Post Date : 00-11-11
As the development of economic integration worldwide is accelerating, the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in force has risen sharply in recent years. In order to strengthen and enhance Taiwan government officials’ understanding of RTA issues, the Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs, co-organized the two-day “National Seminar on Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO” with the WTO Secretariat on October 12 and 13, 2011 and invited Taiwan government officials responsible for RTA issues to participate in this activity.

The organizers arranged for one WTO Secretariat official, who is also an expert with abundant knowledge of and experience with RTA issues in the WTO field, to attend. Nearly 50 participants from a variety of government offices joined this seminar, and most of them had a basic concept of RTAs. The expert deeply presented many aspects of RTA issues, including an overview of RTAs and the WTO, WTO Rules (Goods and Services) on RTAs, WTO dispute settlement cases on RTAs, WTO negotiations on RTAs, the impact of RTAs on international trade relations and interaction with the Multilateral Trading System. The participants also learned how to use key concepts and texts in WTO Rules on RTAs in simulated cases by engaging in several practical exercises.
This national seminar on RTAs was the first one held in Taiwan since Taiwan joined the WTO in 2002. Generally speaking, the participants were highly interested in RTA issues and had excellent interactions with the expert during the two-day seminar. Most of them agreed that this seminar was rewarding, because they had a great opportunity to enhance their abilities in dealing with RTA issues domestically.