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WT/REG/M/105  
 
12 December  2022 
(22-9223) Page: 1/5 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundredth  and Fifth Session    
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 14 NOVEMBER 2022 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho LEE (Republic of Korea ) 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1.1.  The 10 5th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 30/Rev.1  dated 4 Novem ber 2022.  
1.2.  The Chair welcomed delegations to the 10 5th Session of the CRTA. He recalled that the meeting 
was subject to a hybrid approach, with some Members in the room and others conne cting remotely 
through Interprefy. The Airgram  set out the draft agenda.   
1.3.  Under agenda Item G "Other Business", he would inform Members about  i) technical assistance 
activities on RTAs conducted by the Secretariat during 2022 and those planned for 2023  ii) the issue 
of "WTO Reform" and iii) the proposed date for the first CRTA meeting of 2023 .  
1.4.  The representative of the United  States  asked to include a short communication regarding the 
functioning of the Committee  under agenda Item G.  
1.5.  The Committee adopt ed the Agenda:  
1.6.  The following items were proposed for the agenda:  
 Adoption of the Agenda  
 Early announcements ( http://rtais.wto.org ) 
 Notification of regional trade agreements : 
(I) Free Trade Agreement between T ürkiye  and Denmark in respect of the Faroe 
Islands, goods (WT/REG466/N/1)  
(II) Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and T ürkiye,  goods 
 (WT/REG434/N/1/Add.1)  
(III) Pacific Agreement on Closer  Economic Relations plus (PACER PLUS), Goods and 
Services – Entry into force for Tuvalu and Vanuatu (WT/REG451/N/2 -
S/C/N/1052/add.1)  
(IV) Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and the Gulf Cooperation Council 
(GCC) Member States , goods and services (WT/REG465/N/1 - S/C/N/1111)  
(V) SADC Protocol on Trade in Services (S/C/N/1108)  
(VI) Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United 
 Arab Emirates, services (S/C/N/1110)  
 Non-notified RTAS (WT/REG/W/1 72) WT/REG/M/105  
 
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 Status on the preparation of factual presentations ( WT/REG/W/17 3 to be 
issued)  
 Consideration of Regional Trade Agreements  
(I) Agreement between the Republic of Korea and Türkiye , Services 
(WT/REG339/4, S/C/N/1078, WT/REG339/5)  
(II) Economic Partnership Agreement between Kenya and the United Kingdom, 
goods (WT/REG417 /N/1, WT/REG417/N/1/Add.1, WT/REG417/1, 
WT/REG417/2 to be issued)  
(III) Trade and Partnership Agreement between the United Kingdom and Israel, 
goods (WT/REG428/N/1, WT/REG428/1)  
 (IV) Agreement Establishing an Association between the United  Kingdom and 
 Egypt, goods (WT/REG426/N/1, WT/REG426/1)  
(V) Trade Continuity Agreement between the United Kingdom and Mexico, 
goods (WT/REG456/N/1 – S/C/N/1060, WT/RERG456/1, WT/REG456/2)  
 Adoption of the Annual Report (2022) of the CRTA to the General Council 
(WT/REG/W/171)  
B.  EARLY ANNOUNCEMENTS  
1.7.  The Chair indicated that no early announcements had been received since 2019. He invited all 
Members that were active in RTAs to accordingly info rm the Committee of recent developments. He 
also reminded Members to inform the Secretariat of any changes in the status of early 
announcements.  
C. NOTIFICATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS  
1.8.  The Chair indicated that five notifications had been received sinc e the 104th Session of the 
CRTA.  In addition, one notification had been  received after the deadline for the airgram of the 104th 
meeting and was therefore added in the current agenda. The notifications were as follows:  
I. the Free Trade Agreement between T ürkiye  and Denmark in respect of the Faroe Islands, 
goods (WT/REG466/N/1) , 
II. the F ree Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom and T ürkiye,  goods  
(WT/REG434/N/1/Add.1) , 
III. the entry into force for Tuvalu and Vanuatu  of the Pacific Agreement on Closer  Economic 
Relations plus (PACER PLUS), goods and services  (WT/REG451/N/2 -S/C/N/1052/add.1 ),  
IV. the Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) 
Member States , goods and services (WT/REG465/N/1 - S/C/N/1111) , 
V. the SADC P rotocol on Trade in Services (S/C/N/1108) , which was received too late to be 
included in the previous meeting, and  
VI. the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the United Arab 
Emirates, services (S/C/N/1110) . 
 
D. NON-NOTIFIED RTAS  
1.9.  The Chair stated that an updated list of non -notified RTAs had been  recently circulated as 
WT/REG/W/ 172. It contained 58 RTAs issued in factual presentations up to 07 November 2022. 
Compared to the previous list, no RTA had been added and four had been removed. In addition, on  
11 November 2023, the notification of the Japan -ASEAN protocol on trade in services had been 
received and it would be added to the agenda of the next CRTA meeting.  WT/REG/M/105  
 
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  E. STATUS ON THE PREPARATION OF FACTUAL PRESENTATIONS  
1.10.  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 54 RTAs for which a factual 
presentation had to be prepared, counting goods  and services separately.  
1.11.  Factual presentations on a further 38 RTAs involving non -members were to be prepared, 
counting goods and services separately, as previously agreed by the Committee.  
1.12.  The factual presentations for seven other services agreements were on hold, pending the 
negotiation of services commitments. Of th ose, one involve d non-WTO m embers. An updated list of 
all such RTAs had been  recently circulated as document WT/REG/W/17 3. 
1.13.  The Chair informed the Committee that he had held consultations wi th a few delegations 
regarding the backlog due to late receipt  of data necessary for the preparation of factual 
presentations and comments on factual presentations.  He reiterated the point he had made at the 
previous meeting. Most delegations failed to respond positively to his request for consultations : only 
3 responded to his request while 8 had been invited. He expressed concerned about the subject. He 
hoped that delegations would provide the mi ssing information as soon as possible and be more 
respons ive to the Chair's request for consultations. He would continue consultations with those 
Members who had not respond ed.  
1.14.  He recalled that in the previous meeting he had informed Members about the "RTA Data 
Dialogues" organized by the RTA Section aimed at technical officials handling RTA data submissions. 
The first webinar took place on 18 October and feedback had been  good. The next Session was 
scheduled for 29 November,  and he requested Members to encourage their capital -based colleagues 
to participate in the dialogues.  
1.15.  A representative of the Secretariat  provided the following information. Concerning 
Agreements among Membe rs, the Secretariat was drafting factual presentations for ASEAN -Hong 
Kong, China (G&S), and Türkiye -Serbia (S) and should be in a position to send them soon to the 
Parties for comment.  For Peru's accession to the CPTPP  (G&S) , Türkiye -EFTA (G&S)  and India -
Mauritius (G&S) the draft factual presentation had been sent to the Parties for comments. For EU -
PNG, Fiji, (G) data was awaited f rom Fiji. Data had been received from Samoa and the Solomon 
Islands concerning their accession to th e Agreement.  For ECOWAS (G), some data ha d been received 
from Togo, Niger, Senegal and Benin; no data ha d been received from the other Parties.  For the 
ASEAN FTA most of the data had been received from the Parties and the Secretariat would shortly 
start draft ing the fact ual presentation . For EFTA -Ecuador (G&S) data was awaited from EFTA. For 
EFTA-Indonesia  (G&S)  data was awaited from the Parties.  For the GCC (G), responses were awaited 
from the Parties to Members questions.  
1.16.  With regard to the agreements  involving the Unit ed Kingdom, the factual presentation for UK-
ESA (G)  would shortly be circulated . Final c omments were awaited on UK -Albania (G&S) from the 
United Kingdom. Factual presentations  were being drafted on the UK's Agreements with the following 
Parties: Georgia, North Macedonia  and Central America (all G&S) . The draft of UK -North Macedonia 
(G&S)  would be shortly sent to the Parties for comment. For the remaining agreements involving 
the UK drafting was yet to start or data and further clarifications from a number of the non -UK 
Parties were still pending.  
1.17.  Concerning factual presentations involving non -members, the factual presentation for 
Türkiye -Serbia (S) had been sent to the Parties f or comment. T he Secretariat was drafting factual 
presentations for UK -Serbia (G&S) and Pacer Plus (G). For the CIS Agreement (G) some comments 
had been received. For the EAEU -Iran Agreement (G), the deadline for data submission had been  
22 June 2020  and no data had been received. For the EAEU -Serbia Agreement (G) data ha d been 
received only from Serbia. Data concerning the accession of the Comoros to the EU -ESA Agreement 
(G) had been  due on 30  March 2021 ; data had been received from the EU. For the UK-Faeroe Islands  
(G), UK-Lebanon  (G), and UK -CARIFORUM  (G&S) , data had been  due on 5 May 2021  and was still 
awaited from some non-UK Parties. For UK -Palestine  (G), data had been  due on 10 May 2021. For 
Türkiye -Kosovo and UK -Kosovo (both G) data had been r eceived.  WT/REG/M/105  
 
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  1.18.  For the following agreements data was not complete: EFTA -Lebanon, Türkiye -Syria, 
Ukraine -Azerbaijan, Ukraine -Turkmenistan, and the Russian Federation -Turkmenistan  (all G) . The 
data requests had been  made a few years ago.  
1.19.  The representative of the United Kingdom  thanked the Cha ir and the Secretariat for the help 
and support. There were quite a few UK Agreements and she appreciated the time and effort offered 
to work together and the UK stood ready for consultations. She took note that the Secretaria t was 
waiting for comments on UK -Albania which would be sent as soon as possible.  
1.20.  The representative of the United States  encouraged the Parties to provide the required data 
and information in order for the Secretariat to complete the drafting of the outstanding factual 
presentations. Lack of transparency contributed to the decrease in relevance of the WTO and the 
questionin g of the proper functioning of Committees by some stakeholders. He urged Members to 
participate in the transparency exercise.  
1.21.  The Chair agreed with the United States on the importance of transparency. The starting point 
for securing transparency through th e processes of the CRTA was the notification of RTAs and then 
the supply of necessary data for the Secretariat to prepare factual presentations. He urged all 
Members to comply with the process and cooperate in supplying the necessary data.  
F. CONSIDERATION  OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS  
ITEM F.I 
(The minutes of the consideration of this Agreement were being distributed as a separate document 
WT/REG 339/M/2) 
 
ITEM F.II  
(The minutes of the consideration of this Agreement were being distributed as a separate do cument 
WT/REG 417/M/1)  
 
ITEM F.III 
(The minutes of the consideration of this Agreement were being distributed as a separate document 
WT/REG 428/M/1)  
 
ITEM F.IV  
(The minutes of the consideration of this Agreement were being distributed as a separate document 
WT/REG 426/M/1)  
 
ITEM F.V  
(The minutes of the consideration of this Agreement were being distributed as a separate document 
WT/REG 456/M/1)  
 
G. ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT (2022) OF THE CRTA TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
(WT/REG/W/171)  
1.22.  The Chair stated that the draft annual report had been distributed in document 
WT/REG/W/171, dated 7 November 2022. He recalled that the deadline of 31 October had been set 
for comments and that none had been received.  
1.23.  The Committee  adopted the Annual Report (2022) of the CRTA to the General Council.  
H. OTHER BUSINESS  
1.24.  The representative of the United States  was interested in hearing thoughts and views from 
Members regarding the efficacy and utility of CRTA processes for reviewing the  factual presentations 
prepared by the Secretariat according to the RTA Transparency Mechanism (W/L/671). He 
encouraged Members to share any ideas on how the CRTA could be more dynamic and better serve 
Members including how the CRTA could become more relev ant to 21st century issues such as labour, 
gender, digital trade and trade and climate. Those were issues that were increasingly addressed in 
RTAs around the globe.  WT/REG/M/105  
 
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  1.25.  The United States  was preparing a communication to solicit ideas and would ask the Chair t o 
circulate the communication to all Members in the coming days. It would offer some initial questions 
for Members ' consideration intended only to provoke reflection and solicit additional views.  In order 
to ensure that Members had the opportunity to revie w and reflect on each other's view, he 
encouraged members written responses by, for example, 31  January 2023, and ask ed the 
Secretariat to compile and circulate Members ' written comments prior to the March 2023 meetings 
of the CRTA.  It would  not be a forma l proposal, just an idea. He looked forward to working with the 
Chair and Members for the Committee to address the important questions.  
1.26.  The Chair thanked the United States for the constructive suggestion and looked forward to 
the submission of the communi cation as early as possible so that he could circulate it and Members 
had the opportunity to have a close look at the proposed contribution.  
1.27.  The Chair recalled that, on technical cooperation activities, it had been agreed at the 
Committee's 32nd Session to  regularly review them at the last meeting of the year. He invited the 
Secretariat to give an account of activities carried out in 202 2 and those planned for 202 3. Details 
were available in room document RD/RTA/ 58. 
1.28.  A representative of the Secretariat  informed the Committee that, as it could be seen from the 
table that had been made available electronically with the documents for the meeting (document 
RD/RTA/58), most of the technical assistance provided by the WTO Secretariat during 2022 had 
been online due to the health pandemic. During the second half of the year the Secretariat had 
slowly resumed face -to-face activities both in Geneva and elsewhere. She confirmed that the 
Secretariat had continued to participate in the regular online cour ses of the WTO and had also 
provided training for national seminars as requested.  
1.29.  For 2023, as face -to-face technical cooperation activities started again, the Secretariat would 
continue to adjust as necessary to the evolving environment and deliver its ma ndate in the most 
appropriate way and to the highest possible standards. To date, there had been  no national requests 
for any specialized activities on the topic of RTAs for 2023. The Secretariat would also continue to 
offer a specialized course on RTAs th rough its e learning platform.  
1.30.  The Chair recalled that at the previous meeting he had made himself available for any 
discussions or initiatives on WTO reform Members thought appropriate.  He reported that no 
delegations had approached him. He assured Membe rs that he would remain at their disposal for 
any conversation in that respect. That was an ongoing subject also related to the United States 
intervention. He suggested to keep the issue open for any formal or informal discussion.  
1.28. The Chair informed  the Committee of that the next CRTA meeting was scheduled for 2 7-28 
March  2023, subject to the availability of the incoming Chair. Exact dates would be communicated 
when available.  
1.31.  The Committee took note  of all the comments made  during the meeting . 
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