Public Lecture Presented By
Associate Professor Meredith Kolsky Lewis

Until recently, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) were primarily bilateral; largely mirrored the WTO in coverage with exclusions for sensitive sectors; and combined either a large and a small economy or two smaller economies. However, the current landscape reflects significant changes. There are currently several mega-FTAs under negotiation, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP); the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); and the China-Japan-Korea FTA. Each of these will link at least two large economies together in an FTA for the first time. The TPP and TTIP in particular are addressing several subject matters that go beyond what is covered in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In addition, 23 countries representing approximately two-thirds of global GDP are negotiating a Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) outside the auspices of the WTO. This lecture will discuss each of these initiatives and address their implications for the multilateral trading system.

About Associate Professor Meredith Kolsky Lewis
Meredith Kolsky Lewis is Associate Professor and Associate Director of the New Zealand Centre of International Economic Law at the Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Law. She is also Associate Professor and Director of the Cross-Border Legal Studies Center at the SUNY Buffalo Law School. She has published widely on international economic law issues, including numerous publications relating to regionalism and free trade agreements. She is rapporteur to the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Sustainable Development and the Green Economy in International Trade Law and is a member of the ILA Study Group on Preferential Trade Agreements.