LEGAL LIMITS OF INCENTIVES GRANTED TO FOREIGN INVESTORS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION RULES

The goal at completion of this paper is to examine how preferences provided by different countries to foreign investment have been limited by the governing principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This will be accomplished by looking in depth at permissible and prohibited types and forms of preferences as they apply to: National Treatment; Most Favored Nation Treatment; and Trade Related Investment Measures (TRIM). These areas of inquiry will include, but not be limited to: areas not explicitly regulated by WTO instruments; the legal ramifications associated with their use; and the importance of clarifying legal standards for evaluating preferences conferred upon foreign investors, ensuring that such preferences are compliant with WTO obligations.