Bilateral treaties are treaties between two countries (such as Argentina and Canada) or a treaty between a country and a supra-national entity (such as Switzerland and the European Community). Bilateral treaties to which the USA is a party are those treaties between the United States of America and one other country (example: USA-Estonia income tax treaty) or between the United States of America and a supra-national entity (European Union-USA Open Skies Agreement [on transatlantic airline routes].
Treaties may also be referred to as:
- Conventions
- Agreements
- Final Acts
- Charters
- Protocols
- Pacts
- Accords
Important information regarding treaties includes:
- Text of the treaty.
- Subsequent modifications of the treaty (usually called protocols).
- Signatories of the treaty.
- Parties to the treaty (adhering to the treaty; usually means treaty has been "ratified," "accepted," or "acceded to."
- Signatories of any subsequent protocols (signatories of treaty may not in fact have signed or ratified a protocol).
- Parties to any subsequent protocols (parties of treaty may not in fact have signed or ratified a protocol).
- Status of treaty.
- Ratifications/Accessions, etc, of treaty.
- Reservations, understandings, and declarations (often referred to as "RUDS").
- Succession (for example, Latvia "succeeded" to certain treaties signed on its behalf by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).
- Scholarly Commentaries on treaties (which may include books and journal articles).
- Travaux Préparatoires--Background documents (something like a US legislative history. Most travaux préparatoires deal with multilateral international treaties).