Committee on RTAs Considers EU-Armenia, MERCOSUR-Israel
Trade Agreements
WTO members considered two regional trade agreements (RTAs) at
the meeting of the Committee on RTAs on 22 September. Members reviewed the trade
in services aspect of the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement between
the European Union and Armenia and the Free Trade Agreement between the Southern
Common Market (MERCOSUR) and Israel.
The Comprehensive and Enhanced
Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Armenia provisionally
entered into force on 1 June 2018. It contains commitments on market access in the
services sector in addition to commitments under the WTO General Agreement on Trade
in Services (GATS). The EU and Armenia also agreed on obligations on government
procurement, intellectual property, competition, environment and labour, e-commerce, and small and medium sized enterprises.
Armenia
said developing a partnership with the EU was among its key foreign policy objectives,
noting that the EU is its second-largest trading partner both in terms of exports
and imports. Armenia said the agreement will help it sell more services to Europe
and it will also encourage EU enterprises to expand into Armenia.
The EU
said the agreement enhances the potential for increased trade in services as commitments
cover computer services, postal and telecommunications services, construction and
engineering. The EU added that both parties to the agreement are focused on ensuring
its effective implementation so that businesses and consumers can avail themselves
of its benefits.
The Free Trade Agreement
between MERCOSUR and Israel was also considered at the meeting. Under
the agreement, which was fully implemented by 1 January 2020, Israel liberalized
more than 90% of its tariff lines for imports from MERCOSUR states (Argentina, Brazil,
Paraguay and Uruguay) while MERCOSUR liberalized more than 95% of their tariff lines
for imports from Israel.
Israel
— who spoke also on behalf of MERCOSUR — said the agreement aims to eliminate barriers
to trade, facilitate the movement of goods, promote conditions of fair competition
in the free trade area, increase investment opportunities and increase cooperation
in areas of mutual interest. Israel said there was room to improve trade volumes,
noting that as of 2017, the four MERCOSUR states were Israel's eight largest destination
for exports and the 18th largest source of imports. Conversely, Israel was MERCOSUR's
40th largest destination for exports and 28th largest source of imports. Effective
implementation of the agreement, Israel said, would boost the economies of all parties
and improve the business environment.
The Chair
of the Committee, Ambassador Mārtinš Kreitus of Latvia, noted that the WTO Secretariat had received
notifications for the EU-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement and, since the meeting was
convened, the Agreement between Canada, the United States of America, and the United
Mexican States (USMCA/CUSMA/T-MEC).
The Chair
further noted that 54 RTAs have still not been notified to the WTO. In addition,
there are 19 RTAs involving WTO members and 23 involving non-members for which a
factual presentation has to be prepared, counting goods and services separately.
The Chair said he had held consultations with delegations for which the RTA factual
consideration remains delayed due to the lack of comments or data from the members
involved.