Free Trade Agreements Scope

This included services and ip. It has also improved trade in agriculture and textiles. The Uruguay Round led to the creation of the World Trade Organization. On 15 April 1994, the 123 participating governments signed the AGREEMENT establishing the WTO in Marrakesh, Morocco. The WTO has taken the lead in future global multilateral negotiations. Latin American countries continue to seek opportunities in the Pacific. Chile and Peru have already concluded free trade agreements with several Asian parties to the TPP. Mexico has a trade agreement with Japan and intends to conclude bilateral trade agreements (link in Spanish) with other TPP members with whom it does not yet have an agreement. Chile recently convened a meeting with TPP signatories and included countries that were not previously involved, such as China, Korea and Colombia. In addition, the increase in RTAs has led to the phenomenon of overlapping members. This can hinder trade flows when traders struggle to adhere to multiple trading rules. In addition, as the scope of RTAs extends to policy areas that are not multilateral, there is an increased risk of inconsistencies between different agreements. Most former RTAs covered only tariff liberalization and related rules such as trade defence, standards and rules of origin.

Increasingly, RTAs have evolved to liberalize services, as well as commitments in the areas of services rules, investment, competition, intellectual property rights, e-commerce, environment and labour. This could lead to regulatory confusion and implementation issues. In his speech of 17. In January 2017, the British Prime Minister officially announced her country`s intention to leave the EU, calling Britain a "great global trading nation" that would not look inward, but rather seek "a bold and ambitious free trade agreement" with the EU and other trading partners (British Embassy, Bogotá, 2017). For the UK, several possible new free trade agreements with partners such as Australia, Brazil, China, the US, India and New Zealand are on the table. Trade agreements, which are described as preferential by the WTO, are also referred to as regional agreements (RTAs), although they are not necessarily concluded by countries in a given region. As of July 2007, 205 agreements were currently in force. More than 300 have been notified to the WTO. [10] The number of free trade agreements has increased significantly over the past decade. Between 1948 and 1994, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the WTO`s predecessor, received 124 notifications. More than 300 trade agreements have been concluded since 1995.

[11] For example, the Agreement on "Voluntary" Export Restrictions is imposed by the exporter under threat of sanctions in order to restrict the export of certain goods to the importing country. Similarly, the setting of minimum import prices should be strictly adhered to by exporting companies under contracts with importers of the country setting those prices. In the event of a reduction in export prices below the minimum level, the importing country shall impose anti-dumping duties which may lead to withdrawal from the market. .