"The current situation in Geneva regarding DDA negotiations, as you all know, may add more new RTAs/FTAs to our inventory."
"In this dialogue today we wish to hear practical views from private sector representatives on the impacts of RTAs and FTAs and what you expect from APEC work in this area."
The meeting was the fourth diolague by APEC Senior Officials on RTAs/FTAs since the issue first formally appeared on the APEC Agenda in 2003. APEC has since established a comprehensive database on RTAs/FTAs undertaken by APEC members that is now available on APEC website.
The proliferation of RTAs/FTAs in recent years has seen the signing of 34 RTAs/FTAs in the APEC Region and around 325 RTAs/FTAs world-wide that have been presented to the GATT and WTO. Of these more than 200 were agreed over the last eleven years. By the end of 2005 the WTO estimates that more than fifty-one percent of all world merchandise was traded under preferential agreements.
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
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