Welcome to the Reichsstadt Trade Organization or "RTO" for short. Forged from the bonds created over the last year internationally, The Empire of Common Territories has decided to forage ahead with the creation of the Reichsstadt Trade Organization in order to capitalize on the Empire's influence abroad further. Building upon the successes seen with the Reichsstadt Treaty Coalition, the Empire believes it is now in the best position possible to bring forth a new era in world commerce utilizing it's own trade policies and influences. As such, the Empire has brought together its brightest statesmen in order to formalize a charter for a new trade organization. An organization designed to bring about prosperity not only to the Empire's shores, but to other nations willing to join the Empire in this new era of international trade.
So what is the Reichsstadt Trade Organization? Crafted and headquartered in Reichsstadt, TECT, the RTO is a treaty-bound economic union of nations based around the principles of fair trade and free market principles. After formally signing onto the treaty and joining the Organization, member nations are granted the privileges and benefits granted to them under the treaty's framework. These privileges/benefits include protections and articles found under the Treaty's Charter, which concerns trade, representation, and available resources for members to utilize. Once a member, nations are obligated to enact and follow all of the Treaty's provisions as listed in the Charter, doing so insures all members equally benefit from RTO's resources; failing to do so may result in disciplinary actions ranging from paying fines to expulsion from the Organization. At its core, RTO's leadership and governance is reliant on assembled/long-distanced Congresses to decide the Organization's future and responses to current affairs. Members have the right to not only have their designated representatives attend such Congresses, they may also call for sessions of Congress outside of pre-approved scheduled sessions. All matters are decided by majority vote of the membership. This includes matters of emergencies, amendments to the Treaty/Charter, and additions to the Organization/Treaty itself.
Charter of The Reichsstadt Trade OrganizationArticle 1: Signatories (henceforth governments/nations signing onto the Treaty) hereby agree to the fair, open, and amicable trade principles enshrined by the Reichsstadt Trade Organization.
- (A): Signatories are prohibited from enacting economic sanctions, embargoes, or other prohibitions concerning trade or other economic activities that target fellow Signatories directly, or that would victimize fellow Signatories unjustly. Trade must remain open between all Signatories unless mutually agreed termination, publicly informed separation of the agreements in place occurs, or two or more Signatories are observed to be in active military conflict with each other. Interfering with the trade and economic activities of another Signatory (even with non-RTO entities), via legal, under-the-table/illegal, military, or other unmentioned means is prohibited and categorized as illegal.
- (B): All tariffs, if present, must be openly declared, recorded, and acknowledged by all parties involved so that all data pertaining to these tariffs remain publicly accessible information. Tariffs, or other taxes concerning trade between Signatories, must never exceed fifty percent of their market price. Any tariff that goes concealed, overpriced, or maliciously abuses a Signatory (such as market manipulation) in violation of this Charter will be classified as illegal.
- (C): Sabotage of another Signatory's economic activities, trade (even with non-RTO entities), and human development is strictly illegal outside of legitimate warfare. Market manipulation, the act of artificially manipulating market prices to achieve desired rates, may be classified as malicious, sabotage, and concealment, thus it is categorized as illegal under this Charter.
Article 2: Governance of the Reichsstadt Trade Organization will always refer to the Congress of Members whom shall abide by the Charter during all proceedings. All official proceedings and activities must have Signatory approval via majority vote.
- (A): Congress of Members, created by this Charter to govern the RTO, shall consist of representatives of each Signatory who'll attend all in-person and virtual Congresses. Each Signatory is not limited to number of representatives they may send, but must select a single representative to act as their chief representative during all proceedings.
- (B): All votes must be started and concluded within twenty-four hours of submission. All legislation/drafts must be comprehensive enough to be read within a single day - Signatories may have up to one week to process drafted/proposed legislation. All Signatories are afforded one vote each, which shall be issued to the chief representative of each Signatory to cast within Congress. Lastly, all voting sessions are majority vote by default unless that vote is specified within the Charter to be super-majority only. Tied outcomes during all votes will be determined to be a NAY on the proposed legislation. Votes made by Signatories under clear duress, threat, or coercion shall be nullified and the perpetrators disciplined. Circumventing the prior example, voting on others behalf or doubling votes, shall also be considered illegal and be nullified with perpetrators disciplined.
- (C): To maintain a proper connection between Signatories and offer the services provided under the Treaty to each Signatory, all Signatories shall open an office or similar governmental authority within their government to manage and supervise all RTO activities, services, and operations within their nation. Compensation to operate this entity will be paid for by the Signatories via a yearly fee and any future fines paid to the RTO directly.
- (D): Congresses are meeting sessions hosted by signatories in order to conduct official RTO business, such as votes, trials, and deliberations. RTO shall hold at least four sessions per calendar year with sessions occurring no shorter than a week's time. Emergency sessions may be called by any Signatory of the RTO at any time; abuses of this privilege will receive disciplinary action per-Congressional decision. Session hosts shall be decided by Congressional vote; emergency sessions may be held online or by the Founder to speed-up proceedings.
- (E): Signatories shall pay a members fee in order to finance the RTO's infrastructure, faculty, services, provision of resources, and hospitalities enjoyed by all Signatories. This fee will be collected between the first and tenth of January every year and shall amount to 0.00001% of a Signatory's GDP. For the time being, RTO's Treasury shall rest with Royal Bancroft Bankcorp, with funds being stored elsewhere once availability is secured.
Article 3: Judicial activities and actions of the Reichsstadt Trade Organization will be entirely conducted by the Congress of Signatories whom shall vote on all proceedings before, during, and after as a result of a Congressional Trial.
- (A): Signatories, beholden to the Charter, shall debate on all accused violations and vote to determine both the verdict and repercussions if any of any Signatory accused of violating the RTO's Charter. Votes made by Signatories under clear duress, threat, or coercion shall be nullified and the perpetrators disciplined. Conducting actions outlined in the prior example, voting on behalf of others or doubling one's votes, shall also be considered illegal and be nullified with perpetrators disciplined.
- (B): Trial By Congress will be held during sessions of Congress to determine if a Signatory is guilty of the accused action(s). Signatories have three choices when casting their votes during trial: "Aye," "Nay," and "Abstain." Ayes are votes of approval for the current subject/vote, Nay's disapproval, and Abstain refers to taking neither side. Abstaining majorities during Congressional Trial votes will result in non-guilty and not-innocent verdicts, thereby enabling disciplinary actions against an offending Signatory without adding Strikes to their permanent record.
- (C): Guilty Signatories, as determined by Congressional Trial vote, may have to suffer both RTO Disciplines as well as demands outlined by the victim(s) and the Congress itself - this includes punishments outlined in Article 4. All guilty verdicts result in RTO Discipline, no exception.
- (D): Abusers of fellow Signatories shall not be tolerated. Trust and cooperation are the key tenants of the RTO. As such, repeat habitual violators of the Charter will succumb to the "Double-Thrice Strikes" policy. Signatories with a guilty verdict will first face three degrees of fines listed as "RTO Fines;" these fines will be determined by Congress during Trial and will correlate percentage-wise to damages inflicted upon their victim(s). RTO Fines are to be paid to the RTO directly and distributed to all Signatories after accepting needed operating/processing fees. The second degree of guilty verdicts will result in suspensions from the RTO. Beginning with one month, then six months, and ending with one year in total. Each charge issued against a Signatory during Trial will be considered a verdict to that charge; if a Signatory is charged with three Charter violations and found guilty on all three counts, they will face the first, second, and third degrees of punishment as a result. A guilty verdict after all six disciplinary degrees are handed out will result in the permanent removal of a Signatory from the RTO.
Article 4: The Reichsstadt Trade Organization shall observe all military conflicts between its Signatories with complete neutrality. Never will the RTO choose to punish/support any side in any conflict without a super-majority vote by the Congress of Members.(A): During wartime between Signatories, RTO as an international body will maintain a firm stance of neutrality throughout the conflict unless the super-majority wills otherwise.
- (B): All neutral (uninvolved) merchants/merchant craft shall go unheeded and unmolested by Signatories actively in military conflict with one-another. It is illegal to molest merchant activity of another non-warring RTO Signatory even during wartime if they are not a declared enemy.
- (C): Issuing Letters of Marque, enlisting privateers, and sanctioning pirates to bring harm to another Signatory's trade and economic activity is illegal if the victim is a neutral party to the conflict as outlined in Article 4, Section B.
- (D): Congressional votes to provide material or non-tangible support, and likewise, votes to sanction or embargo a Signatory during wartime against another Signatory is illegal. Exceptions are loss of Article 4 protections, exceptions made by super-majority votes, and other specified exceptions outlined within the Charter.
- (E): Violation and conviction of Article 4 by a Signatory within a Congressional Trial will result in automatically losing the Article 4 protections granted to that Signatory as a member of the RTO. Along with the punishments handed down during Trial, a Signatory found guilty of violating Article 4 will have their Article 4 protections revoked until the end of the conflict which sparked the violation in the first place.
Article 5: All Signatories of the Reichsstadt Trade Organization are entitled to the services and resources afforded to them under the Charter unless revoked as a result of Charter violations.
- (A): The first resource offered to Signatories under the RTO's Charter is the "Goods & Resources Forum." Signatories are encouraged to document their imports and exports so that interested Signatories can freely conduct trade with one-another using available data. The G&RF is a tool developed by the RTO to list all requests for imports/exports by Signatories interested in seeking out suppliers/customers. Upon request for the RTO's assistance, Signatories will be brought together who'd make perfect partners for trade so that deliberations can be made. If the Signatories are interested and go to deliberation to form a trade agreement, RTO staff will be ready to provide the neutral ground to hold the talks, arbitrate the deals made, and provide hospitality/resources to both sides upon request. RTO may be present for the amending of active agreements if Signatories desire assistance doing the amending or wish for witnesses to arbitrate the negotiations.
- (B): RTO's second service offered is arbitration. Conflicts over details past and present stifle economic deals and ties, severing them in many cases. RTO stands ready with its staff to intervene on behalf of both Signatories in order to achieve mutually amiable results. If the worst outcome is unrepairable, RTO will work to satisfy both Signatories in their future endeavors.
- (C): RTO's services and and benefits offered may expand in the future according to Congressional vote.
OOC Rules
1. This is a strict MT thread; anything deemed to be not realistic or not MT will be denied usage in this RP. You will be requested to change or adapt to the rules, or if you can't, to leave. If you don't trust my judgement on MT tech, we can seek out 3rd parties to play mediator.
2. OP's law is absolute. That said, please abide to them, the RP standards of the NS Forums, and site rules. If you're found breaching these set of guidelines you will be warned or asked to change your post(s); if you are found to be an obstruction to the thread, you will be removed from it. This includes IC breaches of the rules and OOC'ly blockading progress unfairly.
2A. As an amendment to the above rule, I want to specifically point out no OOC bullshit in this thread. OOC conflicts deemed out of hand will not be permitted and if a participant is found to be creating senseless drama, they will be asked to take elsewhere or leave. This doesn't include rational debate or conversations, but I think we all know what is or isn't productive OOC planning/debating.
3. This is an OOC sign-up, hub, and planning thread for RTO. As such, there will be no war here and majority of IC actions will be extremely limited. No fighting is permitted.
4. If you know you're unwelcome here, refrain from posting. Do not force the OP to make a banned list. Please.Signatories of The Reichsstadt Trade Organization
- The Empire of Common Territories.
- Kingdom of Kaskalma.
- Empire of Drifterica.
- Confederate States of Anagonia.
- Arab Republic of Fabuhad.
- Federal Republic of Countesia.
- United Revolutionary States of Janpia.
- Socialist Federal Republic of the Aquaria.
- Monarchy Diarcesian.
Goods & Resources Forum
-to be expanded-
Membership Application
- Code: Select all
[b]Nation Name (full name):[/b]
[b]Shortend Name:[/b]
[b]Demonym:[/b]
[b]Financial System (Communist, Free-Market, etc.):[/b]
[b]Top 5 Exports:[/b]
[b]Top 5 Imports:[/b]
[b]Representative's Name:[/b]
[b]Representative's Age:[/b]
[b]Representative's Sex:[/b]
[b]Do You Hereby Agree To Abide By and Enforce The Charter of RTO?:[/b]
Application to Submit/Accept Trade Bid
- Code: Select all
[b]Nation Name (full name):[/b]
[b]Shortend Name:[/b]
[b]Are You Requesting List On The Forum, Ask For Assistance, or Accepting a Listing:[/b]
[b]The Listing You Wish Listed/To Take:[/b]
[b]If This Is a Listing, Please Describe What Services/Goods You Seek Or Wish to Accommodate:[/b]
[b]Can Multiple Signatories Take This Offer (if applicable) and If So, How Many:[/b]
[b]Would You Like RTO Assistance/Arbitration On This Matter:[/b]
[b]Is There Anything Else You Wish to Share With the RTO or Interested Signatories:[/b]
