This paper illustrates how the work of the WTO's standing committees is fuelling regulatory cooperation between WTO … members, and inspiring RTA negotiators. We explore, as a case study, how the WTO TBT Committee has shaped provisions on … international standards in RTAs, and focus on the extent to which RTAs have assimilated the WTO TBT principles for development of …

currently covered by the WTO Agreement, such as investment protection, competition policy, labour standards and environmental … contents of all PTAs involving the EC and the US currently notified to the WTO, into 14 "WTO+" and 38 "WTO-X" areas, where WTO …+ provisions come under the current mandate of the WTO, and WTO-X provisions deal with issues lying outside the current WTO mandate …