WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/REG/M/66 
26 September 2012  
 
(12-5149) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Sixty-sixth Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 18-19 SEPTEMBER 2012 
 
Chairman:  Mr. F. Riegert (France) 
 
 
A. A DOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The 66th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgra m WTO/AIR/3987 dated 7 August 2012. 
2. The Chairman said he would raise three point s under "Other Business".  The first was a 
summary of the conclusions of the informal me eting of the CRTA on 11 September concerning the 
reduction in costs of printing documentation for m eetings.  He would also invite submissions on 
systemic issues.  The second concerned the dates for meetings of the CRTA over the remainder of the year.   
3. The European Union requested the opportunity to  make a short statement on systemic issues 
following the informal discussions on 11 September.   
4. The following Agenda was adopted: 
A. Adoption of the Agenda 
B. Consideration of Regional Trade Agreements 
I. Status Report on the Committee's Work - Non-notified RTAs  II. Implementation Reports under Paragraph 15 of the Transparency Mechanism 
for RTAs (TM) 
III.  Free Trade Agreement between Peru and the Republic of Korea, goods and 
services 
IV. Free Trade Agreement between Cana da and Colombia, goods and services 
V. Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Albania, goods  
C. Consideration of Regional Trade Agreements involving WTO non-Members 
 I. Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Serbia, goods 
D. Other Business  
5. The Chairman recalled that the Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) had been 
granted observer status to the CRTA on an ad hoc basis and sought confirmation to extend an 
invitation to LAIA to attend the Committee' s next meeting.  It was so agreed. 
 
B. CONSIDERATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
B.I. STATUS REPORT ON THE COMMITTEE'S WORK - NON-NOTIFIED RTAS 
6. Under this Agenda Item, the Chairman provided Members with an update on the 
implementation of the TM.  He informed the Comm ittee that 38 early announcements had been posted 
on the WTO website (excluding those that had been  subsequently notified).  He thanked those WT/REG/M/66 
Page 2  
 
  Members who had submitted information in line with  the requirements of the TM and encouraged 
others to do the same.  He also reminded Members to inform the Secretariat of any changes in the 
status of early announcements. 
7. With regard to the preparation of factual abst racts covering agreements in trade in goods for 
which an examination had already been comple ted, he said that comments from EFTA-FYROM and 
EFTA-Morocco were still outstanding and he urged the Parties to submit them as soon as possible. 
8. With regard to the preparation of the factua l presentations under the remit of the CRTA, he 
said that in the case of RTAs involving only WTO Members, there were 52 RT As for which a factual 
presentation had to be prepared, counting goods an d services separately.  He recalled that at the 
Committee's 52nd Session held on 4 March 2009, Memb ers had agreed to begin considering RTAs 
involving non-Members under the TM.  Thus, factua l presentations on a further 40 RTAs involving 
non-Members were to be prepared, with priority fo r those RTAs notified since the adoption of the TM 
on 14 December 2006.  Data requests for RTAs notifie d since the adoption of the TM had been sent to 
the relevant parties.  He also noted that Memb ers had been waiting for further clarification on a 
question posed at the last CRTA meeting on the EU-Korea Agreement have reviewed the minutes of 
the meeting and were satisfied with the clarifications received.   
9. The Chairman then turned to the issue of non-notif ied RTAs.  He recalled that in an effort to 
promote the transparency of such RTAs, Members ha d agreed during the meeting held in June 2011 to 
circulate an updated list of non-notified RTAs, which ha d been verified by their parties as being in 
force.  The document had been recently circulated as WT/REG/W/70 and contained 52 RTAs issued in factual presentations up to June 2012.   
10. A representative of the Secretariat took the fl oor to provide further details on the preparation 
of factual presentations.  She said that in th e case of Agreements between WTO Members, the 
situation was as follows:  in the case of four RT As – US-Bahrain;  CAFTA-DR;  US-Oman;  and 
China-Singapore, (all goods and services) the factua l presentations had been sent to the parties in 
2009, but no comments had been received.  The f actual presentations of EU-South Africa, EU-Egypt, 
and Turkey-Jordan (all goods) a nd Chile-Peru and New Zealand-Malaysia (all goods and services) 
had been issued, and would be considered at the CRTA meeting in November.  For Guatemala-
Chinese Taipei, US-Korea, US-Colombia, and Japan -India, (all goods and services) data had been 
received and the factual presentations were being dr afted.  For Peru-Mexic o, Peru-Panama, China-
Costa Rica, and Chile-Guatemala, (all goods and servi ces) data had been received and preparation of 
the factual presentations would shortly commence.  For Panama-Honduras, (goods and services) data 
had been received from Panama and some data from Honduras.  For El Salvador-Honduras-Chinese 
Taipei, (goods and services), data had been received  from Chinese Taipei and El Salvador; and some 
data from Honduras.  For Korea-India, (services) da ta had been received from Korea and some data 
from India.  For Japan-Peru, (goods and services) the Secretariat was awaiting a new tariff submission 
from Japan in HS 2007 nomenclature.  For India-Ma laysia, (services) data had been received from 
Malaysia only.  For, Chile-Honduras (goods and servi ces) data had been received from Chile only.  
For Dominican Republic-Central America, (goods  and services) data had been received from 
Costa Rica, Guatemala and Nicaragua and some da ta had been received from the Dominican Republic 
and Honduras, but no data submission had been r eceived from El Salvador.  For Chile-Guatemala, 
(goods and services) the Secretariat was still awaiting data.  For EFTA-Peru, (goods) and 
EFTA-Ukraine, (goods and services) data had been  received from Peru and Ukraine but data 
submissions from the EFTA countries were awaited.   For Korea-ASEAN, (services) data had been 
received from Korea only.  For Colombia-El Sa lvador, Guatemala and Honduras, (goods and 
services) data had been requested.   
  WT/REG/M/66 
 Page 3 
 
 
  11. Following the accession of the Russian Federati on to the WTO four RTAs - Ukraine-Russian 
Federation, Kyrgyz Republic-Russian Federation, Georgia-Russian Federation, and Armenia-Russian 
Federation, (all goods) had moved into the category of RTAs among Members.  Data requests were 
being prepared.  The Russian Federation had also  submitted a new notification concerning its RTA 
with Moldova, (goods only).  A data request for this Agreement would shortly be sent out. 
12. For RTAs involving non Members, the situation was as follows: For ASEAN-China, 
(services) the Factual Presentation had been sent to the parties in February 2010, but no comments had been received. For I celand-Faeroe Islands, (goods and services) 
comments had been received but the Secretariat was still awaiting some outstanding data from the Faeroe Islands.  For EU-Bosnia Herz egovina, EFTA-Lebanon, Turkey-Syria, CEFTA 
Enlargement, Ukraine-Azerbaijan, Ukraine-Bela rus, Ukraine-Tajikistan,  Ukraine-Kazakhstan, 
Ukraine-Turkmenistan, Ukraine- Uzbekistan, the Common Economic  Zone, and EU-ESA, (all goods) 
and EU-CARIFORUM, (goods and services) data was not complete and the factual presentations 
could not be prepared.  For Australia-ASEAN-Ne w Zealand (goods and services) data had been 
received from Australia only.  For the Russian Federation-Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation-
Belarus, the Russian Federation-Kazakhstan, and the Russian Federation-Tajikistan, (all goods) data 
requests were being prepared.  A third categor y concerned 5  Agreements – ASEAN-Japan, 
EU-Cameroon, EU-Cote d'Ivoire, EFTA-Colombia, and EU-Papua New Guinea, Fiji, (all goods).  
The Secretariat's understanding was that not all par ties had ratified the respective agreements and so 
the Secretariat would await confirmation of entry into force before commencing the preparation of 
factual presentations.  She urged all Members to comp ly with the deadlines in order to adhere to the 
CRTA's work programme. 
13. The Chairman said that although Members may tire of hearing this message again, he wished 
to repeat that the Committee and the TM were at risk of significant slippage in its work programme of 
consideration of RTAs if notifications and data  were not provided by de legations.  He exhorted 
members to make greater efforts in this regard. 
B.II. IMPLEMENTATION REPORTS UNDER PARAGRAPH 15 OF THE TRANSPARENCY 
MECHANISM FOR RTAS  14. Under Item B.II, the Chairman said that at th e end of the RTA's implementation period, the 
parties should submit to the WTO a short written re port on the realization of the liberalization 
commitments in the RTA as originally notified.  Thus far, no such reports had been received from 
Members.  A list prepared by the Secretariat had been circulated to Members by fax on 29 March and 
discrepancies identified by delegations had b een incorporated in document JOB/REG/1.   
15. The Chairman noted that at an informal session, members had welcomed and supported the 
initiative and some delegations provided specific comme nts on the list.  The Secretariat was requested 
to prepare an updated version of the document.  Th e Chairman announced his intention to hold further 
informal consultations on the updated document once it has been circulated.   
B.III. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN PERU AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA, 
GOODS AND SERVICES 
16. B.III. (The minutes of the consideration of th e Agreement listed under agenda item B.III. is 
being distributed as a separate document). 
 
 WT/REG/M/66 
Page 4  
 
  B.IV. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CANADA AND COLOMBIA, GOODS AND 
SERVICES 
17. B.IV. (The minutes of the consideration of th e Agreement listed under agenda item B.IV. is 
being distributed as a separate document). 
B.V. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EFTA STATES AND ALBANIA, GOODS  
18. B.V. (The minutes of the consideration of th e Agreement listed under agenda item B.V. is 
being distributed as a separate document). 
C. CONSIDERATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS INVOLVING WTO 
NON-MEMBERS  
C.I. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE EFTA STATES AND SERBIA, GOODS 
19. C.I. (The minutes of the consideration of the Agreement listed under agenda item C.I. is being 
distributed as a separate document).  
D.  OTHER BUSINESS 20. The Chairman recalled that he had held in formal discussions on 11 September concerning 
reductions in costs.  Concerning documentati on costs, Members were in agreement to the 
discontinuation of the provision of paper copies of documents at meetings, provided that paper copies 
could be supplied to delegations in the room upon  request.  Concerning the proposal to reduce the 
number of meetings from four per year to two, so me concerns had been raised that this could 
compromise transparency.  Regarding a proposal to schedule regular meetings on one day only, 
delegations had expressed a preferen ce to hold two half da y meetings, to provide  delegations involved 
in the consideration of an agreement the possibility to prepare and deliver answers to questions posed 
on the previous day (based on requirements).  This would also facilitate the participation of capital 
based officials.  A discussion on the availability of podcasts concluded with the suggestion that the 
results of the podcasting trial currently being undertaken in the TPRB could inform the CRTA's 
discussion of the proposal.   
21. The Chairman recalled that at the last CRTA meeting he had encouraged Members with an 
interest in systemic issues to make submissions fo r discussion, but at this stage no formal submissions 
had been received.   
22. The representative of the European Union  noted that recent years had seen a multiplication of 
RTAs around the world involving most WTO Members.   These agreements had been in all shapes and 
sizes but not all such agreements aimed to deepen ec onomic integration.  Given the broad interest in 
strengthening the multilateral system, it was impor tant to remember that RTAs should increase 
liberalization within the WTO framework.  Any new RTA should serve as a stepping stone for and 
not a stumbling block against multilateral liberaliza tion.  RTAs could carry certain risks for the 
system if they complicated trade, eroded preferences  or impacted the weakest members.  RTAs had to 
be comprehensive in scope, provide for liberaliza tion of substantially all trade, and go beyond 
WTO disciplines.  The RTA picture had evolved over recent years, there had been a proliferation of 
agreements and an ever broadening range of pa rticipants.  There were now discussions on RTAs 
amongst the biggest industrialized members.  Partia l liberalization was also taking place among large 
developing countries under the cove rage of the Enabling Clause.  These trends had to be carefully 
considered.    WT/REG/M/66 
 Page 5 
 
 
  23. In light of the Chairman's Concluding statement at the 8th Ministerial Conference, at the 
informal CRTA consultations there had been a discussion about taking this forward through a 
systematic examination of RTAs.  This could incl ude the impact of RTAs on the weakest economies, 
rules of origin, and administrative capacity to par ticipate in bilateral and multilateral negotiations.  
The results of these discussions could complement an examination of whether these RTAs 
complemented or contradicted the multilateral trad ing system.  The WTO Secretariat could also be 
asked to update the information contained in the 2011 World Trade Report. 
24. The representative of Canada noted that the increased number of RTAs was of great interest 
to the multilateral trading system.  Just as hi gh quality, transparent and comprehensive RTAs 
supported the multilateral trading system, lower qualit y RTAs could create barriers to the multilateral 
trading system as well as trading partners.  Ca nada supported the European Union's proposal to 
enhance CRTA discussion of systemic issues related to RTAs and welcomed the provision of information by the Secretariat in this regard.  At the 8
th Ministerial Conference Canada's Minister had 
stressed the importance of WTO Members having the freedom to raise all issues that impacted upon 
the multilateral trading system, including the relationshi p with RTAs.  Consideration of the impact of 
RTAs upon the WTO was also specifically with in the CRTA mandate.  The CRTA therefore 
remained open to various approaches on the impli cations of RTAs, including the proposals made by 
the EU.  Canada would continue to seek to discuss these and other issues within the CRTA. 
25. The representative of Egypt thanked the EU for its intervention and noted that the issue of 
RTAs impact upon the multilateral trading system ha d been contentious and problematic.  He noted 
that the Chairman's concluding statement at MC8 was in fact in two parts;  the first reflecting the 
consensus of all Members on politi cal guidance for the work of the WTO and the second, referred to 
today, was in fact issued under the Chairman's own responsibility, as it reflected the views of some 
Members during MC8.  Egypt was willing to engage  in any discussions upon this topic, taking into 
account the concerns that had been raised during pr evious discussions.  There were four points of 
great importance to Egypt;  (i) the role of the CTD in considering RTAs notified under the Enabling 
Clause, (ii) finding a solution to consideration of  RTAs with dual notification, (iii) respecting the 
ongoing work in the Negotiating Group on Rules, and (i v) the role of IGOs including the League of 
Arab States in the consideration of RTAs that it was implementing and monitoring.  
26. The representative of India thanked the EU fo r its statement and noted the observation by 
Egypt that there had been no consensus at MC8,  nor at the CRTA meeting preceding MC8 on this 
particular issue.  Accordingly the CRTA should look at reframing these issues so that this important 
matter could be discussed further.   
27. The representative of the United States  welcomed interventions on systemic issues.  The 
mandate of the CRTA was very broad on systemic i ssues, as noted by Canada.  Accordingly it was a 
matter of Members working to share their views w ith one another.  Both the European Union and 
Egypt had mentioned topics of interest to them.  The US would welcome written submissions from 
those delegations or any other to help stimul ate discussions within the broad CRTA mandate. 
28. The representative of Ecuador reiterated the position stated at the last Ministerial Conference.  
No discussions on any topic in this context could l ead to the setting of benchmarks of any type or 
nature.  Members must keep the same flexibility they have enjoyed to conclude RTAs.  Any new 
approach must only discuss issues which are incl uded in the covered agreements as defined in 
Annex 1 of the Agreement. 
29. The representative of South Africa thanked the EU  for its statement, and the views put forth 
by Members during 2011.  There had been consider able debate but no consensus on the issues.  The 
concerns of all Members had to be respected , as alluded to by Egypt, India and Ecuador.  
Nevertheless South Africa was willing to review any written proposal by Members tabled to the WT/REG/M/66 
Page 6  
 
  CRTA on this topic, in line with normal rules and pr ocedures.  This was a transparent and balanced 
way to continue the discussion.   
30. The Committee took note of the statements made and agreed to revert to this topic at its next 
meeting as a formal item.  The Chairman requested  delegations making proposals on this item should 
submit their proposals to the Secretariat by the dead line for the closing of the agenda for the next 
CRTA meeting.   
31. The Chairman informed Members of the proposed  dates for the CRTA's meetings in 2012.  
These were 20 and 21 November 2012.   
32. The Committee took note of the comments made. 
__________