The Western IslesBoard

The OOC thread can be found here. This is where we discuss retcons, applications to join and trade specifics.

The Regional Trade and Economic Agreement (RTEA) is an organisation that aims to cover the negotiation of agreements related to intra-regional trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement and other issues. It is an intergovernmental organisation that aims to regulate and facilitate international trade. It does not impose strict rules on tariffs or other laws regarding economic policies, merely encouraging and creating an open and organised platform to allow for the creation, moderation and changing of trade deals.

RTEA deals with regulation of trade in goods, services and intellectual property between participating countries by providing a framework for negotiating trade agreements and a dispute resolution process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to RTEA agreements, which are signed by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments. Most of the issues that the RTEA focuses on derive from previous trade negotiations.

The RTEA's current Director-General is Alexandro Demendez, who leads a staff of over 600 people in Greyhelm, Altera. A trade facilitation agreement was agreed by all members on 7 December 2013, the first comprehensive agreement in the organization's history. On 23 January 2017, the amendment to the RTEA Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement marks the first time since the organization opened its doors in 1995 that RTEA accords have been amended, and this change should secure for developing countries a legal pathway to access affordable remedies under RTEA rules.

Rather than a close military union (like the MSTO) or the merging of multinational economics and political structures into one union (like the C.U.) - RTEA has much looser restrictions for its member nations; citing the enterprise of mutual trade, scientific endeavours and economic prosperity of its members as its joint goal.

History

With the Treaty of Lanercost (named after the city in which the deal was signed, Greyhelm in Alteran Republics) signed in 1953, the RTEA organisation was born. A later treaty, to be signed in 1961, would further ratify and expand upon the Treaty of Greyhelm.

The ideas behind RTEA originated in the early 1940s, as the nation of Alteran Republics continued to prosper and was eager to seek new international trading partners. The concept was put on hold during the duration of the Second Imperial War. Early concepts and moves to set up the organisation were made in early 1950 but were scrubbed after Alteran Republics began an ambitious bid to join MSTO in the same year. However, after a series of internal spats within the organisation and Alteran Republics's growing resentment of Miklania's handling of several situations, Alteran Republics officially ended its bid in December 1953. Even before leaving, the newly elected Strategos, Sum Liwei, asked for the RTEA concepts to be re-examined in the event of and the scrapping of the MSTO bid.

Several nations, including Ostehaar, began talks with regional nations for the opening and continued renewal of their trade and political agreements. Agreeing to this, the Prime Minister asked for the organisation to ratified and a delegation from Ostehaar was asked to be present at the signing of the treaty in Greyhelm.

Full membership for member nations became effective on 14 December 1953, with future members to be admitted and the treaty expanded upon in January 1955.

Members

RTEA is composed of several sovereign member states: Alteran Republics, Aizcona, Ostehaar and Wellsia. Dormill and Stiura, Michigonia and Noronica signed up to the treaty and became a full member in October 1963. Noronica was controversially expelled from the organisation from 1973 to 1991 due to their political ties and use of RTEA sponsored trade networks. in 1992, Altera and Osterhaar led a successful trade and political mission, aiming to reinstate Noronica in the aftermath of their civil war.

Cosie was one of the more recent members of the organisation, joining in 2018.

In 1953, the "capitalist trio" Liba Hangate, Hangate of Newa and Marubhumi Hangate could have joined the RTEA followed by Western Tamsaling Hangate in 1954 and New Forest Hangate in 1955. When Noronica is expelled from RTEA in 1973, the New Forest Hangate would withdraw their membership. A decade later in 1983, a "united" Athara Magarati Democratic Hangate would apply for membership of RTEA.

Directly subordinated to the Common Market Group, the Work Subgroups draw up the minutes of the decisions to be submitted for the consideration of the Council and conduct studies on specific RTEA concerns. Currently, the work subgroups are the following: commercial matters; customs matters; technical standards; tax and monetary policies relating to trade; land transport; sea transport; industrial and technology policies; agricultural policy; energy policy; coordination of macroeconomic policies - namely labour and education visas.

The meetings of the Work subgroups will be held quarterly, alternating in every member state, in alphabetical order, or at the Common Market Group Administrative Office. Activities will be carried out by the Work Subgroups in two stages: preparatory and conclusive. In the preparatory stage, the members of the Work Subgroups may request the participation of representatives from the private sector of each member state. The decision-making stage is reserved exclusively for official representatives of the member states. The delegations of representatives from the private sector in the preparatory stage of the Work Subgroup activities will have a maximum of three representatives for each member state directly involved in any of the stages of the production, distribution or consumption process for the products that fall within the scope of the subgroup's activities.

Part of the organisation's missions is to enable access to free-trade agreements - allowing member nations to trade freely without the need for tariffs or customs charges. Whilst RTEA encourages and enables individual nations to pursue their own individual free-trade agreements, the organisation runs its own voluntary group known as "Trade Without Borders" (TWB). RTEA members can voluntarily sign up to the TWB sub-group, which enables tariff-free access to markets within the TWB group.

Functions

Among the various functions of the RTEA, these are regarded by analysts as the most important:

• It oversees the implementation, administration and operation of the covered agreements.

• It provides a forum for negotiations and for settling disputes.
  

Additionally, it is RTEA's duty to review and propagate the national trade policies and to ensure the coherence and transparency of trade policies through surveillance in global economic policy-making. Another priority of the RTEA is the assistance of developing, least-developed and low-income countries in transition to adjust to RTEA rules and disciplines through technical cooperation and training.

• The RTEA shall facilitate the implementation, administration and operation and further the objectives of this Agreement and the Multilateral Trade Agreements, and shall also provide the framework for the implementation, administration and operation of the multilateral Trade Agreements.

• The RTEA shall provide the forum for negotiations among its members concerning their multilateral trade relations in matters dealt with under the Agreement in the Annexes to this Agreement.

• The RTEA shall administer the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.

• The RTEA shall administer Trade Policy Review Mechanism.

• to achieve greater coherence in global economic policymaking, the RTEA shall cooperate, as appropriate, with the Covonantian International Development Fund (CIDF) and its affiliated agencies.
  

The above five listings are the additional functions of the Regional Trade and Economic Agreement. As globalization proceeds in today's society, the necessity of an International Organization to manage the trading systems has been of vital importance. As the trade volume increases, issues such as protectionism, trade barriers, subsidies, violation of intellectual property arise due to the differences in the trading rules of every nation. The Regional Trade and Economic Agreement serve as the mediator between the nations when such problems arise. RTEA could be referred to as the product of globalization and also as one of the most important organizations in today's globalized society.

The RTEA is also a centre of economic research and analysis: regular assessments of the global trade picture in its annual publications and research reports on specific topics are produced by the organization.

Objectives and Charter Overview

The Regional Trade and Economic Agreement aims to promote:

1. Investment and Opportunities
We will strive to assist RTEA member countries in attracting high-quality investment and employment opportunities in their own nations and abroad, to create and promote a high-yielding economy.

2. Overseas Trade and Investment
We will aim to promote and expand inter-RTEA membership trade and investment to encourage a spirit of economic cooperation and shared prosperity.

3. Sustainable Growth and Responsible Capitalism
We will aim to help establish and promote the idea “conditions for growth” in RTEA member countries and work to improve economic governance, transparency and accountability.

4. Cooperative Development
We will continue to create economic and social prosperity by supporting the development of enterprise in member countries through capacity building, mentoring and enhanced access to domestic, regional and international markets.

5. Supporting the Private Sector
We will represent the views of the private sector to the RTEA members, its member Governments, multi-nation organisations and the wider international community.

6. Protecting and Respecting Regulations
Where possible, we will assist nations that break international laws and agreements relating to trade and intellectual rights to correct and amend their behaviour - as well as punish nations, who continue to flout and disrespect laws, through appropriate financial penalties.

Merito non pareret. | By merit, not birth.