Trade monitoring
Secretaría de la OMC
La Secretaría de la OMC, que tiene su sede en Ginebra (Suiza), cuenta con una plantilla de 634 funcionarios incluidos en el presupuesto ordinario y está encabezada por el Director General Roberto Azevêdo, que tomó posesión de su cargo por un período de cuatro años el 1º de septiembre de 2013. El 1º de octubre de 2013 iniciaron sus mandatos los cuatro Directores Generales Adjuntos: Yonov Frederick Agah de Nigeria, Karl Brauner de Alemania, David Shark de los Estados Unidos y Yi Xiaozhun de China (véase el gráfico 1). La Secretaría no tiene facultades decisorias, ya que son los Miembros los que adoptan todas las decisiones en la OMC.
Specific notes for selected economies
Beginning with the 2002 report, EU data compiled according to national statistical practices have been replaced, starting 1993, with data compiled by Eurostat in accordance with EU legislation. The concepts and definitions adopted by the EU are in line with the United Nations’ International Trade Statistics, Concepts and Definitions, Series M, N° 52, Revision 2. As a result, the conceptual differences between EU member states’ data have been substantially reduced. Moreover, for the EU as a whole, Eurostat data are more timely than the previous source, thus reducing substantially the amount of estimation included in the EU aggregate.
Executive summary
This year’s World Trade Report ventures beyond tariffs to examine other policy measures that can affect trade. As tariffs have fallen in the years since the birth of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1948, attention has progressively shifted towards non-tariff measures (NTMs). The range of NTMs is vast, complex, driven by multiple policy motives, and ever-changing. Public policy objectives underlying NTMs have evolved. The drivers of change are many, including greater interdependency in a globalizing world, increased social awareness, and growing concerns regarding health, safety, and environmental quality. Many of these factors call for a deepening of integration, wresting attention away from more traditional and shallower forms of cooperation. Trade in services is a part of this development and has come under greater scrutiny, along with the policies that influence services trade.
Una organización universal
En 2012 se adhirieron a la OMC cuatro países: Montenegro, Rusia, Samoa y Vanuatu. A principios de 2013, el número de Miembros se amplió a 159 tras la adhesión de Laos y Tayikistán (véase la página 10). Los Miembros de la OMC representan el 97 por ciento del comercio mundial.