WTO : new database on regional trade agreements

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are growing more and more important in the global trade in goods and services. Between 1958 and 2005, 141 RTAs concerning the trade in goods were indicated to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Secretariat (since 1995 the World Trade Organization (WTO) Secretariat); from 1958 to 1989, 25 RTAs were founded, from 1990 to 2005, 116 RTAs were founded. The WTO is forecasting about 400 active RTAs in 2010. The WTO has now launched a new database on RTAs. This database on RTAs (the so-called RTA-Information System, RTA-IS) contains all the relevant documentation received by the WTO following notification by a WTO member that an RTA has been established.