Trade monitoring
Contact with parliamentarians
The Parliamentary Conference on the WTO called for prompt ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement at its annual meeting in February. Director-General Roberto Azevêdo told parliamentarians that they are “crucial” to the work of the WTO. DG Azevêdo also participated in an African Parliamentarians Conference in Morocco in April. The WTO was involved in a number of regional workshops and meetings with parliamentarians aimed at promoting understanding of the multilateral trading system.
Introduction
The rapid increase in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) has been a prominent feature of international trade policy in recent times. PTAs constitute an exception to the general most-favoured nation (MFN) provision of the WTO, whereby all WTO members impose on each other the same nondiscriminatory tariff. With the exception of Mongolia, all WTO members are party to at least one PTA. Interest in negotiating PTAs appears to have been sustained despite the global economic crisis. Indeed, the economic crisis itself may be spurring governments to negotiate new PTAs as much to preserve existing openness in the face of political pressure to reduce access as to generate new openness. The explosion of PTAs has triggered a parallel eruption of research on the subject. Nevertheless, this report provides fresh perspectives and insights into this important area of trade policy.
Report by the European Union
The European Union (EU) acknowledges the central role that the WTO plays in safeguarding the rules-based international trading system, and ultimately in promoting openness and global prosperity. The surveillance of national trade policies through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism is an important element of this work; transparency is a fundamental component of an effective world trading system.
Une composition mondiale
Deux pays ont accédé à l’OMC en 2013 : la République démocratique populaire lao et le Tadjikistan. L’OMC compte actuellement 159 Membres, qui représentent plus de 97 % du commerce mondial. En 2013, un pays moins avancé (PMA), le Yémen, a achevé les négociations en vue de son accession. Cela a ramené à huit le nombre de PMA actuellement en voie d’accession à l’OMC.
Overview of output and price developments in 2009-10
World GDP growth turned sharply negative in 2009 for the first time since the 1930s, dropping to - 2.3 per cent from 1.6 per cent in 2008. Both years were well below the 2000-08 average of 3.0 per cent. Although the contraction in output started in the developed economies in the fourth quarter of 2008, it accelerated in the first half of 2009 and eventually affected all countries and regions to varying degrees. However, many developing countries only experienced slower GDP growth rather than absolute declines in output.
Informe de la Secretaría de la OMC
La estructura sectorial de la economía ecuatoriana experimentó variaciones significativas durante el periodo examinado (2011-2018). Cabe destacar, en particular, el descenso considerable de la participación del sector petrolero en el PIB, que pasó de representar el 13,2% de este en 2011 a apenas el 4,8% en 2017. Otra característica del periodo fue el aumento de la participación de los servicios en el PIB, impulsada sobre todo por el desempeño de la construcción, el comercio y la enseñanza y los servicios sociales y de salud. La actividad más dinámica durante el periodo examinado fue la acuicultura y la pesca de camarón. Varios sectores y actividades económicas experimentaron una contracción en 2015 y 2016, como consecuencia de los efectos negativos de la crisis de balanza de pagos, que llevaron a la adopción de medidas de salvaguardia, acompañadas de un recorte en el gasto. La contracción económica causada por la crisis afectó a la actividad petrolera y tuvo repercusiones en la mayor parte de las industrias.
Preface
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT CONTRACTING PARTIES in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.