Today two world’s apply to services trade - the Regional and the Multilateral. The multilateral regime now has to accommodate regional initiatives and the Doha Round faces tough choices imposed by the rise of a strong and dynamic regionalism. Policy-makers and Regulators are still grappling with the external implications of their internal processes especially given the fact that today, countries are accountable at many a forum for their domestic actions as evidenced by the various disputes initiated over the years.
The slow pace of progress in the multilateral trade talks have contributed to the increasing significance of regional agreements, as countries feel the pressure of competitive regional liberalisation and accelerate their search for new markets. While most countries continue to express their commitment to multilateral rules, for many governments bilateral trade agreements are starting to take precedence. Many regional trade pacts contain obligations that go beyond existing multilateral commitments, and others deal with areas not yet included in the WTO, such as investment and competition policies, as well as labour and environment issues. Regional and bilateral agreements between countries at different stages of development have become commonplace. While the United States initially took an aggressive stand in promoting a new generation of bilateral free trade agreements. However, very limited knowledge exists on the role that these agreements play in the sustainable development strategy of developing countries. The negotiations of Economic partnership Agreements (EPA) between the ACP countries and the EU are of particular relevance in this process, not least because of their importance for LDCs and small and vulnerable economies.