Recent World Trade Organization Notices
The World Trade Organization recently posted the following notices:​
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
- Members enter into substantive discussions on implementation of Trade Facilitation Agreement. At a meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Trade Facilitation on Nov. 3, members for the first time engaged in substantive discussions on ongoing efforts to implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), which formally entered into force in February (here).
- Pesticide residues top of agenda of WTO food safety body. WTO members raised a range of trade concerns on pesticides in food products at the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) Nov. 2-3. Meanwhile, they were unable to bridge gaps on a proposed decision on pesticide residues at the forthcoming 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) (here).
- New proposals submitted for draft agreement on fisheries subsidies. At the Oct. 31-Nov. 3 meeting of the Negotiating Group on Rules (NGR), members discussed in detail a previously circulated text compiling seven earlier proposals, with a number of members suggesting insertions and other amendments to that text. Members also exchanged views on areas of the negotiations to intensify ahead of MC11 in Buenos Aires in December (here).
- G20 countries show restraint in new trade restrictions, despite economic uncertainties. The WTO’s 18th monitoring report on Group of 20 (G20) trade measures, issued on Nov. 9, shows that G20 economies introduced fewer trade-restrictive measures compared to the previous review period. The estimated trade coverage of these restrictions recorded during the period of mid-May to mid-October slightly exceeded the coverage of trade-facilitating measures (here).
- Advanced course on food safety, animal and plant health concludes in Geneva. Twenty-three participants from around the world are attending the Advanced Course on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), which opened at the WTO’s headquarters on Oct. 23. The course is due to run until Nov. 10 (here).
- Members’ views diverge on prospect of short-term outcome on domestic regulation. At a meeting of the Working Party on Domestic Regulation Nov. 7-8, WTO members expressed divergent views on whether an outcome on domestic regulation in services (under the General Agreement on Trade in Services) can be achieved by the 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) on the basis of existing proposals. The Chair, Katarzyna Stecz, concluded she does not see scope for preparing a Chair’s negotiating text, under her responsibility, on the basis of the views heard, if such a text is meant to lead towards a consensus outcome in the coming weeks (here).
- WTO members share latest information on national environmental measures. At a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) on Nov. 1, chaired by Zhanar Aitzhanova, members shared the latest information on their national environmental measures. Also, the WTO Secretariat presented its latest update to the Environmental Database, covering environment-related measures undertaken by WTO members, and its matrix on multilateral environmental agreements (here).
- Director General Azevêdo calls for APEC’s support for a successful MC11. At a meeting of APEC trade ministers in Da Nang, Viet Nam, on Nov. 8, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo reported on the preparations for MC11 to take place in Buenos Aires, in December (here).
- Azevêdo: Singapore’s support is essential to strengthen trading system. Director-General Roberto Azevêdo met on Nov. 7 with Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang to discuss the state of play in WTO work ahead of the organization’s MC11, to be held in Buenos Aires in December (here).
- Azevêdo highlights important role of trade and investment in promoting sustainable development. Trade and investment are fundamental in helping countries successfully integrate into the global economy, said Director-General Roberto Azevêdo in a speech to the High-Level Forum on Facilitating Trade and Investment for Development in Abuja, Nigeria, on Nov. 2. He highlighted that many African countries are engaged in facilitating trade and investment and that the Forum provides an important opportunity to share ideas and “to ensure we seize all of the tools available to us in the search for stronger growth and more sustainable development – in Africa and around the globe” (here).
- DDG Wolff: There is enormous potential for forward progress in global trading system. Delivering a lecture on the future of the world trading system at American University in Washington on Nov. 8, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff called for vigorous sustained support from the private sector and from leaders in the world’s legislatures so that progress can be achieved in advancing the trading system. He outlined a number of steps that could be taken and concluded: “The WTO is our heritage. We need to cherish it, maintain it and improve it" (here).
- Azevêdo: We have built up some good momentum behind the MSME debate. Speaking at a workshop organized by the “Friends of MSMEs” on Oct. 31, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo highlighted the importance of raising awareness of the obstacles that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) face. He outlined some of the steps taken by the WTO to respond to the challenges faced by MSMEs and said that helping these small companies join trade flows in greater numbers will go a long way to making the trading system more inclusive and improving the lives of individuals and communities around the world (here).
- National Center for APEC, Deloitte and Moody’s event: ‘The Evolution of Trade, Technology, and Globalization: How to Foster Inclusive Growth’. (Remarks by Azevêdo here).
- Appellate Body issues report regarding Indonesian import restrictions. On Nov. 9, the WTO Appellate Body issued its report in the cases brought by New Zealand and the U.S. in “Indonesia – Importation of Horticultural Products, Animals and Animal Products” (DS477 and DS478) (here).
- Latest trade indicator suggests trade growth will moderate in fourth quarter of 2017. The WTO’s latest World Trade Outlook Indicator (WTOI) suggests that global merchandise trade growth will likely moderate in the fourth quarter of 2017. The reading of 102.2 signals continued trade expansion in volume terms, although the pace of growth should be slower than earlier in the year, when trade recorded strong increases (here).
- 70th anniversary of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. Seventy years ago, on Oct. 30, 1947, 23 countries signed the Final Act of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Devised as a temporary agreement that would boost international trade, the GATT regulated world trade for almost 50 years before being succeeded by the birth of the World Trade Organization in 1995 (here).