Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are the agreements whereby members accord preferential treatment to one another in respect to trade barriers.
During the second half of the 1990's, trade liberalization and the pursuit of global free trade underwent a metamorphosis. The political momentum shifted away from what was seen by some nations as the painstakingly slow process of multilateral tariff negotiations to smaller regional and bilateral arrangements - the Regional Trade Agreement.
RTAs are not a new means of trade liberalization; historically, whenever multilateral trade negotiations broke down, bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements filled the void. Such strategic trade arrangements have enabled many states to move towards freer trade at their own pace, and for their own benefits.