Trade monitoring

A comprehensive review of the literature on global value chains (GVCs) is an ambitious undertaking for at least three reasons. First, the literature is voluminous and the risk of omitting key references is high. Second, the proper study of GVCs requires a multidisciplinary approach, with literature originating from a wide variety of disciplines. This requires an understanding of different intellectual and conceptual approaches. Third, with such a high level of interest in GVCs, the field is a moving target, and new work in the next months and years will warrant an update.

The world economy grew at 4 per cent in 2004, the strongest annual growth rate in more than a decade. Global GDP last year was also more broadly based regionally than in the three preceding years, providing a solid basis for an acceleration in world trade growth. World merchandise trade rose by 9 per cent in real terms in 2004, the best annual performance since 2000, and more than twice as fast as world output (GDP measured at market rates) in 2004. Trade growth in 2004 also significantly exceeded average trade growth recorded over the last decade.

En 2015, el Consejo del Comercio de Mercancías se ocupó de un gran número de preocupaciones comerciales, lo que muestra que tiene una función cada vez más importante como foro donde se plantean preocupaciones relativas a medidas, políticas y prácticas consideradas potencialmente discriminatorias o restrictivas del comercio. También examinó una serie de solicitudes de exención y tomó nota de una lista actualizada y completa de las notificaciones presentadas por los Miembros de la OMC. Filipinas formuló una declaración sobre los obstáculos a que hacen frente las microempresas y las pequeñas y medianas empresas para poder participar en los mercados regionales y mundiales. Colombia expuso las conclusiones de una presentación sobre el comercio ilícito y la lucha contra el blanqueo de dinero.

An underlying objective of the WTO is to promote economic development through effective participation in world trade. Three aspects of the WTO’s structure and rules are relevant to the question of how developing countries can derive greater benefits from participation in the trading system. First, the rules themselves, together with permitted exceptions and interpretations, are the foundation of the system and play a key part in determining the conditions and opportunities of trade. Second, there is the question of the coverage of the system. No examples exist of topics that the WTO has taken up and then discarded, so this is about the inclusion of new areas. Third, the pattern of protection facing a country’s exports also goes a long way in defining trading conditions and opportunities. In short, the nature of WTO rules, the reach of these rules, and conditions of market access are the three major areas that determine the quality and utility of the WTO for its Members. Not surprisingly, each of these three elements features prominently in the Doha Development Agenda.

Le Mécanisme d’examen des politiques commerciales (MEPC) a été établi à titre expérimental par les Parties Contractantes du GATT en avril 1989. Il est devenu un élément permanent de l’Organisation mondiale du commerce en vertu de l’Accord de Marrakech qui a institué cette organisation en janvier 1995.