RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/REG/W/9
9October 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4118)
Committee onRegional Trade Agreements
Fifth Session
7&10-11 October 1996
NOTE ONPROCEDURES TOFACILITATE
AND IMPROVE THE EXAMINATION PROCESS
Note bytheSecretariat
ThisnotehasbeenpreparedfollowingarequestbytheCommitteeonRegionalTradeAgreements
(CRTA) atitsmeeting on19September 1996. Itcontains anexpanded listofpoints thatmaybeof
relevance forthediscussion intheCRTA under item1(c)ofitsTerms ofReference -thatis,"todevelop,
asappropriate, procedures tofacilitate andimprove theexamination process". Itelaborates ondocument
WT/REG/W/7 bydrawing onsuggestions made bydelegations atvarious meetings oftheCRTA, as
wellasonwritten submissions bydelegations.1Thesuggestions bydelegations aregrouped under the
followinggeneralheadings:Objectives,Guidelines,Notification,InformationandExaminationProcess.
Totheextent possible, theSecretariat hasincluded comments made bydelegations butstands
ready toaddtoorotherwise modify thisnoteasthought necessary.
_________________________
OBJECTIVES
1. With respect tothereconsideration oftheobjectives oftheexamination ofregional trade
agreements (RTAs), three options were suggested:
(a) Reconsider theobjectives oftheexamination asafirststeptofacilitate andimprove
theexamination process. Itwassuggested thatthisrefers exclusively totheprocess
ofexamination ofRTAs andnottheprovisions ofArticle XXIV.
(b) Revert toitatalaterstage, ifdeemed necessary.
(c) Refrain fromaddressing thisissuebecause itisoutoftheCRTA 'sterms ofreference.
1Proposals already contained indocument WT/REG/W/7 appear initalics.WT/REG/W/9
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GUIDELINES
2. Itwassuggested thattheadvantages offormalizing theprocedures forexamining RTAs be
consideredwhendevelopingguidelines.Aformalizedprocesswouldincreasepredictability;forexample,
itwould encourage Members tonotify andprovide information onRTAs onatimely basis. However,
itwasnoted thataformalized procedure might notbesuitable forevery agreement andcould insome
instances introduce adegree ofinflexibility intotheprocess.
3. Itwasproposed thatGuidelines fortheprocess oftheexamination ofRTAs bedeveloped .
Guidelines could:
(a) bediscussed andagreed tointheCRTA; or
(b) bediscussed andagreed inaWorking Party established bytheCRTA.
NOTIFICATION
Timing
4. Options toensure thetimely notification ofagreements include:
(a) TheCRTA could follow atwo-tiered approach, withinformation ofageneral nature
being dueforsubmission atanearly stage, andthatofamore specific nature being
required atalaterdate-thatis,atthetimeofthenotification proper. Timing ofthese
twosubmissions could beatdifferent stages intheprocess oftheestablishment ofthe
RTA-negotiation, signature, ratification, entry intoforce. Thefirstsubmission could
beprovided between thefinalnegotiation andsignature oftheagreement, andthe
notification between ratification andentry intoforce.
(b) Envisage theprovision ofpreliminary information ofageneral nature toinform the
Committee ofearly developments assoonaspossible.
(c) Parties toanRTA could berequired tonotify onlyatonepoint intime; forinstance,
between ratification andtheentry intoforce ofanRTA.
(d) Fullflexibility could begiven totheparties toanRTAindeciding when tonotify their
agreement.2
2OftheRTAs thusfarnotified under Article XXIV, onethird were notified between thedateofsignature
andthedateofentry intoforce, andhalfwere notified afterthedateofentry intoforce. Onaverage, theinterval
between thedateofentry intoforce andthedateofnotification entailed adelay ofabout fiveweeks.WT/REG/W/9
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Non-compliance
5. Thefollowing options relating tonon-compliance were proposed:
(a) TheCommittee could consider thepossibility ofcounter-notification, afterwhich, an
examination process could follow. However, some Members suggested thatthe
Committee should refrain fromadopting thisapproach astheWTO legalframework
didnotprovide forcounter-notification ofRTAs.
(b) Members, through theCommittee, could urgeparties tocomply withtheirnotification
obligations.
INFORMATION
Submission ofStandard Format
6. TheuseoftheStandard Format raises itsownquestion oftiming .Thus,
(a) theCommitteecouldrequestpartiestoRTAstosubmitresponsestotheStandardFormat
atthetimeofthenotification; or
(b) theCommittee could leave theprocess flexible, requiring onlythatsubmission of
responses bemade wellinadvance ofthefirstexamination.
Standard Format onServices
7. Topromote transparency andfurther assist intheexamination process, theCommittee has
requested theSecretariat todevelop aStandard Format tocover agreements liberalizing tradeinservices
which would parallel theStandard Format forgoods andbeofsimilar status. Thisdrafting should
bedoneonthebasis oftherelevant provisions oftheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices; and
delegations havebeeninvited toprovide aninput totheprocess.
Trade Data
8. TheCRTA could determine thetrade datatobesubmitted inthecaseofcustoms unions .
Electronic Submission ofInformation
9. There isthepossibility ofsubmitting information electronically .
EXAMINATION PROCESS
Examination ofRTAs covering bothGoods andServices
10. Toensure aneffective examination ofRTAs covering bothgoods andservices :
(a) agreements covering goods andservices could bedealt withback-to-back inthe
examination ofanRTA; orWT/REG/W/9
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(b) theycould bedealtwithinwhatever fashion theCommittee deems bestforanindividual
RTA.
Simplified Procedures
11. Ifasimplified procedure fortheexamination ofRTAs having minimal effects onother Members
andonthemultilateral trading system istobeadopted, Members would needtodecide whatconstitutes
"minimal effects onother Members andonthemultilateral trading system"; forexample, anagreement
could haveconsiderable effects onasmall group ofMembers, butminimal effects onthemultilateral
trading system. Ithasbeenmentioned, however, thata"simplified procedure" should notprevent any
Member from pursuing issues orfrom posing questions totheparties totheRTA.
Number ofMeetings
12. Thepossibility ofestablishing amaximum number ofmeetings fortreating asingle RTA was
raised.
Time-frames
13. Thestatus ofthetime-frames could be:
(a) binding; or
(b) non-binding.
Reporting
14. Withrespect tothenature andcontent ofreports andtheprocedures foradopting them,itwas
suggested thatthereport could separate thefactual partfromtheconclusions. Thefactual partwould
faithfully reflect thediscussion intheCommittee; theconclusions would bepresented indraftform
tobeconsidered bytheCommittee.3TheCommittee would then"take note" ofthefactual partand
"adopt" theconclusions.
RoleoftheSecretariat
15. Options withrespect totheroleoftheSecretariat infacilitating thevarious steps ofthe
examination process include:
(a) Collection ofinformation tofacilitate thecompletion oftheStandard Format in
consultation withtheparties totheRTA.
(b) Providing assistance toparties toRTAs inmeeting allWTO requirements relating to
theirexamination.
3Thecustomary practice under theGATT 1947 -whereby representatives may, upon request, verify those
portions ofthedraft proceedings containing their statements prior totheissuance ofsuchproceedings -would
becontinued.WT/REG/W/9
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Duration
16. Taking intoaccount theuseoftheStandard Format, theexamination process nowcomprises
thefollowing steps: submission oftheStandard Format; written questions andreplies, ifany;rounds
ofexamination bytheCRTA; preparation ofthereport; submission ofthereport foradoption by
therelevant body; adoption ofthereport bytherelevant body.
17. Withrespect tohowlongtheexamination ofanRTAshould extend ,thefollowing options were
proposed:
(a) Settime-limits foreachstepandthusfortheoverall examination period.
(b) Provide aspecific range oftimefortheentire examination ofanRTA, withallsteps
tobecompleted within thattimelimit.
(c) Provide flexibility forthetiming ofeachstage, aswellasfortheexamination asa
whole.
Transfer ofFunctions
18. Totransfer totheCRTA thefunctions relating tothenotification andexamination ofRTAs
currently performed bytheCouncil forTrade inGoods, theCouncil forTrade inServices andthe
Committee onTrade andDevelopment ,adecision bytheGeneral Council would benecessary.