FTA - Free Trade Agreements

Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are the most prominent feature of the Global Trade now. The rise in FTA's has been increasing and every year around 230 FTA's are notified to the GATT/WTO till 2008.
They can be bilateral or multilateral among nation states from the point of view of global free trade. There are critical points to be considered while looking at an FTA like

• FTA is signed between the countries but not ratified.
• FTA is signed between the countries but still not effective.
• Whether the individual countries have their own lists for the tariff reductions.