WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/REG/W/49
21 November 2003
(03-6210)
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
Thirty-Fifth Session
DRAFT REPORT (2003) OF THE
COMMITTEE ON REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL
Chairman:  Mr. Jaynarain Meetoo (Mauritius)
I. INTRODUCTION
1. At the first meeting on 3-4 April 2003, the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements
(CRTA) elected Mr. Jaynarain Meetoo (Mauritius) as Chairman of the Committee.  Dr. Vassili Notis
(Greece) retained his position as Vice-Chairman and Mr B. Weston (Trinidad and Tobago) and Mr. S.
Dalela (India) were elected as Vice-Chairmen.
2. During 2003, the Committee held two sessions (in April and December).  The minutes of
those meetings are listed in Attachment 1.  [The Committee plans to hold two meetings in 2004.]
II. OBSERVER STATUS
3. The Committee agreed to continue the granting of observer status in the CRTA to the Latin
American Integration Association (LAIA), on an ad hoc  basis.  No decision was taken with respect to
the requests for observer status listed in do cument WT/REG/W/11/Add.3, pe nding the guidelines to
be defined by the General Council.
III. EXAMINATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
4. As of [12 November 2003, 273] RTAs have been notified to the GATT/WTO.1  Of these,
[227] agreements were notified under GATT Articl e XXIV, of which [143] are still in force today;
[19] agreements were notified under the Enabling Clause;2 and [27] under GATS Article V.
5. The Committee has currently under examination a total of [138] agreements.3  T h e
examination of 111 of these agreements has been referred to the Committee by the Council for Trade
in Goods, 26 by the Council for Trade in Services and one by the Committee on Trade and
Development.  For [23] RTAs, the Committee has not yet started the factual examination.  [39] RTAs
are currently undergoing factual examination.  For the remaining [76] RTAs the factual examination
is already complete (see Attachment 2).  No progress was made, however, on the completion of the
examination reports.
                                                     
1 This figure corresponds to notifications of new RTAs, as well as accessions to existing RTAs.
2 Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fulle r Participation of Developing
Countries , Decision of the GATT CONTRACTING PARTIES of 28 November 1979.
3 Five RTAs notified under GATT Article XXIV and one RTA notified under GATS Article V have
not yet been transmitted to the Committee for examination.WT/REG/W/49
Page 2
6. [At its Thirty-Fifth Session, the Chairman made a status report on the examination work
under the Committee's purview.  He noted that …  In the debate that followed, Members …  to be
completed. ]
IV. REPORTING ON THE OPERATION OF AGREEMENTS
7. Six biennial reports due in 2001 are still outstanding (see Attachment 3).
8. [At its Thirty-Fifth Session, the Committee was presented with the 2004 Schedule for
Submission of Reports, circulated as WT/REG/W/48 … to be completed ].
V. PROCEDURES TO IMPROVE AND FACILITATE THE EXAMINATION PROCESS
9. No discussion took place on this item.
VI. SYSTEMIC IMPLICATIONS OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND
INITIATIVES FOR THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM AND THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEM
10. No discussion took place on this item.
VII. OTHER
11. At its Thirty-Fifth Session, the Committee was presented with a summary of the proceedings
of the WTO Seminar on Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO held on 14 November (see
Attachment 4). [to be completed. ]
12. At that same Session, and as agreed at the Committee's Thirty-Second Session, the Secretariat
provided the Committee with information regarding RTA-related technical assistance in 2002-2003.[to be completed. ]
VIII.  FINAL REMARKS
13. The Committee has pursued its examination work, but has been unable to finalize reports on
any of the examinations before it.WT/REG/W/49
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ATTACHMENT 1
Minutes of the Meetings held in 2003
Thirty-Fourth Session – 3-4 April 2003
WT/REG/M/34
WT/REG109/M/3 EC and Mexico, Services
WT/REG126/M/1 EFTA and Me xico, Goods and Services
WT/REG125/M/1 Chile and Mexico, Goods and Services
( Kyrgyz Republic, Russian Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan
and Tajikistan
( Kyrgyz Republic and Russian Federation
WT/REG/GEN/M/9 ( Kyrgyz Republic and Ukraine
( Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan( Kyrgyz Republic and Kazakhstan
( Kyrgyz Republic and Armenia
( Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova,
Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic
( Georgia and Russian Federation
( Georgia and Armenia
WT/REG/GEN/M/10 ( Georgia and Azerbaijan
( Georgia and Ukraine
( Georgia and Turkmenistan( Georgia and Kazakhstan
WT/REG124/M/1 Israel and Mexico
WT/REG135/M/1 Turkey and Slovenia
WT/REG128/M/1 Hungary and Estonia
WT/REG143/M/1 EC and Latvia, Services
WT/REG144/M/1 EC and Estonia, Services
WT/REG145/M/1 EC and Lithuania, ServicesWT/REG146/M/1 EC and Slovenia, Services
[ Thirty-Third Session – 2-3 December 2003
WT/REG/M/35
WT/REG/M/
WT/REG/M/
WT/REG/M/
WT/REG/M/WT/REG/M/
WT/REG/M/
WT/REG/M/
WT/REG/M/ to be updated ]WT/REG/W/49
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ATTACHMENT 2
List of RTAs Under Examination4
RTAs for which factual examinations have been completed  and the draft examination reports are in
various stages of consultation and finalization (76):
ANZCERTA (services) EFTA-Bulgaria Norway-Faroe Islands
Bulgaria-FYROM EFTA-Estonia Poland-Faroe Islands
Canada-Chile EFTA-FYROM Poland-Latvia
Canada-Israel EFTA-Hungary Poland-LithuaniaCEFTA
5EFTA-Israel Romania-Moldova
Czech Republic-Estonia EFTA-Latvia Slovak Republic-Estonia
Czech Republic-Latvia EFTA-Lithuania Slovak Republic-Latvia
Czech Republic-Lithuania EFTA-Morocco Slovak Republic-Lithuania
Czech Republic-Turkey EFTA-Poland Slovak Republic-TurkeyEC-P. of Andorra EFTA-Romania Slovenia-Croatia
EC-Bulgaria EFTA-Slov enia Slovenia-Estonia
EC-Czech Republic Estonia-Faroe Islands Slovenia-FYROM
EC-Enlargement (goods and
services)Estonia-Latvia-Lithuania Slovenia-Latvia
EC-Estonia Estonia-Ukrai ne Slovenia-Lithuania
EC-Hungary (goods and
services)Hungary-Latvia Switzerland-Faroe Islands
EC-Israel Hungary-Lithuania Turkey-Bulgaria
EC-Latvia Kyrgyz Republic-Moldova Turkey-EstoniaEC- Lithuania Iceland-Faroe Islands Turkey-FYROM
EC-Poland (goods and services) Israel-Czech Republic Turkey-Hungary
EC-Romania Israel-Hungary Turkey-Israel
EC-Slovak Republic (goods and
services)Israel-Poland Turkey-Latvia
EC-Slovenia Israel-Slovak Republic Turkey-Lithuania
EC-Tunisia Israel-Slovenia Turkey-Poland
NAFTA (goods and services) Turkey-Romania
                                                     
4 Unless otherwise indicated, the examinations of RTAs listed below refer to trade in goods only.
5 Including accession of Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovenia.WT/REG/W/49
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RTAs under factual examination (39):
Canada-Chile (services) EC-Slovenia (services) Georgia-Ukraine
Chile-Mexico (goods and
services)EC-Turkey Kyrgyz Republic-Kazakhstan
EC-Bulgaria (services) EFTA-Mexico (goods and
services)Kyrgyz Republic-Russian
Federation
EC-Czech Republic (services) European Union (services) Kyrgyz Republic-Russian
Federation, Belarus, Kazakhstan
and Tajikistan
EC-Estonia (services) European Economic Area
(services)Kyrgyz Republic-Ukraine
EC-Faroe Islands Georgia-Armenia Kyrgyz Republic-Armenia
EC-FYROM Georgia-Azerbaijan Kyrgyz Republic-Uzbekistan
EC-Latvia (services) Georgia-Kazakhstan MERCOSUR
EC-Lithuania (services) Georgia-Russian Federation Mexico-Israel
EC-Mexico (goods andservices)Georgia-Turkmenistan New Zealand-Singapore (goods
and services)
EC-Morocco Hungary-Estonia Turkey-Slovenia
EC-Romania (services) Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS)
RTAs for which factual examination has not yet commenced (23):
Bulgaria-Estonia EC-Croatia EFTA-Jordan
Bulgaria-Israel EC-Jordan EFTA-Palestinian Authority
Bulgaria-Latvia EC-Palestinian Authority EFTA-Singapore (goods and
services)
Bulgaria-Lithuania EC-South Africa Japan-Singapore (goods and
services)
Canada-Costa Rica EFTA (services) Slovenia-Bosnia and
Herzegovina
CARICOM (services) EFTA-Croatia United States-Jordan (goods
and services)
Chile-Costa Rica (goods and
services)WT/REG/W/49
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ATTACHMENT 3
Schedule for the Submission of Biennial Reports on RTAs
Reports not submitted to the WTO under the 2001 schedule for the submission of biennial reports on
RTAs  (6)
Australia-Papua New Guinea Agreement (PATCRA)
Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
Central American Common Market (CACM)EC-Cyprus
EC-Malta Association Agreement
United States/Israel
Reports due on 31 July 2004 (19)
Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA)
Australia-Papua New Guinea Agreement (PATCRA)
Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
Central American Common Market (CACM)Czech/Slovak Customs Union
European Communities (EC)/Algeria
EC/Cyprus
EC/Egypt
EC/IcelandEC/Malta
EC/Norway
EC/Certain Non-European C ountries and Territories II
EC/Syria
EC/Switzerland and Liechtenstein
European Free Trade Association (EFTA)
EFTA/Czech Rep.EFTA/Slovak Rep.
EFTA/Turkey
United States/IsraelWT/REG/W/49
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ATTACHMENT 4
WTO S EMINAR ON RTA S
PROGRAMME
09:00-09:15 W ELCOMING WORDS
09:15-09:45 S ESSION 1
RTA S, THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM AND THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT
AGENDA :  CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS
/g113 RTAs and the multilateral trading sy stem:  recent developments in the
global and regional trade agendas
09:45-10:45 S ESSION 2
RTA S AND MFN IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY :  DIVERGENT OR CONVERGENT
PATHS ?
/g113 The case for free trade and the role of RTAs
/g113 Competitive liberalization and the role of RTAs
10:45-11:00 COFFEE BREAK
11:00-12:00 S ESSION 3
RTA S AS A DEVELOPMENT TOOL : TO WHAT EXTENT AND UNDER WHICH
CONDITIONS ?
/g113 Lessons from South-South Agreements: the case of Latin America
/g113 North-South Agreements: Integrating developing countries into the World
Trading System?
12:00-13:00 S ESSION 4
REGULATORY PROVISIONS IN RTA S:  CAN AND SHOULD THEY BE SYMMETRICAL ?
/g113 A legal overview of RTAs' regulatory provisions:  crossing the boundaries of
GATT Article XXIV?
/g113 Facilitating or hindering trade:  the role of rules of origin in RTAs
13:00-14:30 LUNCH BREAK
14:30-16:00 S ESSION 4: cont.
/g113 Standards, technical regulations and SPS provisions in RTAs
/g113 Safeguards in RTAs
/g113 Trade and competition policy:  anti-dumping and anti-trust policies in RTAs
16:00-16:15 COFFEE BREAKWT/REG/W/49
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16:15-17:45 S ESSION 5
EXTENDING RTA S BEYOND GOODS TRADE :  TRADE IN SERVICES , INVESTMENT
AGREEMENTS AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
/g113 Economic integration in trade in services
/g113 Investment provisions in RTAs
/g113 Intellectual Property provisions in RTAs and TRIPS
17:45-18:00 W RAP-UP SESSION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS
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