Various Aspects of Treaty Frameworks Related to Free Trade in the Modern International Community Dynamism of Trade Liberalization Negotiations: —Interaction between Multilateral, Plurilateral, Bilateral and Regional Liberalizations—

At a time when the Doha Round negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) have remained stagnant for an extended period of time, there are ongoing efforts to explore a new framework of trade liberalization negotiations that could replace the framework of multilateral trade negotiations. In recent years, major countries have shifted the emphasis of trade liberalization negotiations to bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs). In particular, significant results have been achieved in terms of trade liberalization through geographically broad FTAs that involve many countries, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Some results have also been achieved in plurilateral trade liberalization negotiations, whereby like-minded countries negotiate the liberalization of trade in specific products and services under the WTO framework, with the negotiation results applied to all WTO member countries based on the most favored nation principle. This paper considers how the increasingly diverse frameworks of trade liberalization negotiations affect each other. It also considers how the WTO will be able to regain its position as a multilateral forum for liberalization negotiations.