This study provides an assessment of the rules of the current multilateral trade regime from a human development perspective. It is argued that if trade is to maximize possibilities for human development, the global trade regime should provide developing countries with a flexible policy space. Given that the WTO brought forth an extension of the authority of global trade rules into areas of domestic policy-making central to the development process, the authors therefore call for serious governance reform of the WTO.
 
March 28, 2003.