RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/REG/M/40 
31 August 2005 
 
 (05-3807) 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements 
Fortieth Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 26 AND 28 JULY 2005 
 
Chairmen:  Mr. R. Saborío Soto (Costa Rica ) 
and Mr. A. Egger (Switzerland ) 
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Fortieth Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA or Committee) 
was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/2624, dated 12 Ju ly 2005.  As requested by the Committee, an 
annotated draft agenda had been distributed by fax on 13 May 2005.  
2. The Chairman  announced that he would inform th e Committee under "Other Business" of 
arrangements related to the organization (by the Secretariat) of a seminar in October 2005.   
3. The following Agenda was adopted: 
 A. Adoption of the Agenda 
 B. Election of Officers 
 C. Examination of Regional Trade Agreements 
  I. Status Report on the Examination Work   II. Enlargement of the European Union, Goods  
III. Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Croatia IV. Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Jordan 
V. Free Trade Agreement between the EF TA States and Singapore, Goods and 
Services 
VI. Free Trade Agreement between the Re public of Korea and Chile, Goods and 
Services 
VII. European Communities-Chile Interim Agreement VIII. European Communities-Jordan  Euro-Mediterranean Agreement 
IX. European Communities-Mexico Free Trade Agreement, Goods 
X. Agreement between Japan and Singapore for a New-Age Economic 
Partnership, Goods 
XI. Singapore-Australia Free Trade Agreement, Goods and Services XII. Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Costa Rica 
 D. Other Business 
 4. 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 . 
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B. E
LECTION OF OFFICERS  
5. The Chairman  reported on his ongoing consultations with regional groupings to replace the 
vice-chairmen who had departed.  He then pro posed that the Committee elect Mr. Anton Egger 
(Switzerland) as Vice-Chairman of the CRTA.  It was so agreed .  The Chairman welcomed the 
election of the new Vice-Chairman, praising Mr. E gger's broad expertise as a trade diplomat and 
negotiator. 
C. EXAMINATION OF REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS  
I. Status Report on the Examination Work 
6. Under this item, the Chairman  provided an update on the status  of the examination work and 
drew delegations' attention to the relevant summary table prepared by the Secretariat and distributed 
in the room.  He noted that a total of 132 regional trade agreements (RTAs) were under examination.  
Factual examination had been completed for 43 agreements, while ongoing on 38 and not yet started 
on 29; in addition there were 30 agre ements concluded with non-Members. 
7. The Chairman observed that missing documentation had impeded the Committee to 
adequately proceed with factual examinations in  some cases, and he announced his intention to 
consult with the parties to see how better to ensure that the examinations could be brought to a speedy 
conclusion.  He also recalled that, of the 38 RTAs  undergoing factual examination, two were on hold 
until the parties would detail their mutual services co mmitments.  As regards the outstanding general 
incidence calculations for customs unions, he dr ew the attention of delegations to document 
WT/COMTD/1/Add.15, of 24 May 2005, which contained such a calculation for the MERCOSUR and announced that the Committee woul d have an opportunity to discuss it in October.  As regards the 
EC-Turkey customs union, he informed the Commi ttee that a preliminary calculation had revealed 
some errors in the IDB data for 1996;  once the difficulties had been solved, the Secretariat could 
proceed with the calculations and circulate th e corresponding document.  As to the 30 RTAs 
involving non-Members, the Chairman recalled that  eleven had begun the examination process.  
Given that those RTAs were increasing in number (s even were notified in 2004 and seven so far in 
2005), he proposed to continue informal consultations  with Members to devise a strategy to deal with 
such RTAs in the framework of the WTO. 
8. Concerning the 29 RTAs for which the examination had not yet started, of which 23 related to 
goods and six to services, the Chairman highlight ed again the cases where the examination, though 
scheduled, could not be carried out due to missing ba sic documentation (i.e. lack  of Standard Format 
submitted by the parties).  He informed the Commi ttee that soon after the meeting the Secretariat 
would write to the parties to remind them of the pos sibility of having the Secretariat prepare a factual 
presentation on their behalf, and that he himself intende d to contact the delegations in that respect.  He 
was of the view that using the factual presentation prepared by the Secretariat might help those delegations which had difficulty submitting the Sta ndard Format for the examination of their RTA 
while providing the needed impetus to the examination process. 
9. Finally, the Chairman informed the Committee that following this meeting the Secretariat 
would distribute an annotated agenda for the 41
st Session of the CRTA (October 2005), in order to 
allow sufficient time for delegations to prepare th e necessary documentation for the meeting.  Taking 
into account the situation he had just outlined a nd the need to organize the examination work as 
efficiently as possible, he was of the view that pr iority should be given to the factual examinations 
already started and had therefore asked the Secret ariat to plan the October meeting so that the 
Committee could advance its ongoing work. 
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C.II-XII (The minutes of the examination of the Agre ements listed under agenda items C.II-XII are 
being distributed as separate documents.) 
D. OTHER BUSINESS  
10. The Chairman  thanked delegations for their co-opera tion and noted the progress made in the 
examinations tackled during the Session.  He then asked the Secretar iat to intervene.  
11. A representative of the Secretariat  explained that a half-day seminar on RTA matters was 
programmed for October and that the Chairman had accepted that the seminar be held on the first day 
of the Committee's 41st Session (6-7 October 2005), thus leaving one and a half days to deal with the 
examination schedule foreseen for that Session.  She added that  the Secretariat would soon provide 
delegations with full information in that  respect.  In response to the Chairman 's request for details on 
the features of the seminar, she recalled the two semi nars held on the subject in the past, and noted 
that there was not yet a definite format for the Oc tober seminar, though the general aim was to invite 
speakers to focus  on a few practical aspects of RTA issues. 
12. While expressing support for such events, which had proved to be very useful in the past, the 
representative of the United States  was concerned about the timing of the seminar.  She noted that the 
seminar would conflict with meetings  of a Negotiating Group if held on 6th October, and wondered 
whether the period preceding the forthcoming Ministerial Conference would be the most auspicious time to have a seminar.  She added that the seminar might be  better scheduled for early the next year. 
13. Another representative of the Secretariat
 clarified that the CRTA Chair had kindly lent the 
Secretariat half a day to hold the seminar.  The sem inar would be tailored to directly feed into the 
deliberations of the Negotiating Group on Rules.  The intention was to build around some relevant 
systemic issues (e.g., RTAs' impact on multilate ral liberalization, questions linked to the 
"substantially all the trade" concept, aspects of ru les of origin) by inviting presentations from both 
academic and business perspectives.   
14. The representative of the United States  said that her delegation did not  have any particular 
objection to academic presentations as long as they we re balanced, but remarked that it would have 
been helpful to have the seminar idea channelle d through the Negotiating Group on Rules.  She also 
expected a draft outline on the seminar.  A more pr actical request was to schedule the seminar so that 
it did not conflict with the work of other Negotiating Groups. 
15. The representative of the European Communities  said that such seminars usually brought 
fresh perspectives, in particular when business was brought in.  The approach had proved to be useful 
in other negotiating frameworks, where a very inform al and open exchange exis ted, which was not yet 
the case on RTA systemic issues.  He said that, in or der to have a fruitful discussion coming out of the 
seminar, its timing was particularly important.  He  encouraged the Secretar iat to work with the 
Chairman in outlining the seminar and to inform delegations on how it fitted into the broader 
negotiating time line. 
16. A representative of the Secretariat  confirmed that the date problem would be taken into 
account.  He added that the Secretariat was in the process of preparing an outline for the seminar and 
would circulate it to delegations by early September. 
17. The Committee took note  of the comments made. 
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