About RTA

Introduction
The number of regional trade agreements has grown in the past two decades. A regional trade agreement
refers to free trade among a number of nations in a specified area or region. Regional trade agreements
regulate more than one half of global trade, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have become increasingly prevalent since the early 1990s.
As of 15 Janary !01!" some 511 notifications of RTAs (conting goods and services
separately) had been received by the #ATT$%T&. &f these" '19 (ere in force. %hat all RTAs
in the %T& have in common is that they are reciprocal trade agreements bet(een t(o or
more partners.
Regional trade agreements represent an important e)ception to the %T&*s principle of
nondiscrimination. According to the %T& rles" contries (ithin a RTA can trade among
themselves
sing preferential tariffs and easier mar+et access conditions than (hat is applicable to other
%T& ,ember contries. As a reslt" %T& ,ember contries that are not a part of the RTA
lose ot in these mar+ets. Also trading (ithin the regional trade bloc+s does not come nder
the prvie( of %T&. As increasing amont of global trade is being diverted throgh this
rote" there is a certain amont apprehension abot the role of regional trade agreements in
%T&. The %T& Annal Report !00' e)presses deep concern abot this latest development
and comments-
RTAs can complement the multilateral trading system, help to build and strengthen it.
But by their very nature RTAs are discriminatory; they are a departure from the MF
principle, a cornerstone of the multilateral trading system. Their effects on global trade
liberali!ation and economic gro"th are not clear given that the regional economic impact
of RTAs is e# ante inherently ambiguous$.
TYPES OF AGREEMENTS
The parties to an RTA can notify several types of RTAs:

A Free Trade Agreement (FTA)
A Customs Union (CU),
An Economic Integration Agreement (EIA),
A "Partial Scope" Agreement (PS). "Partial Scope" wic is not de!ined or re!erred to
in te "T# Agreement, means tat te agreement co$ers onl% certain products.
Te &egional Trade Agreement In!ormation S%stem (&TA'IS) is a compreensi$e data(ase
o! all &TAs noti!ied to te )ATT*"T#. Te application allows users to searc and e+port
a$aila(le in!ormation on an% noti!ied &TA, as well as on te consideration process o! a
particular &TA witin te C&TA
GLOSSARY OF MAIN TOPICS COVERED BY THE RTAS
For those agreements that have been the subject of a Factual Presentation or a Factual Abstract, a list of
the main topics covered by the agreement and presented in the document is provided. These are:

Accession
Anti-dumping measures
alance-of-payments measures
!ompetition
!ountervailing measures
!ustoms-related procedures
"enial of benefits
"ispute settlement
"omestic regulation
#nvironment
#$ceptions, general or for security
#$port restrictions
%overnment procurement
&ntellectual property rights
&nvestment
'abour
(utual Recognition )services*
Rules of origin
+afeguard measures
+anitary and phyto-sanitary measures
+ubsidies
Tariff-rate ,uotas
Technical regulations, standards, technical barriers to trade