Trade Facilitation Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Traits and Trends

The paper first surveys the trade facilitation (TF) landscape at the regional level and analyzes the main forces shaping it. It identifies key factors driving regional facilitation approaches, examining their priorities, features and underlying philosophies. The paper also highlights significant trends in regional TF provisions and analyzes their implications. The paper then compares regional and multilateral initiatives, looking at areas of convergence and divergence, and highlighting where potential gaps exist. It analyzes negotiating positions in the respective frameworks and discusses both the benefits and limitations of the resulting TF provisions. Examining the impact of the recently concluded WTO Agreement, the study highlights its potential value added.