1. International trade and maritime transport

The general trend toward liberalization of industrial trade began after World War II with multilateral negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This liberalization was stimulated by:

• the creation of the common market in Europe;

• the reunification of Germany and the collapse of communist regimes;

• regional free trade agreements such as Mercosur, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay in Latin America, and NAFTA, which includes the United States, Canada, and Mexico in North America.

It has spread to developing countries since the early 1980s, as a result of the liberalization policies imposed by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of their management of the debt crisis....