WT/COMTD/W/224  
 
25 April 2017  
(17-2236) Page: 1/10 
Committee on Trade and Development  Original: Spanish  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM U RUGUAY ON BEHALF OF  
THE LATIN AMERICAN I NTEGRATION ASSOCIATION  (LAIA)  
The following communication has been received from the delegation of Uruguay on 
30 March  2017 for circulation to WTO Members.  
 
_______________  
 
 
ALADI/CR001/2017  
 
The Chairperson of the Committee of Representatives of the Latin American Integration 
Association (LAIA) presents her compliments to the Chairman of the Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTD) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and refers to your commun ication of 
24 February (WT/COMTD/W/223).  
 
In this connection, the LAIA member countries would like to:  
 
1. Reaffirm in full the contents of communications WT/COMTD/W/217 and WT/COMTD/W/220, 
circulated in the CTD on 14  June 2016 and 3  October  2016 respectiv ely. 
 
2. Inquire, with reference to the explanation in your communication on the criteria for drawing 
up the list of non -notified RTAs, first published in September  2011, why there was a modification 
as of March  2013 (WT/REG/W/73) involving the inclusion o f a separate title for "Agreements under 
the LAIA Framework". This new version of the list was introduced at the 68th session of the CRTA, 
and there is no record of the adoption of this new criterion in the minutes of the previous session.  
 
3. Point out, w ith reference to the comment in your communication concerning the lack of a 
"consensus" for circulating the document "Report to the WTO on Instruments Concluded under the 
1980 Treaty of Montevideo" under the symbol WT/COMTD/N/*, that WTO Members cannot obj ect 
to a notification made by another Member country. Should there be any questions, this can be 
done on the basis of the document notified and circulated as such. The Committee and the 
Secretariat do not have the authority to reject or object to a notific ation or to give it a different 
character from that required by the notifying Member.  
 
4. Inquire, without prejudice to what was said in the previous paragraph, as to why the CTD 
Chairman believes that notifications duly submitted by LAIA member countries cannot be 
considered in that forum, and are thus subject to the decisions adopted in the CRTA. According to 
paragraph 18 of the Transparency Mechanism, the CTD is the body entrusted with the 
implementation of the mechanism for trade agreements falling unde r paragraph 2(c) of the 
Enabling Clause.  
 
At the same time, the LAIA member countries would like to take this opportunity to ask you to 
circulate to WTO Members within the CTD the replies to the European Union's communication 
circulated as document WT/REG/ W/109 of 22  September  2016. Notwithstanding the fact that 
communications WT/COMTD/W/217 and WT/COMTD/W/220 contain information that is relevant to 
many of the questions contained in the EU's questionnaire and in spite of the fact that the 
questionnaire was  erroneously submitted to the CRTA, LAIA member countries that are parties to 
the different agreements listed in document WT/REG/W/105, wishing to reaffirm their continued 
commitment to the principle of transparency, are providing additional replies in ann ex hereto. This 
is done without prejudice to any comments or replies that the LAIA members may wish to provide WT/COMTD/W/224  
 
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  individually in relation to particular aspects of the specific agreements to which they are parties in 
a dedicated session of the CTD, as provide d for in paragraph 18 of the Transparency Mechanism.  
 
Finally, in order to contribute to the transparency of the notification process for agreements 
concluded under the TM80, LAIA member countries would be grateful if, as Chairman of the CTD, 
you would cir culate this communication to CTD members.  
 
The Chairperson of the LAIA Committee of Representatives takes this opportunity to renew to the 
Chairman of the WTO Committee on Trade and Development the assurances of her 
highest  consideration.  
 
Montevideo, 29  March 2017 
 
To: Ambassador Christopher Onyanga Aparr  
 Chairman of the Committee on Trade and Development  
 World Trade Organization (WTO)  
 Geneva, Switzerland  
 
C.C.: Chairman of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
 Ambassador Daniel Blockert  
 
________ _______  WT/COMTD/W/224  
 
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  Joint response of the LAIA member countries to the questions  
of the European Union in its communication dated  
22 September  2016 (WT/REG/W/109 ) 
 
 
1.1. The EU would like to ask LAIA member countries to clearly identify which of the 
agreements listed  in Secretariat document (WT/REG/W/104) are covered by the 
Communication at stake (WT/REG/W/105). In this respect, the EU would welcome a 
"correlation table"  linking each agreement listed in document WT/REG/W/104 (the 
ones from number 39 to 72) with the re levant legal instrument listed in document 
WT/REG/W/105. Furthermore, it would be helpful to clearly present, for each one of 
those agreements, the detailed reasons that would justify dropping them from the list 
WT/REG/W/104.  
 
The "List of agreements inclu ded in reports to the WTO on instruments concluded under the 
1980 Treaty of Montevideo" (TM80) annexed to the Note ALADI/CR 001/16 and circulated as a 
document (WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105) covers all the agreements concluded within the 
framework of the LAIA mentioned in WTO Secretariat document WT/REG/W/104.  
 
1.2. The EU would like to receive detailed information allowing to understand the 
differences among the legal acts classified under the three different columns "Regional 
agreements", "Economic compl ementarity agreements (ACE)", and "Other agreements".  
 
In document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105 the classification under the three columns 
"Regional agreements" (AR), "Economic complementarity agreements (ACE)", and "Other 
agreements" corresponds to the c ategories of agreements indicated in Articles 6 to 14 of the 
1980 Treaty of Montevideo.  
 
Article 6 "Regional Agreements" states:  
 
"Regional agreements shall be those in which all member countries participate.  
 
They shall be drawn up pursuant to the objecti ves and provisions of this Treaty and they may refer 
to the subject -matter and include the instruments provided for in the partial agreements 
established in the third section of this chapter ." 
 
Article 7 "Partial Agreements" states:  
 
"Partial agreements ar e those in which not all the member countries participate; their object is to 
create the necessary conditions to expand the regional integration process through their 
gradual  multilateralization.  
 
The rights and obligations established in partial agreement s shall apply exclusively to the member 
countries which sign or accede to them. " 
 
Article 8 reads:  
 
"Partial agreements may be concerned with trade, economic complementarity, agriculture or 
commercial promotion, or they may take the other forms specified i n Article 14 of this Treaty ." 
 
According to Article 11:  
 
"The economic complementarity agreements shall be designed inter alia to promote the maximum 
utilization of the factors of production, to stimulate economic complementarity, to ensure equitable 
condi tions of competition, to facilitate the competitiveness of products on the international market 
and to encourage the balanced and harmonious development of member countries ." 
 
Article 14 states:  
 
"The member countries may establish, through the correspondi ng regulations, specific rules for the 
drawing up of other types of partial agreement.  
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  For this purpose, they shall take into consideration inter alia scientific and technical cooperation, 
the promotion of tourism and the preservation of the environment ." 
 
It follows that in document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105 the "Regional agreements (AR)" 
column relates to regional scope agreements, i.e. those agreements to which all the LAIA member 
countries are party (Article 4 of the TM80). In its turn, the "Econom ic complementarity 
agreements (ACE)" column relates to partial agreements (Article 7 of the TM80) of the "Economic 
complementarity agreements" type. Finally, the "Other agreements" column refers to partial 
agreements of other kinds, which are not economic complementarity agreements (ACEs) and are 
defined in Articles 10, 12, 13, 14 and 25 of the TM80.  
 
At the same time, it is important to point out that, in accordance with the terms of Article 4 of the 
TM80, trade agreements signed under that Treaty (regiona l agreements and partial agreements) 
constitute "mechanisms" for the accomplishment of the objectives of the Treaty and thus are the 
development of the TM80 itself.  
 
Accordingly, all trade agreements – whether they be regional or partial – concluded under the 
TM80, i.e. under the "legal umbrella of the LAIA", must be notified to the WTO under Sections D 
to G "Subsequent notification and reporting" of the 2006 Transparency Mechanism, whose 
paragraph 14 expressly states: " The required notification of changes affecting the implementation 
of an RTA, or the operation of an already implemented RTA ... ", without prejudice to notifications 
submitted individually by LAIA member countries.  
 
1.3. With reference to the Regional agreements (AR) the EU would like to ask 
LAIA member countries to:  
a.  Clarify the coverage of each instrument listed under the column (AR) and 
submit information on their main characteristics.  
According to Article 6 of the TM80, " Regional agreements shall be those in which all member 
countries  participate. They shall be drawn up pursuant to the objectives and provisions of this 
Treaty and they may refer to the subject -matter and include the instruments provided for in the 
partial agreements established in the third section of this chapter ." 
 
Thus,  all the LAIA member countries are party to the following regional agreements:  
 
 AR.AM No.  1: Market -Opening in favour of Bolivia  
 AR.AM No.  2: Market -Opening in favour of Ecuador  
 AR.AM No.  3: Market -Opening in favour of Paraguay  
 AR.AM No.  4: Regional Tariff  Preference  
 AR.AM No.  6: Scientific and Technological Cooperation  
 AR.AM No.  7: Cooperation and Trade in Cultural Goods  
 AR.AM No.  8: Technical Barriers to Trade  
 
Details of the characteristics of each of the regional agreements concluded by the LAIA member 
countries can be found in the respective WTO notification reports mentioned in document 
WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105, in which there are links to the Association's website 
www.aladi.org , with the texts of the agreements and their additional protocols.  
 
b.  Clarify whether these instruments only contain provisions on trade in goods or 
whether they do cover any additional trade related provisions. In particular, 
please clarify whether any of the listed legal instruments contain provisions on 
trade in service s. The EU would like to note that, should one or more of the 
listed agreements contain provisions on trade in services, they would not fall 
under the Enabling Clause and should be notified under Article V of the GATS 
and go through the full examination pro cess, including factual presentations 
and discussion in the Committee.  
 
The Regional Agreements concluded by the LAIA member countries under the TM80 do not contain 
any provisions on trade in services.  
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  c. Clarify whether the provisions contained in each i nstrument are equally 
applicable to all LAIA member countries  
 
Article 3(d) of the TM80 establishes the principle of " Differential treatment, as determined in each 
case, both in regional and partial mechanisms , on the basis of three categories of countries , which 
shall be integrated in accordance with their economic and structural characteristics. This treatment 
shall be applied on a determined scale to the countries of intermediate development and in a more 
favourable manner to countries at a relatively le ss advanced stage of development ." Therefore, 
even though regional agreements are signed by all the member countries of the Association, they 
are not equally  applicable to all those countries.  
 
Article 15 of the TM80 states:  
 
"The member countries shall es tablish conditions favourable to the participation of countries at a 
relatively less advanced stage of development in the economic integration process, on the basis of 
the principles of non -reciprocity and community cooperation ." 
 
According to Article 16:  
 
"For the purpose of ensuring effective preferential treatment, member countries shall open up 
markets, harmonize programmes and devise other specific means of cooperation ." 
 
Article 17 reads:  
 
"Actions favouring relatively less developed countries shall b e concluded through regional 
agreements and partial agreements.  
 
In order to ensure the effectiveness of such agreements, the member countries shall draw up 
negotiated rules designed to maintain preferences, eliminate non -tariff restrictions and apply 
safeguard clauses in justified cases. " 
 
Article 18 "First section – Regional Agreements" states:  
 
"The member countries shall approve negotiated lists of preferably industrial products, originating 
in each relatively less developed country, for which they shal l agree without reciprocity to 
eliminate completely customs duties and other restrictions by all the other countries of 
the Association.  
 
The member countries shall determine the procedures necessary for the gradual extension of the 
lists and may carry out  the necessary negotiations when they consider it desirable.  
 
Similarly, they shall strive to establish effective compensation mechanisms to counter the negative 
effects on the intra -regional trade of the relatively less developed land -locked countries. " 
 
In the case of the Regional Tariff Preference (AR.PAR No.  4), the preference margins vary in 
accordance with the three categories of member countries of the Association: countries at a 
relatively less advanced stage of development (PMDERs), countries at an  intermediate stage of 
development, and other member countries.  
 
The Second Additional Protocol raised the basic regional tariff preference to the 20% level, 
recognizing differential treatment that ranges from 40% to 8%. At the same time, the preferential 
treatment for the two land -locked countries (from 24% to 48%) was maintained.  
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  Regional tariff preference levels in the  
Second Additional Protocol to the AR 4  
 Beneficiary  
Grantor  Land-locked  PMDER  Intermediate 
development  Other  
countries  
PMDER  24% 20% 12% 8% 
Intermediate 
development  34% 28% 20% 12% 
Other countries  48% 40% 28% 20% 
 
In the case of the Regional Agreements on Market Opening (AR.AM), in favour of the PMDERs 
(Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay), each country has negotiated its own list of produ cts for each of 
the PMDERs.  
 
d. Clarify whether there is any link between the legal instruments under the 
column (AR) and the ones under the columns (ACE) and "Other agreements".  
 
The link between the legal instruments under the column "Regional agreements  (AR)" and the 
ones under the columns "Economic complementarity agreements (ACE)" and "Other agreements" 
in document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105 is precisely that, in all these cases, it is a 
question of mechanisms for the implementation of the TM80, i.e . they are instruments for the 
development of the Treaty itself.  
 
Article 2 (CHAPTER 1: Objectives, functions and principles) of the 1980 Treaty of Montevideo 
states that: " The norms and mechanisms  of this Treaty and those established pursuant to it by the  
member countries shall have as their objective the development of the following basic functions of 
the Association: the promotion and regulation of reciprocal trade, economic complementarity and 
the development of economic cooperation activities which enc ourage market expansion ." 
 
At the same time, according to Article 4 (CHAPTER II: Mechanisms): " In order to fulfil the basic 
functions of the Association  established in Article 2 of this Treaty, the member countries hereby 
establish an area of economic pref erences made up of a regional tariff preference, regional 
agreements and partial agreements ." 
 
Consequently, agreements concluded under the TM80, whether they be regional or partial, must 
be notified to the WTO under sections D "Subsequent notification and  reporting" to G of the 2006 
Transparency Mechanism, which in its paragraph 14 expressly states: " The required notification of 
changes affecting the implementation of an RTA, or the operation of an already implemented 
RTA …", without prejudice to notificat ions submitted individually by LAIA member countries.  
 
e.  With reference to the agreement: PAR, AR 6, AR 7, AR 8, NAM 1, 2, 3 (accession 
of Panama), the EU has no doubts that, being an accession of a new member to 
an existing agreement, it would fall unde r the provisions of Section B.3 of the 
Transparency Mechanism decision and therefore they should be subject to the 
full examination process, meaning Factual Presentations and discussion in the 
relevant committee. As LAIA member countries, in paragraph 1.1 of their 
communication, have declared that those acts meet the notification's 
obligations set in Section D and G of the TM decision, the EU would like to ask 
LAIA member countries to submit sound reasons to justify their statement.  
 
Article 58 of the TM80,  which establishes the conditions for the accession of a Latin American 
country, expressly states:  
 
"The Treaty shall enter into force for the acceding country thirty days after the date of 
its accession.  
 
The acceding States shall implement on that date t he undertakings derived from the regional 
customs preference and from the regional agreements reached before the date of accession ." 
 
 
That is to say that the acceding country must implement the undertakings derived from the 
"Regional Tariff Preference" (A rticle 5) and the "Regional Agreements" (Article 6) included in the WT/COMTD/W/224  
 
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  "Mechanisms" provided for in Article 4 of the TM80, which seek to make viable the achievement of 
its long -term objectives and thus are the development of the TM80 itself.  
 
In accordance wi th Article 2 of the TM80, regional and partial agreements concluded under the 
Treaty constitute legal instruments that affect the implementation of the Treaty and are 
mechanisms for achieving its objectives. They should therefore be notified on the basis o f sections 
D to G of the 2006 Transparency Mechanism, without prejudice to notifications submitted 
individually by LAIA member countries.  
 
Consequently, the WTO Secretariat is not required to prepare factual presentations, as is the case 
with agreements no tified under Section B of the 2006 Transparency Mechanism.  
 
1.4. With reference to the Economic Complementarity Agreements (ACE) the EU would 
like to ask LAIA member countries to:  
a. Clarify the coverage of each instrument listed under the column (ACE) and  
submit information on their main characteristics.  
 
The Economic Complementarity Agreements are a type of partial agreement.  
 
Article 7 "Partial agreements" states:  
 
"Partial agreements are those in which not all the member countries participate; their obj ect is to 
create the necessary conditions to expand the regional integration process through their 
gradual  multilateralization.  
 
The rights and obligations established in partial agreements shall apply exclusively to the member 
countries which sign or acce de to them ." 
 
According to Article 11:  
 
"The economic complementarity agreements shall be designed inter alia to promote the maximum 
utilization of the factors of production, to stimulate economic complementarity, to ensure equitable 
conditions of competit ion, to facilitate the competitiveness of products on the international market 
and to encourage the balanced and harmonious development of member countries. " 
 
Details of the characteristics of the economic complementarity agreements concluded by the LAIA 
member countries are given in the respective notification reports to the WTO mentioned in 
document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105, which provides links to the Association's website 
http://www.aladi.com , with the texts of  the agreements and their additional protocols.  
 
b.  Clarify whether these instruments only contain provisions on trade in goods or 
whether they do cover any additional trade related provisions. In particular, 
please clarify whether any of the listed legal  instruments contain provisions on 
trade in services. The EU would like to note that, should one or more of the 
listed agreements contain provisions on trade in services, they would not fall 
under the Enabling Clause and should be notified under Article V of the GATS 
and go through the full examination process, including factual presentations 
and discussion in the Committee.  
 
Among the economic complementarity agreements concluded under the TM80, the LAIA member 
countries party to the respective agreements report that the following contain undertakings on 
trade in services:  
 
ACE 24 Chile -Colombia  
ACE 33 Colombia -Mexico  
ACE 35 Argentina -Brazil -Paraguay -Uruguay and Chile  
ACE 38 Chile -Peru 
ACE 41 Chile -Mexico  
ACE 60 Uruguay -Mexico  
ACE 67 Mexico -Peru 
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  c. Clarify  whether the provisions contained in each instrument are equally 
applicable to all LAIA member countries.  
 
Article 7 "Partial agreements" states:  
 
"Partial agreements are those in which not all the member countries participate ; their object is to 
create th e necessary conditions to expand the regional integration process through their 
gradual  multilateralization.  
 
The rights and obligations established in partial agreements shall apply exclusively to the member 
countries which sign or accede to them ." 
 
d.  For each agreement, the EU would like to ask LAIA member countries to submit 
details on the additional trade preferences granted to the concerned Members 
on top of the ones established under the Treaty of Montevideo, if any. 
Alternatively, please confirm th at no additional preferences are granted.  
 
All the trade preferences granted between LAIA member countries are reflected in the various 
agreements concluded under the TM80.  
 
Details of the characteristics of these agreements are given in the respective not ification reports to 
the WTO mentioned in document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105, which provides links to the 
Association's website http://www.aladi.com , with the texts of the agreements and their 
additional  protocols.  
 
1.5. With reference to the other agreements the EU would like to ask LAIA member 
countries to:  
 
a. Clarify the coverage of each instrument listed under the column "Other 
agreements" and submit information on their main characteristics.  
 
The "Other agreem ents" column of document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105 relates to 
partial agreements concluded within the context of the LAIA which are not of the Economic 
Complementarity Agreement (ACE) type.  
 
In this respect, Article 8 of the TM80 expressly states:  
 
"Partial agreements may be concerned with trade , economic complementarity, agriculture  or 
commercial promotion , or they may take the other forms specified in Article 14 of this Treaty ." 
 
According to Article 10:  
 
"The trade agreements shall have as their excl usive aim the promotion of trade between the 
member countries and shall be subject to the specific rules established for this purpose. " 
 
Article 12 reads:  
 
"Agricultural agreements are aimed at promoting and regulating intra -regional agricultural trade. 
They shall envisage a flexible approach which takes into account the socio -economic 
characteristics of the production of the participating countries. These agreements may relate to 
specific products or groups of products and may be based on temporary, season al concessions, 
with quotas or mixed concessions, or they may be based on contracts between State or parastatal 
organizations. They shall be subject to the specific rules established for this purpose. " 
 
According to Article 13:  
 
"Trade promotion agreements  shall relate to non -tariff questions and shall be designed to promote 
intra-regional trade flows. They shall be subject to the specific rules to be established for 
this purpose. " 
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  Article 14 states:  
 
"The member countries may establish, through the corres ponding regulations, specific rules for the 
drawing up of other types of partial agreement.  
 
For this purpose, they shall take into consideration inter alia scientific and technical co -operation, 
the promotion of tourism and the preservation of the environ ment. " 
 
Details of the characteristics of these agreements are given in the respective notification reports to 
the WTO mentioned in document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105, which provides links to the 
Association's website http://www.aladi.com , with the texts of the agreements and their 
additional  protocols.  
 
b. Clarify whether these instruments only contain provisions on trade in goods or 
whether they do cover any additional trade related provisions. In particular, 
please clarify whether any of the listed legal instruments contain provisions on 
trade in services. The EU would like to note that, should one or more of the 
listed agreements contain provisions on trade in services, they would not fall 
under the Enabling Clau se and should be notified under Article V of the GATS 
and go through the full examination process, including factual presentations 
and discussion in the Committee.  
 
The agreements mentioned in the "Other agreements" column of document WT/COMTD/W/217 - 
WT/R EG/W/105 do not contain specific provisions on trade in services.  
 
c. Clarify whether the provisions contained in each instrument are equally 
applicable to all LAIA member countries.  
 
The "Other agreements" column relates to partial agreements which are no t of the "economic 
complementarity agreements" type.  
 
Article 7 "Partial agreements" states:  
 
"Partial agreements are those in which not all the member countries participate ; their object is to 
create the necessary conditions to expand the regional integra tion process through their gradual 
multilateralization.  
 
The rights and obligations established in partial agreements shall apply exclusively to the member 
countries which sign or accede to them ." 
 
d. Some of them are concluded between LAIA member countrie s and non -LAIA 
member countries  (see for example AAP.A25TM 10.1 to 10.3 (MX -Guatemala)). 
In this case, please:  
 
i. clarify the scope of the agreement(s)  
 
In relation to the scope of the agreements, Article 25 of the TM80 states:  
 
"… these agreements shall be subject to the following rules:  
 
(a) Concessions granted by the participating member countries shall not be extended to the others 
but only to the relatively less developed countries;  
 
(b) When a member country includes products already negotiated in pa rtial agreements with other 
member countries, the concessions which it grants may be greater than those agreed with those 
other countries; in this case, consultations shall be held with the affected member countries in 
order to achieve mutually satisfactor y solutions, unless the partial agreements in question contain 
clauses concerning automatic extension or waiver of preferences included in the partial 
agreements referred to in this article; and  
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  (c) They shall be assessed on a multilateral basis by the me mber countries within the Committee 
in order to ascertain the scope of the agreements and to facilitate the participation of other 
member countries in them. " 
 
Details of the characteristics of the agreements concluded by LAIA member countries with other 
Latin American countries can be found in the respective notification reports to the WTO mentioned 
in document WT/COMTD/W/217 - WT/REG/W/105, which provides links to the Association's 
website www.aladi.org , with the texts of the agreements and their additiona l protocols.  
 
ii. submit sound legal reasons showing that this type of agreements can fall 
under the Treaty of Montevideo umbrella. In this respect, please also justify 
how these acts meet the notification's obligations set in Section D and G of 
the TM dec ision as stated in the communication under paragraph 1.1.  
 
Article 1 of the TM80 states that: " By this Treaty the Contracting Parties are continuing the 
integration process designed to promote the harmonious and balanced economic and social 
development of the region ...  
 
This process shall have as its long -term objective the gradual and progressive establishment of a 
Latin American common market. " 
 
According to Article 2 (CHAPTER 1: Objectives, functions and principles) of the Treaty: " The norms 
and mechani sms of this Treaty and those established pursuant to it by the member countries shall 
have as their objective the development of the following basic functions of the Association: the 
promotion and regulation of reciprocal trade, economic complementarity an d the development of 
economic cooperation activities which encourage market expansion. " 
 
At the same time, Article 4 (CHAPTER II: Mechanisms) reads: " In order to fulfil the basic functions 
of the Association established in Article 2 of this Treaty, the mem ber countries hereby establish an 
area of economic preferences made up of a regional tariff preference, regional agreements and 
partial agreements. " 
 
Likewise, Article 25 of the TM80 stipulates that: " Similarly, the member countries may draw up 
partial agr eements with other countries and areas of economic integration of Latin America in 
accordance with the provisions of Chapter II, third section, of this Treaty and in accordance with 
the relevant regulations ...". This provision is particularly noteworthy s ince it reinforces the 
long-term objective of forming a Latin American common market expressed in Article 1 of 
the TM80.  
 
From a consistent reading of all these articles it is clear that, under the terms of Article 4 of the 
TM80, trade agreements concluded  under the TM80 (regional agreements and partial agreements) 
are "mechanisms" for the development of the objectives and functions of the 1980 Treaty of 
Montevideo and thus are the development of the TM80 itself.  
 
Consequently, all agreements – whether they  be regional agreements or partial agreements – 
concluded under the TM80, i.e. under the "legal umbrella of the LAIA", must be notified to the 
WTO under sections D "Subsequent notification and reporting" to G of the 2006 Transparency 
Mechanism, whose parag raph 14 expressly states: " The required notification of changes affecting 
the implementation of an RTA, or the operation of an already implemented RTA ...", without 
prejudice to notifications submitted individ ually by LAIA member countries.  
 
 
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