IntroductionWorld trade has been an ever-evolving phenomenon and the agreements made to govern it have also evolved. In order to stabilize and centralize trade agreements, a multilateral trading system was created and people thought that this was the ultimate solution to facilitate trade between different nations and take care of any problems that emerged from it. As time passed, many countries began to feel the need to enter into a close agreement in a concentrated context and, consequently, Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). With the growing number of RTAs and PTAs, it has become essential to evaluate how much these agreements have been capable of changing the economic scenario across the world. Considering the proliferation of these agreements, experts have started to discuss whether these agreements are taking over multilateral trading systems, especially the WTO. Numerous studies have also been conducted in this direction to find out to what extent these agreements have positive or negative effects on economic activities in the countries where these agreements have been preferred over the multilateral trading system (Lloyd, 2002). The evolutions of these agreements have accelerated in the recent past and the average WTO member has agreements with more than 15 countries (Schaefer, 2007). Proliferation primarily aims to make trade relationships more cohesive and more rewarding. Trade liberalizations may have accelerated economic activities; has negative effects on the multilateral trading system. The tendency towards regionalism may hinder the very purpose of the multilateral trading system in the long term. The very idea behind the introduction of such a system was to facilitate the d...... middle of paper...... L. (2005), Eager to ink, but ready to act? Proliferation of RPAs and international cooperation in competition policy. Competition provisions in regional trade agreements: how to secure development benefits, 1.10. Oduor, M. (2005),Resolving trade disputes in Africa: choosing between multilateralism and regionalism: the case of COMESA and the WTO. Tul. J. International & Comp. L., 13, 177.11. Lee, Y.S. (2011), Reconciling RTAs with the WTO multilateral trading system: reasons for a new sunset requirement on RTAs and development facilitation. Journal of World Trade, 45(3), 629-651.12. Leal-Arcas, R. (2010), Proliferation of regional trade agreements: complementing or replacing multilateralism. Who. J. Int'l L., 11, 597.13. Sampson, G. P. & Woolcock, S. (Eds.). (2003), Regionalism, multilateralism and economic integration: recent experience. United Nations University Press.