Trade monitoring
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Since its previous Trade Policy Review in 2012, the economy of Trinidad and Tobago has undergone three years of recession, due mainly to contractions in real economic activity in the energy sector (including oil and gas). During the period under review, real GDP growth averaged around –1% annually. Against this background, GDP per capita declined to around USD 16,000 in 2017, compared with around USD 19,000 in 2012. Government revenue, which is highly reliant on the petroleum sector, shrunk considerably, mirrored by an increase in the fiscal deficit and the net public sector debt. Nevertheless, during this period, unemployment remained relatively static, and inflation declined. The real effective exchange rate appreciated during the same period, due mainly to higher domestic prices compared with those in the country’s main trading partners.
Accord sur les marchés publics
L'AMP est administré par le Comité des marchés publics, qui a tenu en 2009 trois réunions formelles et une série de réunions informelles consacrées aux négociations et aux questions d'accession. Ces réunions ont également permis aux 14 parties à l'Accord (qui représentent au total 41 Membres de l'OMC) d'échanger des renseignements et des idées sur les mesures nationales de passation des marchés en relation avec la crise économique, ce qui témoigne du rôle de l'AMP en tant que rempart contre le protectionnisme.
Résumé analytique
Le Rapport sur le commerce mondial 2009 porte essentiellement sur certaines mesures contingentes auxquelles les Membres de l’OMC peuvent recourir lors de l’ importation et de l’exportation de marchandises. Le cadre juridique de ces mesures est beaucoup moins développé dans le domaine du commerce des services, mais il est également examiné.
Outreach
The WTO maintains regular dialogue with the business community, non-governmental organizations, parliamentarians, other international organizations, the media and the general public to enhance cooperation and raise awareness of trade issues.
Prólogo del Director General de la OMC
El Informe sobre el Comercio Mundial 2015 ha sido elaborado bajo la responsabilidad general de Xiaozhun Yi, Director General Adjunto de la OMC, y Robert Koopman, Director de la División de Estudios Económicos y Estadística. El informe de este año ha sido coordinado por Coleman Nee y Robert Teh. Los autores del informe son Marc Auboin, Marc Bacchetta, Cosimo Beverelli, John Hancock, Christian Henn, Alexander Keck, José Antonio Monteiro, Coleman Nee, Simon Neumueller, Roberta Piermartini y Robert Teh (División de Estudios Económicos y Estadística); y Nora Neufeld (División de Acceso a los Mercados).
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.
Introduction
Services have become the most dynamic sector of world trade – but in ways that are not always recognized or understood. Just as services have come to dominate many national economies, they are playing a bigger role in the global economy as well. Many factors are driving this – including consumption, liberalization and investment – but the game-changer is technology. Services that were once difficult to trade, because they could only be delivered in person, are becoming far easier to trade, because they can be delivered digitally. The 2019 World Trade Report explores this globalization of services – why it is happening, how it is impacting economies, and where new policy approaches are needed.
Report by Paraguay
During the period covered by this fourth review of Paraguay’s trade policy, the global economy has grown steadily with significant effects on international trade. The main features of world economic developments were major volatility on financial markets, uncertainty over international commodity prices, and the resurgence of protectionist measures.
Introduction
Product standards specify or pin down the characteristics of a product. These characteristics can include design, size, weight, safety, energy and environmental performance, interoperability, material, and even the process of production. Examples of standards include the dimensions of freight containers and of screw threads; safety performance of seat belts, air bags and medical devices; pasteurization of milk; and protocols that allow computers from different vendors to communicate with one another.
Conclusiones
Aunque los obstáculos tradicionales al comercio, tales como los aranceles, se han reducido, y lasinnovaciones en el transporte y la tecnología de las comunicaciones han acortado las distancias entre los países, los costos del comercio siguen siendo elevados, en particular en los países en desarrollo. Los altos costos del comercio aíslan a los países en desarrollo de los mercados mundiales, limitando sus oportunidades comerciales y frenando el crecimiento. Además parecen afectar desproporcionadamente a las pequeñas y medianas empresas, los productos perecederos y los bienes producidos en cadenas de valor mundiales. Una parte significativa de esos costos del comercio son causados por procedimientos comerciales que son más engorrosos de lo necesario y retrasan la circulación, el levante y el despacho de aduanas de las mercancías
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements are due to the International Monetary Fund, the International Trade Centre, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Statistics Division, the World Bank and the World Intellectual Property Organization. The assistance of all these organizations in supplying statistics as well as other information has greatly facilitated the work of the WTO Secretariat.
Resumen
El comercio internacional es parte esencial del proceso de globalización. Durante muchos años, los gobiernos de la mayor parte de los países han abierto cada vez más sus economías al comercio internacional, ya sea a través del sistema multilateral de comercio, de la intensificación de la cooperación regional o en el marco de programas internos de reforma. En términos más generales, el comercio y la globalización han reportado beneficios ingentes a muchos países y ciudadanos. El comercio ha permitido a muchas naciones obtener los beneficios de la especialización y hacer economías para producir a una escala más eficiente. Ha incrementado la productividad, impulsado la difusión del conocimiento y de nuevas tecnologías y aumentado la posibilidad de elección de los consumidores. Pero la opción de una mayor integración en la economía mundial no siempre ha gozado de popularidad y los beneficios del comercio y de la globalización no siempre han llegado a todos los sectores de la sociedad. El escepticismo sobre el comercio es cada vez mayor en determinados ámbitos y la finalidad del tema central del Informe sobre el Comercio Mundial de este año, titulado “El comercio en un mundo en proceso de globalización”, es recordar lo que sabemos sobre los beneficios del comercio internacional y los retos que plantea un nivel mayor de integración.
Concluding remarks by the Chairperson of the Trade Policy Review Body, H.E. Eduardo Munõz Gómez at the Trade Policy Review of Japan 19 and 21 February 2013
This eleventh Trade Policy Review of Japan has provided an excellent opportunity for all of us to improve our understanding of Japan’s trade and related policies. Our discussions have benefited from the active participation of the Japanese delegation led by Ambassador H.E. Mr Jun Yokota from Tokyo and Ambassador H.E. Mr Yoichi Otabe from Geneva, the informative and thought-provoking presentation and interventions by the discussant, Ambassador H.E. Mr Jonathan Fried of Canada, and the many interventions by Members. Japan’s answers to the large number of questions, made available before the beginning of this meeting, are well appreciated.
Compromisos de política comercial y medidas de contingencia
Los acuerdos comerciales definen las normas para la dirección de la política comercial. Esas normas deben establecer un equilibrio entre compromisos y flexibilidad. En tanto que una excesiva flexibilidad puede menoscabar el valor de los compromisos, un margen de flexibilidad demasiado estrecho puede hacer que las normas sean políticamente insostenibles. Esta tensión entre compromisos creíbles y flexibilidad está siempre latente en las negociaciones comerciales. Por ejemplo, la cuestión de un “mecanismo de salvaguardia especial” (la medida en que se autorizaría a los países en desarrollo a proteger a los agricultores frente al aumento brusco de las importaciones) fue decisiva en las deliberaciones de la minirreunión ministerial de julio de 2008, en la que se trató de acordar las modalidades de negociación -o un proyecto definitivo- para la agricultura y el acceso a los mercados para los productos no agrícolas (AMNA).
Report by the WTO Secretariat
Brunei Darussalam is a small, relatively open economy in which trade and foreign direct investment play vital roles. With one of Asia’s highest per capita incomes,of US$30,000, Brunei owes its prosperity mainly to its abundant petroleum (oil and natural gas) resources, whose share of GDP grew from 53% in 2002 to 69% in 2006, and whose share of exports rose from 88% to 96% during the same period, largely due to the sharp rise in oil and gas prices. Nonetheless, between 2002 and 2006, the economy grew at a rather modest annual average real rate of 2.5%, which is insufficient to generate enough jobs for Brunei’s growing labour force. As a result, official estimates put unemployment at some 4% in 2006, a cause for concern among Bruneians. Overall, inflation has remained subdued at around 1%, generally moving in line with price trends in Singapore because of the currency peg to the Singapore dollar. Inflation is somewhat repressed, however, by the price controls and subsidies with respect to essential food items and petrol.
World trade developments in 2003 and prospects for 2004
Trade growth strengthened in the course of 2003, driven above all by demand expansion in the United States and East Asia. The 4.5 per cent gain in real merchandise exports on a year to year basis does not reveal the vigour of the expansion in the course of the year. Although foreign direct investment decreased globally, capital flows to the emerging economies recovered in 2003.