List of multilateral free trade agreements explained

A multilateral free trade agreement is between several countries all treated equally, and creates a free trade area. Every customs union, common market, economic union, customs and monetary union and economic and monetary union is also a free trade area, and are not included below.

World Trade Organization agreements

• General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade of 1994
  • Agreement on Agriculture
  • Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
  • Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade
  • Agreement on Trade Related Investment Measures
  • Agreement on Anti-Dumping
  • Agreement on Customs Valuation
  • Agreement on Preshipment Inspection
  • Agreement on Rules of Origin
  • Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures
  • Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
  • Agreement on Safeguards
  • Agreement on Trade Facilitation
• General Agreement on Trade in Services
• Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights
• Dispute Settlement Understanding
• Trade Policy Review Mechanism
• Agreement on Trade in Civil Aircraft
• Agreement on Government Procurement
• Arrangement regarding Bovine Meat,^[1] this agreement was terminated end 1997.
• International Dairy Agreement, this agreement was terminated end 1997.
• Information Technology Agreement
• Bali Package

Active agreements

• European Union Customs Union (EUCU) - 1958
• European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - 1960
• Andean Community - 1969
• Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) - 1975
• Southern African Development Community Free Trade Area (SADCFTA) - 1980
• Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - 1981
• Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) - 1991
• ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) - 1992^[2]
• Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) - 1992^[3]
• Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) - 1992
• Central American Integration System (SICA) - 1993
• Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) - 1994
• European Economic Area (EEA) - 1994
• G-3 Free Trade Agreement (G-3) - 1995
• International Grains Agreement - 1995
• Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) - 1997^[4]
• Dominican Republic–Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) - 2004
• South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) - 2004^[5]
• East African Community (EAC) - 2005
• ASEAN–Australia–New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) - 2010^[6]
• Pacific Alliance Free Trade Area (PAFTA) - 2012^[7]
• Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) - 2018
• African Continental Free Trade Area^[8] - 2019
• United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) - 2020^[9]
• Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - 2022

Post-Soviet States only

• Commonwealth of Independent States Agreement on the Establishment of a Free Trade Area - Multilateral Free Trade Area established on 24 November 1999 - multilateral free trade regime is in force among 10 countries as of 2023
• Eurasian Customs Union of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) - 2010 as EurAsEC Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus - 5 countries as of 2023
• Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area (CISFTA) - 2011^[10] - among 9 countries as of 2023
• GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development (GUAM) FTA^{[11] [12]} - unclear application, the WTO was notified in only 2017 - multilateral free trade regime among 4 countries (International Trade Centre says there is no free trade area in operation with distinct rules from an Agreement on Creation of CIS Free Trade Area, was signed on 15 April 1994 by 12 CIS countries.^[13])

Proposed agreements

• African Free Trade Zone (AFTZ) between SADC, EAC and COMESA
• Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)
• Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
• Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
• Canada, Australia, New Zealand and United Kingdom Union (CANZUK)
• China–Japan–South Korea Free Trade Agreement
• Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
• Commonwealth Free Trade Area (CFTA)
• Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
• Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)^[14]
• Economic Partnership Agreements (EU-ACP)
• Euro-Mediterranean free trade area (EU-MEFTA)
• Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)
• Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP), proposed APEC FTA
• Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
• Open Balkan
• Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (PACER and PACER Plus)
• 2021 Pacific Island Countries Trade Agreement (PICTA)^[15]
• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)^[16]
• Transatlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA)
• Tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA)^[17]
• Union of South American Nations (USAN)
• Economic Cooperation Organization Trade Agreement (ECOTA)

Obsolete agreements

• International Tin Agreement (1956–1985)
• Caribbean Free Trade Association (1968–1974)^[18]
• Association of Iron Ore Exporting Countries (1974–1999)^[19]
• International Bauxite Association (1974–1992)^[20]
• Multi Fibre Arrangement (1974–1994)
• North American Free Trade Agreement (1994–2020)^[21]

Abandoned agreement

• Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) - signed 2016, signature withdrawn by the United States in 2017 thus rendering the agreement unratifiable.

See also

• Free trade areas in Europe (with maps)
• List of bilateral free trade agreements
• List of country groupings

External links

• bilaterals.org - "Everything that's not happening at the WTO"
• fightingftas.org
• FTAs submitted to the WTO
• World Bank's PTA database to search and compare
• Americas FTAs
• EU FTAs
• EU-ACP countries Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) Negotiations: Where do we stand?
• Singapore official FTA site
• EFTA official site
• Australia official FTA site
• Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements Notified to the WTO: developed by WorldTradeLaw.net and Bryan Mercurio
• ptas.mcgill.ca
• TREND-Analytics website - Interactive list of bilateral and multilateral free trade instruments

Notes and References

1. Web site: Arrangement regarding Bovine Meat. www.wto.org. World Trade Organization. 29 April 2017. 20 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200620100420/https://www.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/tokyo_abm_e.pdf. live.
2. Web site: Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) . Asiapedia . Dezan Shira and Associates . 1 November 2018 . 18 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418103919/https://www.dezshira.com/library/treaties/charter-of-the-association-of-southeast-asian-nations-asean-7887.html . live .
3. Last revision from 05/01/2007. |WT/REG233/N/1/Rev.1
4. http://www.mit.gov.jo/Default.aspx?tabid=732 Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA)
5. Since 12/07/1995 WT/COMTD/N/26
6. Web site: Guide to the agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area (AANZFTA) . 12 March 2016 . 16 October 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151016051121/http://www.asean.fta.govt.nz/ . live .
7. Web site: Since 04/05/2011 . 13 May 2011 . 22 June 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110622210109/http://dialogo-americas.com/en_GB/articles/rmisa/features/regional_news/2011/05/04/feature-ex-2120 . live .
8. Web site: African Continental Free Trade Area: What you need to know . Al Jazeera . Loes Witschge . 20 March 2018 . 21 March 2018 . 29 April 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190429094714/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/03/african-continental-free-trade-area-afcfta-180317191954318.html . live .
9. Web site: US-Canada-Mexico Agreement Revised NAFTA (Full text) . Asiapedia . Dezan Shira and Associates . 1 November 2018 . 18 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210418064200/https://www.dezshira.com/library/treaties/us-canada-mexico-agreement-revised-nafta-full-text-7864.html . live .
10. WT/REG82/N/1
11. Web site: Free Trade Zone in GUAM Area . 25 December 2008 . 7 October 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081007125438/http://www.azi.md/news?ID=39356 . live .
12. https://www.economy.gov.az/en/page/beynelxalq-elaqeler/iqtisadi-teskilatlarla-emekdasliq/regional-teskilatlar/demokratiya-ve-iqtisadi-inkisaf-namine-teskilat-guam
13. https://www.macmap.org/en/resources/cis
14. Agreement adopted in 07/24/1993, but not yet implemented. WT/COMTD/N/21
15. Signed, but not yet implemented. After entry into force, countries commit to remove tariffs on most goods by 2021.
16. Web site: Central Asian powers agree to pursue free-trade zone . 25 December 2008 . 11 July 2012 . https://archive.today/20120711045726/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDP/is_2003_Sept_29/ai_108316611 . live .
17. Web site: Tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) | TradeMark SA . 2011-05-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120309110630/http://www.trademarksa.org/taxonomy/term/1075 . 9 March 2012.
18. Web site: The Caribbean Free Trade Association (Carifta) .
19. http://www3.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1975/37.html "Agreement establishing the Association of Iron Ore Exporting Countries (APEF) ATS 37 of 1975 "
20. http://www3.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1975/38.html "Agreement establishing the International Bauxite Association (IBA) ATS 38 of 1975 "
21. Was effective 01/01/1994 WT/REG4/W/1