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Regional Trade Agreements And The Poverty Agenda, Chin Leng Lim

Chin Leng Lim

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) comprise customs unions and free trade agreements (FTAs). The difference lies in the absence of a common customs border in the case of customs unions. Thus, countries A and B, which are FTA partners, will nonetheless impose different duties on third-country imports, while at the same time granting preferential treatment to each other. A major criticism is that all RTAs, customs unions and FTAs alike, discriminate against non-parties. In contrast, most favoured nation (MFN) treatment operates in the multilateral system to extend concessions made by any member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to any other …