"A free-trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating states."
International treaties that govern the exchange of goods and services between countries, including agricultural products.
Tariffs: Taxes placed on imported goods to protect domestic industries from foreign competition.
Quotas: Limits on the amount of a product that can be imported.
Subsidies: Financial assistance given by a government to domestic producers, often to help make up for the cost disadvantage compared to foreign competitors.
Export subsidies: Government payments given to domestic firms to promote exports of certain products.
Non-tariff barriers: Any trade barrier that does not involve a tariff, such as product standards and regulations.
Intellectual property: Patents, trademarks, copyrights and other types of exclusive rights that protect innovation and creativity in trade.
Sanitary and phytosanitary measures: Regulations to protect human, animal and plant health.
Agricultural market access: Regulations regarding the import and export of agricultural products.
Technical barriers to trade: Regulations imposed by governments on certain products, such as labeling and packaging requirements.
Regional and bilateral trade agreements: Agreements made between two or more countries to reduce trade barriers and increase cooperation.
World Trade Organization (WTO): An international organization that sets rules for global trade and monitors member countries' compliance with these rules.
Free trade agreements: Signed between countries to establish free trade. These agreements aim to reduce trade barriers and promote economic growth.
Preferential trade agreements: A type of free trade agreement that provides reduced tariffs or other benefits to certain countries.
Common agricultural policy: A policy of the European Union that aims to support agriculture and rural development.
Agricultural subsidies: Payments from a government to farmers to support their agricultural activities.
Market access: Refers to the ability of a domestic producer to enter or operate in a foreign market.
Trade liberalization: The removal or reduction of trade barriers, often through trade agreements.
Dumping: Selling a product in another country at a lower price than it is sold domestically to gain market share.
Countervailing duties: Tariffs imposed to counteract the negative effects of foreign subsidies and prevent unfair competition.
International trade law: Governs the cross-border exchange of goods, services and intellectual property.
Free Trade Agreement (FTA): An agreement between two or more countries to reduce or eliminate tariffs and non-tariff barriers on all traded goods and services within a specified time frame.
Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA): An agreement between two or more countries to reduce tariffs or other trade barriers on specific products.
Customs Union: A form of trade agreement in which member countries agree to eliminate tariffs on trade between themselves and to establish a common external tariff on goods imported from non-member countries.
Common Market: A type of economic integration in which member countries remove barriers to the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital within their borders.
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA): A trade agreement between the European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries that aims to promote economic development and reduce poverty.
Regional Trade Agreement (RTA): An agreement between two or more countries in the same geographic region to reduce or eliminate trade barriers between them.
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT): A treaty between two countries that establishes specific protections for investors and their investments in each country.
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP): A trade agreement between eleven Pacific Rim countries that aims to strengthen economic ties and promote trade liberalization.
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA): A trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico that aimed to eliminate trade barriers between the three countries.
World Trade Organization (WTO): An international organization that regulates and promotes global trade by providing a framework for negotiating and implementing trade agreements and resolving disputes between member countries.
"There are two types of trade agreements: bilateral and multilateral."
"Multilateral trade agreements are agreements among three or more countries, and are the most difficult to negotiate and agree."
"FTAs, a form of trade pacts, determine the tariffs and duties that countries impose on imports and exports with the goal of reducing or eliminating trade barriers."
"Such agreements usually 'center on a chapter providing for preferential tariff treatment', but they also often 'include clauses on trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as investment, intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues'."
"Both types of trading bloc have internal arrangements which parties conclude in order to liberalize and facilitate trade among themselves. The crucial difference between customs unions and free-trade areas is their approach to third parties."
"While a customs union requires all parties to establish and maintain identical external tariffs with regard to trade with non-parties."
"Parties to a free-trade area are not subject to such a requirement."
"Instead, they may establish and maintain whatever tariff regime applying to imports from non-parties as they deem necessary."
"In a free-trade area without harmonized external tariffs, to eliminate the risk of trade deflection, parties will adopt a system of preferential rules of origin."
"The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT 1994) originally defined free-trade agreements to include only trade in goods."
"An agreement with a similar purpose, i.e., to enhance liberalization of trade in services, is named under Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) as an 'economic integration agreement'."
"However, in practice, the term is now widely used in political science, diplomacy, and economics to refer to agreements covering not only goods but also services and even investment."
"Environmental provisions have also become increasingly common in international investment agreements, like FTAs."
"Such agreements usually 'include clauses on trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as investment, intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues'."
"Multilateral trade agreements are agreements among three or more countries."
"Such agreements usually 'include clauses on trade facilitation and rule-making in areas such as investment, intellectual property, government procurement, technical standards, and sanitary and phytosanitary issues'."
"In a free-trade area without harmonized external tariffs, to eliminate the risk of trade deflection, parties will adopt a system of preferential rules of origin."
"An agreement with a similar purpose, i.e., to enhance liberalization of trade in services, is named under Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Service (GATS) as an 'economic integration agreement'."
"Environmental provisions have also become increasingly common in international investment agreements, like FTAs."