Trade monitoring

Trade agreements define rules for the conduct of trade policy. These rules must strike a balance between commitments and flexibility. Too much flexibility may undermine the value of commitments, but too little f lexibility may render the rules politically unsustainable. This tension between credible commitments and flexibility is often close to the surface during trade negotiations. For example, the question of a “special safeguard mechanism” (the extent to which developing countries would be allowed to protect farmers from import surges) was crucial in the discussion of the July 2008 mini-ministerial meeting, which sought to agree negotiating modalities – or a final blueprint – for agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA).

During 2010 the Trade Policy Review Body (TPR B) reviewed 19 WTO members: Malaysia, El Salvador, Croatia, Armenia, Albania, the People’s Republic of China, Malawi, the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu (Chinese Taipei), The Gambia, Honduras, the United States, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sri Lanka, Belize, Papua New Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Hong Kong, China. The Chair’s concluding remarks for these reviews are reproduced below.