WT/REG/26  
 
18 November 2016 
(16-6332) Page: 1/4 
   
  
  REPORT (2016) OF THE   
COMMITTEE ON REGIONA L TRADE AGREEMENTS  
TO THE GENERAL COUNC IL 
CHAIRMAN: MR DANIEL BLOCKERT  (SWEDEN ) 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  At its first meeting in April 2016, the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) 
elected, by acclamation, Ambassado r Daniel Blockert (Sweden), as Chairman of the CRTA.  
1.2.  During 2016, the Committee held four sessions (in April, June, September and November). 
The minutes of those meetings are listed in the Attachment. Four sessions are foreseen in 2017.  
2  OBSERVER STATUS  
2.1.  At its 80th Session, the Committee approved a request for observer status received from the 
Inter-Governmental Body on Shipping (ISCOS). At its 81st Session the Committee agreed not to 
invite the Latin  American Integration Association (LAIA) as an observer to  CRTA meetings, in the 
absence of a demonstration from the LAIA of a continuing interest in the Committee. No decision 
was taken with respect to the requests for observer status listed in document 
WT/REG/W/11/Add.3.   
3  EARLY ANNOUNCEMENTS  
3.1.  Paragraph 1 of the Transparency Mechanism (TM)1, provides for Members participating in 
new negotiations and parties to a newly signed RTA to provide information to the Secretariat, to be 
posted on the WTO website. In 2016, a total of four early announcements were received fr om 
Members, two for RTAs under negotiation and two for newly signed RTAs.2 
4  NOTIFICATIONS  
4.1.  In the period 1 January to 15 October 2016, the CRTA received 14 notifications of RTAs, 7  in 
goods, notified under Article XXIV of GATT 1994, and 7 in services, notifi ed under Article  V 
of GATS.3  
4.2.  In an effort to encourage the notification of non -notified RTAs, the Chairman with the help of 
the Secretariat, continued to draw up and circulate in advance of CRTA meetings a list of 
non-notified RTAs which have been verifie d by their parties as being in force and appeared in 
                                                
1 The General Council Decision of 14 December establishing the Transparency Mechanism for Regional 
Trade Agreements (WT/L/671) is being implemented on a provision al basis. Members will review, and if 
necessary modify, this decision, in light of the experience gained from its provisional operation, and replace it 
by a permanent mechanism as part of the overall results of the Doha Round, in accordance with paragraph  47 
of the Doha Declaration (paragraph 23  of the General Council's Decision).  
2 Under Negotiation: European Union - Philippines; European Union - Tunisia; Newly signed: EFTA - 
Central America - Accession of Guatemala; Canada - Ukraine . 
3 Southern African Development Community (SADC) - Accession o f Seychelles (G); European Union - 
Bosnia and Herzegovina (S); Australia - China (G&S); China - Republic of Korea (G&S); Republic of Korea - 
Viet Nam (G&S); Japan - Mongolia (G&S); Mexico - Panama (G&S); Republic of Korea - Colombia (G&S) . 
During 2016, the  Committee was informed by the EU that two RTAs already notified – EU-Ukraine and EU -Côte 
d'Ivoire – were now in force for all parties.   WT/REG/26  
 
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  factual presentations circulated between September 2009 and October 2016.4 Members continue 
to discuss ways of facilitating the notification of such RTAs.  
4.3.  At its 80th Session the Committee discussed a s ubmission by the United States containing a 
list of non -notified RTAs and delayed Factual Presentations of notified RTAs (document 
WT/REG/W/103). At its 81st Session the Committee discussed a communication from Uruguay on 
behalf of LAIA countries (document  WT/REG/W/105) regarding the notification of agreements 
among LAIA countries. Questions submitted by the European Union on LAIA agreements were 
circulated in document WT/REG/W/109.  At its 83rd Session  discussions were held, but there was no 
agreement regar ding the status of RTAs under the LAIA .  
5  CONSIDERATION OF REG IONAL TRADE AGREEMEN TS 
5.1.  During 2016, 16 factual presentations were distributed reflecting 27 notifications, counting 
goods and services separately, all of which were used as the basis for consider ation of RTAs in the 
CRTA.5  
5.2.  The Chairman held consultations with delegations in an effort to resolve the case of RTAs for 
which the factual consideration is delayed due to lack of comments from the Parties. The Chairman 
with the help of the Secretariat dr ew up and circulated in advance of CRTA meetings a list of such 
RTAs.6  
5.3.  In an effort to unblock the backlog in the receipt of data necessary for the preparation and 
drafting of factual presentations for certain RTAs, the Chairman consulted with a number of  
delegations who expressed a willingness to provide the missing information as soon as possible. 
Members continue to discuss ways of increasing the transparency of such RTAs.  
5.4.  Although considerable progress has been made in the preparation of factual presen tations, 
the Committee continues to experience some difficulties in adhering to its work programme. This is 
due to a number of factors: delays in the receipt of statistical data from parties, data discrepancies 
in Members' submissions, and delays in the re ceipt of comments from parties.  
6   SUBSEQUENT NOTIFICAT ION AND REPORTING  
6.1.  Paragraph 14 of the TM provides for changes affecting the implementation of an RTA, or the 
operation of an already implemented RTA to be notified as soon as possible after such changes 
occur. Such communications are to be made available on the WTO website. In the period 
1 January to 15  October 2016, notifications of changes for two RTAs have been received and 
posted on the RTA Database.7 
6.2.  Paragraph 15 of the TM provides for parties to an RTA to submit a short written report on the 
realization of the liberalization commitments in the RTA as originally notified at the end of the 
RTA's implementation period. The Secretariat circulated a list of RTAs subject to implementation 
reports as of 11 March 2016 (document WT/REG/W/101 and Corrigendum 1). Implementation 
reports were due for 129 RTAs, and the end of implementation (EOI) for 11 RTAs was in 2016. The 
EOI for a total of 106 RTAs is from 2016 onwards, while for one RTA the EOI year is not ava ilable . 
Seven such reports were submitted during 2016.8  
                                                
4 Documents WT/REG/W/100/Rev.1, WT/REG/W/104, WT/REG/W/107 and WT/REG/W/111.  
5 Canada - Republic of Korea (G&S); Japan - Australia (G&S); EFTA - Colombia (G&S); EFTA - Bosnia 
and Herzegovina (G); Republic of Korea - Australia (G&S); Canada - Honduras (G&S); Russian Federation - 
Serbia (G);  Dominican Republic and Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras  and 
Nicaragua)(G&S); Dominican Republic, Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and 
Nicaragua) and the United States (G&S); United States - Panama (G&S); Chile - Viet Nam (G); Republic of 
Korea - New Zealand (G&S);  European Union - Bosnia and Herzegovina (S); Iceland - China (G&S); Australia - 
China (G&S); India - Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (S). EFTA-Central America (Costa Rica 
and Panama), (G&S) was distributed in December 2015 and considered in 2016.  
6 Documents  WT/REG/W/102, WT/REG/W/106 , WT/REG/W/108 and WT/REG/W/112 . 
7 China – Hong Kong, China; China – Macao, China . 
8 Ukraine – Tajikistan (WT/REG251/R/I); Ukraine - Kazakhstan (WT/REG247/R/I); Armenia - Ukraine 
(WT/REG171/R/I); Ukraine - Montenegro (WT/REG338/R /I); European Union - Jordan (WT/REG141/R/I); 
EU-Montenegro (WT/REG236/R/I); and EU -South Africa (WT/REG113/R/I).  WT/REG/26  
 
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  7  DATABASE ON RTAS  
7.1.  Paragraph 21 of the TM provides for the Secretariat to establish and maintain an updated 
electronic database on individual RTAs. The database was launched in January 2009 and is 
available on the WTO public website. The database provides information on all notified RTAs, 
including the status of the consideration process at the Committee's meetings.  
8  TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE  
8.1.  At its 83rd Session the Secretariat gave an account of the RTA -related technical assistance 
activities it had undertaken in 2016 and those planned for 2017.  
9  PROCEDURES TO IMPROV E AND FACILITATE THE  EXAMINATION PROCESS  
9.1.   At its 83rd Session, the Committee engaged in a preliminary discussion initiated by the 
United States on  the reasons for Members' low participation in the RTA review process.  
10  SYSTEMIC IMPLICATION S OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS AND INITI ATIVES FOR 
THE MULTILATERAL TRA DING SYSTEM AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN  THEM  
10.1.   At its 80th, 81st, 82nd and 83rd Sessions the Co mmittee discussed paragraph 28 of the 
Nairobi Ministerial Declaration that directed the future work of Members towards two main areas: 
the systemic implications of RTAs for the multilateral trading system and its relationship with WTO 
rules; and the transf ormation of the RTA Transparency Mechanism from a provisional to a 
permanent mechanism.9 Some Members expressed support for engaging in a discussion on the 
systemic implications. The United States  reiterated its longstanding concerns regarding the lack of 
full transparency available to the Committee on all RTAs currently in force and the significant 
challenges created by this deficit for any discussion on systemic implications of RTAs.  The 
Chairman is continuing his consultations with Members on both issues. Members expressed 
different views on whether parameters for such a discussion needed to be defined.  Some Members 
felt that that the CRTA should not venture into recommendations for multilateral rule making. At  
its 83rd Session, Brazil presented a non -paper on ways to improve the RTA Transparency 
Mechanism.  
 
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9 An informal session of the CRTA dedicated to this discussion was held on 18 October.  WT/REG/26  
 
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  ATTACHMENT  
MINUTES OF THE MEETI NGS HELD IN 2016 
Eightieth  Session – 5-6 April 2016  
 
 WT/REG/M/ 80 
 
 WT/REG 362/M/1 Canada - Republic of Korea, goods and services  
 WT/REG 361/M/1 Japan - Australia , goods  and services  
 WT/REG 357/M/1 EFTA - Central America (Costa Rica and Panama) , goods and 
services10 
 WT/REG299/M/1  EFTA - Colombia, goods and services  
 WT/REG360/M/1  EFTA - Bosnia and Herzegovina, goods [Non-Member]  
Eighty -First Session – 27 June 2016  
 WT/REG/M/ 81 
 
 WT/REG 359/M/1 Republic of Korea - Australia , goods and services  
 WT/REG 364/M/1 Canada - Honduras , goods and services  
 WT/REG326/M/1  Russian Federation - Serbia, goods [Non -Member]  
 
Eighty -Second Session  – 27 September 2016  
 
 WT/RE G/M/82 
 
WT/REG305/M/1  Dominican Republic and Central America (Costa Rica, 
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), goods and 
services  
WT/REG211/M/1  Dominican Republic, Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, 
Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) and  the United States, 
goods and services  
WT/REG 324/M/1 United States - Panama , goods  and services   
WT/REG 365/M/1 Chile - Viet Nam , goods  
WT/REG367/M/1  Republic of Korea - New Zealand, goods and services  
WT/REG242/M/2  European Union - Bosnia and Herzegovina, services 
[Non-Member]  
 
Eighty -Third Session – 7 November 2016  (to be issued ) 
 WT/REG/M/ 83 
 
WT/REG/W/110  Draft Report ( 2016) of the CRTA to the General Council  
WT/REG 355/M/1 Iceland - China , goods and services  
WT/REG369/M/1  Australia - China, goods and serv ices 
WT/REG372/M/1  India - ASEAN, services  
__________  
                                                
10 The factual presentation was distributed in 2015.