ABSTRACT
The coherence of international trade rules is a formal WTO objective. The chapter analyses the rhetorical function of coherence. In their statements at GATT and WTO Ministerial Meetings, OECD countries use coherence as a conservative rhetorical tool by using it in a self-explanatory way. Developing countries, on the other hand, tend to attach specific policy goals to the term. Mapping these empirical usages, the chapter develops a distinction between narrow and comprehensive coherence, arguing that, despite its conservative tendency, coherence can function as a weapon for less powerful states to hold the WTO accountable to prior promises.
