RESTRICTED  
  
WT/REG/M/71  
 
1 November 2013  
(13-6015)  Page: 1/3  
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Seventy-first Session    
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 21 OCTOBER 2013 
CHAIRMAN: AMBASSADOR FRANCISCO LIMA MENA (EL SALVADOR) 
1  ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1.1.  The 71st Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter 'CRTA' or the 
'Committee') was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/4175/Rev.1 dated 9 October 2013. 
1.2.  The Chairman welcomed Members to the 71s t Session of the CRTA and said he would raise 
two issues under "Other Business". The first concerned technical cooperation activities conducted 
in 2013 and those scheduled for 2014 in the area of regional trade agreements (RTAs); the second 
related to the proposed schedule of CRTA meetings for 2014.  
1.3.  The representative of the Russian Federation  said that under "Other Business" her delegation 
would like to present a paper on advancing transparency in RTAs. 
1.4.  The following Agenda was adopted: 
A. Adoption of the Agenda 
B. Implementation Reports under Paragraph 15 of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs 
- (JOB/REG/5) 
C. Adoption of the Annual Report (2013) of the CRTA to the General Council 
(WT/REG/W/79) 
D. Other Business 
 
1.5.  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  IMPLEMENTATION REPORTS UNDER PARAGRAPH 15 OF THE TRANSPARENCY 
MECHANISM FOR RTAS (JOB/REG/5) 
2.1.  The Chairman said that the delegations of the European Union and Chile had submitted a 
mock implementation report of the EU-Chile As sociation Agreement that had been issued as 
JOB/REG/5 on 4 October 2013. He proposed that the Committee move into informal mode to discuss the report and solicit Members' comments. 
2.2.  The Committee moved into informal mode. 
2.3.  Back in formal mode, the Chairman said that the discussion on the mock implementation 
report of the EU-Chile Agreement had been fr uitful and had provided the Committee with a 
number of issues to consider and reflect upon. He suggested that the Committee revert to this 
item at its next meeting and see how paragrap h 15 of the Transparency Mechanism could be 
implemented. WT/REG/M/71 
 
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  3  ADOPTION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT (2013) OF THE CRTA TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
(WT/REG/W/79) 
3.1.  The Chairman said that a draft of the Annual Report had been distributed in document 
WT/REG/W/79. In his fax of 2 October 2013, he had asked delegations to submit any preliminary 
comments on the report to the Secretariat in advance of the meeting. Comments had been 
received in a joint submission from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, China, India and South Africa (circulated to Members on 15 October). Before discussing them, he proposed that the reference in 
paragraph 8.1 and footnote 7 to the discussion  of a Secretariat Working Paper in the 71
st Session 
of the Committee be removed, as Colombia had indicated its desire to postpone discussion of the paper to a future time. He proposed that the Committee move into informal mode to discuss the Annual Report. 
3.2.  The Committee moved into informal mode. 
3.3.  Back in formal mode, the Chairman proposed that the Committee entrust the Secretariat with 
the task of modifying the Annual Report with the agreed changes. He asked the Secretariat to read 
out the agreed text on paragraph 8.1. 
3.4.  A representative of the Secretariat said that paragraph 8.1 of the Annual Report would be 
redrafted as follows: "At Australia's request, the CRTA discussed at its 68th and 70th Sessions, 
recent Working Papers on RTAs which have appear ed on the WTO's website. (The footnote which 
now referred to two working papers would be retain ed.) Some Members raised concerns as to the 
procedural modality to bring these issues before the Committee. The Secretariat clarified that the General Council rules of procedure were followed." 
3.5.  The Chairman proposed that the Annual Repo rt (2013) of the CRTA with the agreed changes 
be adopted by the Committee and submitted to the General Council. It was so agreed. 
4  OTHER BUSINESS 
4.1.  The Chairman raised two issues. The first concerned technical assistance activities conducted 
in 2013 and planned for 2014 in the area of RTAs. At the Committee's 32nd Session, it had been 
agreed to regularly review RTA related technica l assistance activities by the Secretariat. 
4.2.  A representative of the Secretariat said that as could be seen from the table available 
electronically with the document set for the meeting (document RD/RTA/6/Rev.1), the Secretariat 
had conducted 10 technical assistance (TA) activities in 2013. Twelve activities were scheduled for 2014, seven of which were intermediate level regional activities (formally known as regional trade 
policy courses), four were Geneva-based applied trade policy courses and one was an e-learning 
online course that had been recently finalized and would be made available soon. Most of the 
activities indicated in the table had been fina nced by the WTO's regular budget, donations by 
Member countries, or by the Global Trust Fund for activities under the Doha Development Agenda.  
4.3.  The objectives of the activities varied from raising awareness on RTA dynamics in global 
trade, to training and advising government officials on WTO rules and procedures on RTAs, 
including the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs. Virtually all TA activities were addressed to 
participants from broad regional groupings. Their underlying objective was to contribute to the development of RTAs that were beneficial to their members and that complemented the objectives of the WTO. Since Doha, the RTA Section had been  entrusted with the additional TA task of 
clarifying issues related to the negotiations on RTA rules to WTO Members requesting such aid. 
4.4.  The Chairman informed the Committee of th e dates scheduled for the CRTA's meetings in 
2014. These were 7-8 April, followed by meetings in June, September and November. Exact dates 
of these meetings would be communicated as soon as they were available.  
4.5.  The representative of the Russian Federation said she would like to present a paper on 
advancing transparency in RTAs. Russia had decided to make this proposal after the G-20 meeting 
in St Petersburg in September 2013. Regional trade agreements were an integral part of the global 
trading system. That was why their efficient functi oning within the framework of general principles 
and rules of multilateral regulation was of prime importance. At the same time the efficiency of WT/REG/M/71 
 
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  RTAs had to be determined in accordance with their contribution to general efforts in creating 
favourable conditions for trade development, for example the elimination of barriers and the maintenance and development of multilateral principles and rules of regulation. Russia considered that the RTA Transparency Mechanism would contribute to achieving this goal.  
4.6.  While recognizing the positive role of  the Transparency Mechanism implemented on a 
provisional basis, Russia considered it necessa ry to make the Mechanism permanent. For the 
purpose of the successful and efficient functioning of RTAs it was necessary to take into 
consideration the interests of the business community. The application of the RTA Transparency 
Mechanism on a permanent basis would provide traders with access to current information so that the benefits and opportunities related to the functioning of RTAs could be realized. The expansion of the scope of RTAs was an important issue for developing mechanisms for trade regulations and 
could be discussed inter alia  within the WTO. Thanks to the development and improvement of the 
Transparency Mechanism for RTAs such an expansion of spheres regulated within the framework of RTAs would be implemented on the basis and acco rding to existing rules of the WTO. Moreover, 
thanks to the RTA Transparency Mechanism, rule s regulating new spheres that fell under RTAs 
would be clear and distinct for all WTO Members as well as for their business communities. Providing for a situation where RTAs supplemented the multilateral trading system and were based 
on transparent WTO rules would create additional trade benefits between RTA parties and would 
positively contribute to strengthening internatio nal trade and development according to rules that 
were clear and distinct for everyone. At the same time the RTA Transparency Mechanism did not provide for the review of RTA provisions and analysis of the impact of their realization as well as 
any kind of modification of existing WTO mechanisms of RTA analysis. Transparency mechanisms 
were aimed exclusively at ensuring complete and impartial information on existing RTAs and those under negotiation. This was by itself a factor which allowed the development of multilateral as well 
as regional mechanisms of cooperation. 
4.7.  The representative of the European Union appreciated the attention given to transparency 
and to the role of RTAs in the multilateral system  by the G-20. The EU's position on transparency 
was well known as it did not miss any occasion to call for full adherence to WTO rules and 
procedures in respect of RTA notifications. To stre ss the significance of this work, the EU supported 
the RTA Transparency Mechanism adopted in 2006 and implemented on a provisional basis. In 
order to strengthen the system of WTO surveill ance of RTAs, the G-20 had accepted the EU's 
proposal to discuss making the Mechanism permanent. Therefore, the EU encouraged any 
discussion in the CRTA on making the Transparency Mechanism permanent.  
4.8.  With reference to the role of RTAs in the multilateral system, the EU welcomed any bilateral 
and plurilateral initiatives that aimed to liberalize trade consistent with WTO rules and 
transparency obligations. In this framework, the EU welcomed any initiative to advance a discussion of the systemic implications of the increasing number of RTAs on the multilateral 
trading system. The EU would welcome a strengthen ed role for the CRTA as a laboratory for new 
ideas and solutions for tackling the wide array of existing trade and investment barriers, facilitating progress in multilateral liberalisation and rule-making further down the road. For those reasons, the EU supported the discussion on the horizontal aspects of RTAs started in the last year 
in the CRTA and welcomed any initiative that could further enhance this process. The EU thought 
that trade agreements that were WTO consistent  and WTO plus could contribute to the overall 
trading system. It was therefore of the utmost im portance to have a clear picture of the main 
characteristics of the RTAs in force. This would also ensure surveillance of the system as RTAs 
should remain complementary to, and not a substitute for, the multilateral trading system.  
4.9.  In closing, the Chairman encouraged all delegations involved in RTAs for which comments 
were late to submit them so that the Committee could advance its work. The work of the 
Committee was lagging somewhat behind. If comments were late the factual presentations became outdated and resulted in the Secretariat having to update them. Thus he urged delegations to submit any outstanding comments as soon as possible.  
4.10.  The Committee took note of the comments made. 
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