Regional Integration Agreement

Regional integration agreements (RIAs) are pacts entered into by various organizations in a given area that intend to accomplish a certain goal in that region. RIAs can be formed for various reasons including the abolishing of trade restrictions in a region, establishing a cohesive environmental policy or decreasing the chances of armed conflict. This process is often referred to as regional integration.

Existing RIAs

• Some groups that have entered into regional integration agreements include the Latin American Integration Association, the Arab League, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Caribbean Community, the Economic Community of West African States and the Central American Integration System.

Regulation Conflict

• Most regional integration agreements take pains to establish governing rules that do no conflict with existing local or regional laws and practices. However, these existing practices often dictate how integrated these regions become after entering into an RIA.

RIA Terms

• Common considerations of regional integration agreements include inter-regional and extra-regional security, project cooperation, bargaining power distribution and lock-in reform. Economic considerations are a key part of negotiations including discussions of competition and scale, market segmentation, foreign domestic issues and trade patterns.