Trade monitoring

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.

En 2011, le Groupe de travail du commerce, de la dette et des finances a aidé à remédier à certaines carences structurelles sur le marché du financement du commerce. En particulier, lors du Sommet de Séoul, le G-20 a demandé à l'OMC d'« évaluer et de surveiller » l'efficacité des programmes gérés par les banques multilatérales de développement afin de faciliter l'accès des pays à faible revenu au financement du commerce. Les travaux entrepris par l'OMC dans le domaine du financement du commerce ont bénéficié de l'interaction positive entre les Membres de l'OMC et le Groupe d'experts sur le financement du commerce convoqué par le Directeur général.