Origin and International Economic Integration

by Antoni Estevadeordal, Kati Suominen

Preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) have proliferated spectacularly around the world over the past two decades. The number of PTAs in force soared from 50 in 1990 to some 200 in 2007; the dozens of ongoing PTA negotiations are expected to raise that number to near 400 by the end of 2010. PTAs have not only grown in number, they have also expanded remarkably to cover a colorful mosaic of trade disciplines such as provisions on market access for goods and services, standards, safeguards, government procurement, investment, and labor regulations. Perhaps the most discussed yet also the most poorly understood PTA discipline is rules of origin (RoO). This is for a good remaining in place even after preferential tariffs have been phased out, RoO are potentially the main agent of discrimination embedded in PTAs. RoO are widely considered a trade policy instrument that can work to offset the benefits of tariff liberalization. Arbitrating the market access of goods in the global economy, they are deemed to reverberate to firms export, outsourcing, and investment decisions around the world. Notwithstanding RoOs relevance in the manifold ongoing PTA negotiations, policy discussions, and the multilateral trade agenda, the global RoO panorama has until recently remained largely unexplored. The purpose of this book is to mend this gap. We bring together a set of empirical assessments of RoO that we have published and presented, at times with colleagues, over the past few years. In essence a RoO reader, this book aims to contribute to a comprehensive view of the structure and effects of rules of origin in the global economy. As such, it is hoped to inform both the negotiation of new RoO regimes and the ongoing policy debate on RoO negative effects and PTAs in general.

302 pages, Paperback

Published November 20, 2008