Global: Is the WTO too complicated? Or not complicated enough?

Simon Maxwell's recent posting in the ODI weblog contends that the WTO is certainly complicated, and not just because of the profusion of acronyms and the arcane detail of trade policy. The real complexity lies in the way many different issues are brought to the table, with the idea that losses in one area may be offset by gains in another. He argues that there were some obvious examples in Hong Kong - the best known being the EU demanding better access to developing country markets for its manufactures and services in countries like Brazil, as a quid pro quo for reduction in its agricultural subsidies and for further reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).