The Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), previously named the Bangkok Agreement, was signed in 1975 as an initiative of ESCAP. ESCAP functions as the Secretariat to the Agreement.
- APTA is a preferential trade agreement, under which the basket of items as well as the extent of tariff concessions are enlarged during the trade negotiating rounds that are conducted periodically.
- It is the oldest preferential regional trade agreement among developing countries in Asia-Pacific.
- It is the only operational trade agreement linking China and India.
- As a founding member of APTA, India is committed to strengthening the APTA process.
- Currently, 6 members include Bangladesh, China, India, Lao PDR, Republic of Korea and Sri Lanka. Mongolia has concluded its bilateral negotiations on tariff concessions with the current Participating States, and is soon to become the seventh member of APTA.
- Ministerial Council: The Ministerial Council represents the highest decision making authority. It provides supervision, policy direction for the future negotiation agenda, expansion of membership, as well as coordination of implementation for the Agreement. The second session on 26 October 2007 in Goa, India.
- It is open to all ESCAP developing member countries, APTA is a truly region-wide trade agreement spanning East and South Asia, with potential to expand to other sub-regions, including Central Asia and the Pacific.
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| taken from www.unescap.org |
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