Generally speaking, RTAs must cover substantially all trade - unless they are under the Enabling Clause - and help trade flow more freely among the countries in the RTA without raising barriers to trade with the outside world. These rules cover the formation and operation of customs unions and free-trade areas covering trade in goods ( Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994), regional or global arrangements for trade in goods between developing country members ( Enabling Clause), as well as agreements covering trade in services ( Article V of the General Agreement on Trade in Services). WTO members are permitted to enter into RTAs under specific conditions which are spelled out in three sets of rules. WTO members recognize the legitimate role of RTAs which aim at facilitating trade between its parties but which do not raise trade barriers vis-à-vis third-parties. These deals, by their very nature, are discriminatory as only their signatories enjoy more favourable market-access conditions. Members have committed, in general, not to favour one trading partner over another. Non-discrimination is a core principle of the WTO. Information on preferential trade arrangements notified to the WTO is available in the PTA Database.
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Preferential trade arrangements (PTAs), meanwhile, refer to unilateral trade privileges such as General System of Preferences (GSP) schemes and non-reciprocal preferential programmes some WTO members implement for products from developing and least-developed countries. As of June 2016, all WTO members now have an RTA in force. Documents, including factual presentations, on the various regional trade agreements notified to the WTO are available in the RTA Database. RTAs in the WTO are taken to mean any reciprocal trade agreement between two or more partners, not necessarily belonging to the same region.