IDEAs-GSEI-ITD
Asian Regional Workshop on FTAs: Towards inclusive trade policies in
post-crisis Asia
8-9 December 2009
Bangkok
The Multiple Challenges
in Asian FTAs
Dr. Mia Mikic
Trade Policy Section
Trade and Investment Division
Presentation Outline
Regionalism in Asia-Pacific
Status
Main characteristics
Concerns
National level
Regional level
Management of ‘noodle bowl”
Status of Regionalism in Asia-Pacific
1977
India
Sri Lanka
Bangkok Agreement
Rep. of Korea
Lao
Bangladesh
Thailand
PDR
Philippines
Singapore
ASEAN
Malaysia
Indonesia
Papua
New
Guinea
PATCRA
Source: APTIAD, April 2008,
Australia
2009
ECOTA
SACU
GCC
MERCOSUR
Macao,
China
BIMSTEC
Iran,
Is. Rep.
Maldives
Bhutan
India
Rep.of.
Lao
PDR
SAFTA
AFTA
Thailand
SPARTECA
Australia
Myanmar
Marshall Is.
New
Micronesia
Zealand
Palau
Singapore
Tuvalu
Chile
Papua
Turkey
Niger
China
Korea,
Nepal Bangladesh
EurAsEC
Japan
APTA
Sri Lanka
CISFTA
Hong Kong,
China
Philippines
Malaysia
Brunei
Darussalam
Cambodia
VietIndonesia
Bahrain
Nam
New
Cook Is. Fiji
Guinea
Kiribati Nauru
PICTA Niue Samoa Solomon Is.
Vanuatu
Tonga
Qatar
Jordan
MSG
Mexico
EU
© APTIAD, June 2009,
not all PTAs shown
USA
Panama
Canada
NAFTA
EFTA
Peru
RTAs explosion in Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific
16
140
14
120
PTAs
12
100
80
8
60
6
40
4
20
08
20
06
20
04
20
02
20
00
19
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
86
19
84
0
19
82
0
19
80
20
19
78
2
Interest of countries in Asia-Pacific to negotiate had one peak in mid 1990s
and then started to rise exponentially after 2002
Cumulative
Cumulative
10
19
76
PTAs per year
Under Negotiation
…increase in number of RTA in Asia-Pacific is in line with the global trend
Characteristics of RTAs in Asia-Pacific
Architecture of Asia-Pacific RTAs
Notes: * “FTA & EIA” stands for Free Trade Agreement and Economic Integration Agreement- a category
of agreements that are notified both under goods and services; * * includes six agreements between
Central Asian countries and members of CIS not in ESCAP Source: Compiled from APTIAD, August 2009
Number and make up of memberships:
• Only one Asian WTO Member (Mongolia) has no
RTAs (as yet!)
•Asia-Pacific non-WTO members: from 1 to 11 RTAs
• Average per ESCAP  6 RTAs in implementation
per economy, minimum=0 RTA, maximum= 22 RTA
•Often partners from outside the region
COVERAGE of areas
RTA
NTMs
Investme
nt
Services
Competiti
on
IPR
TF
ASEAN-Australia-New
Zealand FTA (AANZFTA)



-***


ANZCERTA1
*
-

Separate

Separate
-

Separate
APTA2
-
In progress
In progress
-
-
In
progress
ASEAN (AFTA)2


Separate

Separate


ASEAN-China PTA2
-**
-**

Separate
-
-***
-
BIMSTEC-FTA
-**
-**
-**
-
-
-**
India-Singapore BTA1




-***

PICTA

-
-

-
-***
SAFTA
-
-**
-
-**
-
-**
TRANS-PACIFIC SEP1

In progress




Difference between RTAs in terms of coverage:
50.0
bilateral45.0and country-bloc
cover more
sectors
40.0
% of agreements
35.0
30.0
25.0
20.0
15.0
10.0
NBTA=66
NRTA=11
NC-B=14
5.0
0.0
Competition
Environment
Investment
Singapore issues
Trade
facilitiation
BTA
Services
RTA
C-B
IPR
Procurement
Volume of trade covered
As shares of exports to PTA partners in total country’s exports
Concerns - at national levels:
Disconnect in pursuit of trade liberalization through
multilateral trade system and RTAs:
Policy space (investment, competition, services,
IPRs, etc)
Market access BUT restrictive Rules of Origin
Weak institutional dimensions
- Consultative processes during negotiations
- Monitoring and evaluation of implementation (no
appropriate bodies – joint committees but not
always functioning well)
Other concerns
Trade in Asia-Pacific has been more marketdriven (growth-driven?) than PTA-driven:
sustainability?
Forging agreements with partners outside the
region kept Asia as a relatively open bloc:
helping global economy?
RTAs in Asia not “economic integration”: weak
regional institutions and lack of incentives for
convergence?
Given changes in global economy, is there a
need / possibility for stronger regional trade
governance / integration?
Managing the “noodle bowl”
Towards multilateralization of RTAs?
Global – WTO and rules for ensuring that RTAs are
“building blocks”
Regional – consolidation /enlargement of RTAs:
impact on members vis-à-vis non-members
sectoral impacts
National – inclusive decision making for growth
with more balanced effects (“Trade needs to be
governed to produce benefits to all.” )
Features of the ‘model’ FTA taking into account
rules and needs of developing countries
GOODS
SERVICES
OTHERS
 trade in goods, including
trade remedies
(safeguards, antidumping measures and
countervailing duties)
 customs procedures
 rules of origin
 technical barriers to trade
 sanitary and
phytosanitary measures
 trade in services, and in
particular:
o trade in financial services
o trade in
telecommunications
services
 commercial presence
 movement of natural
persons






intellectual property
competition policy
government procurement
trade facilitation
investment
electronic commerce
 transparent administration of laws and regulations
 consultations and dispute settlement and legal and institutional issues
Thank you!
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