Through the post-World War II period international trade policy reform
has seldom been absent from the mind of policy-makers. The formation of
General Agreement of Tariffs and Trade (GATT) as a forum for the
discussion of international trade and policy issues and the resolution of
disputes, and as a sponsor of regular rounds of multilateral negotiations
leading to a substantial drop in the average level of tariff protection, has
ensured the trade policy issues have retained currency. More recently,
there has been considerable focus on bilateral and regional trade
agreements with the expansion of the customs union of the European
Community and the advent of organizations such as the North America
Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Mercusor. Nevertheless, cooperative
trade policy remains an important part of the international landscape”