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REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS DATABASE

USER GUIDE

1 BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS (RTAS) ............... 2

1.1 The WTO Rules............................................................................................... 2
1.2 The WTO Bodies ............................................................................................. 2
1.3 Types of Agreements ...................................................................................... 2
1.4 WTO Consideration Process.............................................................................. 2
2 WHAT IS THE REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS DATABASE ............................. 4
2.1 What kind of information is available in the RTA Database? ................................. 4
2.1.1 The "ID-Card" and its content ....................................................................... 4
2.1.2 Early announcements, agreements notified but not yet in force and inactive
agreements ........................................................................................................... 4
2.1.3 Figures on RTAs........................................................................................... 4
2.1.4 Background WTO documents ......................................................................... 4
2.2 RTA Information Search facility ........................................................................ 5
2.2.1 Search by country/territory ........................................................................... 5
2.2.2 Search RTAs ............................................................................................... 5
2.2.3 Search by main topics covered ...................................................................... 5
2.2.4 Search by agreement ................................................................................... 5
2.2.5 Sort agreements .......................................................................................... 5
3 DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................. 5
3.1 Composition of Regions ................................................................................... 5
3.2 Glossary of RTA ID-CARD terms ....................................................................... 7
4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ................................................................... 8
5 FEEDBACK AND CONTACT POINT .................................................................... 9
1 BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS (RTAS)

1.1 The WTO Rules

When a WTO Member enters into a regional trade agreement (RTA) through which it grants more
favourable conditions than for trade with other WTO Members, it departs from the guiding principle
of non-discrimination defined in the GATT, and the GATS. WTO Members are however permitted to
enter into such arrangements under specific conditions which are spelled out in three sets of rules:

 Paragraphs 4 to 10 of Article XXIV of GATT 1994 (as clarified in the Understanding on the
Interpretation of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994) provide for the formation and operation of
customs unions and free-trade areas covering trade in goods, and interim agreements
leading to one or the other;

 Paragraph 2(c) of the so-called Enabling Clause (i.e., the 1979 Decision on Differential and
More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries)
refers to preferential trade arrangements in trade in goods amongst developing country
Members; and

 Article V of GATS governs RTAs in the area of trade in services, for both developed and
developing country Members.

In addition, the Transparency Mechanism — negotiated in the Negotiating Group on Rules

established under the Doha Development Agenda — provides for the early announcement of any
RTA. Each of the above-mentioned sets of rules provide for the notification of RTAs to the WTO;
notified RTAs are considered by Members on the basis of a Factual Presentation drafted by the WTO
Secretariat in consultation with the parties to the RTA. See the dedicated webpage on the WTO
General Council Decision on 14 December 2006.

1.2 The WTO Bodies

The consideration of RTAs shall be carried out by the WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
(CRTA), except for those RTAs that are notified under the Enabling Clause, which are considered by
the WTO Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) meeting in dedicated session.

1.3 Types of Agreements

The parties to an RTA can notify several types of RTAs:

 A Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as defined in Paragraph 8(b) of Article XXIV of GATT 1994;
 A Customs Union (CU), as defined in Paragraph 8(a) of Article XXIV of GATT 1994;
 An Economic Integration Agreement (EIA), as defined in Article V of GATS; or
 A "Partial Scope" Agreement (PS). "Partial Scope" which is not defined or referred to in the
WTO Agreement, means that the agreement covers only certain products. Partial scope
agreements are notified under paragraph 4(a) of the Enabling Clause.

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1.4 WTO Consideration Process

 Early Announcement

Under the Transparency Mechanism, Members participating in new negotiations aimed at the
conclusion of an RTA shall endeavour to inform the WTO Secretariat of such negotiations. Members
which are parties to a newly signed RTA shall convey to the Secretariat information on the RTA.

 Notification

WTO Members entering into RTAs are required to notify such RTA to the WTO, either under
Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 or the Enabling Clause (for RTAs covering trade in goods), or under
Article V of the GATS (for RTAs covering trade in services). In a case of an RTA covering both goods

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and services, two notifications are required. The notification should be made following ratification of
the RTA and before the application of preferential treatment between the parties.

 Notification of Changes

Any changes affecting the implementation of an RTA, or the operation of an already implemented
RTA, should be notified to the WTO as soon as possible after the changes occur.

 Subsequent reporting

At the end of the RTA's implementation period, the parties shall submit to the WTO a short report
on the realisation of the liberalization commitments contained in the RTA.

 Factual Presentation (FP)

The Factual Presentation is a document prepared on the responsibility of the WTO Secretariat in
conformity with Article 7 (b) of the Transparency Mechanism in full consultation with the parties to
serve as the basis for the consideration of an RTA by the WTO Membership. It describes the trade
environment, the main characteristics of the agreement, and its impact on market access in the
parties to the RTA. The parties are required to submit trade and tariff line information as specified
in Annex I of the Transparency Mechanism, within a specified period (usually 10 weeks but 20 weeks
for agreements exclusively between developing countries) after notification. The status of the
Factual Presentation may be either already "distributed" (i.e. issued as an official WTO document);
"not distributed"; or "on hold" if, for example, specific commitments in services have not yet been
agreed.

 Factual Abstract (FA)

The Factual Abstract is a short summary of the main features of the agreement, prepared by the
WTO Secretariat in conformity with Article 22(b) of the Transparency Mechanism. It is prepared for
older agreements for which an examination has already been completed by the CRTA. The Factual
Abstract may be "not distributed" or already "distributed".

 The case of agreements notified to the GATT 1947

In the case of agreements notified to the GATT 1947 and covered by Paragraph 22 (a) of the
Transparency Decision, the consideration status may be "No report" or "Report adopted", depending
on whether or not a GATT 1947 working party conducted an examination of such agreements and
issued a report. For Agreements falling under the Enabling Clause, no examination was mandated
and hence such agreements do not have a working party report.

 Questions and Replies

Before an agreement is considered by WTO Members, they may submit questions in writing to the
parties to the agreement. The parties are expected to provide written answers to these questions
in advance of the meeting to consider that RTA. A document containing the questions and replies
submitted by Members and the parties is issued three working days in advance of the CRTA or the
CTD meeting where the RTA is to be considered.

 Standard Format for information on RTAs

The objective of the Standard Format for Information on RTAs was to facilitate and standardize the
provision of initial information by parties to regional trade agreements. As of 2006, the practice of
submitting standard formats has been discontinued and superseded by the transparency provisions
of the Transparency Mechanism.

 Biennial report

Paragraph 9 and 11 of the Understanding on the Interpretation of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994
provide for the biennial submission of a report on the operation of agreements notified under
Article XXIV. As of 2006, the practice of submitting biennial reports has been discontinued and
superseded by the transparency provisions of the Transparency Mechanism.

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2 WHAT IS THE REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS DATABASE

The Regional Trade Agreements Database is a comprehensive database of all RTAs notified to the
GATT/WTO. The application allows users to search and export available information on any notified
RTA, as well as on the consideration process of a particular RTA within the CRTA or the CTD. In
particular, it allows a dynamic search through all notified RTAs according to a selection of criteria,
such as year of entry into force, type of agreement, etc. The RTA Database is maintained in the
WTO's three official languages, English, French and Spanish by the Regional Trade Agreement
Section in the Trade Policies Review Division of the WTO.

The RTA Database contains information only on those agreements that have been notified, or for
which an early announcement has been made, to the WTO. Information on the content of these
agreements and the parties thereto reflects information provided by the parties to the WTO.
Therefore, membership to the agreement may not be up to date if changes have not been notified
by the parties; similarly, any subsequent change, any additional protocol etc. to the agreement will
be available in the database only to the extent that it has been notified. For further
information, please consult either the RTA Parties' website(s) or contact the RTA Section (see
"Contact RTA Section").

2.1 What kind of information is available in the RTA Database?

2.1.1 The "ID-Card" and its content

The information is presented in the form of an "ID-Card", which displays all the factual information
available on a given agreement: its signatories, date of signature and entry into force, a link to the
website where the text of the agreement and its annexes can be found, the WTO process that has
taken place regarding that agreement, etc. A list of the main topics covered by the agreement is
provided for the vast majority of RTAs (a glossary which indicates the approach that has been taken
for each of the topics selected is available as a separate document). Also, the tariff and trade data
that have been received from the parties for the preparation of the Factual Presentation is included
in the ID-Card.

2.1.2 Early announcements, agreements notified but not yet in force and inactive
agreements

 In addition to notified agreements, the database also contains available information on

early announcements of those agreements that have not yet been notified.

 By default, the information that is presented by the database concerns those notified RTAs
that are in force, but it is also possible to retrieve information on RTAs notified but not yet
in force and on inactive RTAs.

2.1.3 Figures on RTAs

Four tables provide detailed figures on the number of RTAs notified to the GATT/WTO and still in
force, sorted by coverage, by WTO legal provision, by type of agreement and by WTO consideration
status.

2.1.4 Background WTO documents

The search by country/territory also makes available a number of background WTO documents on
WTO Members' trade laws, policies, or trade environment, such as the Trade Profile, the Tariff Profile
or the most recent Trade Policy Review.

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2.2 RTA Information Search facility

2.2.1 Search by country/territory

 Allows the user to select any country/territory, either by clicking on the map or on a drop-
down list and retrieve details of all RTAs that have been notified or early announcements.

2.2.2 Search RTAs

 Allows the user to select a combination of search parameters to obtain a list of RTAs meeting
those parameters. The user can then click on the RTA name to obtain its ID Card. For
example, the user can select the following criterion: Type of Agreement = Economic
Integration Agreements (EIA); the list will show all notified agreements that are: either EIAs
(for trade in services only); or EIAs and Customs Unions, or EIAs and Free Trade Agreements
(for agreements covering trade in goods and services). It is also possible to search by
multiple criteria, e.g. all FTAs, signed by a given country, with a specific year of entry into
force. Please note that the search by criteria facility is structured around an "AND" rule basis,
meaning that only those RTAs meeting ALL parameters selected will show.

2.2.3 Search by main topics covered

 This option allows users to search the database for RTAs that contain one or several specific
topics or provisions. The consolidated list of all topics (and sub-topics) is available from the
database homepage in the form of a "Glossary". It can also be found in the top-right hand
corner of each tab dedicated to the "Main topics covered by the RTA". This glossary also
indicates the approach that has been taken for each of the topics selected.

2.2.4 Search by agreement

 This option allows the selection of an RTA from the list of short RTA titles in alphabetical
order. The user can also search by a specific string of characters, for example typing "asia"
will generate a list of all agreements whose short title contains the string "asia", such as the
Asian Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).

 The short RTA titles are not the full titles of the agreements, which can be found under the
Text of the Agreement.

2.2.5 Sort agreements

 The list of RTAs generated by a search can also be sorted using any of the field names at
the top of the screen in either ascending or descending order.

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3 DEFINITIONS

3.1 Composition of Regions

Each signatory to an RTA, whether a WTO Member or not, is considered to be part of one of the
following regions:

Region Members
North America Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, United States of
America, and territories in North America n.e.s.
Caribbean Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas,
Barbados, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica,
Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica,
Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and
Caicos Islands, and British Virgin Islands.

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Region Members
Central America Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,
Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama.
South America Argentina, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana,
Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and other
countries and territories in South America n.e.s.
Europe* Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,
Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland,
Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, UNMIK, Malta, Montenegro,
Netherlands, Norway, North Macedonia Poland,
Portugal, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro,
Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and
territories in Europe n.e.s.
Commonwealth of Independent States Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
(CIS), including associate and former Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Republic of
member States Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Africa Algeria, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco
and Tunisia; and Sub-Saharan Africa comprising:
Western Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde,
Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-
Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria,
Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo; Central Africa:
Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and Sao Tome
and Principe; Eastern Africa: Comoros, Djibouti,
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius,
Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, United
Republic of Tanzania and Uganda; and Southern
Africa: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Kingdom of
Eswatini, Zambia, Zimbabwe; and territories in
Africa n.e.s.
The Middle East Bahrain, Iraq, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israel,
Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Qatar,
Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab
Emirates, Yemen, and other countries and
territories in the Middle East n.e.s.
East Asia Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Christmas
Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region of China (Hong
Kong, China), Indonesia, Japan, Korea,
Democratic People's Republic of, Korea, Republic
of,
Lao People's Democratic Republic, Macao, China,
Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines,
Singapore, Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan,
Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Taipei, Chinese),
Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam, Other East Asia,
n.e.s.
West Asia Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
Oceania Australia, Fiji, Kiribati, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu,

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 Region Members
Vanuatu, and other countries and territories in
Oceania.
* On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty

establishing the European Community (done at Lisbon, 13 December 2007) entered into force. On
29 November 2009, the WTO received a Verbal Note (WT/L/779) from the Council of the European
Union and the Commission of the European Communities stating that, by virtue of the Treaty of
Lisbon, as of 1 December 2009, the European Union replaces and succeeds the European
Community.

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3.2 Glossary of RTA ID-CARD terms

Term Definition

Accession The RTA is an accession (i.e. Accession = Yes) if the agreement

provides for a new signatory to adhere to an existing agreement.
In that case, the existing agreement appears under "related
agreements".

Agreement title Shortened title of the agreement, or acronym. The full title of the
agreement can be found in the official text of the agreement.
Consideration status Stage reached in process of consideration of the RTA in
the WTO, including the underlying documentation. The
consideration status can be one of the following:

1. FA distributed: the Factual Abstract has been issued.

2. FA not distributed: the Factual Abstract has not been issued.
3. FP distributed: the Factual Presentation has been issued.
4. FP not distributed: the Factual Presentation has not been issued.
5. FP on hold: the Factual Presentation is on hold.
6. No report: no report has been issued for this RTA.
7. Report adopted: a report has been issued and adopted for this
RTA. Items 6 and 7 relate only to those RTAs notified during the
GATT years.
Coverage Goods, or services, or both, as notified by the signatories to the
agreement.
Composition Bilateral (two signatories) or plurilateral (three or more
signatories) to the agreement.
Cross Regional The signatories to the agreement belong to at least two regions.

Party Type This field indicates if one Party is an RTA, or if all parties are RTAs.

Related agreement Another agreement with the same signatories but a change of
scope, for example an additional agreement to include services or
the same agreement with new signatories (Accession).
Signatories, original The original signatories are the entities that signed the agreement.
Signatories, current The current signatories are those entities that are currently party
to the agreement. These signatories appear "as notified by the
Parties" and may not always reflect the current real membership
of some plurilateral RTAs which were notified a long time ago and
have not since been updated by the parties.
Status The current status of the agreement as notified by the parties, can
be one of the following:
1. Early announcement-Under negotiation: early announcement to
the WTO of an RTA that is under negotiation.
2. Early announcement-Signed: early announcement of an RTA
that has been signed but is not yet in force.

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 Term Definition

3. Not yet in force: the RTA is notified but is not yet in force.
4. In force for at least one Party: the RTA is notified but is not yet
in force for all Parties
5. In Force: the RTA is in force for all Parties.
6. Inactive: the RTA is notified as no longer being in force.
Trade-related data Tariff and trade data that have been used to compile the statistics
presented in the Factual Presentation.
Type of agreement The type of agreement notified by the parties can be one of the
following:
1. Customs Union
2. Free Trade Agreement
3. Partial Scope Agreement
4. Economic Integration Agreement
5. Free Trade Agreement & Economic Integration Agreement
6. Partial Scope & Economic Integration Agreement
7. Customs Union & Economic Integration Agreement
Notification under The WTO provisions invoked when the agreement is notified by the
parties are:
1. GATT Art. XXIV
2. Enabling Clause
3. GATS Art. V
WTO Members Indicates whether or not all parties to the RTA are WTO Members

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4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 Why is there a difference between the number of RTA notifications and the number
of RTAs?

WTO rules provide for notification of trade in goods and trade in services aspects of RTAs
separately. The number of notifications can thus exceed the number of RTAs.

 Where do I get the underlying data for the Graphs provided in the Database ?

The underlying data for all Graphs provided in the Database is available for download in excel
format in the top-right hand corner of the page.

 What are "inactive RTAs"?

"Inactive RTAs" refer to those RTAs, previously in force and notified to the GATT/WTO, which are
no longer in force to date.

 What are the "Trade-related data" excel files provided in the ID Cards?

The tariff and trade data excel files compile the statistics received from the parties of an RTA for
the preparation of the Factual Presentation. Consequently, these files are only available for those
RTAs which have been subject to a Factual Presentation.

 What is the Preferential Tariff Analysis?

This helps users to extract the preferential tariff commitments made by a party within different
RTAs for different partners for selected products. The tariff information provided in the Database
is taken from the tariff liberalization schedules provided by the parties in accordance with the
Transparency Mechanism for RTAs. Users should be aware that actual preferential rates may
differ from those available here.

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5 FEEDBACK AND CONTACT POINT

Any feedback on this database, including any problem encountered with the content or the user
interface, should be reported to the RTA Section:

Regional Trade Agreements Section

Trade Policies Review Division
World Trade Organization
154, rue de Lausanne
CH-1211 Geneva 2

Email: [email protected]

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