Market access
Executive summary
The report is divided into four main parts. The first provides an historical analysis of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and a description of the current landscape. It documents the large increase in PTA activity in recent years, breaking this down by region, level of economic development, and type of integration agreement. It provides a precise estimate of how much trade in PTAs receives preferential treatment.
Introduction
The World Tariff Profiles is a joint publication of the WTO, ITC and UNCTAD devoted to market access for goods. This statistical yearbook contains a comprehensive compilation of the main tariff parameters for each of the 164 WTO members plus other countries and customs territories where data is available. Each tariff profile presents information on tariffs imposed by each economy on its imports complemented with an analysis of the market access conditions it faces in its major export markets.
The multilateral trading system and PTAs
A perennial policy question is how the multilateral trading system is affected by the rise of preferential trading agreements (PTAs). Is multilateral trade cooperation compromised by burgeoning regionalism? Should we see these different approaches as complementing or competing with each other? Are there synergies, or inevitable conflicts? Building on the analysis of the report so far, this final section examines these questions.