Trade monitoring

This volume is a joint project of the International Labour Office and the Secretariat of the World Trade Organization. The International Chamber of Commerce Research Foundation provided funding, for which we would like to express our appreciation. This work follows up on two prior joint publications by the ILO and the WTO Secretariats – a review of the literature on trade and employment in 2007 and a report on the linkages between trade and informal employment in 2009.

Zimbabwe’s renewed commitment to fiscal discipline and its de facto adoption of the U.S. dollar as legal tender as a result of the implementation of its multi-currency system in February 2009 have brought some encouraging signs towards macroeconomic stabilization. Nevertheless, Zimbabwe’s economy is still in a fragile state with high unemployment, depleted international reserves, and unsustainably high external debt, including a major accrual of arrears. A fractious socio-political environment, combined with a controversial land reform and measures in favour of indigenization, has triggered the withdrawal of support from the international community and cast a shadow over property rights, thereby undermining the business environment, with a devastating impact on Zimbabwe’s economic performance and social indicators over the past decade.

Following the success of the 10th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December 2015, we saw a significant rise in engagement in many areas of our work in 2016. The year was defined by robust discussion among members on a wide range of issues and a notable rise in interest from other stakeholders.

Au cours des quatre réunions qu’il a tenues en 2012, le Conseil du commerce des marchandises a approuvé plusieurs demandes de dérogations, individuelles et collectives, notamment la prorogation de la dérogation concernant le Système de certification du processus de Kimberley pour les diamants bruts, l’harmonisation en cours des listes tarifaires et les droits de douane appliqués par l’Union européenne à certains produits en provenance du Pakistan. Il a également examiné une série de préoccupations commerciales soulevées par les Membres.