Table of contents:
Part I. WTO accessions, the trading system and the global economy: A reflection on accessions as the WTO turns twenty
Part II. Overview : Systemic outcomes from accessions: Contributions and lessons from WTO accessions : the present and future of the rules-based multilateral trading system
Part III. Members’ perspectives on accession negotiations
Part IV. Working party chairpersons' perspectives on accession negotiations: Facilitating accessions : the role of the working party chairperson
Part V. Salient features In WTO accession protocols: Market access goods negotiations : salience, results and meaning
Part VI. Conclusion: Accession Protocols as building blocks

Includes annex and index.

"What have WTO accessions contributed to the rules-based multilateral trading system? What demands have been made by original WTO members on acceding governments? How have the acceding governments fared? This volume of essays offers critical readings on how WTO accession negotiations have expanded the reach of the multilateral trading system not only geographically but also conceptually, clarifying disciplines and pointing the way to their further strengthening in future negotiations. Members who have acceded since the WTO was established now account for twenty per cent of total WTO membership. In the age of globalization there is an increased need for a universal system of trade rules. Accession negotiations have been used by governments as an instrument for domestic reforms, and one lesson from the accession process is that there are contexts which lead multilateral trade negotiations to successful outcomes even in the complex and multi-polar twenty-first century economic environment"