Important developments are currently affecting the global trading system. We witness increasing calls for protectionism and a surge in populism in some major economies, while other trading nations continue to liberalise trade, driven by the dynamics of global value chains (GVCs). Even committed trading nations have shown an increased willingness to use industrial policies and have elevated the pursuit of geopolitical concerns through trade. On top of this, calls have increased to tackle the climate crisis through trade policy instruments. In short, important shifts induced by politics and economics shape today’s trade policies.

This chapter examines how the multilateral discussion on a multilateral framework on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) currently taking place at the World Trade Organization (WTO) differs from provisions on the same topic found in existing international investment agreements (IIAs). For that purpose, it defines investment facilitation and presents its main elements and a typology of its more common provisions. The chapter then reviews existing IIAs that include investment facilitation provisions, identifying regulatory convergence (or lack thereof) across them. Finally, it discusses whether there is an added value of the IFD compared to existing IIAs and if there is room for innovation in the current negotiations.

This chapter outlines the motivation behind the volume. There are few forward-looking scholarly contributions to the literature on PTA design possibilities. The chapter begins by outlining the case for more such thinking. Based on the Desta database, the chapter maps developments over time as to PTA signing generally and PTA design in particular. It also highlights certain features of the present landscape that also suggest the need for more innovation. For example, it takes note of the governments that are at the forefront of using PTAs to integrate markets and discusses trends in boilerplate language in the development of PTA design. Finally, the chapter summarizes the main findings of the different chapters in the volume that follow this introductory chapter.

This chapter traces the evolution of the recent inclusion in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) of chapters dealing with the process of procedural or substantive regulatory convergence, under different denominations such as ‘regulatory cooperation’, ‘good regulatory practices’, ‘regulatory improvement’, and ‘regulatory coherence’, among others. After mapping this discipline in existing PTAs, we categorise its development in three different approaches: substantive regulatory harmonisation (or ‘substantive coherence’ – the same rule), procedural coherence (the same process), and regulatory cooperation (or ‘regulatory compatibility’ – equivalent rule / equivalent process). The chapter concludes with the possible ways forward for regulatory convergence, considering the use of dispute settlement, regional and sectoral harmonisation, as well as an increased role of private and mixed actors.