Economic research and trade policy analysis
The TRIPS Agreement and COVID-19
The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note about how the global intellectual property (IP) system relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and potential contributions it could make to efforts to address it. The note provides an overview of IP-related measures taken by WTO members and other stakeholders since the start of the crisis.
International Trade in Travel and Tourism Services
In this paper we investigate tourism-related policy approaches that WTO member countries adopted in the early weeks of the COVID-19 crisis. We highlight the need for stakeholders to coordinate their responses in order to mitigate the negative crisis effects and better prepare the sector for the future. In doing so we explore the economic impact of potential tourism scenarios underlining both the demand and supply side effects of the crisis.
How WTO Members have used Trade Measures to Expedite Access to COVID-19 Critical Medical Goods and Services
The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note on how WTO members have used trade measures to expedite access to critical medical goods and services as part of their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cross-Border Mobility, COVID-19 and Global Trade
A new information note published by the WTO Secretariat highlights how trade in goods and services has been affected by temporary border closures and travel restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 and Agriculture
The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on world agricultural trade. The paper notes that agricultural trade has fared better than other sectors and that initial measures focused on guaranteeing the immediate availability of food have been followed by a second phase of policies seeking to mend broken supply chains and help producers to cope with the “new normal” situation.
Trade Costs in the Time of Global Pandemic
The WTO Secretariat has published a new information note warning of possible increases to trade costs due to COVID-19 disruptions. The note examines the pandemic’s impact on key components of trade costs particularly those relating to travel and transport trade policy uncertainty and identifies areas where higher costs may persist even after the pandemic is contained.
The Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Women in Vulnerable Sectors and Economies
Women are likely to be harder hit than men by trade disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the dangers are particularly acute in developing countries according to a new information note from the WTO Secretariat. The paper points to how governments’ policy responses could address gender-specific effects of the crisis.
Foreword
Trade has improved the living standards of billions of individuals many of whom are women. Ample empirical evidence shows that trade has led to higher productivity greater competition lower prices higher incomes and improved welfare. As the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed however trade can be seriously disrupted. There is a risk that some of the economic gains women have reaped through trade could be reversed by the COVID-19 crisis. Cooperation is therefore essential to preserve the conditions for a fast recovery and to create those for more inclusive and sustainable trade in the future.
Acknowledgments
Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Gender Equality is a joint report by the World Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Maria Liungman and Nadia Rocha from the World Bank and José-Antonio Monteiro and Roberta Piermartini from the WTO coordinated the report. The team is grateful for the guidance and support of our World Bank colleaguesCaroline Freund Global Director Trade Investment and Competitiveness; William Maloney Chief Economist for Equitable Growth Finance and Institutions; the World Bank gender group under the leadership of Caren Grown Global Director Gender; and Antonio Nucifora Practice Manager Trade and Regional Integration Unitand our WTO colleagues Aegyoung Jung Chief Legal Advisor to the Director-General; and Robert Koopman Chief Economist and Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division.
Policy responses to promote women’s benefits from trade
Removing trade barriers that impede womens access to international markets can contribute to enhancing womens participation in trade and benefits from trade. Women would benefit from lowered tariffs and nontariff barriers and improved trade facilitation and access to trade finance.
Overview
The goal of this report is to improve the understanding of the impacts of trade and trade policy on gender equality and to provide policy makers with evidence on the benefits of trade for women and with potential policy solutions. The report uses a conceptual framework that illustrates the diverse transmission channels through which trade and trade policy can affect women according to three key economic roles they play: workers consumers and decision makers. The report also gathers and analyzes new data1 to show how trade and trade policy can affect women and men differentlyin wages consumption and welfare and in the quality and quantity of jobs available to them. New empirical analysis based on these data suggests that expanding trade can act as an impetus for countries to improve womens rights and boost female participation in the economy.
The impact of trade on women in their different roles
The increase in trade since the 1990s has reshaped the global economyleading to higher living standards and lower poverty particularly in developing countriesbut has come with costs such as job displacement. It has expanded opportunities for women and led to changes in their role in society but the channels through which trade affects gender inequality are not well understood.
How constraints and opportunities shape women’s roles in trade
Compared to men women face many constraints that restrict their ability to trade and to realize the benefits of trade. Some of these barriers are directly related to the way that goods and services cross international borders such as higher trading costs and discrimination that women can face at border crossings. But beyond-the-border constraints are equally important. For example womens limited access to education explains in part why female employment is concentrated in low-skill sectors such as textiles. Female entrepreneurs also have more difficulty than men in obtaining finance especially for riskier activities like trade. Ingrained gender bias for domestic tasks such as child rearing limits womens flexibility and mobility. These limitations can severely reduce womens access to trade-related employment and services.
Women and Trade
Trade can dramatically improve women’s lives creating new jobs enhancing consumer choices and increasing women’s bargaining power in society. It can also lead to job losses and a concentration of work in low-skilled employment. Given the complexity and specificity of the relationship between trade and gender it is essential to assess the potential impact of trade policy on both women and men and to develop appropriate evidence-based policies to ensure that trade helps to enhance opportunities for all. Research on gender equality and trade has been constrained by limited data and a lack of understanding of the connections among the economic roles that women play as workers consumers and decision makers. Building on new analyses and new sex-disaggregated data Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Gender Equality aims to advance the understanding of the relationship between trade and gender equality and to identify a series of opportunities through which trade can improve the lives of women.
Trade Policies for a Circular Economy
From its initial focus on minimizing waste generation the circular economy has evolved into a broad-based approach to make resource use more sustainable. A big part of the appeal of a circular economy is the opportunities it creates not only for resource savings and better human health and environmental outcomes but also for trade and economic diversification.
The COVID-19 pandemic and trade-related developments in LDCs
A new information note published by the WTO Secretariat looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the participation of least-developed countries (LDCs) in global trade. The note stresses that LDCs have seen a significant decline in export earnings due to decreasing demand in key markets falling commodity prices and a decline in remittances and are likely to be the hardest hit by the crisis due to their limited resources to stimulate growth.
Helping MSMEs Navigate the COVID-19 Crisis
The WTO Secretariat has published an information note looking at how micro small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It notes the impact of supply chain disruptions on MSMEs and the extent to which smaller businesses are represented in the economic sectors hardest hit by the crisis.
Trade in Services in the Context of COVID-19
A new information note published by the WTO Secretariat looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected trade in services from tourism and transport to retail and health services.
Standards, Regulations and COVID-19
Mainly affecting trade in medical products and food such standards and regulatory measures typically account for two-thirds of the notifications members submit to the WTO in line with obligations under the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) and the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS). These agreements set out disciplines for standards and regulatory measures used to protect human animal and plant life and health the environment and product safety. The paper notes that most of the COVID-related notifications were submitted under the emergency/urgent notification provisions in the two agreements in response to the pressing health problems posed by the pandemic. The notifications mainly concern trade in personal protective equipment food live animals medical equipment and medicines. The notified measures fall under four main categories: streamlining certification procedures; ensuring safe medical goods; making food available by relaxing technical regulations; and addressing COVID-19 risks from international trade in live animals.