Vera Thorstensen is professor of International Trade Law and Economics and head of the Center on Global Trade at the School of Economics at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, Sao Paulo. She has been former economic advisor of the Mission of Brazil to the WTO between 1995 and 2010. For seven years Professor Thorstensen has also been chair of the Committee on Rules of Origin. Her research includes the impacts of exchange rate misalignments on trade instruments, comparative trade policy within BRICS, as well as BRICS, EU and US comparative trade regulation on RTAs. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Getulio Vargas Foundation, Brazil. She is a visiting scholar at Harvard University, IDB, Washington, DC and CEPS, Brussels.