RESTRICTED  
  
WT/REG/M/69  
 
15 July 2013  
(13-3747) Page: 1/4  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Sixty-ninth Session    
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 3 JULY 2013 
CHAIRMAN: AMBASSADOR FRANCISCO LIMA MENA (EL SALVADOR) 
1  ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1.1.  The 69th Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR4130/Rev.1 dated 21 June 2013. 
1.2.  The Chairman welcomed Members to the 69th Session of the CRTA and said he would inform 
Members of the proposed schedule for CRTA meeting for the rest of the year under 
"Other Business".  
1.3.  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  
 Implementation of the RTA Transparency Mechanism II. Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Honduras, goods and services 
III. Free Trade Agreement between Chile and Guatemala, goods and services 
IV. Free Trade Agreement between Gu atemala and the Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, goods and services 
V. Free Trade Agreement between El Salvador, Honduras and the Separate 
Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, goods and 
services 
C. Other Business 
 
1.4.  The Chairman recalled that the Latin Amer ican 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 session. It was so agreed. 
2  CONSIDERATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
ITEM B.I. STATUS REPORT ON THE COMMITTEE'S WORK - NON NOTIFIED RTAS 
(WT/REG/W/75/Rev.1) and IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RTA TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM 
(WT/REG/W/76). 
 2.1.  The Chairman provided Members with an update on the Committee's work and the 
implementation of the Transparency Mechanis m (TM). He stated that a total of 35 early 
announcements were on the WTO website (not counting those that had been subsequently notified). He encouraged the Members to submit information in line with the TM and also reminded 
them to inform the Secretariat of any changes in the status of early announcements.  
2.2.  As regards the preparation of the factual presentations under the remit of the Committee, in 
the case of RTAs involving WTO Members on ly, there were 48 RTAs for which a factual 
presentation had to be prepared, counting goods and services separately. He recalled that at the 
Committee's 52nd Session on 4 March 2009, Members had agreed to begin considering RTAs 
involving non-Members under the TM's procedures. Thus, factual presentations on a further 35 RTAs involving non-Members were to be prepared. Members had agreed that those RTAs WT/REG/M/69 
 
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  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 TM had been sent to the relevant Parties.  
2.3.  Regarding non-notified RTAs, he stated that an updated list had been circulated as 
WT/REG/W/75/Rev.1 and contained 53 RTAs issued in factual presentations up to 1 July 2013.  
2.4.  The Chairman then turned to RTAs for which the factual consideration was delayed due to 
lack of comments from the Parties. He reminded  Members that during the last CRTA meeting he 
had informed them about his intention to consult with delegations to see what could be done to 
resolve the issue and reduce the number of RTAs on the list (an updated list had been circulated a s  W T / R E G /W / 7 6 ) .  H e  h a d  b e e n  a b l e  t o  c o n s u l t  i n f o r m a l l y  w i t h  m o s t  o f  t h e  d e l e g a t i o n s  w h o s e  RTAs appeared on the list, and was heartened by the spirit of cooperation and willingness they had 
expressed to try to resolve the issue. He hope d that the outstanding comments would soon be 
made available and the factual consideration of these agreements could then be undertaken. He informed the Committee that he intended to continue the process before the next meeting.  
2.5.  Regarding the mock implementation report , he recalled that the EU had volunteered to 
prepare a mock report and was working with Chile on this matter. The process as he understood was continuing and the Parties hoped to be able to submit the report shortly. He intended to 
convene informal consultations to discuss the report in detail once it had been circulated to 
delegations, giving Members time to consider the document before the meeting. 
2.6.  The Chairman passed the floor to the Secretariat for further details on the situation with 
regard to the preparation of the factual presentations.  
2.7.  The Representative of the Secretariat said  the status of factual presentations of RTAs 
between WTO Members was as follows: in the case of four RTAs – US-Bahrain, goods and services; 
CAFTA-DR, goods and services; US-Oman, goods and services; and China-Singapore, goods and 
services, the factual presentations had been sent to the Parties in 2009. For China-Singapore, 
comments had recently been submitted by Singapore only, but none had been received from China. For US-Oman, comments had been received from Oman only. No other comments on these 
RTAs had been received. For ASEAN-China, services, the factual presentation had been sent to the 
Parties in 2010, but no comments had been received. She noted that the Chairman had held informal consultations with Parties to RTAs whose factual presentations were delayed due to late receipt of comments and the Secretariat hoped to receive comments on these agreements in the 
near future. For Japan-India and Peru-Panama, goods and services, and India-Malaysia, services, 
comments had been received from the Parties and the Secretariat expected to issue the factual presentations shortly. For US-Colombia, goods and services, comments had been received from 
Colombia only. For EFTA-Ukraine, goods and services, comments had been received, while for 
EFTA-Hong Kong China, goods and services, the Secretariat was still awaiting comments. For 
US-Korea, goods and services, no comments had been received. For Peru-Mexico, goods and 
services, the factual presentation had been sent to the Parties, but no comments had been 
received yet. For US-Panama, goods and services, data had been received from the U.S. and some 
data on services only from Panama. For Panama-H onduras, goods and services, data from Panama 
and some data from Honduras had been received . For the Dominican Republic-Central America, 
goods and services, data had been received  from all Parties except Honduras. For 
Colombia-El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, goods and services, the data had been received from all the Parties and the Secretariat was drafting the factual presentation. For the EAC, 
services, no data had been provided. For Australia-New Zealand-ASEAN, goods and services, data 
had been received and the Secretariat was drafti ng the factual presentation. For Korea-India, 
services, data had been received from Korea and some data from India. For Korea-ASEAN, 
services, data had been received from Korea only. For Canada-Jordan, goods, data had been 
received from the Parties and the Secretariat was clarifying some data issues with Jordan, but the Secretariat should be in the position to start drafting the factual presentation soon. For Canada-Panama, goods and services, data had been received from Canada only. For Georgia-Russian 
Federation, goods, some data had been received  from Georgia only. For Chile-Malaysia, goods, 
data was due by 8 July 2013. For EU Enlargement (Croatia), goods and services, data had been 
received and the Secretariat was drafting the factual presentation. For Panama-Nicaragua, goods 
and services, data was due by 17 July. Data had already been received from Nicaragua, and the 
Secretariat was awaiting data from Panama. For Malaysia-Australia, goods and services, data was due by 23 July. Data had already been received from Malaysia. For Panama-Guatemala, goods and WT/REG/M/69 
 
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  services, data was due by 17 September 2013 as was for Korea-Turkey, goods, and 
Ukraine-Montenegro, goods and services. For Turkey-Mauritius, goods, data was due by 19 October. For Peru-Costa Rica, goods and services, data was due by 25 October. 
2.8.  The Secretariat also informed Members that a new agreement involving some CIS countries 
(Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian 
Federation, Tajikistan, and Ukraine) had been notified and circulated in document WT/REG343/N/1. For those countries the Agreemen t on the Free Trade Area (CIS Agreement) 
signed on 15 April 1994 had been terminated. In addition, it was the Secretariat's understanding 
that a number of bilateral agreements involving those countries would be terminated once their necessary internal procedures had been complete d. Pending the completion of these internal 
procedures, the WTO Secretariat proposed to put the preparation of the factual presentations of 
those agreements on hold. A list was available electronically as a room document to provide 
further clarification on the agreements concerned.  
2.9.  With regard to RTAs involving non-Members, the situation was as follows: for 
Iceland-Faroe Islands, goods and services, comments had been received but the Secretariat was 
still awaiting some outstanding data from the Fa roe Islands. For EU-Bosnia Herzegovina, goods, 
data had been received and the Secretariat was drafting the factual presentation. For 
EU-San Marino, EFTA-Lebanon, Turkey-Syria , CEFTA Enlargement, Ukraine-Azerbaijan, 
Ukraine-Turkmenistan, the Common Economic Zone, the Russian Federation-Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation-Serbia, Russian Federati on-Belarus-Kazakhstan, Russian Federation-
Turkmenistan, and EU-ESA, all goods, and EU-C ARIFORUM, goods and services, data was not 
complete. 
2.10.  Finally, a third category concerned 8 agreements – ASEAN-Japan, EU-Cameroon, EU-Côte 
d'Ivoire, EFTA-Colombia, EU-Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and the new CIS agreement, all goods and 
EU-Central America, and EU-Colombia, goods and services – for which the Secretariat understood 
not all the Parties had ratified the agreement yet and so intended to wait before the agreement 
had entered into force for all the Parties before commencing the preparation of factual 
presentations. She urged the Parties to notify th e Secretariat when their respective agreements 
had entered into force for all the Parties. As was apparent the list continued to grow and she urged all Members to make every effort to comply with the deadlines as requested so that the Secretariat could do its best to adhere to the CRTA's work programme. 
2.11.  The Chairman thanked the Secretariat fo r the comprehensive presentation. As had been 
mentioned, there was considerable work pending and he encouraged delegations to continue to make an effort in order to enhance transparency. 
ITEM B.II FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CH ILE AND HONDURAS, GOODS AND SERVICES  
 B.II. (The minutes of the consideration of this agreement is being distributed as a separate 
document.) 
 ITEM B.III FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CHIL E AND Guatemala, GOODS AND SERVICES  
 
B.III (The minutes of the consideration of this agreement is being distributed as a separate 
document.)  
ITEM B.IV FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN GUATEMALA AND THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS 
TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN, AND MATSU, GOODS AND SERVICES  
B.IV (The minutes of the consideration of this agreement is being distributed as a separate 
document.)  ITEM B.V FREE TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN EL  SALVADOR, HONDURAS, AND THE SEPARATE 
CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU, GOODS AND SERVICES 
 B.V (The minutes of the consideration of this agreement is being distributed as a separate 
document.) WT/REG/M/69 
 
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  3  OTHER BUSINESS 
3.1.  Under other business, the Chairman indicated that the proposed CRTA meeting dates for the 
rest of the year were 17-18 September and 16-17 October. In addition, as he had mentioned 
earlier once the mock Implementation Report had been circulated he would invite Members to an 
informal meeting for the presentation of the document. He hoped the meeting would take into 
account the objectives and targets of the Committee for the year, and there would be enough time to consider the document in that meeting. Respon ding to a question by the representative of the 
European Union, the Chairman clarified that there was not yet a date for the informal meeting, 
which would depend on when the documents for the meeting would be circulated. 
3.2.  The representative of South Africa noted that substantial discussions had been held in the 
Committee with respect to the implementation of  paragraph 15 of the TM based on the draft 
Secretariat background note and guidelines circulated. South Africa noted that no such guidelines 
or Secretariat background note had been circulat ed for the discussion that day but the Chairman 
had said that certain Members were working on the mock template report. South Africa trusted 
that all the changes suggested by the members of the Committee would be taken into account and 
looked forward to the consultations to be held, which would allow further discussions in a transparent manner before any guid elines were finally adopted.  
3.3.  In conclusion the Chairman reiterated the need, as much as possible in terms of procedures 
adopted by the Committee, to meet notification an d consideration requirements. In this regard, he 
would hold meetings with delegations to try to make progress on factual presentations prepared by the Secretariat. He reminded Members that considerable work went into the preparation of 
factual presentations and when comments were delayed, practically speaking, the factual 
presentation needed to be reviewed again in order to be updated. He understood that Members were committed to improving efficiency and making most of resources and time. 
3.4.  The Committee took note of the comments made.  
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