The World Trade Organization and its Powers to Adopt a Competition Policy

Abstract

The costs and benefits of adopting a multilateral competition policy agreement have been widely discussed for several years. However, the legal competence of the WTO to undertake that task, as an international organization, has not enjoyed the same level of debate. This article explores that question, which underlies the mentioned normative debate. Relying on neoclassic competition theory and on different elements of international institutional law, the article argues that the WTO, as structured today, has the power to address only anticompetitive practices that hinder market access. It presents also a historical annex, referring documentary evidence of the discussion of Restrictive Business Practices under GATT 1947.