Trade Compliance for Leadership Navigating a Shifting Global Landscape 2025

The evolution of trade compliance1 Trade compliance has evolved from being WTO-led to a landscape ever more shaped by FTAs, geopolitical tensions and new regulatory demands. Modern trade compliance obligations have their roots in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which succeeded the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The GATT was a provisional agreement focused primarily on reducing tariffs and other trade barriers for goods, operating without a formal institutional framework. The establishment of the WTO institutionalized a multilateral framework for trade, grounded in principles such as Most Favoured Nation (MFN) treatment and national treatment. These principles aim to ensure non- discrimination among trading partners and equal treatment of foreign and domestic goods.As global trade expanded under the WTO framework and economic globalization led to a broad rollback of tariffs in 1990–2000s, the multilateral era brought a degree of predictability for trade compliance. Economies’ tariff schedules were bound and published, dispute resolution mechanisms were formalized and border procedure methodologies were outlined through compacts such as the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Trade professionals largely focused on ensuring that goods were correctly classified, valued and documented in accordance with WTO rules and national customs laws, as well as monitoring compliance with a limited number of sanctions and export controls. Historical trend in the number of free trade agreements notified to the WTO FIGURE 3 Source: WTO Regional Trade Agreements DatabaseYearsNumber of R TAsHistorical tr end in the number of r egional trade agr eements (R TAs) notified to the WTO (1990–2025) Surge in FTAs 50 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025100150200250300350 WTO establishedGlobal financial crisisRecent gr owth Trade Compliance for Leadership: Navigating a Shifting Global Landscape 8