Trade monitoring

This report has addressed four fundamental issues relating to natural resources trade. The first is how key economic features of natural resources and the manner of their exchange influence patterns of trade for this class of goods. Second, we have examined how far the absence of trade barriers provides an efficient mechanism for ensuring access to natural resources and their long-run sustainability. The third issue concerns the incentives that governments face in setting trade policy in natural resource sectors and the consequences of this incentive structure. Finally, the report has considered how international cooperation affects the management of trade in natural resources, with particular emphasis on the role of the WTO.

Paraguay has a very open trade and investment regime. Applied MFN tariffs are relatively low (8.5 per cent on average) and there is little recourse to non-tariff measures. The aim of Paraguay’s medium-term trade strategy is to boost the role of international trade as an engine for economic growth and to diversify its export base, which remains focused on a few agricultural products and on a small number of markets. Paraguay is also seeking to enhance the business climate so as to attract larger flows of foreign investment and thus foster economic growth and employment.

This Note details the definitions, methods and sources of the statistics used in International Trade Statistics 2003.

This chapter assesses the trade facilitation performance of the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and determines the welfare and sectoral effects of trade facilitation improvements within the context of regional trade integration. It shows that introducing a trade facilitation provision in the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) will lead to a significant welfare increase for all MENA sub-regions compared with a scenario of further trade liberalization without trade facilitation. Trade facilitation in the GAFTA would enhance export competitiveness and lead to a significant increase in overall and intra-trade export value for all countries, but particularly for the Mashreq and Maghreb countries. In the analysis, all sub-regions witnessed an export boost in agro-food product exports, particularly those products in which the Mashreq and Maghreb countries have a comparative advantage. The welfare-enhancing results of this analysis indicate that the MENA region has a high stake in implementing the WTO Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA), and should begin with areas that contribute the most to trade cost reduction, such as automation and streamlining of trade procedures.

Jamaica’s economy, which is dependent on alumina, tourism, remittances, and its large informal sector, is highly tradeoriented. Exports and imports of goods and services have represented on average over 90% of GDP since 2005. During the review period, Jamaica has continued to struggle with a narrow production structure and vulnerability to external climatic and economic shocks. These shortcomings were exposed starkly during the recent global economic slowdown, which severely impacted the Jamaican economy, resulting in declines of real GDP of 1.7% in fiscal year 2008/09 and 2.5% during 2009/10 as well as marked decreases in earnings from the export of goods and services and from remittances.

During 2010 the TRIPS Council reviewed intellectual property legislation in individual countries and discussed the relationship between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity, TRIPS and public health, technical cooperation and capacity building and a number of other matters, in addition to the issues reported in the section on negotiations.

Building the trade capacity of developing countries through initiatives such as Aid for Trade was one of the major issues discussed by the Committee on Trade and Development in 2008. During the year, Aid for Trade focused on three clear priorities: Improving monitoring; accelerating implementation of projects; and strengthening developing-country ownership of the initiative. A total of 496 training activities were provided for government officials.

Le présent chapitre donne un aperçu général des principales activités de l’OMC en 2000.

This third Trade Policy Review has offered us an excellent opportunity to deepen our understanding of recent developments in The Gambia, and the achievements and challenges related to its trade and investment policies. Also, as was highlighted by several delegations during the review, this exercise has come at an important juncture for The Gambia, after having experienced a historical democratic change in government last year.