   
  
WT/REG/W/143  
 
15 October 2019  
(19-6680) Page: 1/4 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements   
 
DRAFT REPORT ( 2019 ) OF THE  
COMMITTEE ON REGIONA L TRADE AGREEMENTS  
TO THE GENERAL COUNC IL 
CHAIRM EN: MR JULIAN BRAITHWAIT E (UNITED KINGDOM)  AND 
       MR CARLOS MARIO FORA DORI (ARGENTINA)  
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  At its first meeting in April 2019, the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) elected, 
by acclamation, Ambassador Carlos Mario Foradori (Argentina) , as Chairman of the CRTA.  
1.2.  During 2019, the Committee held four sessions (in April, June, September a nd November). The 
minutes of those meetings are listed in the Attachment. Four sessions are foreseen in 2020, 
depending on the Committee's workload.  
2  OBSERVER STATUS  
2.1.  No decision was taken with respect to the requests for observer status listed in document 
WT/REG/W/11/Add.4/Rev.2.   
3  EARLY ANNOUNCEMENTS  
3.1.  Paragraph 1 of the Transparency Mechanism (TM)1, provides for Members participating in new 
negotiations and parties to a newly signed RTA to provide information to the Secretariat, to be 
posted on the WTO websit e. In the period 16 October 2018 to 15 October 2019, a total of three 
early announcements were received from Members, one for an RTA under negotiation and two for 
newly signed RTAs .2 
4  NOTIFICATIONS  
4.1.  In the period 16 October 2018 to 15 October 2019, the CRTA received 13 notifications of RTAs, 
six in goods, notified under Article XXIV of GATT 1994, and seven  in services, notified under Article  V 
of GATS.3 In addition the CRTA received a notification  from ECOWAS  modifying the legal cover of 
the agreem ent from the Enabling Clause to Article XXIV of GATT 1994  and a notification from Jordan 
and Turkey terminating their FTA .4 
4.2.  In an effort to encourage the notification of non -notified RTAs, the Chairmen with the help of 
the Secretariat, continued to draw up  and circulate in advance of CRTA meetings a list of non -notified 
RTAs which have been verified by their parties as being in force and appeared in factual presentations 
                                                
1 The General Council Decision of 14 December establishing the Transparency Mechanism for Regional 
Trade Agreements (WT/L/671) is being implemented on a provisional basis. Members will review, and if 
necessary , modify this decision, in light of the experienc e gained from its provisional operation, and replace it 
by a permanent mechanism as part of the overall results of the Doha Round, in accordance with paragraph  47 
of the Doha Declaration (paragraph 23 of the General Council's Decision).  
2 Under negotiation : Canada – MERCOSUR; Signed : EFTA – Ecuador and EFTA – Indonesia . 
3 Peru – Honduras (G&S); EFTA – Philippi nes (G&S); Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for 
Trans -Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) (G&S); European Union – Japan (G&S); Hong Kong, China – Georgia (G&S); 
MERCOSUR – Israel (G); Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) (S) and European Union – Armenia (S) . 
4 Documents WT/REG399/N/1 and WT/REG294/N/2, respectively.  WT/REG/W/143  
 
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  circulated between September 2009 and November 2019.5 Members acknowledged the need to 
comply with notification requirements and underlined the importance of the list for transparency  
purposes . 
4.3.  At the 92nd Session, Members discussed the status of consideration of the Gulf Cooperation 
Council customs union.  
4.4.  At the 92nd, 94th, [and 95th] Sessions, the EU raised the issue of its follow up questions to LAIA 
Member countries (WT/REG/W/124) submitted in October 2 017 to which it had not received a 
response. LAIA countries indicated that they were coordinating on the response.  The Chairman said 
there had been many informal consultations with LAIA Parties who were trying to resolve the issue 
as soon as possible.  
5  CONSIDERATION OF REG IONAL TRADE AGREEMEN TS 
5.1.  In the period 16 October 2018 to 15 October 2019, 12 factual presentations were distributed 
reflecting 21 notifications, counting goods and services separately, ten of which were used as the 
basis for consideratio n of RTAs in the CRTA in 2019.6 Factual Presentations of the Central European 
Free Trade Agreement  (G) and Peru – Honduras (G&S)  were circulated to Members for review and 
will be considered at a subsequent meeting of the Committee.   
5.2.  In an effort to unblock the backlog in the receipt of delayed data and comments , the Chairm an 
consulted with a number of delegations who agreed  to prov ide missing information. Members 
continue to discuss ways of increasing the transparency of such RTAs.  The Chairm an with the help 
of the Secretariat drew up and circulated in advance of CRTA meetings a list of such RTAs.7 
5.3.  Although considerable progress has  been made in the preparation of factual presentations, the 
Committee continues to experience some difficulties in adhering to its work programme. This is due 
to a number of factors: delays in the receipt of statistical data from parties, data discrepancie s in 
Members' submissions, and delays in the receipt of comments from parties.  
6   SUBSEQUENT NOTIFICAT ION AND REPORTING  
6.1.  Paragraph 14 of the TM provides for changes affecting the implementation of an RTA, or the 
operation of an already implemented RTA, to be notified as soon as possible after such changes 
occur. Such communications are to be made available on the WTO website. In the period 16  October 
2018 to 15  October 2019, six notification s of changes ha ve been received and posted on the RTA 
Database.8 
6.2.  Parag raph 15 of the TM provides for parties to an RTA to submit a short written report on the 
realization of the liberalization commitments in the RTA as originally notified at the end of the RTA's 
implementation period. The Secretariat circulated a list of RTA s subject to implementation reports 
as of 15 March 2019  (document WT/REG/W/ 140). Implementation reports were due for 139 RTAs, 
and the end of implementation (EOI) for six RTAs was in 2019. The EOI for a total of 111 RTAs is 
from 2020 onwards, while for two RTAs the EOI year is not available . No such reports were submitted 
in the period 16 October 2018 to 15 October 2019.  
7  DATABASE ON RTAS  
7.1.  Paragraph 21 of the TM provides for the Secretariat to establish and maintain an updated 
electronic database on indiv idual RTAs. The database was launched in January 2009 and is available 
on the WTO public website. The database provides information on all notified RTAs, including the 
                                                
5 Documents WT/REG/W/ 138, WT/REG/W/ 141 and WT/REG/W/ 144 (to be issued) . 
6 Chile – Thailand (G&S); China – Georgia (G&S); EFTA – Georgia (G&S); Accession of Ecuador to the 
Trade Agreement between the European Union and Colombia and Peru (G&S); Accession of Panama to the 
Central American Common Market (CACM) (G); Pacific Alliance  – Additiona l Protocol to the Framework 
Agreement between Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru (G&S); Armenia – Kazakhstan (G); Eurasian Economic 
Union (EAEU) – Viet Nam (G&S); Turkey – Singapore (G&S); European Union – Japan (G&S) . 
7 Documents WT/REG/W/ 139/Rev.1 , WT/REG/W/ 142 and WT/REG/W/ 145 (to be issued) . 
8 China – Hong Kong, China; United States – Republic of Korea; China – Macao , China ; Canada – Chile; 
Chile – China and Canada – Israel . WT/REG/W/143  
 
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  status of the consideration process at the Committee's meetings. An updated version of t he database 
was launched  in June 2019 . 
8  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  
8.1.  [At the 95th Session of the Committee, the Secretariat gave an account of the RTA -related 
technical assistance activities it had undertaken in 2019 and those planned for 2020.] 
9  PROCEDURES TO IMPRO VE AND FACILITATE TH E EXAMINATION PROCES S 
9.1.  At its 93rd [and 95th] Session[s], the Committee discussed the Chairman's proposal to appoint  
Friends of the Chair to assist  him in his duties.  
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 WT/REG/W/143  
 
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  ATTACHMENT  
MINUTES OF THE MEETI NGS HELD IN 2019 
Ninety -Second  Session – 1 April 2019 
 
 WT/REG/M/ 92 
 
 WT/REG390/M/1 Hong Kong, China – Macao, China, goods and services9 
 WT/REG387/M/1 Chile - Thailand , goods  and services  
 WT/REG391 /M/1 China - Georgia , goods and  services  
 WT/REG386 /M/1 EFTA - Georgia , goods  and services  
 WT/REG380 /M/1 Accession of Ecuador to the Trade Agreement between the 
European Union and Colombia and Peru, goods and services  
 WT/REG384/M/1  Accession of Panama to the Central American  Common Market 
(CACM), goods  
 
Ninety -Third Session – 20 June 2019 
 WT/REG/M/ 93 
 
  
 
Ninety -Fourth – 17 September 2019 
 
 WT/REG/M/ 94 
 
WT/REG377/M/1 Pacific Alliance – Additional Protocol to the Framework Agreement 
between Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Peru , goods  and services  
WT/REG172/M/1 Armenia – Kazakhstan, goods  
WT/REG385/M/1  Eurasian Economic Union  (EAEU) – Viet Nam, goods and services  
[non-member]  
 
Ninety -Fifth Session – 7 November 2019 (to be issued ) 
 WT/REG/M/ 95 
 
WT/REG/W/ 143 Draft Report ( 2019) of the CRTA to the General Council  
WT/REG392/M/1 Turkey - Singapore , goods  and services  
WT/REG396 /M/1 European Union - Japan , goods and services  
 
__________  
                                                
9 The factual presentation was d istributed in the period 16 October 2017 t o 15 October 2018.  