A trade bloc is a large free trade area formed by one or more tax, tariff and trade agreements. Typically trade pacts that define such a bloc specify formal adjudication bodies, e.g., North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade panels. This may include even a more democratic and participative system, as the European Union (EU) and its parliament.
Particularly since the demise of most of the world's empires, a number of international— generally regionally based—economic blocs have been developed to promote trade between member states.
Several blocs also have stated or implicit political goals—notably the EU. Varieties of economic blocs include free trade areas, customs unions, single markets, and economic and monetary unions.
One of the first economic blocs was the German Customs Union (Zollverein) initiated in 1834, formed on the basis of the German Confederation and subsequently German Empire from 1871.
A trade bloc is established through a trade pact (or pacts) covering different issues of the economic integration.
Most active regional blocs
Most active regional blocs in the world.
It is possible that a country is member of two (or more) different blocs. To avoid overlapping for this classification such countries are only included in the most active of the blocs in question. The "activity" of each block is measured by the following three criteria:
- to have greater real practical achievements (not only declarations that are not followed by actual actions by its members)
- to have more recent (or regular) activities (meetings, new agreements, other internal procedures)
- to have more ambitious plans for future integration and a tighter timescale for it.
Also a country may be classified here as part of the less active regional bloc if the country itself is more active in it; Venezuela, for example, is a member of both the Andean Community and Mercosur. While Mercosur is a more active bloc than the Andean Community, Venezuela itself is much more active in the Andean Community than in Mercosur. Therefore Venezuela is assigned to the Andean Community for the purpose of this classification. (This is only an example. So, note, that Venezuela is planning to completely integrate with Mercosur by 2010).
Priority is given to such regional blocs that have ambitions for integration in more spheres than just economy (i.e., political, defense and other spheres). Sometimes activities are divided between different (but related) blocs with small deviations in membership (e.g., NATO and EU members are almost the same).
Some colors on the map are used multiple times for different blocs. A darker color means full member; a lighter color means associate state, observer state, prospective member, candidate, acceding state or a similar status.
Most active regional blocs
(as of 2004,citation needed except as noted)
| Regional bloc1 |
Area |
Population |
GDP ($US) |
Member
states1 |
| km² |
sq mi |
in millions (PPP) |
in millions (nominal) |
per capita (PPP) |
per capita (nominal) |
| AU |
29,797,500 |
11,504,879 |
897,548,804 |
1,515,000 |
1,131,850 |
1,896 |
1,261 |
53 |
| ASEAN (2007 est.) |
4,497,493 |
1,736,000 |
566,500,000 |
3,115,480 |
1,173,000 |
5,541 |
2,041 |
10 |
| CACM |
422,614 |
163,172 |
37,816,598 |
159,536 |
84,792 |
4,219 |
2,242 |
5 |
| CARICOM |
462,344 |
178,512 |
14,565,083 |
64,219 |
24,020 |
4,409 |
1,649 |
(14+1)3 |
| CCASG / GCC |
2,285,844 |
882,569 |
35,869,438 |
536,223 |
717,800 |
14,949 |
20,011 |
6 |
| CEFTA |
298,148 |
115,116 |
28,929,682 |
222,041 |
122,001 |
7,675 |
4,217 |
(7+1)3 |
| EU (2007 est.) |
4,324,782 |
1,669,808 |
497,000,000 |
14,953,000 |
16,574,000 |
28,213 |
33,482 |
27 |
| EurAsEC |
20,789,100 |
8,026,720 |
208,067,618 |
1,689,137 |
1,125,528 |
8,118 |
5,409 |
6 |
| EFTA (2007 est.) |
529,600 |
204,480 |
12,660,623 |
567,500 |
743,300 |
44,828 |
60,000 |
4 |
| GAFTA |
9,421,946 |
3,637,834 |
280,727,416 |
1,341,298 |
N/A |
4,778 |
N/A |
(16+1)3 |
| GUAM |
810,506 |
312,938 |
63,764,600 |
456,173 |
106,469 |
7,154 |
1,670 |
4 |
| NAFTA (2007 est.) |
21,783,850 |
8,410,792 |
445,000,000 |
15,857,000 |
15,723,000 |
35,491 |
35,564 |
3 |
| PARTA |
528,151 |
203,920 |
34,137,339 |
858,970 |
N/A |
2,954 |
N/A |
(12+2)3 |
| SAARC |
5,136,740 |
1,983,306 |
1,467,255,669 |
4,074,031 |
N/A |
2,777 |
N/A |
8 |
| Unasur / Unasul |
17,339,153 |
6,694,684 |
370,158,470 |
2,868,430 |
N/A |
7,749 |
N/A |
12 |
UN and countries
for reference2 |
Area |
Population |
GDP ($US) |
Units4 |
| km² |
sq mi |
in millions (PPP) |
in millions (nominal) |
per capita (PPP) |
per capita (nominal) |
| UN |
133,178,011 |
51,420,318 |
6,411,682,270 |
55,167,630 |
48,245,198 |
8,604 |
7,524 |
192 |
| Brazil (2007 est.) |
8,514,877 |
3,287,612 |
183,888,841 |
1,804,000 |
1,067,706 |
10,073 |
6,842 |
27 |
| Canada (2007 est.) |
9,984,670 |
3,855,103 |
33,000,000 |
1,274,000 |
1,406,000 |
38,200 |
42,738 |
13 |
| India (2007 est.) |
3,287,590 |
1,269,346 |
1,120,000,000 |
4,726,000 |
1,089,000 |
4,182 |
1,004 |
35 |
| Japan (2007 est.) |
377,873 |
145,898 |
127,433,494 |
4,346,000 |
4,346,000 |
33,800 |
38,341 |
47 |
| PR China5 (2007 est.) |
9,596,960 |
3,705,407 |
1,321,851,888 |
7,043,000 |
3,420,000 |
5,300 |
2,800 |
33 |
| Russia (2007 est.) |
17,075,200 |
6,592,772 |
142,500,000 |
2,076,000 |
1,286,000 |
14,600 |
9,056 |
83 |
| USA (2007 est.) |
9,826,630 |
3,794,083 |
302,000,000 |
13,543,000 |
13,794,700 |
43,500 |
45,594 |
50 |
|
Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database, IMF nominal figures for 2006.citation needed
Legend
smallest value among the blocs compared largest value among the blocs compared
Footnotes
1 Including data only for full and most active members.
2 Including the largest five countries by area, population (not #4), GDP (PPP) (not #5), and GDP (nominal) (not #3 or #5).
3 Including non-sovereign autonomous areas of other states.
4 Members or administrative divisions.
5 Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau, or Republic of China (Taiwan).
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List of regional blocs
- full members of ECOWAS: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo
- full members of CEMAC: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon
- full members of ECCAS: Democratic Republic of the Congo, São Tomé and Príncipe
- full members of EAC: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
- full members of SACU: Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland
- full members of SADC: Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Zambia, Zimbabwe
- full members of COMESA: Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Comoros
- full member of IGAD: Somalia
- full member, other: Algeria
- full member, other, partially recognized state: Sahrawi Republic
- full members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar[1][2], Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
- candidate: Timor-Leste [3]
- +3: China, [4][5] Japan, South Korea
- full members: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
- full members, non-sovereign autonomous entities of the United Kingdom: Montserrat
- associate members, non-sovereign autonomous entities of the United Kingdom: Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands
- candidate for associate membership, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Netherlands Antilles (prospectively Curacao, Sint Maarten)
- observer, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Aruba
- observer, commonwealth of the United States: Puerto Rico
- European Union (EU)
- full members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
- overseas countries and territories of France: French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Mayotte, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon
- overseas countries and territories of the United Kingdom: British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Falkland Islands, Saint Helena (including its dependencies Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha), South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
- candidates: Croatia, Republic of Macedonia, Turkey
- Schengen area partner, non-sovereign autonomous entity of the United Kingdom: Gibraltar
- customs unions with non-sovereign autonomous entities of the United Kingdom: Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey
- customs union with the neutral and demilitarised autonomous region of Finland: Åland Islands
- currency unions with: Andorra, Monaco, San Marino, Vatican City
- full members of the Agadir Agreement: Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia
- full members of the CCASG/GCC: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
- full members, other: Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Palestinian Authority, Syria, Yemen
- candidate: Mauritania
- full members: Australia[6], Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
- full members, non-sovereign autonomous entities of New Zealand: Cook Islands, Niue
- associate members, overseas territories of France: French Polynesia, New Caledonia
- observer, territory of New Zealand: Tokelau
- observer, overseas territory of France: Wallis and Futuna
- SPC partners, unincorporated territories of the United States: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands
- SPC partner, non-sovereign autonomous entities of the United Kingdom: Pitcairn Islands
Other entities
Comparison between regional blocs
1 not all members participating yet
2 involving goods, services, telecommunications, transport (full liberalisation of railways from 2012), energy (full liberalisation from 2007)
3 telecommunications, transport and energy - proposed
4 sensitive goods to be covered from 2019
5 least developed members to join from 2012
6 least developed members to join from 2017
See also
Notes
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|
This article or section uses citations that are either broken or outdated.
This article or section uses citations that link to broken or outdated sources, and are deemed unreliable. Please improve the article or discuss this issue on the talk page. Help on using footnotes is available. This article has been tagged since December 2007. |
- ^ seeks membership in SAARC [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ "Timor Leste Keen To Be Asean Member In Five Years", Malaysian National News Agency - BERNAMA (February 3, 2007).
- ^ "India, Bhutan's Big Question: China in SAARC", The Indian Express (February 3, 2007).
- ^ Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan want China in SAARC - Irna
- ^ seeks further integration with ASEAN"Australia Seeks Free-Trade Accord, Asean Membership at Summit", Bloomberg (January 13, 2007).
- ^ "Prensa Latina", Prensa Latina (February 3, 2007).
- ^ "Asean Trade Mins Meet To Speed Up Plans For Single Market", Malaysia Dual Lingual Business News (February 3, 2007).
- ^ "Envisioning a single Asian currency", International Herald Tribune (February 3, 2007).
- ^ "ASEAN To Sign Accord On Visa-Free Travel", AHN - All Headline News (February 3, 2007).
- ^ ASEAN Secretariat (2007-01-13). "ASEAN Leaders Sign Five Agreements at the 12th ASEAN Summit, Cebu, the Philippines, 13 January 2007". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-01-28. “On the first day of the 12th ASEAN Summit, five Agreements have been signed by ASEAN leaders - reinforcing their commitment in the continuing integration of ASEAN and enhancing political, economic and social cooperation in the region.”
- ^ "ASEAN defense ministers aim for security community", ABS-CBN (February 3, 2007).
- ^ "Itar-Tass", Itar-Tass (February 3, 2007).
- ^ a b c d "GUAM’s New Impetusunit". Civil Georgia (May 23, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
- ^ "Organizational structure of the GUAM". GUAM_Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
- ^ "Ukraine suggests setting up GUAM peacekeeping unit". Today.az (May 31, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
- ^ "Definidos critérios para o Parlamento do Mercosul", Senado Federal - Notícias (February 3, 2007).
- ^ "CNN", CNN (February 3, 2007).
External links
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