A trade agreement signed between more than two parties (usually neighbouring or in the same region) is considered multilateral. They face the main obstacles – to content negotiation and implementation. The more countries involved, the more difficult it is to achieve mutual satisfaction. Once this type of trade agreement is governed, it will become a very powerful agreement. The larger the GDP of the signatories, the greater the impact on other global trade relations. The largest multilateral trade agreement is the North American Free Trade Agreement[5] between the United States, Canada and Mexico. [6] However, the WTO has expressed some concerns. According to Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the WTO, the dissemination of regional trade agreements (RTA) is “… is the concern of inconsistency, confusion, exponentially increasing costs for businesses, unpredictability and even injustice in trade relations. [2] The WTO is how typical trade agreements (called preferential or regional agreements by the WTO) are to some extent useful, but it is much more advantageous to focus on global agreements under the WTO, such as the ongoing Doha Round negotiations.

Given that hundreds of free trade zones are currently in force and are being negotiated (approximately 800 according to the original intermediary rules for ITC, including non-reciprocal trade agreements), it is important for businesses and policy makers to keep their status in mind. There are a number of free trade agreement custodians available at national, regional or international level. Among the most important are the database on Latin American free trade agreements, established by the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI) [18], the database managed by the Asian Regional Integration Center (ARIC) with information agreements concluded by Asian countries[19] and the portal on free trade negotiations and agreements of the European Union. [20] The benefits of free trade were outlined in On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, published in 1817 by economist David Ricardo. Trade agreements occur when two or more nations agree on trade terms between them. They set tariffs and tariffs on imports and exports by countries. All trade agreements concern international trade. A government does not need to take specific measures to promote free trade.