According to an Aug. 22 Kyodo News article, a draft of a report to be considered by Asia-Pacific leaders next month says that a region-wide free trade agreement could be formed by merging the dozens of bilateral and regional FTAs already in effect. The report on a possible Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific was prepared by trade and other officials from the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and will be one of the items on the agenda when APEC leaders meet Sept. 8-9 in Australia.

The draft report acknowledges that FTAAP is a long-term prospect but advises countries to begin laying the groundwork now. Specifically, the article quotes the report as saying, APEC members should conduct a “comparative analytical study of existing bilateral and plurilateral free trade agreements in the region with the aim of increasing knowledge of their similarities and differences, as well as enabling economies to identify ways to advance the concept.” This study would then inform consideration of “options for docking and merging existing free trade agreements” to form a region-wide FTA.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said earlier this summer that work toward FTAAP and similar agreements could accelerate if the Doha Round of multilateral negotiations “disappears from the scene.” The WTO talks are slated to resume in September, and observers say it could become clear within a matter of weeks whether countries will be able to meet their goal of concluding an agreement by the end of this year.