WTO Committee Gives Update on Regional Trade Agreement Transparency Mechanism

World Trade Organization members heard from the Committee on Regional Trade Agreement on Nov. 1 when the chair of the committee provided an update on the committee's transparency mechanism for regional trade agreements, the WTO said. Members also looked over the European Union-Vietnam, U.S.-Canada-Mexico and Australia-Indonesia regional trade agreements as part of the update.

The committee chair told the members that a total of 36 early announcements of RTAs are currently on the WTO website as part of the RTA transparency mechanism. The most recent early announcement is for the FTA between Canada and Mercosur. The committee also circulated an updated list of non-notified RTAs, which has 56 RTAs issued in factual presentations up to Oct. 25. There are 69 RTAs for which a factual presentation has to be prepared for RTAs involving WTO members only, counting goods and services separately, and a further 34 RTAs involving non-members for which factual presentations are to be prepared, counting goods and services separately, the WTO said.