BAFTA
The Baltic Free Trade Area was a free trade agreement between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania that existed between 1994 and 2004.
BAFTA was created to help prepare the countries for their accession to the EU. Hence, BAFTA was created more as an initiative of the EU than out of a desire Baltic states to trade between themselves: they were more interested in gaining access to the rest of the European markets.
BAFTA's agreement was signed by the three states on 13 September 1993 and came into force on 1 April 1994. On 1 January 1997 the agreement was extended to cover trade in agricultural produce. On 1 May 2004, all three states joined the European Union, and BAFTA ceased to exist.
BAFTA was part of general co-operation between the three countries, modelled on Nordic co-operation (see Nordic Council). Leaders met regularly and, as well as a free trade area, they formed a common visa area and started military co-operation due to the proximity of Russia.
Read more about this topic: Free Trade Areas In Europe