Abstract
The last few decades have witnessed a dramatic explosion in the numbers and membership of regional trade agreements (RTAs). In fact, with the establishment of the WTO, and as of February 2016, some 625 notifications of RTAs (counting goods, services, and accessions separately) had been received by the GATT/WTO. The global proliferation of RTAs is partly explained by the seemingly controversial nature of the Doha Round of trade negotiations. With the grudgingly low progress at the multilateral level, many major players in global trade are increasingly resorting to RTAs to advance their trade, investments and commercial interests. In fact, the United States of America (USA), which is historically a strong proponent of the multilateral trading system is focusing increasingly on discriminatory FTAs. Another part-reason for the increased focus on RTAs in particular, and South–South RTAs in general, is due to the need to address many ‘behind-the-border’ issues such as competition and investment regulations, in addition to traditional trade issues such as border tariffs. Based on this background, this chapter provides insightful and actionable policy recommendations towards better understanding South–South RTAs within the context of the multilateral trade system.
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Notes
- 1.
The CRTA’s purpose also include the examination of how regional arrangements might affect the multilateral trading system, and the likely consequences of the relationship between regional and multilateral arrangements.
- 2.
GATT’s Article XXIV says if a free trade area or customs union is created, duties and other trade barriers should be reduced or removed on substantially all sectors of trade in the group. Non-members should not find trade with the group any more restrictive than before the group was established. Other WTO agreements allow developing countries to enter into regional or global agreements that include the reduction or elimination of tariffs and NTBs on trade among the members. Further, the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS)’s Article V provides for economic integration in services.
- 3.
This transparency mechanism provides for early announcement of any RTA and notification to the WTO. Further, members will consider the notified RTAs on the basis of a factual presentation by the WTO Secretariat. The Committee on RTAs will consider RTAs falling under Article XXIV of GATT and Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). In addition, the Committee on Trade and Development will consider RTAs falling under the Enabling Clause (trade arrangements between developing countries). The transparency mechanism is implemented on a provisional basis, and members are to review, and if necessary modify, the decision, and replace it by a permanent mechanism adopted as part of the overall results of the Doha Round (WTO website).
- 4.
According to the WTO (2016b), African-related plurilateral RTAs include Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), entry into force in 08 December, 1994; East African Community (EAC); Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC); Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); European Union (EU)—Eastern and Southern African States Interim Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA), entry into force in 14 May 2012; Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Southern African Development Community (SADC); and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU).
- 5.
Within the WTO context, PTAs are unilateral trade preferences which include GSP schemes, non-reciprocal preferential schemes for products from LDCs only, as well as other non-reciprocal preferential schemes that have been granted a waiver by the General Council (such as AGOA).
- 6.
The Doha Development Agenda (DDA) is based on the November 2001 declaration of the Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar. The Conference provides the mandate for negotiations on a range of subjects and negotiations which include inter alia: agriculture and services, which began in early 2000 in Doha. The Conference also focused on the challenges that developing countries faced in implementing the WTO agreements.
- 7.
The RTAs notified to the GATT/WTO and in force by country/territory is available the WTO website address at: http://rtais.wto.org/Export/ExportPreDefRepByCountry.aspx. This WTO webpage also presents the goods notifications (RTAs), goods notifications (accessions), services notifications (EIAs), services notifications (accessions) and physical RTAs.
- 8.
However, the point has to be emphasized that in spite of the NTBs, African countries rank very poorly in the 2015 Ease of Doing Business assessment by the IFC/World Bank (http://www.doingbusiness.org/ranking).
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Odularu, G., Deen-Swarray, M., Gitau, C. (2017). The Big Picture: South–South Regional Trade Agreements within the Context of the Multilateral Trade Systems. In: Odularu, G., Adekunle, B. (eds) Negotiating South-South Regional Trade Agreements. Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45569-3_2
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