WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/RL/W/252 
21 April 2011 
 
 (11-2025) 
Negotiating Group on Rules  
 
 
 
NEGOTIATIONS ON REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS:  
TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
 
REPORT BY AMBASSADOR DENNIS FRANCIS  
CHAIRMAN, NEGOTIATING GROUP ON RULES 
 
 
1. The Negotiating Group on Rules is currently  reviewing the General Council Decision 
establishing a Transparency Mechanism for Regiona l Trade Agreements (WT/L/671).  Paragraph 23 
of the Transparency Mechanism requires Members to "review, and if necessary modify, this Decision 
in light of the experience gained from its pr ovisional operation, and replace it by a permanent 
mechanism adopted as part of the overall result of the Round, in accordance with paragraph 47 of the 
Doha Declaration.  Members will also review th e legal relationship between this Mechanism and 
relevant WTO provisions related to RTAs." 
2. The annexed text represents the outcome of negotiations in the Negotiating Group on Rules 
pursuant to the mandate under paragraph 29 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration 
(WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1) and in accordance with the in structions contained in paragraph II.2 of 
Annex D of the Ministerial Declaration adopted  on 18 December 2005 (WT/MIN(05)/DEC).   
3. The General Council Decision has been implemented on a provisional basis since 14 
December 2006. TN/RL/W/252 
Page 2  
 
  TRANSPARENCY MECHANISM FOR 
REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS 
 
 The General Council, 
 Having regard  to paragraph 1 of Article IX of th e Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the 
World Trade Organization ("WTO Agreement"); 
Conducting  the functions of the Ministerial Conference in the interval between meetings 
pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article IV of the WTO Agreement; 
Noting  that trade agreements of a mutually prefer ential nature ("regional trade agreements" or 
"RTAs") have greatly increased in number and have become an important element in Members' trade 
policies and developmental strategies; 
 Convinced that enhancing transparency in, and unders tanding of, RTAs and their effects is of 
systemic interest and will be of benefit to all Members; 
 Having regard also  to the transparency provisions of Article XXIV of GATT 1994, the 
Understanding on the Interpretation of Articl e XXIV of GATT 1994 ("GA TT Understanding"), 
Article V of GATS and the 1979 Deci sion on Differential and More Favou rable Treatment, Reciprocity 
and Fuller Participation of Develo ping Countries ("Enabling Clause"); 
 Recognizing  the resource and technical constraints of developing country Members; 
 Recalling
 that in the negotiations pursued under the terms of th e Doha Ministerial Declaration1, 
in accordance with paragraph 47 of that Declaration, agreements reached at an early stage may be 
implemented on a provisional basis;  
 Decides: 
A.  Early Announcement 
1. Without prejudging the substance and the timi ng of the notification required under Article 
XXIV of the GATT 1994, Article V of the GATS or the Enabling Clause, nor affecting Members' rights and obligations under the WTO agreements in any way: 
(a) Members participating in new negotiations aimed at the conclusion of an RTA shall 
endeavour to [jointly] so inform the WTO [jointly] [preferably jointly] [;][and] 
[or] 
(b) Members parties to a newly signed RTA shall [jointly] convey to the WTO, in so far 
as and when it is publicly available, inform ation on the RTA, including its official 
name, scope and date of signa ture, any foreseen timetable for its entry into force or 
provisional application, relevant contact  points and/or website addresses, and any 
other relevant unrestricted information [jointly] [preferably jointly] . 
2. The information referred to in paragraph 1 above is to be forwarded to the WTO  Secretariat, 
which will post it on the WTO website
 RTA database and will periodically provide Members with a 
synopsis of the communications received. 
                                                      
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1.  TN/RL/W/252 
 Page 3 
 
 
  B.  Notification 
3. The required notification of an RTA [jointly] by [all] Members that are party to it shall take 
place as early as possible.  As a rule, it will occu r no later than directly following the parties' 
ratification of the RTA or any party's decision on app lication of the relevant parts of an agreement, 
and before the application of preferential treatment between the parties. 
4. In notifying their RTA, [jointly, all] the parties shall specify [under which provision(s) of the 
WTO agreements it is ] [the provision under which the goods and services parts of the RTA are 
being]  notified.  They will also provide the full text of the RTA (or those parts they have decided to 
apply) and any related schedules, a nnexes and protocols, in one of the WTO official languages; if 
available, these shall also be submitted in an electr onically exploitable format.  Reference to related 
official Internet links shall also be supplied. 
C.  Procedures to Enhance Transparency 
5. Upon notification, and without affecting Memb ers' rights and obligations under the WTO 
agreements under which it has been notified, th e RTA shall be considered by Members under the 
procedures established in pa ragraphs 6 to 13 below. 
6. [The consideration by Members of a notified RTA shall be normally concluded in a period 
not exceeding one year after the date of notification. ]  A precise timetable for the consideration of the 
RTA shall be drawn by the WTO Secretariat in c onsultation with the parties at the time of the 
notification. 
7. To assist Members in their consideration of a notified RTA: 
(a) the parties shall make available to the WT O Secretariat data as specified in the 
Annex, if possible in an electronically exploitable format;  and 
(b) the WTO Secretariat, on its own responsib ility and in full consultation with the 
parties, shall prepare a factual presentation of the RTA. 
8. The data referred to in paragraph 7(a) shall be  made available as soon as possible.  Normally, 
the timing of the data submission shall not exceed  ten weeks – or 20 weeks in the case of RTAs 
involving [only] developing countries – after the date  of notification of the agreement. 
9. The factual presentation provided for in paragr aph 7(b) shall be primarily based on the 
information provided by the parties; if necessary, the WTO Secretariat may also use data available 
from other sources, taking into account the views of the parties in furtherance of factual accuracy.  In 
preparing the factual presentation, the WTO Secr etariat shall refrain from any value judgement. 
10. The WTO Secretariat's factual presentation shall not be used as a basis for dispute settlement 
procedures or to create new rights and obligations for Members. 
11. As a rule, a single formal meeting will be devoted to consider each notified RTA; any 
additional exchange of information should take place in written form. 
12. The WTO Secretariat's factual presentation, as well as any additional information submitted 
by the parties, shall be circulated in all WTO official languages not less than eight  ten weeks in 
advance of the meeting devoted to the considerati on of the RTA.  Members' written questions or 
comments on the RTA under consideration shall be transmitted to the parties through the WTO TN/RL/W/252 
Page 4  
 
  Secretariat at least [four
] [five] weeks before the corresponding meeting; they shall be distributed, 
together with replies, to all Members at least th ree working days before the corresponding meeting. 
13. All written material submitted, as well as th e minutes of the meeting devoted to the 
consideration of a notified agreem ent will be promptly circulated in all WTO official languages and 
made available on the WTO website RTA database . 
D.  Subsequent Notification and Reporting 
14. The required notification of changes affecting th e implementation of an RTA, or the operation 
of an already implemented RTA, shall take place [jointly by all Members] as soon as possible after 
the changes occur.  Changes to be notified include, inter alia , modifications to the preferential 
treatment between the parties and to the RT A's disciplines.  The parties shall provide [jointly] a 
summary of the changes made, as well as any relate d texts, schedules, annexes and protocols, in one 
of the WTO official languages and, if available, in electronically exploitable format.2 
15. At the end of the RTA's implementation period, the parties shall [jointly] submit to the WTO 
a short written report on the realization of the liber alization commitments in the RTA as originally 
notified. 
16. Upon request, the relevant WTO body shall provide  an adequate opportunity for an exchange 
of views on the communications subm itted under paragraphs 14 and 15. 
17. The communications submitted under paragraphs 14 and 15 will be promptly made available 
on the WTO website  RTA database and a synopsis will be periodi cally circulated by the WTO 
Secretariat to Members. 
E.  Bodies Entrusted with the Implementation of the Mechanism 
18. The Committee on Regional Trade Agreements ("CRTA") [is instructed to implement the 
Transparency Mechanism.3]  and the Committee on Trade and Deve lopment ("CTD") are instructed 
to implement this Transparency Mechanism . The CRTA shall do so for RTAs falling un der Article 
XXIV of GATT 1994 and Article V of GATS, while the CTD shall do so for RTAs falling under 
paragraph 2(c) of the Enabling Clause.  For pur poses of performing the functions established under 
this Mechanism, the CTD shall convene in dedicated sess ion. 
OR  
18. The Committee on Regional Trade Agreements ("CRTA") and the Committee on Trade and 
Development ("CTD") are instructed to implement this Transparency Mechanism.3  The CRTA shall 
do so for RTAs falling under Article XXIV of GATT 1994 and Article V of  GATS, while the CTD 
shall do so for RTAs falling under paragraph 2(c) of the Enabling Clause. [The CTD shall also 
implement this Transparency Mechanism for RTAs  where the goods part is notified under both 
paragraph 2(c) of the Enabling Clause and Article XXIV of the GATT 1994.]  For purposes of 
performing the functions established under this Me chanism, the CTD shall convene in dedicated 
session. 
                                                      
2 In their notification, Members may refer to official Internet links related to the agreement where the 
relevant information can be consulted in full, in one of the WTO official languages. 
3 The Director-General is invited to ensure consistency in the pr eparation of the WTO Secretariat 
factual presentations for the different types of RTAs, taking into account the variations in data provided by 
different Members.  TN/RL/W/252 
 Page 5 
 
 
  F.  Technical Support for Developing Countries 
19. Upon request, the WTO Secretariat shall provide  technical support to developing country 
Members, and especially least-developed countries, in the implementation of this Transparency 
Mechanism, in particular – but not limited to - with respect to the preparation of RTA-related data and 
other information to be submitted to the WTO Secretariat. 
G.  Other Provisions 
20. Any Member may, at any time, bring to the attention of the [relevant] WTO body [entrusted 
to implement the Transparency Mechanism] information on any RTA that it considers ought to 
have been submitted to Members in the frame work of this Transparency Mechanism. 
21. The WTO Secretariat shall establish and  maintain an updated electronic database on 
individual RTAs.  This database shall include releva nt tariff and trade-relate d information, and give 
access to all written material related to announced or  notified RTAs available at the WTO.  The RTA 
database should be structured so as to  shall be easily accessible to the public. 
H.  Provisional  Application of the Transparency Mechanism  
22. This Decision shall apply, on a provis ional basis,  to all RTAs.  With respect to RTAs already 
notified under the relevant WTO transparency provis ions and in force, this Decision shall apply as 
follows: 
(a) RTAs for which a working party report has been adopted by the GATT Council and 
those RTAs notified to the GATT under the Enabling Clause will be subject to the 
procedures under Sections D to G above. 
(b) RTAs for which the CRTA has concluded the "factual examination" prior to the 
adoption of this Decision and those for wh ich the "factual examination" will have 
been concluded by 31 December 2006, and RTAs notified to the WTO under the Enabling Clause will be subject to the procedures under Sections D to G above.  In addition, for each of these RTAs, the WTO S ecretariat shall prepare a factual abstract 
presenting the features of the agreement. 
(c) Any RTA notified prior to the adoption of this Decision and not referred to in 
subparagraphs (a) or (b) w ill be subject to the procedures under Sections C to G 
above. 
I.  Reappraisal of the Mechanism 
23. Members will r
eview, and if necessary modify, this Decision, in light of the experience 
gained from its provisional operation, and replace it by a permanent mechanism adopted as part of the 
overall results of the Round, in accordance with paragraph 47 of the Doha Declar ation.  Members will 
also review the legal relationship between this Mechanism and relevant WT O provisions related to 
RTAs.  
23. [The ...][Members] shall [undertake an appraisal of] [review] the operation of the 
Transparency Mechanism not more than [five] years after […].  The results of the appraisal will 
be presented to the General Council.  [It] [Mem bers] may subsequently undertake appraisals of 
the Transparency Mechanism at intervals to be determined by [it ]  or as requested by ] the 
General Council.  
_______________ TN/RL/W/252 
Page 6  
 
   
ANNEX 
Submission of Data by RTA Parties 
1. RTA parties shall not be expected to make av ailable the information required below if the 
corresponding data has already been subm itted to the Integrated Data Base (IDB),
1 or has otherwise 
been provided to the Secretariat in an adequate format.2 
2. For the goods aspects in RTAs, the parties sha ll submit the following data, at the tariff-line 
level:3 
(a) Tariff concessions under the agreement: 
(i) a full listing of each party's preferential duties applied in the year of entry 
into force of the agreement; and 
(ii) when the agreement is to be implemen ted by stages, a full listing of each 
party's preferential duties to be applied over the transition period. 
(b) MFN duty rates: 
(i) a full tariff listing of each RTA party' s MFN duties applied on the year of 
entry into force of the agreement;4 and 
(ii) a full tariff listing of each RTA party's MFN duties applied on the year 
preceding the entry into force of the agreement. 
(c) Where applicable, other data (e.g., prefer ential margins, tariff-rate quotas, seasonal 
restrictions, special safeguards and, if available,  ad valorem  equivalents for 
non-ad valorem  duties). 
(d) Product-specific preferential rules of origin as defined in the agreement. 
(e) Import statistics, for the most recent three years preceding the notification  date of 
entry into force for which they are available: 
(i) each party's imports from each of the other parties, in value;  and 
                                                      
1 Trade and tariff data submissions in the context of an RTA notification can subsequently be included 
in the IDB, provided that their key features are approp riate.  In this respect, see document G/MA/IDB/W/6 
(dated 15 June 2000) for the Guidelines for Supplying PC IDB Submissions and documents G/MA/115 (dated 17 June 2002) and G/MA/115/Add.5 (dated 13 January 2005) for WTO Policy regarding the dissemination of 
IDB data. 
2 Data submissions can be furnished in PC database  formats, spreadsheet formats, or text-delimited 
formats; the use of word-processing formats should be avoided, if possible. 
3 References to "tariff-line level" shall be understood to mean the detailed breakdown of the national 
customs nomenclature (HS codes with, for example, 8, 10 or more digits).  It is crucial that all data elements 
supplied use the same national customs nomenclature or ar e associated with correspo nding conversion tables. 
4 In the case of a customs union, the MFN applied common external tariff.  TN/RL/W/252 
 Page 7 
 
 
  (ii) each party's imports from the rest of the world, broken down by country of 
origin, in value. 
3. For the services aspects in RTAs, the parties sha ll submit the following data, if available, for 
the three most recent years preceding the notification  date of entry into force :  trade or balance of 
payments statistics (by services sector/subsector and partner), gross domestic product data or 
production statistics (by services sector/subsector), and relevant statistics on foreign direct investment 
and on movement of natural pers ons (by country and, if possible, by services sector/subsector). 
4. For RTAs involving only developing countri es, in particular when these comprise 
least-developed countries, the data requirements sp ecified above will take into account the technical 
constraints of the parties to the agreement. 
__________