The WTO RTA-IS

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(Regional Trade Agreements Information System)

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WTO RTA-IS Module 5

MANDATE FOR A DATABASE ON RTAs

A provision of the Decision to establish the TM mandates the WTO Secretariat to “establish and maintain an updated electronic database on individual RTAs”. The 2006 Decision also indicates that the database (officially named the WTO Regional Trade Agreement Information System / RTA-IS) shall include relevant tariff and trade-related information, and give access to all written material related to announced or notified RTAs available at the WTO. The database is accessible to the public.

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RTA-IS (Database)

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WTO RTA-IS

WHAT IS THE WTO RTA-IS (DATABASE)?

The Regional Trade Agreement Information System (RTA-IS) is a comprehensive database of RTAs notified to the GATT/WTO. The application allows users to search and export available information on any notified RTA, as well as on the consideration process of a particular RTA within the CRTA or the CTD. In particular, it allows a dynamic search through all notified RTAs according to a selection of criteria, such as the year of entry into force, the type of agreement, etc. The RTA-IS is maintained in the WTO’s three official languages (English, French, and Spanish) by the Regional Trade Agreement Section in the Trade Policies Review Division of the WTO.

The RTA-IS contains information only on agreements that have been notified or for which an early announcement has been made to the WTO. Information on the content of these agreements and the parties to them reflects information provided by the parties to the WTO. Therefore, membership in the agreement may not be up to date if changes have not been notified by

the parties. Similarly, any subsequent change, additional protocol, etc. to the agreement will be available in the database only to the extent that it has been notified.

WTO RTA-IS

RTA-IS PORTAL

your door to enter the database

A SIMPLE, DIRECT WAY to access the RTA-IS portal is to go to http://rtais.wto.org.

You may also access the RTA-IS portal through the WTO website at http://www.wto.org (then chose “Trade Topics”, then, under “Other topics”, click on “Regional Trade Agreements”, then click on the hyperlink indicating “RTA Database”.

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Portal looks like

WTO RTA-IS

RTA-IS PORTAL: your door to the Database

When you enter the RTA-IS portal, you may navigate through the database in different ways, depending on what type of information you want to access.

• Search by country

• Search the lists of RTAs

• Search by criteria

• Examine pre-defined reports and summary tables

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• The user guide contains background and practical information and may be consulted at any time when using the database.

WTO RTA-IS

You can select the country you are interested in examining by clicking on the map or on the drop-down list. You will then have access to details of all RTAs that have been notified or early announcements by the selected country.

• Click directly on the map.

• Search by country 1

• Select the country in the drop-down list.

• You must first define if you want to search all RTAS (covering goods and services), or only RTAs covering goods or only RTAs covering services.

WTO RTA-IS

You can select the country you are interested in examining by clicking on the map or on the drop-down list. You will then have access to details of all RTAs that have been notified or early announcements by the selected country.

• Access to Turkey’s “ID-Card” (as an example)

• Search by country 1

• The search “by country/territory” also makes available a number of background WTO documents on WTO Members’ trade laws, policies, or trade environment, such as the Trade Profile, the Tariff Profile or the most recent Trade Policy Review.

• Click on a RTA to access the ID-Card of the selected Agreement.

WTO RTA-IS

For each RTA, the information is presented in the form of an “ID-Card”, which displays all the factual information available on a given agreement.

• Access to the text of the agreement

ID-Card

• Basic information on the selected RTA is available here

• Information on signatories, date of signature, date of entry into force, etc…

• Type of agreement, provision it has been notified under, date of notification, end of the implementation period…

WTO RTA-IS

For each RTA, the information is presented in the form of an “ID-Card”, which displays all the factual information available on a given agreement.

ID-Card

• All official WTO documents issued in relation to the selected RTA can be consulted here

• Information can also be traced on the WTO consideration process that has taken place regarding any agreement.

WTO RTA-IS

• Here you can view the list of the main topics covered by the selected RTA.

Note: The list of all main topics considered can be consulted in the “user guide”

For each RTA, the information is presented in the form of an “ID-Card”, which displays all the factual information available on a given agreement.

ID-Card • Most information can also be retrieved in Excel format.

• If the agreement has been the subject of a factual presentation or a factual abstract, a list of the main topics covered by the agreement and presented in the document is also provided.

WTO RTA-IS

ACCESSING

TRADE-RELATED DATA

In this section, users can find tariff and trade data received from the parties for the preparation of the factual presentation.

ID-Card

• Information is presented in Excel format so that it can be utilized directly by the user.

WTO RTA-IS

You may select a combination of search parameters to obtain a list of RTAs meeting those parameters. You can then click on the RTA name to obtain its ID-Card.

• Search by criteria 2 • You must first define

the coverage of the agreement (goods or services).*

WTO RTA-IS

This option allows the selection of an RTA from either the list of RTAs in force or the list of Early Announcements.

You can then select the specific RTA you wish to examine and access its ID-Card.

• Search through lists of RTAs

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• The information can be sorted in ascending or descending order for any column.

• You can search within the list using a selected string of characters to generate a specific list of RTAs.

WTO RTA-IS

Pre-defined reports

are formatted as lists of all RTAs in force sorted by: alphabetical order*; date of entry into force; type of Agreement; notification; country / territory; …

• Examine pre-defined reports and summary tables

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WTO RTA-IS

Summary tables

provide detailed figures on the number of RTAs notified to the GATT/WTO and still in force, sorted by: notification*, by type of agreement; and by status in the WTO consideration process.

• Examine pre-defined reports and summary tables

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TEST YOUR

BRAIN Without going back to your notes, try to elaborate on each of the keywords listed below, which correspond to elements discussed in the previous section.

Keywords (TM)

• 2006 Transparency Mechanism • Early Harvest of the DDA • Available through the public

website of the WTO • Information about RTAs (notified

& early announcements) • Trade data related to regionalism • Access to official written

documents circulated for the “consideration” of RTAs

• Ready-made Reports and Summary Tables containing with figures on RTAs

WTO RTA-IS

PRACTICE YOUR NAVIGATING SKILLS

The best way to learn the database is to practice it. Should you wish to practice it, we invite you to:

1. CONNECT to the database

2. SURF the site

3. ANSWER the questions below

4. E-MAIL your answers, through the online platform, to your course coordinator before completing the Intermediary Exam

WTO RTA-IS

QUESTIONS

A. How many early announcement have been made by your country?

B. How many RTAs have been notified by your country? C. How many RTAs, in total, have been notified under

the Enabling Clause? D. What is the document code used for the factual

presentation on the FTA between Chile and Japan? E. How many “physical RTAs” are in force?

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The WTO RTA-IS (Regional Trade Agreements Information System)