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WT/REG/M/95  
 
14 November 2019  
(19-7771) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Ninety -Fifth Session    
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 8 NOVEMBER 2019 
Chairman:  Ambassador Carlos Mario Foradori (Argentina)  
A.  ADOPTION OF THE AGEN DA 
1.1.  The 95th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 20/Rev.1  dated 21 October 2019.  
1.2.  The Chairman  welcomed delegations to the meeting. U nder Other Business he intended to 
inform  the Committee of technical assistance activities conducted by the Secretariat on RTAs in 201 9 
and those planned for 20 20 and of the proposed schedule for CRTA meetings for 20 20. 
1.3.  The Committee  accordingly adopted  the following Agenda:  
 Adoption of the Agenda  
 Friends of the Chair – Statement by the Chair  
 Implementation of the RTA Transparency Mechanism - Status R eport on the 
Committee's Work: 
I. Early Announcements ( http://rtais.wto.org ) 
 Free Trade Agreement between C anada and MERCOSUR  
II. Notifications received pursuant to GATT Article XXIV:7(a), and GATS 
Article V:7(a)  
Free Trade Agreement between Turkey and Jordan, goods  – 
WT/REG294/N/2 – Notification of Termination  
III. Notification of changes to  existing RTAs  
 Free Trade Agreement between C hile and Chi na, goods and services - 
WT/REG 230/N/1/A dd.1 - S/C/N/ 577/Add.1 
Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Israel,  goods - 
WT/REG 31/N/1/A dd.1 
IV. Non-notified RTAs (WT/REG/W/144)  
V. Status on the Preparation of Factual Presentations (including delays in the 
receipt of data and comments) WT/REG/W/145  
 Communication from the European Union – European Union follow -up questions 
to LAIA member countries  (WT/REG/W/124)  
 Implementation Reports under Paragraph 15 of the Transparency Mechanism 
for RTAs  
 Consideration of R egional Trade Agreements  
(I) Free Trade Agreeme nt between Turkey and Singapore,  goods and services  
(WT/REG 392/N/1 - S/C/N/ 916, WT/REG392/1, WT/REG3 92/2) 
(II) Free Trade Agreement between the European Union  and Japan , goods and 
services (WT/REG 396/N/1, S/C/N/921, WT/REG 396/1, WT/REG 396/2) 
 Adoption of the Ann ual Report (2019) of the CRTA to the General Council 
(WT/REG/W/143)  
 Other business  
B. FRIENDS OF THE CHAIR  – STATEMENT BY THE C HAIR  
1.4.  The Chairman , as a follow up to previous meetings and in the context of the creation or 
establishment of a "Friends of the Chair"  type of mechanism  or process to help improve the RTAs WT/REG/M/95  
 
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  notifications' performance, proposed that t he two Friends of the Chair, Ambassador  Lisson of 
Australia and Amb assador  Cancela of Uruguay  would work together to try to make progress on the 
longstanding Gulf Cooperation Council and LAIA notifications issue s. The Friends of the Chair would 
focus exclusively on the LAIA and GCC issues. The Fr iends of the Chair would keep the CRTA apprised 
of developments on a step by step basis. Any potential outcome to be reached through the Friends 
of the Chair process would not be considered fait accompli  and would be presented to the CRTA for 
a decision. H aving a transparent consultation process would favour meaningful engagement from 
interested Members. To that effect, the Friends of the Chair's consultations and meetings would be 
open to all interested Members and an informal written status report on the consultations would be 
circulated to help Members prepare ahead of the CRTA formal meetings. He was of the opinion that 
those elements could serve as the basis for the Committee's common understanding  or agreement 
regarding the  work of the  two Friends of t he Chair and their task for the following months. If 
everyone agree d, he would convey the message to the two Friends of the Chair and invite them to 
start their work without further delay.  
1.5.  The representative of Canada  supported the work on resolving the s ystemic issue and was of 
the view that the issues raised by the Chair in the informal process of Friends of the Chai r had full 
potential of success.  
1.6.  The representative of the European Union  thanked the Chair for the proposal. S he was positive 
and hopeful that it would help resolve the longstanding issue s. 
C. IMPLEMENTATION OF TH E RTA TRANSPARENCY M ECHANISM - STATUS RE PORT ON 
THE COMMITTEE'S WORK  
1.7.  The Chairman  provided Members with an update of the Committee's work and the 
implementation of the Transparency Mechanism. In order to reflect the Committee's work , these 
had been divided into separate elements, i.e. early announcements, notifications received since t he 
last Session of the CRTA, non -notified RTAs and status of the preparation of factual presentations 
(including delays in the receipt of data and comments).  
C.I  Early announcements  
1.8.  He said that a  total of 3 8 early announcements were currently on the WTO website (not 
counting those which ha d been subsequently notified). The latest early announcement received was 
of the FTA between Canada and MERCOSUR.  He thanked  Members who ha d submitted information 
in line with the requirements of the Transparency Mechani sm and encourage d others to do so. Also , 
he reminded  Members to inform the Secretariat of any changes in the status of early 
announcements.  
1.9.  The representative of China  welcomed the update from Canada and MERCOSUR. China was of 
the view that the early annou ncement was a good way to allow  Members to be aware of the new 
dynamics  and change s in RTAs in a timely manner. To that end, she noted that the United States 
and Japan had signed a trade agreement covering market access for certain agricultural and 
industrial products as well as a digital trade agreement on 7 October 2019. At this stage, the 
coverage of the US-Japan trade agreement seem ed limited. Given the significance of U S-Japan 
trade, she encourage d the United States and Japan to share more information about the n ewly 
signed agreement with Members. She hoped that  the United States and Japan would promptly notify 
the agreement in line with the WTO's Transparency Mechanism for RTA s.  
1.10.   The representative of the United States  thanked  China  for the interest . The United States 
would provide the WTO with the relevant information at the appropriate time.  
1.11.   The representative of Japan  thank ed the representative of China for the interest 
demonstrated . The issue had not been  included in the A genda of the meeting but he said that, as a 
result of the negotiations based on the joint statement of 26 September  2018, Japan  and the United 
States had signed the US -Japan trade agree ment on 7 October  2019. Both countries share d the 
desire for the agreement to enter into force in the near future following the completion of the ir 
respective domestic procedures. The relevant information would be published in due course in an 
appropriate manner.  WT/REG/M/95  
 
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  C.II Notifications received pursuant to  GATT A rticle  XXIV:7(A), and GATS  Article  V:7(A)   
1.12.   The Chairman  informed the Committee that , since the airgram of the last meeting had been  
issued , the Secretariat ha d received  notification of the termination of the Free Trade Agreement 
between Turkey and Jordan, goods (document WT/REG294/N/2).  
1.13.   The representative of Jordan  reiterate d Jordan 's keenness to foster its bilateral ties with its 
trading partners on the basis of equality and achieving mutua l interests and fair dividends.  The 
Jordanian cabinet had taken a decision to terminate the Jordan -Turkey association agreement to 
offset the adverse impact resulting from the agreement and to provide Jordanian manufacturers 
with the opportunity to mitigat e the implications of the ongoing regional crises and the losses 
incurred due to the closure of borders with neighbouring  countries and the deterioration of Jordan 's 
overland trade with its main trading partners.  However, Jordan and Turkey continued to wor k jointly 
to foster bilateral cooperation by facilitating the exchange of experiences  and the transfer of 
technology, and  to ensure  an attractive environment for enterprises for doing business that would 
contribute to expanding and diversifying trade.  In that context, they had signed a new agreement 
on trade and economic cooperation in October. The agreement establishe d a new level of partnership 
between the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Republic of Turkey aiming to achieve mutual 
interests.  
1.14.   The repre sentative of Turkey  said that the Turkey -Jordan association agreement ha d been 
terminated by Jordan and Turkey respect ed the decision. Nevertheless,  Turkey strived  to deepen 
the economic relationship with its trading partners including Jordan in the sense that Turkey and 
Jordan had signed a new agreeme nt on trade and economic cooperation in October. The agreement 
establishe d a new platform for cooperation and trade and other areas.  
C.III Notification of changes to existing RTAs  
1.15.   The Chairman  said that s ince the previous meeting the following notifications of changes to 
existing RTAs ha d been received: China and Chile, goods and services (document s 
WT/REG230/N/1/Add.1 and S/C/N/577/Add.1) and Canada and Israel, goods (document 
WT/REG31/N/1/Add .1). 
1.16.   The representative of the European Union  commended the Parties for the transparency 
provided and welcomed the modernization of their current FTAs.  
C.IV Non-notified  RTAs (WT/REG/W/1 44) 
1.17.   The Chairman  said that an updated list of non -notified RTAs had been circulated on 28 October 
as document  WT/REG/W/1 44 and contained 79 RTAs issued in factual presentations up to 25 October 
2019. Two RTAs had been added: Paraguay -Chinese Taipei and Paraguay -Venezuela.  
1.18.   The representative of the European Union  said she would  come back with further comments 
under item D on the issue of non -notified RTAs concerning the agreements under the framework of 
the Treaty of Montevide o.  
C.V Status on the preparation of factual presentations (including delays in the receipt of 
data and comments ) (WT/REG/W/145) 
1.19.   The Chairman  said that as regards the preparation of the factual presentations under the 
remit of the CRTA, in the case of RTAs involving WTO Members only , there were currently 21 RTAs 
for which a factual presentation had to be prepared, counting goods and services se parately. He 
recall ed that at the Committee's 52nd Session held on 4 March 2009, Members had agreed to begin 
considering RTAs involving non -members under the T ransparency Mechanism 's procedures. Thus, 
factual presentations on a further 20 RTAs involving no n-members were to be prepared. Members 
had agreed that those RTAs notified since 14 December 2006, including future notifications, should 
be taken up before the others. Data requests for RTAs notified since the adoption of the Transparency 
Mechanism had be en sent to the relevant parties.  
1.20.   Regarding the backlog due to late receipt of data necessary for the preparation and drafting 
of factual presentations and comments on factual presentations, he had continued consultations with WT/REG/M/95  
 
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  a number of delegations and h e hoped that they would provide  the missing information as soon as 
possible. An updated list of all such RTAs had been recently circulated as WT/REG/W/145.  
1.21.   He inform ed the Members that the Secretariat had continu ed to try to resolve the issue 
regarding the consideration of the CEFTA agreement raised at the previous meeting. The WTO 
follow ed UN practice on such matters.   
1.22.   He gave the floor to the Secretariat to provide more details on the status of the preparation 
of factual presentations.  
1.23.   A representative of the Secretariat  said that for agreements among WTO Members, comments 
on GCC -Singapore, services, had been received from Singapore but not from the GCC. For 
Korea -ASEAN, goods, comments from some ASEAN countries were still outstanding. F or 
ASEAN -Japan, EU -SADC, both good s, and Hong Kong, China -Georgia, goods and services, comments 
had been received and were being incorporated into the factual presentation . There were a few 
outstanding issues with EU -SADC  and she hoped that they would be resolved soon. For EU -Cameroon 
and EU -PNG, Fiji, both goods, data were not complete. For Korea -India, goods, data had been 
received and the factual presentation  was being drafted. For MERCOSUR -Israel, goods and services, 
the Secretariat was still awaiting data from Uruguay. For the GCC, goods, the Secretariat was still 
awaiting responses to Members' questions. For EU -Armenia, services, the factual presentation  was 
being drafted. For ECOWAS, goods, no data had been received.  
1.24.   As regards RTAs with non -Members, for the CIS agreement and GUAM, both goods, some 
comments had been received. For the following agreements data was not complete: EFTA -Lebanon, 
Turkey -Syria, Ukraine -Azerbaijan, Ukraine -Turkmenistan, and Russian Federation -Turkmenistan , all 
goods . The drafting of the factual presentations on those agreement s could not be started until the 
receipt of data.  
1.25.   Finally, t here were some  agreements that had been notified but that were not yet in force for 
all Parties. Some of th ese agreements were relatively old. The Secretariat was sta rting the 
preparation of the factual presentations for the Parties that the agreement s were in force for. D ata 
requests  had been sent out and some data had been received . For EU-Central America , the 
Secretariat was still awaiting data from the EU. Given the recent ratification of EFTA -Philippines, 
goods and services, by Iceland, the Secretariat expected to receive data from Iceland soon while it 
had already received data from the other Parties.  For CPTPP, which was in force for Australia, 
Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore and Viet Nam , some data from some of those 
Parties had been received and the Secretariat continued to liaise with the Parties to receive 
outstanding data as soon as possibl e.  
1.26.   The Chairman  reiterated his offer of good offices to all the Members involved in the issue 
regarding CEFTA to try to resolve the issue . He underst ood the position of all the parties involved  
and the sensitivity of the issue and he would try to do his best to resolve the issue.  
D. COMMUNICATION FROM  THE EUROPEAN UNION – EUROPEAN UNION FOL LOW -UP 
QUESTIONS TO LAIA ME MBER COUNTRIES (WT/R EG/W/124)  
1.27.   The representative of the European Union  said tha t the EU was coming back again to the issue 
of the non -notified agreements falling under the framework of the Treaty of Montevideo. The issue 
had been raised numerous times at previous CRTA meetings. She reiterated the request to receive 
the outstanding re plies from LAIA member countries to the EU 's follow up questions distributed in a 
communication o n 30 October 2017. Despite the reassurance at the CRTA meeting in September 
2019 that LAIA member countries were working on a response to the questions, to dat e no responses 
had been received either in the CTD or in the CRTA. For that reason, she believed in the ne ed to 
continue raising the issue in both Committees until the EU 's concerns w ere clarified.  
1.28.   The representative of Argentina  reiterate d the importance of the issue and said Argentina was 
working to provide a satisfactory response to the additional  questions from the European Union . As 
a concrete example of the commitment to transparency in the WTO, he informed the Committee of 
an initiative by Argentina to develop  an artificial intelligence tool or platform to systematise 
notifications with a view to dealing with them in a simplified and effective manner. Argentina had 
already been consulting with some delegations of LAIA countries and had presented the initiative to WT/REG/M/95  
 
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  the WTO Secretariat, and hoped  to enhance its possible benefits. In addition, Argentina had 
organized a working session at the WTO Public Forum on multilate ralism and  RTAs with a focus on 
MERCOSUR which had allowed it to approach the benefits and challenges of RTAs and regionalism 
from an interactive perspective. He thanked all those that had attended  the event for their support 
and contributions.  
1.29.   The repres entative of Chile thanked the EU for the questions and endorsed what Argentina 
had said. Chile and the other members of LAIA had been  working to provide a prompt response to 
the questions.  
E. IMPLEMENTATION RE PORTS UNDER PARAGRAP H 15  OF THE TRANSPARENCY  
MECHANISM FOR RTAS  
1.30.   The Chairman  stated that once a year a list of all implementation reports issued during that 
year was included on the Agenda in order to give Members the opportunity to comment on those  
reports. An updated schedule for the submission of su ch reports had been distributed by the 
Secretariat in document WT/REG/W/140 at the beginning of the year. As of 15 March 2019, 
implementation reports had been due for 139 RTAs, and the end of implementation for six RTAs was 
in 2019. The end of implementati on for a total of 111 RTAs was from 2020 onwards, while for two 
RTAs the end of implementation year was not available. He regretted to inform Members that no 
implementation reports had been received in 2019. He hoped that Members would endeavour to 
comply with the obligation so that all Members could benefit from transparency as envisaged by the 
Mechanism.  
F. CONSIDERATION OF R EGIONAL TRADE AGREEM ENTS  
ITEM F.I 
(The minutes of the consideration of th is Agreement are being distributed as a separate document  
WT/REG3 92/M/1. ) 
 
ITEM F.II  
 
(The minutes of the consideration of th is Agreement are being distributed as a separate document  
WT/REG 396/M/1.) 
 
G. ADOPTION OF THE ANNU AL REPORT (2019) OF THE CRTA TO THE GENE RAL COUNCIL 
(WT/REG/W/143)  
1.31.   The Chairman  said that a  draft of the Committee's Annual Report had been  distributed in 
document WT/REG/W/ 143 and no c omments had been  received . The report was adopted.  
H. OTHER BUSINESS   
1.32.   The Chairman  recalled that at the Committee's 32nd Session, it had been agreed to regularly  
review the RTA related technical assistance activities undertaken by the Secretariat. The Secretariat 
would give an account of activities carrie d out in 201 9 and planned for 2020. Details were available 
in room document RD/RTA/5 3. 
1.33.   A representative of the Secretariat  said that the RTA Section had conducted 12 technical 
assistance activities in 201 9. Thirteen activities  had been  scheduled for 20 20, seven of which were 
intermediate level regional activities (form erly known as regional trade policy courses), three were 
Geneva -based applied trade policy courses, two were Geneva -based thematic courses and one was 
an e-learning online  course. Most of the activities indicated in the table had been financed by the 
WTO regular budget, donations by Members, or by the Global Trust Fund for activities under the 
DDA. The objectives of the activities listed varied from raising awareness on RTA  dynamics in global 
trade, to training and advising government officials on WTO rules and procedures on RTAs, including 
the TM. Most technical assistance activities were addressed to participants from broad regional 
groupings. Their underlying objective wa s to contribute to the development of RTAs that were 
beneficial to their members and that complemented the objectives of the WTO. Since the DDA , the WT/REG/M/95  
 
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  RTA Section had been entrusted with the task of clarifying issues related to the negotiations on RTA 
rules to WTO Members requesting such aid.  
1.34.   The Chairman  inform ed the Members  of the dates scheduled for the CRTA's meetings in 20 20. 
Those would  be held on 7-8 April, 22 -23 or 29 -30 June, 21 -22-23 September and November , 
depending on workload and the availability  of the incoming Chair. Exact dates would be 
communicated to Members  when available.  
1.35.   The representative of Japan , referring to an earlier comment by China,  said that both the 
United States and Japan had informed the Committee that the  relevant  information on their 
agreement would be shared in due course. However, he noted that the discussion of the US-Japan 
trade agreement  had not been included in the Agenda of the meeting . He requested therefore that 
the intervention  on the issue be included in the minutes  under Agenda item F and not C.I.  
1.36.   The representative of China  welcomed the successful consideration of the EU -Japan RTA and 
said that she would study the agreement in more detail. Regarding her earlier intervention , she said 
she was  open to discuss  where to include the discussion in the minutes.  However, c onsidering that 
the US -Japan agreement had not yet been  implemented , she had thought it  more appropriate to 
mention it under  early announcement s. She wanted to encourage the Parties to share information.  
1.37.   The representative of Japan  thanked China and took note of the encouragement.  
1.38.   The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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