A/HRC/32/40 Trend towards regionalism and the growth of preferential trade agreements 18. With global discussions on trade stalled at WTO, there has been a marked surge in the number of regional and preferential trade agreements. By 2013, the number of such agreements had more than quadrupled, with all WTO members being a party to at least one preferential trade agreement.4 As of 1 February 2016, WTO had received 625 notifications of regional trade agreements, of which 425 are currently in force.5 19. Regional and preferential trade agreements reflect a continuum of approaches to labour mobility. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the European Economic Area, the European Free Trade Association and the European Union allow for full mobility of labour across sectors. This is particularly salient since migration predominantly occurs between countries within the same geographic region. In 2015, 87 per cent of migrants living in Africa originated from another country in the region, compared with 82 per cent of migrants in Asia, 66 per cent of migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean and 53 per cent of migrants in Europe.6 20. As tariffs have been reduced around the world, the central focus of trade has shifted to advancing economic integration and the penetration of certain sectors. Recent preferential trade agreements are increasingly adopting migration governance mechanisms such as visa and asylum request procedures and provisions similar to those contained in mode IV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, or expanding the coverage of the Agreement; migrant return guarantees; institutionalized recruitment; and skills-testing. That said, these agreements are still dictated by the geopolitical interests of high-income countries, which favour high-skilled workers and temporary employment. 21. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his concern that a dependence upon discretionary and unilaterally defined admissions, as well as a lack of legal entitlements, endangers human rights and engenders a precariousness that leaves migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Facilitated and well-regulated mobility mechanisms are necessary to protect the human rights of migrants and to realize the numerous benefits of trade and migration, which include economic growth, the creation of jobs, increased competitiveness and innovation. IV. International trade agreements and their impact on the human rights of migrants 22. The scope of the human rights protections afforded migrants in international trade agreements has been determined by whether international commercial treaties reference a specific human rights or labour instrument and the manner in which the protection is operationalized or enforced. 23. The following sections will address both the direct and structural impact of bilateral and multilateral trade agreements on the human rights of migrants. The complexities resulting from the current tendency towards regionalism and preferentialism in concluding international trade agreements, combined with few empirical studies on the trade-human rights nexus, render it difficult to determine the exact impact of trade on migrants. Accordingly, the information available will be presented and areas for further consideration by the Special Rapporteur will be identified. Themes that have already been addressed by 4 5 6 6 WTO database on preferential trade agreements (ptadb.wto.org). See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/region_e/region_e.htm. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Trends in international migration, 2015”, No. 2015/4 (December 2015).