Recent World Trade Organization Notices
The World Trade Organization recently posted the following notices:
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- WTO releases proposed agenda for next General Council meeting. Among the anticipated actions for the Feb. 27-28 meeting is the General Council's appointment of Roberto Azevedo to another term as director-general (here).
- Items proposed for consideration at the next meeting of Dispute Settlement Body. The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on March 6, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them (here).
- “US – Supercalendered Paper” hearings opened to the public. At the request of the parties in the dispute “United States – Countervailing Measures on Supercalendered Paper from Canada” (DS505), the panel has decided to open to the public its first substantive meeting on March 21 and 22 (here). The live screening will take place at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva.
- Indonesia files appeal against WTO panel ruling on agricultural import measures. Indonesia filed a notice of appeal on Feb. 17 in the cases brought by New Zealand and the United States in “Indonesia – Importation of Horticultural Products, Animals and Animal Products” (DS477 and 478) (here).
- DG Azevedo: Huge amount of work ahead to deliver outcomes at MC11. At a meeting of all WTO members held on Feb. 23 to discuss the organization’s work, Azevedo reported on a range of consultations that have taken place so far in 2017, concluding that while engagement is strong in many areas “we still have a long way to go, and a huge amount of work ahead if we are to arrive at concrete outcomes” for the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Buenos Aires in December (here).
- Appellate Body issues report regarding Russian import restrictions on pigs, pork from EU. On Feb. 23, the WTO Appellate Body issued its report in the case “Russian Federation – Measures on the Importation of Live Pigs, Pork and Other Pig Products from the European Union” (DS475) (here).
- DG Azevedo: Work to cut trade costs can help Africa’s economic integration. Director-General Roberto Azevedo was in Dakar, Senegal, on Feb. 16 for meetings with President Macky Sall, Trade Minister Alioune Sarr and other high-level government representatives (here).
- World Trade Outlook Indicator suggests moderate trade momentum in first quarter of 2017. The WTO’s latest World Trade Outlook Indicator (WTOI) suggests that global trade growth will continue to build moderately in the first quarter of 2017 after having strengthened in the final quarter of last year (here).