地域協定에 대한 새로운 認識

Abstract

This paper presents the trends and the characteristics of the growing number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the relationship between RTAs and the multilateral trade system (WTO), and examines existing WTO provisions that apply to future negotiations on RTAs. Particular attention is devoted to the work programme for the clarification and definition of specific conditions that conform with WTO provisions. In recent years, there has been an upsurge in the number of RTAs, most of these being free trade agreements (FTAs). The coverage and the depth of provisions of the recent inter-regional and inter-continental agreements often extend beyond those of the WTO. The growing interest in FTAs presents bright prospects for the future. The relationship between regionalism and multilateralism has become an important point of discussion as FTAs are becoming increasingly common. The communique of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in 2001 affirmed that WTO-consistent preferential trade agreements can complement but not substitute the coherent multilateral rules and progressive global liberalization. A systemic approach to reforming the WTO provisions is necessary considering specific trade issues in FTAs such as motives for global liberalization, scope and depth of liberalization, differing rules of origin, the relationship between RTAs and the WTO and NGO participation. In order to institutionalize the symbiotic framework between RTAs and the multilateral trade system, these should be a reorganization of such items as transparency, the avoidance of trade diversion effects, the harmonization of rules of origin, the advancement of GATS negotiations and an RTA surveillance mechanism. A new proposal to establish RTA review mechanism like TPRM should be considered in order to replace the current the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) in the WTO.