ABSTRACT
Our exploration of the legal framework of the WTO has so far led us to examine the way in which the principle of MFN is operationalised by the various Agreements administered by the WTO. In this we have seen how the creation of the WTO has not only extended the parameters of trade regulation by deepening and widening the coverage of that core architectural principle, but also extended the range of commercial activity wherein exceptions to the MFN clause can be taken. The result, as we have seen, is that opportunities exist in the WTO’s legal framework for discriminatory activity to take place which, if utilised correctly, can structurally disadvantage certain states. What we have, then, is an emerging sense of the contours of the WTO’s legal framework in the procurement of trade preferences and the like.
