ABSTRACT
Trade has traditionally been a concern of diplomacy. Trade interests and trade policy are generally part of the central preoccupations of most states. Ideally trade policy and foreign policy should support each other, in the same way that defence and foreign policy have a mutually supportive relationship. In 2000, the international trade setting has been marked by the establishment of over 300 World Trade Organization (WTO) registered regional trade agreements. There are also a significant number of secret and other bilateral arrangements which are unpublished or are likely to remain unregistered. In economic terms, the main purposes of Regional trade agreements (RTA) are market access, trade diversification, trade security or as part of a wider trade reorientation. The other functions of RTAs are as an instrument of diplomacy as part of foreign policy. At a WTO level a major question for developing countries is how to ensure the inclusion of development trade concerns on the global trade regulation agenda.
