Which country has the most free trade agreements

The EU negotiates trade agreements on behalf of the member states – including Ireland. These agreements deal with preferential duty rates on the shipment of goods between the EU and countries around the world.

They have also evolved to cover a wider range of areas to facilitate trade. Among these include government procurement opportunities, business visitor visas, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, the certification of products, intellectual property rights and the cross border trade in services.

These far reaching agreements can take a number of years of detailed negotiations.

The EU has preferential trade agreements with about 70 countries worldwide.[1] These countries represent nearly 32% of the EU’s external trade.[2]

€3 billion worth of Irish exports are eligible for preferential tariffs as a result of these agreements.[3]

Which country has the most free trade agreements

There are a number of negotiations ongoing with countries in the hope that a future free trade agreement can be reached. Some of the more significant include Australia, New Zealand and Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay)

Further information on EU Free Trade Agreements

EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement

In 2019 the European Union and Vietnam agreed a Free Trade Agreement. The trade agreement covers a range of goods and services. The agreements sees significant tariffs reductions on food and beverage items as well as tackling a number of non tariff barriers. The agreement also includes commitments in the areas of international labour rights and protections, global environmental agreements and human rights.

Vietnam is an exciting Asian economy. Its GDP has been one of the fastest growing in the world over the past several years. This is powered by a large, youthful population. Reflecting the increased business potential, Enterprise Ireland has recently opened an office in Vietnam for the first time.

EU-Vietnam’s Free Trade Agreement—what it means for Irish exporters

Further information on the EU-Vietnam Economic Partnership Agreement

EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

The European Union and Japan have signed the Economic Partnership Agreement, a comprehensive trade agreement including goods, services and investment, eliminating tariffs, non-tariff barriers and other trade-related issues, such as public procurement, regulatory issues, competition, and sustainable development. 

Japan is one of the key trading partners of the European Union, it is its seventh largest trading partner globally and the second biggest one in Asia. Conversely, the European Union is Japan’s third largest trading partner. Together economies of Japan and the EU account for more than one third of world GDP.

The EPA applies as of 1 February 2019.

EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement—what it means for Irish exporters

EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement infographic

Further information on the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement 

EU-Canada – Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA)

CETA was signed on 21 October 2017. The benefits related to tariffs are in force. CETA was the first of the new generation of trade agreements signed by the EU.

EU-Canada – Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA)

EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement—what it means for Irish exporters

EU-Canada – Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement infographic 

EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement

In October 2018, the EU and Singapore signed a Free Trade Agreement and Investment Protection Agreement (IPA). The EU-Singapore FTA is the first FTA between the EU and a member of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). This Agreement entered into force on 21 November 2019.

EU-Singapore Free Trade Agreement—what it means for Irish exporters

Further information on the EU-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement

Modernisation of the EU-Mexico Global Agreement

This has been agreed in principle with some outstanding technical issues being finalised during 2019.

 Given this reputation, it is easy to believe that the FTAs make doing business in Mexico duty-free. However, though this robust export platform affords companies many advantages, it requires vigilance as agreements are often modified. To get answers to all of your questions about Mexico's free trade agreements and how they can benefit your company, 

As of 1 December 2022, 355 RTAs were in force. These correspond to 582 notifications from WTO members, counting goods, services and accessions separately.

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Committee on Regional Trade Agreements

The Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) considers individual regional agreements under the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs (see below). It is also mandated to hold discussions on the systemic implications of RTAs for the multilateral trading system, as was reaffirmed by WTO members at the 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in 2015. The CRTA's terms of reference can be found in WT/L/127. The current Chair is .

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Transparency Mechanism for RTAs

WTO members agreed in 2006 to implement a provisional mechanism to enhance the transparency of RTAs and understand their effects on the multilateral system. Under this process, members notify the WTO about their RTAs and these are discussed by the wider WTO membership on the basis of a factual presentation prepared by the WTO Secretariat.

At the 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in 2015, WTO members agreed to work towards the transformation of the provisional mechanism into a permanent mechanism without prejudice to questions related to notification requirements.

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General documents on regional trade agreements bear the document code WT/REG/*. Under the Doha agenda's trade negotiations mandate, they use TN/RL/* (where * takes additional values).
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  • Documents on Regional Trade Agreements by Country (Document code WT/REG/*)   > search
  • Notifications of Regional Trade Agreements (Document code WT/REG*/N/*)   > search
  • Factual Presentations on Regional Trade Agreements(Document code WT/REG* and keyword �Factual presentation�)
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  • Questions and Replies on Regional Trade Agreements(Document code RD/RTA* or WT/REG* and keyword �Questions and replies�)
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> See also Transparency Mechanism communications (early announcements of RTAs, notifications of changes, etc.)

You can perform more sophisticated searches from the Documents Online search facility (opens in new window) by defining multiple search criteria such as document symbol (i.e. code number), full text search or document date.

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Notifications of RTAs

WTO members are obliged to notify the RTAs in which they participate. All of the WTO's members have notified participation in one or more RTAs (some members are party to 20 or more). Notifications may also refer to the accession of new parties to an agreement that already exists, e.g. the notification of the accession of Croatia to the European Union.

For more detail on notifications of RTAs currently in force, consult the summary tables of the RTA Database http://rtais.wto.org/UI/publicsummarytable.aspx

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Evolution of RTAs, 1948-2022

The following chart shows all RTAs notified to the GATT/WTO (1948-2022), including inactive RTAs, by year of entry into force.

A series of interactive graphs, along with the underlying data, is available from the WTO RTA Database: http://rtais.wto.org/UI/Charts.aspx

Which country has the most free trade agreements

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New developments in RTAs

Many WTO members continue to be involved in negotiations to create new RTAs. Like the agreements in force, most new negotiations are bilateral. However, a recent development has been negotiations and new agreements among several WTO members. This includes developments in:

  • the Asia-Pacific Region, with the entry into force of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Agreement (signed by 11 parties);
  • Asia, with the signature of  the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP) between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members and six other WTO members;
  • Latin America, with the establishment of the Pacific Alliance between Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru; and
  • Africa, with the entry into force of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and negotiations for the Tripartite Agreement, linking parties to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

However, the vast majority of such new plurilateral agreements have not reduced the spaghetti bowl of RTAs given that they have not superseded existing bilateral agreements.

Negotiations on RTAs

Negotiations to clarify and improve WTO disciplines on RTAs fall under the work of the Negotiating Group on Rules, which reports to the Trade Negotiations Committee. The negotiations have been dormant for some time.

Which countries have the most free trade?

Trade freedom - Country rankings The average for 2022 based on 175 countries was 69 points. The highest value was in Singapore: 95 points and the lowest value was in North Korea: 0 points. The indicator is available from 1995 to 2022. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Which is the largest free trade area in the world?

RCEP, the Largest Free Trade Area in the World: What Does the Mega-Deal Entail and What Effects Can Be Expected? The signing of RCEP will create the world's largest free trade area, involving the ten ASEAN countries, China, Japan, South Korea, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

How many countries have free trade agreements?

The United States has free trade agreements in force with 20 countries.

What is the name of the world's biggest free trade agreement?

The world's largest free trade pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), could help export-reliant Asian companies and may be good diplomacy, experts say. The trade agreement went into effect Jan. 1.