Trade monitoring
Relaciones con las organizaciones no gubernamentales
El Foro Público de la OMC, cuyo tema en 2012 fue “¿Está en crisis el multilateralismo?”, congregó a unos 1.200 participantes.
Commerce des marchandises
Le Conseil du commerce des marchandises a examiné de nombreuses préoccupations commerciales en 2015, ce qui montre qu’il sert de plus en plus souvent de cadre à l’expression des préoccupations concernant les mesures, politiques et pratiques jugées potentiellement discriminatoires ou restrictives pour le commerce. Il a également examiné plusieurs demandes de dérogation et a pris note d’une liste complète et mise à jour des notifications présentées par les Membres de l’OMC. Les Philippines ont fait une déclaration sur les obstacles empêchant les micro, petites et moyennes entreprises d’accéder aux marchés régionaux et mondiaux. La Colombie a présenté les conclusions d’un groupe d’experts sur le commerce illicite et le blanchiment d’argent.
Policy Developments in Trade and Intellectual Property
During the review period, G20 economies continued to fine-tune their intellectual property (IP) domestic frameworks. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of them have implemented specific IP measures aimed at facilitating the development and dissemination of COVID-19-related health technologies, as well as at relaxing procedural requirements and extending deadlines for administrative IP matters.
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Agriculture is at the core of economic developments in the East African Community (EAC). Its good performance, underpinned by favourable weather conditions and rising global demand for its exports in recent years, helped EAC countries to register positive economic developments from 2006 to 2007 and to recover relatively well from the global economic and financial crisis. However, low resilience, together with traditional farming practices and a narrow export base, have led to a significant economic slowdown in the region, in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis in 2008. Low tourist arrivals have also played a part, as the industry is crucial for Kenya (the only non-LDC in the region) and Tanzania, the two largest economies in the EAC.
Trade Policy Reviews
In 2016, the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) reviewed the trade policies and practices of 23 WTO members. By the end of 2016, the TPRB had conducted 452 reviews since its establishment in 1989, covering 153 of the 164 WTO members. During the year, members agreed further reforms to the trade policy review mechanism, including adjusting the frequency of undertaking trade policy reviews.
Introduction
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT contracting parties in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.
Trade monitoring reports
Trade monitoring reports showed a slight decrease in the number of new trade-restrictive measures introduced by WTO members. The WTO revised downwards its trade forecasts for 2016, predicting the slowest pace of trade and output growth since the financial crisis of 2009. The monitoring reports underscore the need for WTO members to work together to ensure that the benefits of trade are spread more widely and are better understood.
Una Organización universal
Liberia se adhirió a la OMC el 14 de julio de 2016. El Afganistán pasó a ser Miembro de la OMC el 29 de julio de 2016.
Report by the WTO Secretariat
The UAE’s trade regime is open, with low tariffs and few non-tariff barriers to trade. The UAE’s openness was instrumental in achieving the solid growth registered prior to the global crisis and has facilitated the diversification of economic activity. The investment regime remains considerably more restrictive than the trade regime, as foreign participation in any domestic company or activity is limited to 49% of the capital; however, 100% foreign ownership is allowed in any of the UAE’s free zones.
Preface
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT CONTRACTING PARTIES in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Mozambique shares many of the problems of resource-rich countries, with a fragile development model excessively focused on extractives and major projects. It has undoubted potential but faces considerable challenges: a lack of qualified workers; a limited internal market; infrastructure insufficiencies; a costly business environment; limited economic diversification; a high dependency on imports; increasing debt levels; a narrow tax base; and limited capacity for domestic resource mobilization.
Preface
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT CONTRACTING PARTIES in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.
Introduction
Les prévisions à long terme sont toujours difficiles. On n’aurait probablement pas pu prévoir avec certitude, il y a 20 ans, des phénomènes « révolutionnaires » comme l’explosion des systèmes de communication et de l’interactivité qui façonnent aujourd’hui notre vie quotidienne, des réseaux sociaux à l’externalisation internationale. L’on peut certes s’appuyer dans une large mesure sur des extrapolations des tendances actuelles, pour tenter de prédire l’avenir, mais cela peut aussi aider à faire l’inventaire des événements importants et à identifier les problèmes qui pourraient résulter des changements auxquels nous serons probablement confrontés.
Acknowledgements
The World Trade Report 2011 was prepared under the general direction of the Deputy Director-General Alejandro Jara and supervised by Patrick Low, Director of the Economic Research and Statistics Division. The writing of this year’s report was coordinated by Nadia Rocha and Robert Teh. The principal authors of the Report were Marc Bacchetta, Cosimo Beverelli, John Hancock, Alexander Keck, Gaurav Nayyar, Coleman Nee, Roberta Piermartini, Nadia Rocha, Martin Roy, Michele Ruta, Robert Teh and Alan Yanovich. Other written contributions were provided by Marc Auboin, Manfred Elsig, Trudi Hartzenberg and Roy Santana. Special acknowledgment is owed to Richard Baldwin for his many suggestions and contributions to the report. Trade statistics information was provided by the Statistics Group of the Economic Research and Statistics Division, coordinated by Hubert Escaith, Julia de Verteuil, Andreas Maurer and Jurgen Richtering. Aishah Colautti assisted in the preparation of the graphical input and Paulette Planchette, assisted by Véronique Bernard, prepared the bibliography. Research assistance was provided by Hans Baumgarten, Pavel Chakraborty, Claudia Hofmann, Joelle Latina, Alen Mulabdic, Andreas Lendle, and Gianluca Orefice.
Conclusions
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.
Reaching out to parliamentarians
In 2011, for the first time, the annual Parliamentary Conference on the WTO, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament, was held at the WTO. The WTO Secretariat continued the distribution of its regular newsletter to a growing number of parliamentarians. It also organized two regional workshops for parliamentarians in cooperation with regional partners.
Report by the WTO Secretariat
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.