Intblock inclusion policy

Defines what belongs in the intblocks dataset and how to classify records with scope_category.

Inclusion criteria

An intblock is included when it is useful as a stable join target for membership, hierarchy (partof), or named reference sets used by other records in this repository.

Kind	Include?	Examples
Intergovernmental organization (IGO)	Yes	UN, NATO, AU, ASEAN
Treaty / convention with parties roster	Yes	UNFCCC, CBD, UNCLOS
Standing policy forum / process	Yes	G7, G20, ARF, FATF
Named geographic / set groupings	Yes, labeled reference_enumeration	SIDS, Maghreb, Caribbean
Country attribute partitions	No — use country fields	Traffic hand, DVD region, scripts, legal tradition, rail gauge, broadcast systems
Ad-hoc news coalitions / one-off summits	Usually no	Unless membership is durable and sourced
Socioeconomic rankings / indices	No	HDI lists, GDP leagues (out of country & intblock scope)
Government form / regime typology	No on countries; not as intblock membership	Optional vocab only: data/vocabs/government_forms.yaml

Regional trade agreements (WTO RTA-IS)

The WTO RTA Information System lists hundreds of notified RTAs (FTAs, customs unions, partial-scope PTAs, and services EIAs). Internacia does not import that catalogue. Include an RTA only when it is a named, durable join target:

Include	Skip
Named plurilateral FTAs with an official acronym and a roster distinct from an existing IGO (AGADIR, PICTA, ASEAN+1)	Untitled bilateral Country A – Country B pairs
Bloc-to-bloc deals whose extra parties make a distinct roster (EFTAGCC, EFTASACU)	Accession or enlargement notifications (update includes on the parent)
Named mega-deals commonly cited under their own acronym (CETA, USMCA, RCEP)	UK continuity copies of EU EPAs; services-only EIA rows of an FTA already recorded
Historical predecessors that complete a lineage already in the dataset (TPSEP → TPP → CPTPP)	Constitutive instruments of an IGO already recorded (EU, EAEU, CCASG, MERCOSUR, SACU)

One intblock per legal instrument: WTO often lists goods (FTA) and services (EIA) separately; Internacia keeps a single fta (or pta / customs) record. Source rosters from the official treaty text, not only the WTO ID card (the Secretariat warns that accessions and withdrawals are under-notified).

Preferential trade arrangements (WTO PTA Database)

The WTO PTA Database lists non-reciprocal schemes (national GSP, LDC-only DFQF, and waiver programmes). These are distinct from RTAs. Internacia does not import that catalogue. Include a PTA only when it is a named, durable join target with a roster distinct from GSP (grantors) and LDC:

Include	Skip
Named waiver programmes with an official acronym and a distinct beneficiary roster (AGOA, CBERA, CARIBCAN)	National GSP ID cards (GSP – Japan, GSP – Armenia, …) — already the GSP grantor record
Named GSP arrangements whose beneficiary list is not the UN LDC list (GSPPLUS)	LDC-only DFQF schemes (India DFTP, Chile/Korea/Morocco/Taipei DFQF, …) — roster ≈ LDC
Historical predecessors that complete a lineage already in the dataset (ATPA → USPE/USCO)	Untitled or one-country preferences (US–Nepal, EU–Pakistan 2012–13, EU–Moldova 2008–15)
	GSP successors already noted on GSP (UK DCTS); Everything But Arms (join via LDC)
	Constitutive or political instruments that are not this PTA (COFA vs “Former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands”)

One intblock per legal instrument: CBERA and CBTPA stay one CBERA record; EU GSP+ is one GSPPLUS record, not a split of GSP. Source rosters from the grantor’s official list (USTR, Canada/WTO waiver, EU GSP regulation). Eligibility on these schemes is reviewed annually and is under-notified in the Secretariat database.

International investment agreements (UNCTAD IIA Navigator)

UNCTAD’s IIA Navigator lists thousands of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and treaties with investment provisions (TIPs), including a by-country-grouping index. Internacia does not import that catalogue. Include an IIA only when it is a named, durable join target whose parties roster is distinct from an existing IGO or FTA:

Include	Skip
Named plurilateral investment treaties with an official short title and a ratifiers list that is not the parent IGO (OICIA, ACIA, UAIA, CJKIA)	Untitled bilateral Country A – Country B BITs, including BLEU’s Belgium–Luxembourg BIT programme
Named CIS/REC services-and-investment instruments whose extra or missing parties make a distinct roster (CISFTASERVICES, PCFI)	FTA investment chapters of an FTA already recorded (RCEP, CETA, ACFTA/AHKIA, EU and EFTA extra-regional deals)
Plurilateral termination or reform instruments whose parties are a subset of an IGO (INTRAEUBIT)	Community acts whose roster equals the parent IGO (ECOWAS Supplementary Act A/SA.3/12/08; SADC FIP after Comoros accession) — note on the parent
Historical predecessors that complete a lineage already in the dataset	Constitutive instruments of an IGO already recorded (COMESA Treaty, ECOWAS Treaty, Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas)
	Framework / TIFA rows and UNCTAD TIP type-3 cooperation mandates
	Not-in-force protocols (AfCFTA Investment Protocol until 22 ratifications; COMESA CCIA; MERCOSUR Protocol of Colonia) and non-binding models (Pan-African Investment Code)

One intblock per legal instrument: ASEAN+1 investment agreements stay notes on the parent FTA (ACFTA, AHKFTA, AKFTA, AIFTA). Source rosters from the depositary (OIC General Secretariat / COMCEC annex, ASEAN Secretariat, League of Arab States, CIS Executive Committee, Council of the EU treaty office, Chinese MFA treaty texts, Paraguay MFA for MERCOSUR protocols), not only the UNCTAD grouping card (signatories are often listed alongside ratifiers). Signature-only participants are omitted, as with UNTC records.

ICSID, MIGA, the New York Convention, the Mauritius Transparency Convention, and the Energy Charter Treaty are already recorded as ICSID, MIGA, NYC, MAURITIUS, and ECT.

Attribute partitions → country fields

These classifications were previously inverted as intblocks and are now country properties (with controlled vocabs under data/vocabs/):

Former blocktype	Country field
traffichand	car_side (left | right)
writingdirection	writing_directions
writingsystem	writing_systems
dvdregion	dvd_region
teleregion	broadcast_systems
lawsystem	legal_systems
railgauge	rail_gauges
govform	(retired; vocab-only, not on countries)

Retired intblock ids map via data/attribute_intblock_migrations.yaml (exported as data/datasets/attribute_intblock_migrations.json).

scope_category values

Value	Meaning
igo	Standing intergovernmental organization with secretariat/HQ
treaty_body	Treaty, protocol, or convention (parties are members)
policy_forum	Forum, process, or club without full IGO personality
reference_enumeration	Named geographic or set grouping (not attribute partitions)

Optional field; high-visibility and status: formal records should set it. Validation warns (non-blocking) when status: formal and scope_category is missing.

Boundaries vs treaties in partof

partof expresses organizational hierarchy, not “established by treaty X”. Treaty nesting (protocol → convention) is allowed. Organization → pure treaty links should be described in text instead (see partof hierarchy validation).

Specialized UN agencies prefer partof: UN (not ECOSOC alone).

Intblock id naming

• Uppercase ASCII letters and digits only. Filename stem must match id exactly (case-sensitive).
• Prefer the official acronym the organization uses (NATO, OECD, AUKUS).
• No hyphens or spaces: drop punctuation (NORTHSEASUMMIT, FATFGREYLIST).
• If two bodies share an acronym, keep the well-known id and disambiguate the other (sports/ICC vs criminal-court alias) via intblocks_aliases.json — do not silently reuse an id.
• Do not invent nonce abbreviations that the organization itself does not use.
• Typos in existing ids are fixed through the alias mechanism (rename + alias), not by leaving a misspelled primary key.

Directory vs blocktype

• The directory under data/intblocks/ is the primary blocktype and must exist in data/blocktypes/blocktypes.yaml.
• The YAML blocktype list may include additional keys (military + political).
• Thin categories (few records) are allowed; empty directories should be removed.
• Do not create a new category folder without adding the blocktype to the taxonomy in the same PR.

Discovery catalogues

Gap-finding lists (UN Treaty Collection, WTO RTA-IS, WTO PTA Database, UNCTAD IIA Navigator, Wikipedia .int organizations) and the roster authorities used to compile membership are documented in intblock-sources.md. How to search those catalogues and improve existing records: discovery.md. Do not import those catalogues wholesale; every candidate still has to meet the inclusion criteria above.

Related

• discovery.md — how to search catalogues and improve records
• intblock-sources.md — catalogues searched and roster authorities
• entity-classification-policy.md
• ai-consumers.md
• agents/add-intblock-example.md — worked add-a-record walkthrough
• enrichment.md — Wikidata completeness exclusions