| Summary: | This is a legal impact study. Its concern is the effectiveness of WTO law and its focus is the compliance behaviour of developing countries. Article XVI:4 of the WTO Agreement provides: "Each Member shall ensure the conformity of its laws, regulations and administrative procedures with its obligations as provided in the annexed Agreements" In the light of this overarching compliance obligation, this thesis examines the behavioural impact of WTO law, and investigates the preconditions for its effectiveness. In doing so, the experiences of two developing countries - South Africa and Nigeria - are considered. Through extensive research conducted both in these countries and in Geneva, involving thorough examination and analysis of national legislation and case law, WTO obligations and jurisprudence, archival materials and other documentary evidence, as well as interview data, this thesis gives systematic and detailed accounts of the compliance experiences of both countries, and identifies the sources of their behaviour. The research revealed that South Africa substantially complied with its WTO obligations, although there were areas of obvious non-compliance and areas where compliance was unclear. Nigeria, on the other hand, was in substantial non- compliance, with no WTO implementation legislation introduced to date. The research showed that WTO law did not have independent compliance pull. Its effectiveness depended on a combination of legal and non-legal factors. One important shaping factor was ownership or endogenous preference. It was clear that ex ante preference for any agreement induced better ex post compliance with it, and vice versa. Domestic-level structures and processes also had strong explanatory powers, as did market considerations. The main contribution of this thesis has been to add to the understanding of the factors that influence developing countries' compliance with WTO law, and, therefore, of the conditions under which WTO law is likely to be effective in many of these countries.
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