RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/REG/W/15
6May1997
ORGANIZATION(97-1957)
Committee onRegional Trade Agreements
GUIDELINES ONPROCEDURES TOIMPROVE
AND FACILITATE THE EXAMINATION PROCESS1
Note bytheChairman
TheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements (RTAs) hasbeenmandated "todevelop, as
appropriate, procedures tofacilitate andimprove theexamination process" (item 1(c)ofitsTerms of
Reference).
TheGuidelines, which have been drawn upontheresponsibility oftheChairman ofthe
Committee, define some procedural stepswhich might facilitate andimprove theexamination process.
These Guidelines aretobeconsidered evolutionary andcanbereviewed, inlightofexperience.
Foreaseofreference, procedural steps havebeengrouped, when feasible, according tothe
following fourphases towhich relations ofaRTA withtheWTO maybelinked:2
I. Notification bytheParties
II. Initial information ontheRTA
III. Examination according torelevant terms ofreference
(a) Exchange ofviews ontheRTA'sconformity torelevant WTO rules
(b) Supplementary written andoralinformation ontheRTA
(c) Elaboration ofthereport ontheexamination
IV. Decision onappropriate action bytherelevant body
1TheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements, atitsmeeting on2May1997, tooknoteoftheGuidelines
onProcedures toImprove andFacilitate theExamination Process.
2"ReportingontheoperationofRTAs"wouldconstituteafifthphase(pleaserefertodocumentWT/REG/W/3).
TheCommittee hasalsobeenmandated "toconsider howtherequired reporting ontheoperation of[RTAs] should
becarriedoutandmakeappropriaterecommen dationstotherelevantbody"(item1(b)oftheTermsofReference).WT/REG/W/15
Page2
PROCEDURES TOIMPROVE AND FACILITATE THE EXAMINATION PROCESS
Chairman 'sGuidelines
1. WiththeaimofenhancingtransparencyandassistingtheCommitteeinitswork,WTOMembers
engagedintheprocessofestablishingaRTAareinvitedtosharewiththeCommitteerelevantinformation
intheearly stages ofsuchprocess, prior tomaking theformal notification.
2. Opportunity willbeprovided atmeetings oftheCommittee, separately from theprocess of
examination, forMembers toseekinformation onRTAs thathavenotyetbeennotified.
_____________________________
I. Notification bytheParties
3. WTO Members 'notification obligations forRTAs arecontained inthefollowing provisions:
GATT 1994 "Any contracting party deciding toenter intoacustoms union orfree-trade
area,oraninterim agreement leading totheformation ofsuchaunion orarea,
shallpromptlynotifytheCONTRACTINGPARTIESandshallmakeavailabletothem
suchinformation regarding theproposed union orareaaswillenable them
tomake suchreports andrecommendations tocontracting parties astheymay
deem appropriate." Article XXIV:7(a)
"Any contracting party taking action tointroduce anarrangement pursuant to
paragraph ...3above orsubsequently taking action tointroduce modification
orwithdrawal ofthedifferential andmore favourable treatment soprovided
shallnotifytheCONTRACTINGPARTIESandfurnishthemwithalltheinformation
they may deem appropriate relating tosuch action."3Enabling Clause,
para. 4(a)
GATS "Members which areparties toanyagreement referred toinparagraph 1shall
promptly notify anysuchagreement andanyenlargement oranysignificant
modification ofthatagreement totheCouncil forTrade inServices. They
shallalsomake available totheCouncil suchrelevant information asmaybe
requested byit."4Article V:7(a)
3Paragraph 3reads asfollows: "Regional orglobal arrangements entered intoamongst less-developed
contracting parties forthemutual reduction orelimination oftariffs and,inaccordance withcriteria orconditions
which maybeprescribed bytheCONTRACTING PARTIES, forthemutual reduction orelimination ofnon-tariff
measures, onproducts imported from oneanother".
4Paragraph 1refers toagreements "liberalizing trade inservices between oramong theparties tosuchan
agreement".WT/REG/W/15
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4. TheParties toaRTAshould supply therelevant treaties oragreements totheSecretariat together
withthetextofthenotification forcirculation toMembers asofficial WTO documents. After
consideration bytherelevant WTO body,5theterms ofreference fortheexamination ofanotified RTA,
ifany,areadopted bythatbody andtheexamination isreferred totheCommittee.
5. Aregister oftheinformation provided toWTO Members oneachRTA willbemaintained
bytheSecretariat andmade available totheCommittee periodically.
II. Initial information ontheRTA
6. TheCommittee, before proceeding withafirstround ofexamination ofanotified RTA, may
require some initial, basic information, tobeconveyed bytheParties:
(i) accordingtotheChairman'sGuidelinesona"StandardFormatforInformationonRTAs"
(documentWT/REG/W/6)orthoseona"StandardFormatforInformationonEconomic
Integration Agreements onServices" (document WT/REG/W/14);
(ii) intheform ofwritten replies towritten questions submitted byinterested Members.
7. Though optional, theuseoftheStandard Formats bytheParties isstrongly encouraged, as
ameans ofsupplying initial information onRTAs inastructured andcomprehensive way.
8. Once theexamination ofaRTA hasbeenreferred totheCommittee, theChairperson, in
consultation withtheParties, should establish awork programme fortheexamination oftheindividual
RTA, inparticular withrespect totheformat andtiming ofthesubmission ofinitial information, and
theschedulingofthefirstexaminationmeeting.TheCommitteeshouldbeinformed,assoonaspossible,
ofthatwork programme.
9. Information made available under thecorresponding Standard Format, orresulting from the
preliminary questions-and-replies process, should becirculated toMembers asaformal document at
leastthree weeks before thefirstround ofexamination oftheRTA.6
III. Examination according torelevant terms ofreference
10. InthecaseofRTAs notified under bothGATT 1994 andGATS provisions, examination of
the"goods" and"services" aspects should bedealtwithback-to-back, wherever possible.
11. WithrespecttotheperioddevotedbytheCommitteetotheexaminationofaRTA,orthenumber
ofmeetings fortreating asingle RTA, flexibility should beallowed. More expedient examinations
could takeplace onanadhocbasis, onceallinterested Members agreed thatthere wasnoneedto
pursue issues further orposefurther questions totheParties toanRTA.
5TheCouncil forTrade inGoods, theCouncil forTrade inServices ortheCommittee onTrade and
Development, asthecasemaybe.
6Tospeeduptheprocessinganddisseminationofinformation(includingtradedata),delegationsshouldsubmit
itelectronically, whenever possible.WT/REG/W/15
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(a) Oral supply ofinformation ontheRTA andexchange ofviews onits
conformity torelevant WTO rules
12. TheSecretariat shallelaborate summary minutes forCommittee deliberations related tothe
examination ofindividual RTAs.7These should bemade available toMembers atleastthree weeks
before another round ofexamination isscheduled forthecorresponding RTA.8
(b) Supplementary written information ontheRTA
13. Supplementary information onindividual RTAs mayberequired throughout theexamination
process. Members should endeavour tosubmit written questions sufficiently inadvance toenable the
corresponding replies bytheParties tobemade available totheCommittee atleastthreeweeks before
themeeting scheduled forexamining theRTA.
(c) Elaboration ofthereport ontheexamination
14. Thereport would consist ofa"factual record" oftheexamination andthe"conclusions" reached
bytheCommittee. Thesummary minutes ofCRTA meetings devoted totheexamination ofindividual
RTAs (paragraph 12above) would constitute thefactual account oftheexamination report, embodying
allcomments andviews expressed bydelegations inthecourse oftheexamination. TheCommittee 's
assessment ofaRTA, according tothemandate, would constitute the"conclusions" partofthereport,
tobepresented totheCommittee indraftform forconsideration andagreement.
15. Thereport ontheexamination ofeachindividual RTA could follow thedraftformat outlined
below:
A. Background
1. Notification oftheRTA totherelevant body/bodies.
Brief description ofthemain features oftheRTA.
2. Terms ofreference oftheexamination.
B. Factual Record oftheExamination
1. Dates ofmeetings devoted totheexamination andChairmanship
2. Listofbasic documentation, tobeannexed
3. Summary minutes ofdeliberations, tobeannexed9
C. Conclusions oftheExamination oftheRTA inAccordance withtheAgreed
Terms ofReference andintheLight oftheRelevant Provisions oftheWTO
16. Annexes totheexamination report, inparticular those listed under B.2andB.3above, would
formanintegral partofthereport tobeadopted bytheCommittee andthentransmitted totherelevant
body, according totheterms ofreference oftheexamination.
IV. Decision onappropriate action bytherelevant body
7TheuseoftheStandard Formats topresent preliminary information would allow examination discussions
atmeetings tobecome more structured along theheadings there identified andassist withthetimely preparation
ofsummary minutes.
8Factual corrections ofsummary minutes willbedealt withthrough Corrigenda totheoriginal document
andincorporated inthefinal, consolidated version annexed totheexamination report.
9Summar yminutesannexedtothereportwouldtaketheformofoneconsolidateddocument,wheneverpractical.