RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/W/369
13 October 1999
(99-4360)
General Council Original:  English
PREPARATIONS FOR THE 1999 MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Regional Trade Agreements (Article XXIV of GATT 1994)
Communication from Jamaica
The following communication, dated 5 October 1999, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Jamaica.
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Background
1. Developing countries have for long viewed re gional trade agreements (RTAs), involving the
formation of custom unions and free trade areas, as pivotal instruments for advancing their economic
development.  Experience shows that such a pro cess is essentially longer term in character and
requires adequate transitional periods for participating countries to absorb the adjustment costs of
trade liberalisation.
2. There is considerable doubt about whether the current norms and criteria applied in the
interpretation of Article XXIV of GATT 1994, provide sufficient scope for achieving a successful
transition.  For example, this applies to the threshol ds requiring that RTAs cover "substantially all the
trade" (GATT Article XXIV) or have "substantial sectoral coverage" (GATS Article V).
Proposal
3. It is proposed that Ministers authorize the General Council to examine the relevant provisions
of Article XXIV of GATT and Article V of GATS relating to regional trade agreements in whichdeveloping countries are participating, with a view to providing these countries with adequate scope
for absorbing the adjustment costs of trade liberalization and ensuring that these agreements make a
sustained contribution to their economic development.
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