JOB/GC/229  
 
19 May 2020  
(20-3672) Page: 1/3 
General Council    
 
COVID -19 TRADE -RELAT ED MEASURES  
 
SPECIAL VIRTUAL GENE RAL COUNCIL  MEETING  
REPORT BY THE DIRECT OR-GENERAL  
Friday, 15 May 2020  
  
1.1.  Thank you all for joining this special Virtual Meeting that the General Council Chair has 
convened to talk about trade and the COVID -19 pandemic.  I hope you and your families are keeping 
well.  I will begin with a few house -keeping matters.  
1.2.  First, the platform that we are using today – Interprefy – responds to your request at the 
virtual HoDs in April that the  Secretariat should explore platforms that are more secure and allow 
for interpretation services. Some UN agencies are already using Interprefy, and we intend to use it 
for further meetings like these.  
1.3.  Second, as of this week, in line with the gradual rela xation of confinement measures by the 
Swiss authorities, we have authorized 20% of our secretariat staff to return to the WTO premises 
on a voluntary basis. The protection of the health of both staff and delegates remains our first 
priority, and meetings a t the WTO premises remain suspended at least through the end of this 
month. Access to the premises by delegates is restricted and we encourage you to send 
communications electronically, whenever possible, to minimize the amount of physical mail passing 
through the WTO premises.  
1.4.  We are in regular contact with the Swiss authorities and will update you of developments, 
including when meetings at the WTO premises can resume.  Let me now turn to the business of this 
meeting.   
1.5.  This is my second report to the me mbership on trade and the COVID -19 pandemic. My report 
at the informal HoDs on 17th April was circulated to delegations in JOB/TNC/80.   
1.6.  Since that meeting, we have started to witness in some regions a gradual easing of restrictions 
on business activity an d physical interaction. Elsewhere, however, the storm is still raging.  
1.7.  At our last meeting, I highlighted our forecasts of a steep decline in trade this year across all 
regions and sectors. The impact of the deep ongoing shocks to supply and demand is bec oming 
more and more visible.  People continue to lose jobs and incomes. Livelihoods have been severely 
impacted.  
1.8.  International cooperation, including on trade, would help economies lift each other out of this 
crisis. This was my message to yesterday's virt ual meeting of the UN Chief Executives Board, where 
I said that fiscal, monetary, and trade policies must pull hard – and pull in the same direction – to 
lay the foundation for a strong and inclusive recovery. Also , yesterday, G20 trade ministers met 
virtually and expressed support for strengthening open and resilient supply chains, particularly for 
medical supplies.   
1.9.  A few weeks ago, I urged a virtual meeting of G20 agriculture ministers to act collectively to 
ensure that our responses to the COVID -19 pan demic do not unintentionally create food shortages. JOB/GC/229  
 
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  Ministers committed to cooperating closely and taking concrete actions to safeguard global food 
security and nutrition. I welcomed this commitment.  
1.10.  Since the April HoDs, various members and groups have se nt similar messages in 
declarations, statements and proposals. These have been circulated and posted on the WTO's 
COVID -19 webpage. While I very much commend these efforts, which are precisely the trade policy 
response we need, they will only work if growi ng numbers of members act on them.  
1.11.  The WTO has continued to work closely with other International Organizations to encourage 
an effective policy response to the COVID -19 crisis, resulting in joint statements with the WHO and 
the IMF. These statements are a ll available on our website.  
1.12.  We have continued our efforts to track COVID -19 related trade measures as part of our 
longstanding monitoring and transparency mandate.  Members deserve credit for their cooperation 
in sharing information with the Secretariat, including through the notification process to the relevant 
WTO committees. I urge those that have not yet responded to do so.  
1.13.  The exercise has compiled 231 COVID -19-related trade measures for goods, across 87 WTO 
Members and Observers. 53% of these measures are trade facilitating, and that is good, while the 
remaining 47% may be considered as having trade -restrictive effects.  
1.14.  As of 14 May, the exercise had compiled 89 measures from 43 Members affecting trade in 
services, most of them trade -facilitati ng.  
1.15.  Around two -thirds of COVID -19 related notifications relate to standards and regulations under 
TBT and SPS. These mainly affect trade in personal protective gear (PPE), food, live animals and 
medical equipment. Around half of these measures are reporte d as temporary.  
1.16.  Members and other stakeholders have issued statements and other public pronouncements 
stressing that open and predictable trade in agriculture and food products is crucially important to 
prevent the pandemic from also becoming a food crisis . In this context, I am informed that the Chair 
of the Committee on Agriculture is consulting on requests by some Members to consider convening 
a special meeting to focus on COVID -19 and agriculture trade policy in mid -June.  
1.17.  Finally, the secretariat task f orce that we set up to monitor how the pandemic is affecting 
international trade has continued its analytical work, including through informal information notes 
under the Secretariat's own responsibility and which do not prejudice Members' positions, right s or 
obligations under the WTO.  
1.18.  While a number of governments have put in place measures to assist businesses and workers 
to weather the economic storm of this pandemic – what is evident is that businesses, in particular 
micro, small and medium ones are h ardest hit. This is why the ICC and B20 have approached us to 
partner in a virtual trade dialogue next Tuesday – 19th of May. Business representatives will highlight 
the challenges they are facing and discuss some of the policy responses they would like go vernments 
to take to assist them.  
1.19.  Chair, as I conclude, I would like to stress three points.  
1.20.  First, restarting the global economy and reinstating confidence for businesses and households 
will depend not only on when the health crisis is contained, but on c oordinated, coherent and 
cooperative international economic policy responses. As I said in April, fiscal, monetary and trade 
policies must continue to pull in the same direction.  
1.21.  Second, while WTO rules are clear about members' rights and obligations in t his regard, and 
we are not c haracterizing anyone's measures as violating any of the WTO rules or extrapolating 
Members rights,  governments should work to ensure that their emergency interventions do not 
unnecessarily restrict trade and investment. By ensur ing that measures are transparent, targeted, 
risk-proportionate, WTO -compliant, and temporary, members can help prevent supply shortages 
and price volatility.  JOB/GC/229  
 
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  1.22.  Third, I call upon all Members to resist policies that may further disrupt supply chains and 
add to the strains on an already fragile global economy. To build  more resilient national economies, 
we must build more resilient international cooperation – and a more resilient and effective 
multilateral trading system. I urge all WTO Members to stand toge ther and uphold the role of open, 
predictable and rules -based trade as a fundamental driver for recovery from the current crisis.  
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