North–South regional trade agreements: Prospects, risks, and legal regulation

The recent decade has witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs; mostly FTAs and customs union) and their scope. Several scholars consider the rapid proliferation of RTAs to be one of the major developments in international relations. Although some kinds of RTAs have existed for centuries, the numbers, as well as the world share of trade covered by RTAs, have been steadily increasing over the past decade. Nearly all countries belong to at least one RTA, with some being parties to numerous agreements. RTAs already account for almost half of world trade, and this is expected to increase if all the RTAs currently in the pipeline are implemented. According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), some 462 RTAs have been notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/WTO up to February 2010. At the same date, 271 agreements were in force.