RESTRICTED  
  
WT/TPR/OV/24  
22 November 2021  
(21-8768) Page: 1/89 
Trade Policy Review Body   
 
 
OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS  IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT  
ANNUAL REPORT BY THE DIRECTOR -GENERAL1 
(Mid-October  2020 to mid -October  2021) 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 2 
1   INTRODUCTION  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  5 
2   RECENT ECONOMIC AND TRADE DEVELOPMENTS  ................................ ........................  8 
2.1   Overview of Trade Developments and Economic Outlook  ................................ ..................  8 
 Trade Developments  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...11 
3   TRADE AND TRADE -RELATED POLICY ISSUES  ................................ ...........................  13 
3.1   Overview of Trends Identified during the Review Period  ................................ .................. 13 
3.1.1    Regular trade measures  ................................ ................................ ............................ 13 
3.1.2    COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures  ................................ ............................... 21 
3.2   Trade Remedy Trends  ................................ ................................ ................................ .22 
3.3   Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures  ................................ ................................ ...27 
3.4   Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs)  ................................ ................................ ................ 32 
3.5   Trade Concerns Raised in Other WTO Bodies  ................................ ................................ ..38 
3.6   Policy Developments in Agriculture  ................................ ................................ ............... 50 
3.7   General Economic Support  ................................ ................................ ........................... 54 
3.8   Overview of Trade Policy Reviews  ................................ ................................ ................. 55 
3.9   Other Selected Trade Policy Issues  ................................ ................................ ............... 57 
4   POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE IN SERVICES  ................................ ......................  67 
4.1   Regular Measures Affecting Trade in Services  ................................ ................................ .67 
4.2   COVID -19-Related Measures Affecting Trade in Services  ................................ ................. 73 
5   POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY  ..........................  74 
6   TRANSPARENCY OF TRADE POLICIES  ................................ ................................ ........  77 
 
 
 
1 This Report covers the period mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021. It is presented pursuant to 
Paragraph G of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism mandate and aims to assist the Trade Policy Review Body to 
undertake its annual overview of developments in th e international trading environment that are having an 
impact on the multilateral trading system. The Report is issued under the sole responsibility of the 
Director -General. It has no legal effect on the rights and obligations of Members, nor does it have any legal 
implications with respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the Report with any WTO Agreements or 
any provisions thereof. This report is subject to restricted circulation and press embargo until the 9 December 
3:00 p.m.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 2 - 
 
  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  
1. This WTO Trade Monitoring Report on trade -related developments comes as the world 
continues to battle the COVID -19 pandemic.  Although  the period  covered  in this Report  (mid-October  
2020 to mid-October  2021)  has provided  for some  encouraging  news for a post-pandemic  economic  
recovery,  it also firmly  establishes  that the outlook  for the global  economy  remains  uncertain . 
Fundament al challenges  such as equitable  access  to COVID -19 vaccines,  diagnostics  and 
therapeutics  remain  at the core of the downside  risks that the world  faces from the COVID -19 
pandemic.   
2. Trade  has been central  to combatting  the pandemic . The multilateral  trading  system  has 
shown  resilience  and played  an instrumental  role in encouraging  restraint  in the implementation  of 
trade -restrictive  measures.  It will continue  to underpin  the foundation  upon which  a global  economic  
recovery  will be based.  As a global  recovery  has started,  albeit  at different  regional  paces,  WTO 
Members  have demonstrated  restraint  in the imposition  of new trade restrictive  measures  related  to 
the pandemic  during  the review  period  and are supporting  the recovery  by continuing  to roll back 
restrictions  adopted  earlier  in the crisis.  As at mid-October  2021,  205 COVID -19-related trade -
facilitating measures with an estimated trade coverage of USD 112 billion are still in force compared 
to 56 trade -restrictive measures with an estimate d trade coverage of USD 92 billion. Many economic 
support programs implemented to alleviate the economic and  social disruption caused by COVID -19 
have been  phased out or adjusted to take into account new circumstances and to prepare for the 
post-pandemic recovery.  The monitoring of non -COVID -19 trade measures reveals that fewer 
restrictions were put in place during this period. However, the stockpile of previous trade restrictions 
remains large.  
3. With the WTO's  12th Ministerial  Conference  (MC12)  scheduled  to begin  on 30 November  2021 
WTO Members  must demonstrate  leadership  in pushing  for a strong  WTO response  to the pandemic  
which  would  provide  a foundation  for more rapid vaccine  production  and equitable  distribution.  The 
multilateral  trading  system  will continue to assist  its Members  as the world  exits the pandemic  and 
ensure  that the lessons  learned  may help them prepare  better  for future  crises . The Ministerial  
Conference  is an opportunity  for Members  to provide  practical  and forward -looking  solutions  to a 
host of issues  from trade  and health,  agriculture,  fisheries  subsidies,  and dispute  settlement.  WTO 
Members  – collectively  and individually  - will have a key role to play in preparing  the ground  for 
Ministers  to make  progress  on all issues  under  discussion,  including  on the path forward  on WTO 
reform . 
Specific Findings  
4. World trade and GDP growth continued to exceed expectations in the first half of the 
year, prompting the WTO to upgrade its forecasts for 2021 and 2022. The volume of world 
merchandise trade is now expected to increase by 10.8% in 2021, revised up from 8.0% previously. 
Trade growth should then slow to 4.7% in 2022, revised up from 4.0%. These estimates assume 
global GDP growth at market exchange rates of 5.3% in 2021 and 4.1% in 2022. The economic 
recovery has been boosted by sustained monetary and fiscal policy support in advanced economies 
as well as in developing economies with sufficient fiscal space. Another factor promoting recovery  
has been the gradually improving production and dissemination of COVID -19 vaccines.  
5. As of mid -October 2021, 6.6 billion doses have been administered worldwide. However, only 
2.5% of people in low -income countries have received even a single dose. Failure  to vaccinate more 
widely has contributed to a multi -speed recovery, with slower growth in countries and regions with 
less access to vaccines. Trade looks set to recover most strongly in Asia while less developed regions 
including Africa and the Middle Eas t lag behind. Risks to the trade outlook are predominantly on the 
downside, including port congestion, rising shipping costs, shortages of semiconductors, and a 
resurgence of COVID -19. The trade projections above do not include trade in commercial services , 
which is likely to remain depressed until international travel returns to nearer pre -pandemic levels.  
6. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 399 COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures 
in goods have been implemented by WTO Members and Observers , compared to the 335 
measures reported in the last annual overview. Of these, 262 (66%) were of a trade -facilitating 
nature and 137 (34%) could be considered trade restrictive. Export restrictions account for 85% of 
all restrictive measures recorded , of which 59% ha d been repealed by mid-October 2021. Thus, 56 WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 3 - 
 
  trade restrictions are still in place, of which 45 are export restrictions. Around 22% of the 
trade -facilitating measures have been terminated, meaning that 205 trade -facilitating measures are 
still in place. T he trade coverage of the COVID -19 trade -facilitating measures still in place was 
estimated at USD 112.1 billion while that of trade -restrictive stood at USD 92.3 billion.  
7. During the period under review, only a limited number of new COVID -19 trade and 
trade -related measures were recorded for WTO Members on goods , mainly consisting of 
extensions of existing measures originally implemented in the early stages of the pandemic, or the 
termination of some.  Similarly, the flow of new  COVID -19-related support measu res by WTO 
Members and Observers to mitigate the social and economic impacts induced by the pandemic  
has decreased  over the past 12 months. Services sectors were heavily impacted by the 
pandemic and 138 (90%) of the 153 reported COVID -19-related measures affecting trade in 
services put in place by WTO Members and Observers in response to the pandemic are still in force.  
During  the review period, 29 new COVID -19-related services measures were recorded by the 
Secretariat.  
8. With respect to non -COVID -19-related trade measures, 124 new trade -facilitating 
and 103 trade -restrictive measures on goods were recorded for WTO Members and Observers. 
The trade coverage of the import -facilitating measures introduced during the review period was 
estimated at USD 48 1.6 billion and that import -restrictive measures stood at USD 105.9 billion. 
Although the trade coverage of new import  restrictions is relatively low, the stockpile of import 
restrictions implemented since 2009 and which are still in force was estimated at  USD 1.5 trillion, 
representing some 8. 7% of world imports  as at mid -October 2021.  
9. Initiations of trade remedy investigations by WTO Members  declined during the 
review period  after reaching its highest peak  so far  in 2020. Trade remedy actions remain an 
important trade policy tool, accounting for 66% of all non -COVID -19-related trade measures on 
goods recorded in this Report.  
10. With respect to non-COVID -19-related services developments , half of the 178 regular 
measures affecting trade in services implemented by WTO Members and Observers during the review 
period appear to be trade -facilitating. Restrictive policies implemented  during the review period 
mainly referred to foreign investmen t screening, communication services, Internet - and other 
network -enabled services.  
11. WTO Members continued to use the SPS and TBT Committees' transparency 
mechanisms to notify their sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) 
measu res and to discuss and often resolve specific trade concerns (STCs) non -litigiously. Food safety 
was the most frequent objective identified in the 1,146 regular and the 284 emergency SPS 
notifications submitted by WTO Members during the review period. Most  of the specific trade 
concerns (STCs) raised in the SPS Committee during the review period (39 new and 49 previously 
raised) also concerned food safety. WTO Members submitted 109 SPS notifications and 
communications on measures taken in response to the pa ndemic.  
12. Most of the 2,378 new regular TBT notifications submitted by WTO Members during the review 
period, indicated the protection of human health or safety as their main objective. A total of 245  (63 
new and 182 previously raised) STCs were discussed during the review period . Members submitted 
173 TBT notifications to the WTO in response to the pandemic covering a wide range of products, 
including medicines, medical supplies and personal protectio n equipment (PPE).  
13. Members continued to use WTO bodies to address their trade concerns . Several of the 
concerns raised appear to indicate persistent and unresolved issues. The review  period confirmed 
that WTO Members continue to  actively us e WTO committees  and bodies to engage trading partners 
on real or potential areas of trade friction.  
14. In the Committee on Agriculture (CoA),  Members posed 515 questions regarding 
individual notifications, overdue notifications, and specific implementation matters (SIMs) un der 
Article  18.6 with most of them focusing on Members domestic support notifications or 
policies .  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 4 - 
 
  15. WTO Members continued , during the review period , to fine -tune their intellectual property (IP) 
domestic frameworks and to implement specific IP measures to facilitate the development 
and dissemination of COVID -19-related health technologies . Since the outbreak of the 
pandemic, 76 IP -related measures, in cluding administrative and substantive measures, were 
implemented by WTO Members. Many of them were extended and, hence, are counted as one.  
During the review period, WTO Members discussed on several occasions the proposed waiver for the 
prevention, containment and treatment of COVID -19, as well as the proposal for a draft General 
Council declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health in the circumstances of a pandemic . 
16. The Report also covers several other important trade -related developments and 
discussions  that took place during the review period. Work continued to advance multilateral 
negotiations  on several issues  in preparation for the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference to be held in 
Geneva from 30 November to 3 December 2021.  Discussions also took  place on other issues, 
including domestic regulation in services , electronic commerce, investment facilitation for 
development, micro, small and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs) , trade finance, and women's 
economic empowerment.   
 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 5 - 
 
  1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  This Report is submitted to the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB) pursuant to Paragraph  G of 
the Trade Policy Review Mechanism mandate in Annex 3 to the WTO Agreement. This provides for 
an annual Report by the Director -General to assist the TPRB  in undertaking its annual overview of 
developments in the international trading environment that are having an impact on the multilateral 
trading system. It builds on the Director -General's Report to the TPRB on trade -related 
developments circulated to Me mbers on  13 July 202 1.1  
1.2.  This Report covers the period from 16 October 20 20 to 15 October 20 21, unless otherwise 
indicated.2 The Report is issued under the sole responsibility of the Director -General and is intended 
to be purely factual. It has no legal effect on the rights and obligations of Members, nor does it have 
any legal implication with respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the Report with any 
WTO Agreement. Specifically, the Report does not question the explicit right of Members to resort 
to trade -remedy measures and is without prejudice to Members' negotiating positions  (see Box 1.2) . 
1.3.  At the WTO's 8th Ministerial Conference in December 2011, Ministers recognized the regular 
work undertaken by the TPRB through the monitoring exercise of trade and trade -related measures, 
took note of the work initially done in the context of the global financial and economic c risis, and 
directed it to be continued and strengthened. They invited the Director -General to continue 
presenting the Trade Monitoring Reports on a regular basis and asked the TPRB to consider these 
Reports in addition to the meeting dedicated to undertaki ng the annual overview of developments 
in the international trading environment. Ministers committed to duly comply with the existing 
transparency obligations and reporting requirements needed for the preparation of these Reports, 
and to continue to suppor t and cooperate with the WTO Secretariat in a constructive fashion.3  
1.4.  Since the outbreak of the pandemic, a consistent feature of the trade  and trade -related 
measures taken in response  to the COVID -19 crisis has been the frequent changes, adjustments, 
and gradual  roll-back of such measures to reflect the evolving situation. The updated lists of 
measures implemented in the context of the current pandemic  are available on the COVID -19 page 
of the WTO website4 and cover the areas of goods, services, and intellectual property, as well as 
measures communicated by Members on general economic support.  The lists presented on the 
website are updated regularly and are not exhaustive . This information is  provided for transparency  
purposes and do es not question or pass judg ement on the right of WTO Members  to implement any 
of the measures listed.  The full list of notifications received by the WTO Secretariat in the context of 
the COVID -19 pandemic is also available on the  COVID -19 page of the WTO website.5 
1.5.  In accordance with the practice of the WTO trade monitoring exercise of verifying information 
and measures with Members, the WTO Secretariat implemented an ad hoc  verification process of 
COVID -19-related measures. In recognition of the fact that some measures did not initially have 
official government sources, the regular update of these measures was listed only on the dedicated 
COVID -19 page of the WTO Members ' website, pending verification by the relevant delegation. For 
those t rade and trade -related goods, services and intellectual property measures submitted directly 
by delegations, or where official sources were found, a separate list was made available on the WTO 
public website.  
1.6.  The structure  of this Trade Monitoring Report  is similar to the November 2020 version. Each 
Section, except Section 2, will first cover the regular monitoring of trade and trade -related measures 
implemented during the review period. Subsequently, each Section will address developments in the 
context of  the COVID -19 pandemic , including specific work and activities undertaken in various WTO 
committees as a result of the health crisis . 
 
1 WTO document WT/ TPR/OV/W/1 5, 13 July 20 21. 
2 In addition to the trade policy measures implemented during the period under review and recorded by 
this Report, other measures which impact trade flows may have been taken by WTO Members and Observers.  
3 WTO document WT/L/848, 19 December 2011.  
4 WTO, COVID -19 and World Trade . Viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/covid19_e.htm . 
5 WTO,  WTO Members' Notificatio ns on COVID -19. Viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/notifications_e.htm . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 6 - 
 
  1.7.  A separate Addendum6 to this Report contains Annexes on recorded trade and trade -related 
measures taken by WTO Members an d Observers  in the areas of goods and services from 16 October  
2020 to 15 October  2021. This separate Addendum lists new regular (non -COVID -19-related) 
measures recorded during the review period. Measures implemented outside of this period are not 
included in these Annexes . This information is also publicly available through the Trade Monitoring 
Database (TMDB).7  
1.8.  Informat ion on the measures included in this Report has been collected from inputs submitted 
by WTO Members and Observers, as well as from other official and public sources. Replies to the 
initial  request for information on measures taken during the period under r eview and replies to the 
request s for verification were received from 98 Members8 (Box 1.1), which represents 60% of the 
Membership, and covers around 94.2% of world imports.9 Five Observers also replied to the request 
for information.   
1.9.  The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International 
Trade Centre (ITC) have contributed topical boxes to this Report.  
Box 1.1 Participation in the Preparation of this Report  
1. Albania  
2. Angola  
3. Argentina  
4. Australia  
5. Azerbaijana 
6. Bahrain, Kingdom of  
7. Bangladesh  
8. Belarusa 
9. Belize  
10. Brazil  
11. Cambodia  
12. Canada  
13. Chile 
14. China  
15. Colombia  
16. Costa Rica  
17. Cuba 
18. Dominican Republic  
19. Ecuador  
20. Egypt  
21. El Salvador  
22. Equatorial Guineaa 
23. European Union  
24. The Gambia  
25. Guatemala  
26. Honduras  
27. Hong Kong, China  
28. India 
29. Indonesia  
30. Iraqa 
31. Israel  
32. Japan  
33. Kazakhstan  
34. Kenya  
35. Republic of Korea  
36. Lao People's Democratic Republic  
37. Lesotho  
38. Macao, China  
39. Madagascar  40. Malaysia  
41. Mali 
42. Mauritania  
43. Mauritius  
44. Mexico  
45. Republic of Moldova  
46. Mongolia  
47. Montenegro  
48. Myanmar  
49. Nepal  
50. New Zealand  
51. North Macedonia  
52. Norway  
53. Oman  
54. Pakistan  
55. Paraguay  
56. Philippines  
57. Qatar  
58. Russian Federation  
59. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  
60. Serbiaa 
61. Seychelles  
62. Singapore  
63. South Africa  
64. Sri Lanka  
65. Switzerland  
66. Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu 
(Chinese  Taipei)  
67. Tajikistan  
68. Thailand  
69. Tunisia  
70. Turkey  
71. Ukraine  
72. United Kingdom  
73. United States  
74. Viet Nam  
75. Zambia  
76. Zimbabwe  
a Observer.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 
6 WTO document WT/TPR/OV/24/Add.1, 22 November 2021.  
7 WTO, Trade Monitoring D atabase . Viewed at: http://tmdb.wto.org . 
8 The European Union and its member States counted separately.  
9 This figure includes intra -EU trade.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 7 - 
 
  Box 1.2 About the WTO Trade Monitoring Report  
The Trade Monitoring Report is first and foremost a transparency exercise. It is intended to be purely factual 
and has no legal effect on the rights and obligations of WTO  Members. It is without prejudice to Members' 
negotiating positions and has no legal implication with respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the 
Report with any WTO Agreement or any provision thereof.  
The Report aims to shed light on the latest  trends in the implementation of a broad range of policy measures 
that facilitate as well as restrict the flow of trade and provide an update on the state of global trade. The 
Report neither seeks to pronounce itself on whether a trade measure is protectio nist, nor does it question the 
right of Members to take certain trade measures. The Reports continue to evolve in terms of the coverage 
and analysis of trade -related issues and take into account discussions among WTO Members in the Trade 
Policy Review Body  (TPRB).  
Regarding trade remedy actions, it has been highlighted in discussions among WTO Members that some of 
these measures are taken to address what is perceived by some as a market distortion resulting from trade 
practices of entities in another tradin g partner. The Anti -Dumping  and the Subsidies  Agreement s and 
Countervailing Measures permit WTO  Members to impose anti -dumping (AD) or countervailing (CVD) duties 
to offset what is perceived to be injurious dumping or subsidization of products exported from one Member to 
another. The Reports are not in a position to establish if, where or when such perceived distortive practices 
have taken place. The Reports have never categorized the use of trade remedies as protectionist or WTO -
inconsistent, o r criticized governments for utilizing them. The main objective of monitoring these measures is 
to provide additional transparency and to identify emerging trends in the application of trade policy measures.  
With respect to Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS)  and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures covered in 
the Report, it is important to emphasize that they are neither classified nor counted as trade -restrictive or 
trade -facilitating, and the increasing trend with respect to the number of notification s of such measures is 
carefully linked to the transparency provisions of the Agreements only. The Reports have consistently 
underlined the basic premise that an increased number of SPS and TBT notifications does not automatically 
imply greater use of prote ctionist or unnecessarily trade -restrictive measures, but rather enhanced 
transparency regarding these measures. Finally, the Reports clearly emphasize that the SPS and 
TBT Agreements specifically allow Members to take measures in the pursuit of a number o f legitimate policy 
objectives.  
The WTO Secretariat strives to ensure that the Trade Monitoring Reports are factual and objective. Since 
2009, the Reports have sought to provide a nuanced perspective to developments in the area of international 
trade. For example,  the Reports  have consis tently  emphasized  that although  the number  of specific  and often 
long-term restrictive  trade measures  remains  a source  of serious  concern,  other  key factors  may influence  
trade developments.  During discussions of the Trade Monitoring Reports at the TPRB, M embers have also 
drawn attention to this point and to the fact that, with respect to both, vigilance remains imperative.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 8 - 
 
  2  RECENT ECONOMIC AND TRADE DEVELOPMENTS  
2.1  Overview of Trade Developments  and Economic Outlook  
2.1.  World trade and GDP growth continued to exceed expectations during the review period, 
prompting the WTO to upgrade its forecasts for 2021 and 2022 on 4 October 20211 (Chart 2.1) . 
However, the recovery continues to be marred by regional  and sectoral diverg ences and by 
increasing strains on global supply chains.   
2.2.  The WTO now expects the volume of world merchandise trade to increase by 10.8% in 2021 
and by 4.7% in 2022. The forecast for 2021 marks a strong upward revision from the previous 
estimate of 8.0% fr om last March, while the forecast for 2022 represents a more modest upgrade 
from 4.0% previously (Table 2.1). The pace of quarterly expansion should ease as the volume of 
merchandise trade approaches its pre -pandemic trend. Headwinds in the form of semicon ductor 
shortages and shipping backlogs will probably also weigh on trade in the near term, but the biggest 
downside risk continues to be the COVID -19 pandemic.  
Chart 2.1 World merchandise trade volume, 2015Q1 ‑2022Q4  
(Index, 2015=100)  
 
Sources:  WTO Secretariat and UNCTAD for trade volume data; WTO Secretariat  for forecasts.  
2.3.  The large growth rate for  merchandise trade in 2021 is mostly related to the magnitude of the 
previous year's slump, which bottomed out in the second quarter  of 2020 . Year-on-year trade 
volume growth was 22.0%  in the second quarter of 2021  due to a low base 2020 , but this should  
fall to 10.9% in the third quarter and 6.6% in the fourth  quarter if the current forecast is realized . 
Reaching  the annual forecast for 2021  will only  require quarter -on-quarter growth to average 0.8% 
in the second half of th e year, which is equivalent to an annual rate of 3.1%.  
2.4.  Trade growth in the first half of 2021 exceeded previous forecasts for a numbe r of reasons, 
including increased production and dissemination of COVID -19 vaccines. As of 13 October, nearly 
6.6 billion doses had been administered worldwide. This achievement is remarkable, but still 
insufficient as many poor countries remain largely un vaccinated. To date, o nly 2. 5% of people in 
low-income countries have received even a single  dose of a COVID -19 vaccine.2 Failure to vaccinate 
more widely has contributed to a multi -speed economic recovery, with slower growth in countries 
and regions with  less access to vaccines. The existence of large populations of unvaccinated people 
also creates spaces for new strains of the virus to emerge, which could require  the reimposition of 
 
1 WTO, Press/889 " Global trade rebound beats expectations but marked by regional divergences ". 
Viewed at: https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/pres21_e/pr889_e.htm . 
2 Mathieu, E., Ritchie, H., Ortiz -Ospina, E. et al. "A global database of COVID -19 vaccinatio ns." Nat  Hum 
Behav (2021) . 
9095100105110115120125
2015Q1
2015Q2
2015Q3
2015Q4
2016Q1
2016Q2
2016Q3
2016Q4
2017Q1
2017Q2
2017Q3
2017Q4
2018Q1
2018Q2
2018Q3
2018Q4
2019Q1
2019Q2
2019Q3
2019Q4
2020Q1
2020Q2
2020Q3
2020Q4
2021Q1
2021Q2
2021Q3
2021Q4
2022Q1
2022Q2
2022Q3
2022Q4Merchandise trade volume
Trend 2011-2019
Current forecast
Previous forecastWT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 9 - 
 
  health -related controls.  This has already happened with the highly conta gious Delta variant and 
could happen again if global vaccination is not achieved.  
2.5.  The trade projections are dependent upon consensus forecasts for GDP at market exchange 
rates, which have global output growing 5.3% in 2021 (up from 5.1% in March) and  4.1%  in 2022 
(up from 3.8% previously ). GDP growth has been boosted by sustained monetary and fiscal policy 
support in advanced economies and in developing economies with sufficient fiscal space. 
Governments in low -income countries have fewer resources to cush ion households and businesses 
against pandemic -related shocks and have experienced weaker recoveries as a result.  
2.6.  Risks to the forecast are predominantly  on the downside . These  include port congestion,  rising 
shipping  rates, and shortages of semiconductor s. The combination of supply side disruptions and 
strong demand for goods may also be contributing to inflation, which has hit multi -year highs in 
certain advanced economies.  However, t he COVID -19 pandemic still represents the greatest threat  
to world trad e and output, particularly if more deadly variants of the disease emerge . 
2.7.  Certain trade -related indicators may provide some clues as to the seriousness of recent supply 
chain disruptions. One such indicator is the Manufacturing New Export Orders component of IHS -
Markit's Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI). Index values greater than 50 indicate expansion 
while values less than 50 denote contraction. Increased port congestion and rising shipping rates 
coincided with a jump in new export orders from a low of 39.0 in April 2020 to a peak of 54.9 in May 
of 2021. The index has since fallen to 51.0 in September, suggesting a cooling of global import 
demand. This could alleviate some of the strains on supply chains, although backlogs and high 
shipping rate may p ersist for some time.  
2.8.  Recent upticks in inflation  could turn out to be transitory , but if inflationary expectations do 
become entrenched, central banks  may be forced to  tighten monetary policy earl ier than planned. 
This could set off destabilizing capital flows and exchange rate fluctuations comparable to those seen 
when the US Federal Reserve announced the tapering of bond purchases after the financial crisis . 
Negative spill -overs  from a phase -out of policy support c ould eventually hit trade flows. 
Governments should expect some periods of volatility when monetary and fiscal policies are 
eventually normalized.  
2.9.  The trade recovery continues to diverge across regions, with the Middle East, Africa and South 
America expect ed to have the weakest performances on the export side through 2022. On the import 
side, the Middle East, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) , and Africa look set to have 
the weakest rebounds. This is illustrated by Chart 2.2 , which shows quarterl y merchandise trade 
volume growth by region since 2019. Year -on-year growth rates in 2021 do not fully capture the 
extent of economic recovery because the depth of the recession in 2020 differed from one region to 
another. Cumulative trade growth between 2 019 and the end of 2022 provides a better indication 
of the impact of the pandemic.  
2.10.   If the current forecast is realized, by the fourth quarter of 2022 Asia's merchandise imports 
will be  14.2% higher than in 2019. Meanwhile, imports will have risen 11.9% in  North America, 
10.8% in South and Central America, 9.4% in Europe, 8.2% in Africa, 5.7% in the CIS and 5.4% in 
the Middle East. Asia's exports will have grown 18.8% over the same period, while other regions will 
have experienced more modest increases: 8.0 % in North America, 7.8% in Europe, 6.2% in the CIS, 
4.8% in South America, 2.9% in the Middle East and 1.9% Africa.  
2.11.   Regions that disproportionately rely on oil exports registered significant declines in both 
merchandise exports and imports during the 2020  recession, but most have only seen partial 
recoveries since then. South America's relatively strong import growth partly reflects an already low 
base in 2019 due to recessions in leading regional economies. Higher prices could boost export 
revenues of oil  producers going forward and raise import demand in volume terms, but export 
volumes are likely to remain depressed until international travel returns to nearer pre -pandemic 
levels.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 10 - 
 
  Chart 2.2 Volume of merchan dise exports and imports by region, 2019Q1 -2022Q4  
(Seasonally adjusted volume indices, 2019 = 100)  
 
a Refers to South and Central America and the Caribbean.  
b Refers to Commonwealth of Independent States, including certain associate and former member 
States. 
Source:  WTO Secretariat and UNCTAD.  
2.12.   Forecasts of annual merchandise trade volume growth and real GDP growth at market 
exchange rates are summarized in Table 2.1.  Annual figures differ slightly from quarterly data for 
reasons of statistical methodology, but both depict similar regional diverg ences. If the trade forecast 
is realized, merchandise export growth in 2021 should be 8.7% in North America, 7.2% in South 
America, 9.7% in Europe, 0.6% in the CIS, 7.0% in Africa, 5.0% in the Middle East, and 14.4% in 
Asia. In the same period, merchandise  imports should increase by 12.6% in North America, 19.9% 
in South America, 9.1% in Europe, 13.1% in CIS, 11.3% in Africa, 9.3% in the Middle East, and 
10.7% in Asia. The Table also shows estimates for least developed countries (LDCs), which saw their 
exports increase by 5.3% and their imports rise by 5.5% in 2021.  
2.13.   As with quarterly figures, annual trade growth in 2021 depends, to a large extent, on the size 
of the decline that a region experienced in 2020. Consequently, cumulative growth between 2019 
and 2 021 provides a better indication of the total impact of the pandemic. If the second half of this 
year turns out as expected, global merchandise trade should be up 4.9% in 2021 compared to 2019. 
Asia will record the strongest growth on both the export and t he import sides: 14.7% and 9.4%, 
respectively. Other regions will see much weaker growth on the export side: -0.6% in North  America, 
2.2% in South America , 1.0% in Europe, -1.0% in the CIS, -2.4% in Africa, and -7.2% in the Middle 
East. Import volume growt h will also be considerably weaker: 5.7% in North  America, 8.1% in South 
America, 0.8% in Europe, 7.5% in the CIS, -1.0% in Africa, and -5.9% in the Middle East. In LDCs, 
the volume of merchandise exports is expected to grow 3.2% between 2019 and 2021, whi le their 
imports are expected to fall 1.6%.  
Table 2.1 Merchandise trade volume and real GDP, 2017 -22a 
(Annual % change ) 
 2017  2018  2019  2020  2021P  2022P  
Volume of world merchandise tradeb 4.8 3.1 0.1 -5.3 10.8 4.7 
Exports        
North America  3.4 3.8 0.3 -8.6 8.7 6.9 
South Americac 2.2 -0.2 -2.2 -4.7 7.2 2.0 
Europe  4.1 1.9 0.6 -7.9 9.7 5.6 
CISd 3.9 4.1 -0.3 -1.5 0.6 8.5 
Africa  5.3 3.6 -0.7 -8.8 7.0 6.0 
Middle East  -2.2 4.8 -2.2 -11.6 5.0 9.6 
Asia 6.7 3.7 0.8 0.3 14.4 2.3 
Imports        
North America  4.4 5.1 -0.6 -6.1 12.6 4.5 
707580859095100105110115120
2019Q1
2019Q2
2019Q3
2019Q4
2020Q1
2020Q2
2020Q3
2020Q4
2021Q1
2021Q2
2021Q3
2021Q4
2022Q1
2022Q2
2022Q3
2022Q4Exports
North America South America a Europe
CIS b Africa Middle East
Asia707580859095100105110115120
2019Q1
2019Q2
2019Q3
2019Q4
2020Q1
2020Q2
2020Q3
2020Q4
2021Q1
2021Q2
2021Q3
2021Q4
2022Q1
2022Q2
2022Q3
2022Q4Imports
North America South America a Europe
CIS b Africa Middle East
AsiaWT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 11 - 
 
   2017  2018  2019  2020  2021P  2022P  
South Americac 4.4 5.6 -2.6 -9.9 19.9 2.1 
Europe  3.9 1.9 0.3 -7.6 9.1 6.8 
CISd 13.9 4.0 8.5 -5.6 13.8 -0.8 
Africa  -1.7 5.3 2.8 -11.1 11.3 4.1 
Middle East  1.2 -4.1 2.4 -13.9 9.3 8.7 
Asia 8.5 5.0 -0.5 -1.2 10.7 2.9 
World GDP at market exchange rates  3.2 3.1 2.4 -3.5 5.3 4.1 
North America  2.3 2.8 2.0 -4.0 5.6 3.7 
South Americac 0.7 0.3 -0.5 -7.5 4.9 2.9 
Europe  2.7 2.0 1.5 -6.4 4.3 4.0 
CISd 2.3 3.1 2.6 -2.7 3.9 3.4 
Africa  3.1 3.0 2.9 -2.8 3.5 4.1 
Middle East  0.7 0.4 0.0 -4.6 2.9 4.5 
Asia 5.0 4.7 3.9 -0.9 6.1 4.7 
Memo: Least developed countries (LDCs)        
Volume of merchandise exports  4.3 4.0 2.1 -2.0 5.3 4.7 
Volume of merchandise imports  4.9 5.3 7.6 -6.7 5.5 8.6 
Real GDP at market exchange rates  3.1 3.2 3.8 0.3 2.2 4.4 
a Figures for 2021 and 2022 are projections.  
b Average of exports and imports.  
c Refers to South and Central America and the Caribbean.  
d Refers to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including certain associate and former 
member States.  
Source:  WTO for trade, consensus estimates for GDP.  
Trade Developments  
2.14.   Chart 2.3  illustrates the evolution of merchandise trade in current US dollar terms through 
the first half of 2021 by sector. The value of total merchandise trade was up 44% year -on-year in 
Q2 due to the sharp decline in the second quarter of last year as the full economic impact of the 
COVID -19 pandemic was felt. World trade in manufactured goods was up by a similar amount (40%), 
while trade in agricultural products was up less (27%) and trade in fuels and mining products was 
up more (92%). The relatively small yea r-on-year increase in agricultural products' trade in Q2 can 
be explained by stable demand for food during the first wave of the pandemic. In contrast, prices 
and quantities of traded fuels collapsed during the trade slump as domestic and international tra vel 
restrictions were imposed. Both have recovered substantially since then, including a tripling of crude 
oil prices between April 2020 and August 2021. The value of merchan dise trade in the second quarter 
of 2020 was also up moderately (15%) compared to the second quarter of 2019.  
Chart 2.3 Year-on-year growth in world merchandise trade by sector, 2020Q3 -2021Q2  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates.  
-6.12
-26-326
-19614.11291644.1
2792
40
1521
915
-40-20020406080100
Total merchandise Agricultural
productsFuels and mining
productsManufactures
2020Q3 2020Q4 2021Q1 2021Q2 2021Q2/2019Q2Year-on-year growth in world manufactured goods trade by product, 2020Q3 -2021Q2
WTO Secretariat estimates.(% change in USD values)WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 12 - 
 
  2.15.   Although aggregate statistics on world commercial services' tr ade through Q2 have not been 
released yet, data for many individual economies are available. These are illustrated by Chart 2. 4, 
which shows year -on-year growth in the nominal US dollar value of commercial services exports and 
imports of selected economies . Most countries recorded double -digit year -on-year increases in both 
exports and imports in the second quarter, including a 38% rise in exports of China and a 
30%increase in imports of the United State s. However, except for Brazilian and Chinese exports, 
services trade in Q2 was still down substantially compared to the second quarter of 2019.  
Chart 2.4 Commercial services exports and imports of selected economies, 
2020Q3Q2 -2021Q2  
(% change in current USD value s) 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat and UNCTAD.  
 
-27
-17
-15
-30
1
-5
-31
-36-20
-5
-10
-24
5
-3
-14
-20-10
0
-3
-8
33
6
-6
-1815
29
13
7
38
9
26
26-16
-3
-6
-22
31
-2
1
-20
-40-30-20-1001020304050
United States European
UnionUnited
KingdomJapan China India Brazil Russian
FederationExports
2020Q3 2020Q4 2021Q1 2021Q2 2021Q2/2019Q2-31
-15
-33
-19
-26
-14
-35
-50-18
-16
-24
-13
-21
-8
-31
-31-12
-15
-16
-9
-7
9
-24
-3230
25
12
8
15
7
21
32-17
-9
-24
-1
-21
-23
-31
-36
-60-50-40-30-20-10010203040
United States European
UnionUnited
KingdomJapan China India Brazil Russian
FederationImports
2020Q3 2020Q4 2021Q1 2021Q2 2021Q2/2019Q2WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 13 - 
 
  3  TRADE AND TRADE -RELATED POLICY ISSUES  
3.1  Overview  of Trends Identified during the Review  Period  
3.1.  This Section provides analysis of selected trade and trade -related policy developments in the 
area of goods during the period from mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021. It is divided into two 
parts. The first part looks at regular , i.e., non -COVID -related measures, implemented during the 
review period, including calculations of trade coverage.1 The second part, in Section 3.1.2 , covers 
measures taken in the context of the COVID -19 pandemic . Measures  in the second part are not 
included in the trade coverage calculations and are not counted towards the aggregate numbers in 
part 1.  
3.2.  A separate Addendum2 to this Report contains Annexes 1, 2 and 3 on recorded trade and trade -
related goods measures taken b y WTO Members and Observers  from 16 October 2020  to 15 October  
2021. This separate Addendum lists new regular (non -COVID -19-related) measures recorded  during 
the review period . 
3.1.1   Regular trade measures  
3.3.  A total of 660 trade measures were recorded for WTO Memb ers and Observers during the 
review period (Chart 3.1).3 This figure includes measures facilitating  trade, trade remedy measures 
and other trade and trade -related measures, i.e. trade restrictive measures . It excludes measures 
taken in response to the COV ID-19 pandemic. Chart 3.2 below illustrates the trade coverage of the 
measures recorded for WTO Members and Observers  during the review period.  
Chart 3.1 Overview of measures, mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021  
(Number)  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
Chart 3.2 Trade coverage of measures, mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021  
(USD billion)  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
 
1 COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures are not included. Those are covered i n Section  3.1.2 . 
2 WTO document WT/TPR/OV/24/Add.1, 22 November 2021.  
3 See Annexes 1 -3 in the separate Addendum. These Annexes do not include SPS and TBT measures, 
which are covered in Sections  3.3 and 3.4. Services measures are analysed in Section 4 and are listed in 
Annex  4 in the Addendum.  
234 199 124 103 
Trade remedy initiations Trade remedy terminations
Trade-facilitating measures Trade-restrictive measures660Overview of measures, mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021
(Number)
Source: WTO Secretariat.
27 29 482 106 
Trade remedy initiations Trade remedy terminations
Import-facilitating measures Import-restrictive measures644Trade coverage of measures, mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021
(USD billion)
Source: WTO Secretariat.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 14 - 
 
  Measures facilitating trade  
3.4.  Annex 1 contained in the Addendum to this Report lists measures that are clearly trade -
facilitating. During the review period, 124 new trade -facilitating measures were recorded for WTO 
Members and Observers, of which 57 were of a temporary nature. This represents 19% of the total 
number of measures recorded . Table 3.1 below  shows that, as for previous periods, the reduction 
or elimination of import tariffs make up the bulk of trade -facilitating measures, followed by the 
elimination of taxes4, and the simplification of customs procedures.5 On the export side, measures 
included reductions of export duties6 and elimination of bans.7 
Table 3.1 Measures facilitating trade (Annex 1)  
Type of measure  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  
Mid-Oct 19 to  
mid-Oct 20  
(WT/TPR/OV/23)  
Mid-Oct 20 to  
mid-Oct 21  
(WT/TPR/OV/24)  
Import  185 149 181 205 147 113 144 100 96 82 109 
- Tariff  156 116 150 154 111 93 119 85 84 72 98 
- Customs procedures  12 28 17 30 27 17 15 2 3 3 5 
- Tax 2 4 2 5 4 3 6 5 8 6 5 
- QRs 7 1 11 5 1 0 3 1 1 1 1 
- Other  8 0 1 11 4 0 1 7 0 0 0 
Export  20 8 9 40 32 24 18 14 7 5 13 
- Duties  8 3 3 18 5 1 6 10 5 4 11 
- QRs 9 4 3 3 1 2 0 1 1 0 2 
- Other  3 1 3 19 26 21 12 3 1 1 0 
Other  5 1 1 4 3 0 0 1 1 1 2 
Total  210 158 191 249 182 137 162 115 104 88 124 
Average per month  17.5 13.2 15.9 20.8 15.2 11.4 13.5 9.6 8.7 7.3 10.3 
Note:  Revisions of the data reflect changes undertaken in the TMDB to fine -tune and update the available 
information.  COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures are not included. Those measures are 
covered in Section 3.1.2.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.5.  The trade coverage of the import -facilitating measures introduced during the review period was 
estimated at USD 481.6 billion, i.e. 2.7% of the value of world  merchandise imports.8 This share is 
the fourth -highest reported for this type of measures since October 2012 (Table 3.2 and Chart  3.3).  
3.6.  The HS Chapters within which most of the trade -facilitating measures were taken include 
machinery and mechanical appliances (HS 84) (13.6%), electrical machinery and parts thereof  
(HS 85) (10.6%), copper and articles thereof (HS 74) (8.4%), and plastics and articles thereof 
(HS 39) (6.7%). 
 
4 For example, elimination of ex cise duties on diamonds and jewellery, decrease of CESS levy on articles 
of apparel and clothing and elimination of the special commodity levy on fish by Sri Lanka, imports of grains 
exempted from VAT by the Kyrgyz Republic, and reduction of excise duties on imported motor vehicles by 
Mauritius.  
5 For example, temporary admission period of five years of spare parts for aircraft maintenance by 
Costa Rica; import policy of tur, pigeon peas, moong urad , refined bleached , and odoriferous preparations , 
changed t o free by India.  
6 For example, reduction of export duties on 4,673 tariff lines by Argentina, reduction of export duties 
on raw skins by Azerbaijan; on sheets for veneering by Indonesia; on wool by Kazakhstan; on ferro -alloys by 
the Eurasian Economic Unio n; and decrease of the export development board levy on natural rubber and 
natural sands by Sri Lanka.  
7 For example , elimination of the temporary export quota on waste and scraps by Colombia, and 
elimination of export restriction on onions by India . 
8 These figures include one measure by China  (interim import tariffs resulting in the temporary 
reduction of import tariff s on certain products ), accounting  for 69.4% of the total ; and three measures by 
Brazil (temporary elimination of import tariffs on capital goods, informatic and telecommunication), accounting 
for 7.3% of the total . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 15 - 
 
  Table 3.2 Share of trade covered by trade -facilitating measures  
(%) 
 
Mid-Oct 13 to 
mid-Oct 14 
Mid-Oct 14  to 
mid-Oct 15 
Mid-Oct 15  to 
mid-Oct 16 
Mid-Oct 16  to 
mid-Oct 17 
Mid-Oct 17  to 
mid-Oct 18 
Mid-Oct 18  to 
mid-Oct 19 
Mid-Oct 19 to  
mid-Oct 20  
Mid-Oct 20 to  
mid-Oct 21  
Share in total world imports  6.40 0.91 1.51 1.07 1.68 2.80 3.88 2.74 
Note:  Data for mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021 are based on 2020 calendar year imports. For some 
countries, 20 20 import data are not yet available.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat and UN Comtrade database . 
Chart 3.3 Trade coverage of new import -facilitating measures in each reporting period 
(not cumulative)  
(USD billion)  
 
Note:  These figures are estimates and represent the trade coverage of the measures (i.e. annual imports 
of the product s concerned from economies affected by the measures) introduced during each 
reporting period, and not the cumulative impact of the trade measures. COVID -19 trade and trade -
related measures are not included.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Trade coverage of the IT A Expansion Agreement  
3.7.  The implementation of the ITA Expansion  Agreement9 is entering its final phase. This report 
includes 11 measures resulting from the implementation of the ITA Expansion Agreement by Albania, 
Australia, China, the European Union, Israel, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Montenegro, 
the Philippines, Chinese T aipei, and Thailand. According to preliminary estimates by the WTO 
Secretariat, the trade coverage of the import -facilitating measures implemented during the review 
 
9 Participants to the ITA: Albania; Aust ralia; Canada (all duty free as of July 2019); China; Colombia; 
Costa Rica; the  European  Union; Georgia; Guatemala; Hong Kong, China (all duty free as of July 2016); 
Iceland (all duty free as of July 2017); Israel; Japan (all duty free as of July 2016); th e Republic of Korea; 
Macao, China; Malaysia; Mauritius; Montenegro; New Zealand; Norway (all duty free as of July 2016); 
Philippines; Singapore (all duty free as of July 2016); Switzerland (all duty free as of July 2017); 
Chinese  Taipei; Thailand; and the United States (all duty free as of July 2019). WTO document G/MA/W/117, 
26 January 2019.  
…1,183 
170 249 
169 296 545 731 
482 
02004006008001,0001,2001,400
mid-Oct12 -
mid-Oct13mid-Oct13 -
mid-Oct14mid-Oct14 -
mid-Oct15mid-Oct15 -
mid-Oct16mid-Oct16 -
mid-Oct17mid-Oct17 -
mid-Oct18mid-Oct18 -
mid-Oct19mid-Oct19 -
mid-Oct20mid-Oct20 -
mid-Oct21Trade coverage of new import -facilitating measures in each reporting period (not cumulative)
(USD billion)
Note:  [see original]WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 16 - 
 
  period in the context of the ITA Expansion Agreement  amounted to USD 137.9  billion, or arou nd 
0.79% of the value of world  merchandise imports.10 Given the significant trade coverage value of 
these measures, they have not been included in the figures estimating the trade coverage of 
import -facilitating  measures in Section 3.1.1, as it would make any comparison with previous 
Reports difficult.  
Trade remedy actions  
3.8.  During the period under review, 433 trade remedy actions were recorded for WTO Members 
and Observer s (Annex 2  of the Addendum ), accounting for  66% of all trade -related measures 
recorded in this Report. After reaching its highest peak so far in 2020, t he average number of trade 
remedy initiations  during the review period was 19.5 per month (Table 3.3 and Chart 3.4), the 
lowest  since 2012 . 
Table 3.3 Trade remedy actions (Annex 2)  
Type of measure  2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019  2020  
Mid-Oct 19 to  
mid-Oct 20  
(WT/TPR/OV/23)  
Mid-Oct 20 to 
mid-Oct 2 1 
(WT/TPR/OV/2 4) 
Initiations  255 338 304 277 343 298 273 281 433 392 234 
- AD 208 287 236 229 298 249 202 215 355 310 201 
- CVD 23 33 45 31 34 41 55 36 56 57 23 
- SG 24 18 23 17 11 8 16 30 22 25 10 
Average per month  21.3 28.2 25.3 23.1 28.6 24.8 22.8 23.4 36.1 32.7 19.5 
Terminations  208 186 220 212 171 157 225 181 209 130 199 
- AD 177 160 185 167 141 128 201 164 178 111 175 
- CVD 21 17 23 25 15 12 24 7 12 8 12 
- SGa 10 9 12 20 15 17 0 10 19 11 12 
Average per month  17.3 15.5 18.3 17.7  14.3 13.1 18.8 15.1 17.4 10.8 16.6 
Note:  The information on trade remedy actions for 2012 to 2020 is based on the semi -annual notifications. 
For the present review period, the information is also based on the responses and the verifications 
received directly from Members.  
a The figure for a spec ific year is the sum of the following: (i) all ongoing investigations terminated 
during the course of that specific year without any measure; and (ii) all imposed measures expired 
during the course of that specific year. COVID -19 trade and trade -related me asures are not included. 
Those measures are covered in Section 3.1.2.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.9.  Trade remedy actions taken during the review period included initiations of investigations on 
organic chemicals ( HS 29) (20.9%), iron and steel (HS  72) (15.8%), plastics and articles thereof 
(HS 39) (10.7 %), and articles of iron and steel (HS 73) (10%). 
3.10.   The trade coverage of all trade remedy investigations initiated during the review period was 
USD 26.9 billion, i.e., 0. 15% of the value of world merchandise imports , the lowest registered since 
2014 (Table  3.4). For terminations , the trade coverage was valued at USD 29.2 billion (0. 17% of 
the value of world merchandise imports).  
 
10 Calculated at the HS six -digit level and using 2020 import figures.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 17 - 
 
  Chart 3.4 Trade remedie s initiations and terminations  
(Average per month)  
 
Note:  Values are rounded.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Table 3.4 Share of trade covered by trade remedy initiations  
(%) 
 
Mid-Oct 13 to 
mid-Oct 14 
Mid-Oct 14 to 
mid-Oct 15 
Mid-Oct 15  to 
mid-Oct 16 
Mid-Oct 16  to 
mid-Oct 17 
Mid-Oct 17  to 
mid-Oct 18 
Mid-Oct 18  to 
mid-Oct 19 
Mid-Oct 19 to 
mid-Oct 20  
Mid-Oct 20 to 
mid-Oct 2 1 
Share in total world 
imports  0.20 0.17 0.55 0.48 0.53 0.24 0.36 0.15 
Note:  Data for mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021 are based on 2020 calendar year imports. For some 
countries, 20 20 import data are not yet available.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat and UN Comtrade database.  
Other trade and trade -related  measures  
3.11.   Annex 3 of the Adde ndum to this Report lists measures that may be considered to have a 
trade -restrictive effect.  A total of 103 new trade -restrictive measures were recorded for WTO 
Members and Observers, mostly tariff increases, followed  by stricter customs procedures11 and by 
 
11 For example, updated criterion values for certain products by Argentina; import approval requir ement 
for sugar and waste glass by Egypt; amendments introduced on import policies on certain products by India; 
amendments introduced in the import policy of wood products by the Philippines; and imposition of import 
procedures on hydrofluorocarbons by th e Eurasian Economic Union.  
21 28 
25 
23 29 
25 
23 23 36 
33 
20 
17 
16 18 18 
14 
13 19 
15 17 
11 17 
0510152025303540
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 mid-Oct19 to 
mid-Oct20mid-Oct20 to 
mid-Oct21Trade remedy intitiations and terminations 
 Initiations avg per month  Terminations avg per month
Source:   WTO Secretariat.Values are rounded.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 18 - 
 
  bans.12 Restrictive measures on exports included quantitative restrictions13, the imposition of 
duties14 and stricter administrative customs procedures (Table 3.5).15 
3.12.   Four WTO Members implemented government procurement  legislation granting  preference to 
locally produced goods and services.  
3.13.   The measures recorded in Annex 3 cover a wide range of products. The main sectors affected 
(HS Chapters) were mineral fuel and oils ( HS 27) (26.5%), copper and articles thereof ( HS 74) 
(8.5%),  electrical machinery and parts thereof (HS  85) (8.3%), and iron and steel ( HS 72) (7.8%).  
Table 3.5 Other trade and trade -related measures (Annex 3)  
Type of measure  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  
Mid-Oct 19 to  
mid-Oct 20  
(WT/TPR/OV/23)  
Mid-Oct 20 to  
mid-Oct 21  
(WT/TPR/OV/24)  
Import  134 146 132 166 99 84 114 77 72 71 57 
- Tariff  75 86 83 106 64 47 70 46 40 39 23 
- Customs procedures  31 27 19 32 16 19 6 6 10 8 17 
- Tax 5 5 8 10 6 9 13 6 6 6 6 
- QRs 16 17 7 12 12 7 16 14 10 13 8 
- Other  7 11 15 6 1 2 9 5 6 5 3 
Export  23 31 26 44 20 18 18 19 27 18 41 
- Duties  3 5 12 13 6 4 9 7 4 6 13 
- QRs 12 10 8 7 10 8 4 3 11 7 21 
- Other  8 16 6 24 4 6 5 9 12 5 7 
Other  12 7 12 13 11 14 0 2 0 0 5 
- Local content  5 6 11 13 7 12 0 1 0 0 4 
- Other  7 1 1 0 4 2 0 1 0 0 1 
Total  169 184 170 223 130 116 132 98 99 89 103 
Average per month  14.1 15.3 14.2 18.6 10.8 9.7 11.0 8.2 8.3 7.4 8.6 
Note:  Revisions o f the data reflect changes undertaken in the TMDB to fine -tune and update the available 
information. COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures are not included. Those measures are 
covered in Section 3.1.2.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.14.   The trade coverage of the trade -restrictive measures affecting imports implemented during 
the review period was estimated at USD  105.9 billion, i.e. 0.6% of the value of world  merchandise 
imports (Table 3.6).16 This represents  the second -lowest  value  recorded  since October  2012 
(Chart  3.5).  
 
12 For example, ban on ceramic flags and paving by Egypt; changes in the management system for 
administration of import quotas by the European Union and Switzerland; and temporary ban on certain 
vegetables and meat by Peru.  
13 For example, QRs on bovine meat and extension of the QRs on ferrous waste and scrap by Argentina; 
QRs on bovine meat by the Plurinational State of Bolivia; conditional prohibition of the export of certain 
pharmaceutical products by Canada; QRs on dried beans by Egypt; export prohibition on onions seeds and 
syringes by India; and temporary QRs on oil and petroleum oil products, mineral fertilizers, scrap and waste of 
ferrous metals and paper by the Kyrgyz Republic.  
14 For example, export duties on certain produ cts by Argentina; on wheat and meslin by Azerbaijan; on 
5 items of iron and steel products by China; export taxes on certain products by Egypt; increase of export 
duties on waste and scrap of cast iron by Malaysia; temporary export duties on soya beans by the 
Russian  Federation; and export tariffs on certain grains by the Eurasian Economic Union.  
15 For example, reference values requirements for exports of certain products by Argentina; and sworn 
declaration requirement for export of certain precious metals by Chile.  
16 These figures include one measure by Argentina (extension of the statistical fee), accounting for 40% 
of the total, followed by one measure by India (amendments introduced in the import policy of coal), 
accounting for 15%, and one measure by th e European Union ( retrospective surveillance of imports of 
renewable ethanol for fue l), accounting for 12.6%.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 19 - 
 
  Table 3.6 Share of trade covered by import -restrictive measures (Annex 3)  
(%) 
 
Mid-Oct 13 to 
mid-Oct 14 
Mid-Oct 14  to 
mid-Oct 15 
Mid-Oct 15  to 
mid-Oct 16 
Mid-Oct 16  to 
mid-Oct 17 
Mid-Oct 17 to 
mid-Oct 18 
Mid-Oct 18  to 
mid-Oct 19 
Mid-Oct 19 to  
mid-Oct 20  
Mid-Oct 20 to 
mid-Oct 2 1 
Share in total world imports  1.17 1.23 0.62 0.50 3.33 3.84 2.40 0.60 
Note:  Data for mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021 are based on 2020 calendar year imports. For some 
countries, 20 20 import data are not yet available.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat and UN Comtrade database.  
Chart 3.5 Trade coverage of new import -restrictive measures in each reporting period 
(not cumulative)  
(USD billion)  
 
Note:  These figures are estimates and represent the trade coverage of the measures (i.e. annual imports 
of the products concerned from economies affected by the measures) introduced during each 
reporting period, and not the cumulative impact of the trade measures. COVID -19 trade and 
trade -related measures are not included.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Stockpile of import -restrictive measures  
3.15.   Accurately estimating the roll -back of import -restrictive measures, and eventually the overall 
stockpile, is made complex by the fact that many temporary measures remain in place beyond the 
envisaged termination date. Moreover, the Secretariat  does not alw ays receive  accurate information 
on changes to reported measures. As a result, the figures below are estimates based on the 
information recorded in the TMD B since 2009. These estimates are also conditioned by the 
availability of termination dates of the import -restrictive measures and of the HS  codes of products 
covered.17 
3.16.   Table 3.7 and Chart 3.6 show that the stockpile of import restrictions in force has gro wn 
steadily since 2009 – in value  terms and as a percentage of world imports – and that a significant 
increase in both took place from 2017 to 2018. This specific jump is largely explained by measures 
introduced on steel and aluminium, and by tariff increa ses introduced  as part of bilateral trade 
 
17 Only import measures where HS codes were available are included in the calculation.  
201 214 228 
101 
79 588 747 
441 
106 
0100200300400500600700800
mid-Oct12 -
mid-Oct13mid-Oct13 -
mid-Oct14mid-Oct14 -
mid-Oct15mid-Oct15 -
mid-Oct16mid-Oct16 -
mid-Oct17mid-Oct17 -
mid-Oct18mid-Oct18 -
mid-Oct19mid-Oct19 -
mid-Oct20mid-Oct20 -
mid-Oct21Trade coverage of new import -restrictive measures in each reporting period (not 
cumulative)
(USD billion)
Source:  WTO Secretariat.Note:  [see text].WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 20 - 
 
  tensions. Global imports decreased substantially in 2020 compared to 2019 and the decline was also 
reflected in the import restrictions in force. At the end of 2020 some 8.6% of world imports were 
affected by impor t restrictions implemented since 2009 and which are still in force (a slight decline 
compared to 2019). Preliminary estimates suggest that as at mid -October 2021, the stockpile of 
import restrictions in force was about USD 1.5 trillion representing around 8.7% of total world 
imports.   
Table 3.7 Cumulative trade coverage of import -restrictive measures since 2010 to 2020  
(USD billion, unless otherwise indicated)   
2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018  2019  2020  
Total 
imports 
(world)  15,163  18,109  18,193  18,483  18,654  16,360  15,812  17,587  19,402  18,883  17,659  
Total import 
restrictions 
in force  125.75  234.42  305.91  407.26  467.39  598.43  570.24  814.45  1,456.97  1,645.70  1,514.96  
Share in 
world imports 
(%) 0.83 1.29 1.68 2.20 2.51 3.66 3.61 4.63 7.51 8.72 8.62 
Total import 
restrictions  
terminated  1.68 15.43  59.41  37.15  34.05  1.51 38.09  3.88 5.45 13.12  n.a. 
Share in 
world imports 
(%) 0.01 0.09 0.33 0.20 0.18 0.01 0.24 0.02 0.03 0.07 n.a. 
Note:  For some countries, 2020 import data were not yet available. Data for the previous full calendar year 
were used for those countries.  
n.a. Not applicable. For this Report no information was received about the termination of 
non-COVID -19-related import restrictions.  
Source:  WTO calculations, based on UN Comtrade database.  
Chart 3.6 Cumulative trade coverage of import -restrictive measures on goods since 2009 
to 2020  
 
Note:  The cumulative trade coverage estimated by the Secretariat is based on information available in the 
TMDB on import measures recorded since 2009 and considered to have a trade -restrictive effect. 
The estimates include import measures for which HS codes were available. The figur es do not 
include trade remedy measures. The import values were sourced by the UN Comtrade database.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
73126234306407467598 5708141,4571,646
1,515
0.60.81.31.72.22.53.7 3.64.67.58.7 8.6
012345678910
02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Import restrictions in force (left axis) % of world imports (right axis)Cumulative trade coverage of import -restrictive measures on goods in force since 2009 to 2020
(USD billion)
Source:  WTO Secretariat.(%)
Note:  [See original].WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 21 - 
 
  3.17.   This review period has not seen an escalation of the bilateral trade tensions that characterized 
some previous reports. In fact, the current review  period  saw the extension  of the waiver  on the 
additional  tariffs  imposed  by China  on the United  States  on certain  products.  
3.1.2   COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures  
3.18.   Overall, since the outbreak of the pandemic, 399 trade and trade -relate d measures in the 
area of goods have been implemented by WTO Members and Observers (Table 3.8)18, of which 262 
(66%) were of a trade -facilitating nature and 137 (34%) could  be considered trade restrictive. 
Export restrictions account for 85% of all restric tive measures recorded (Charts 3.7 and 3.8).   
Table 3.8 COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures since the outbreak  
 Facilitating  Phased out  Restrictive  Phased out  Total  
Import  155 47 13 5 168 
Export  90 7 117 72 207 
Other  17 3 7 4 24 
Total  262 57 137 81 399 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.19.   According to preliminary estimates by the WTO Secretariat, the trade coverage of the 
COVID -19 trade -facilitating measures  implemented since the outbreak of the pandemic amounted 
to USD 321 billion , and t he trade coverage of trade -restrictive  measures was estimated at  
USD 202.5  billion .19 Overall, the flow of new trade -facilitating measures as well as trade -restrictive 
measur es slowed during the review period . The bulk of COVID -19 trade restrictions appear to be 
maintained by G20 economies.  
3.20.   The gradual phase -out of exports constraints targeting products such as PPE, surgical masks, 
gloves, medicines, disinfectant, and food pr oducts continue d during the review period . The roll -back 
of trade -restrictive measures taken in the early stages of the pandemic was also noticeable . For 
instance, around 59% of the COVID -19 trade -restrictive measures implemented  by WTO Members  
and Observers had been repealed by mid -October 2021 and around 22% of COVID -19 
trade -facilitating measures ha d been terminated (Table 3.8 and Chart 3.7).  
Chart 3.7 COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures o n goods, by mid -October 2021  
(Number)  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.21.   According to preliminary estimates by the WTO Secretariat, the trade coverage of the 
COVID -19 trade -restrictive measures repealed since the beginning of the pandemic amounted  to 
USD 110.2  billion  and that of trade -facilitating measures to USD 208.9  billion  (Chart 3.8) .20  
3.22.   The reduction or elimination of import tariffs and import taxes make up 59% of 
trade-facilitating measures taken since the beginning of the pandemic. Certain WTO Members and 
 
18 Measures implemented in the context of the pandemic up unt il mid -October 2021 can be viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/covid19_e.htm .  
19 Including imports and exports and based on annual 2020 trade figures. For so me countries, 2020 
import data were not yet available. Data for the previous full calendar year were used for those countries.  
20 See footnote 19.  
205 57 56 81 
Trade-facilitating measures in force Trade-facilitating measures repealed
Trade-restrictive measures in force Trade-restrictive measures repealed399COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures on goods, by mid-October 2021
(by number)
Source:   WTO Secretariat.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 22 - 
 
  Observers reduced their tariffs on a variety of goods such as PPE, sanitizers, disinfectants, medical 
equipment, and medicine/drugs. In many cases, tariff reductions  were also accompanied by 
exemptions from VAT and other taxes. Extensions, often more than once, of some measures were 
implemented, while other measures  have simply remained in force. 
3.23.   Certain WTO Members and Observers  have extended  many trade -facilitating measures 
originally introduced in immediate response to the pandemic. At the same time, a host of other 
facilitating measures have been rolled back to pre -pandemic higher tariff levels.  Several WTO 
Members and Observers badly affected by succe ssive waves of the pandemic have also been 
eliminating import tariffs on certain goods necessary  to fight COVID -19, such as oxygen, oxygen 
canisters, certain drugs, and active substances.  
Chart 3.8 Trade cover age of COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures on goods, by 
mid-October 2021  
(USD billion)  
 
Note:  Values are rounded.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.2  Trade Remedy Trends21 
3.24.   This Section provides an assessment of trends in trade -remedy actions over three period s: 
July 2018 -June 2019, July 2019 -June 2020 and July 2020 -June 2021.22 
Anti-Dumping  Measures23 
3.25.   Between the first and second period s, global anti -dumping initiations increased from 178 to 
304, and they then decreased to 282 in the last period. Table 3. 9 provides information on which 
Members initiated anti -dumping investigations and applied measures over three periods.  
3.26.   While anti -dumping investigations do not necessarily lead to the imposition of measures , an 
increase in the number of investigations initiated is an early indicator of a likely increase in the 
number of measures imposed. Over the three periods, a total of 478 anti-dumping measures were 
applied. As it can take up to 18 months for an anti -dump ing investigation to be concluded, the 
measures applied in a given period may not necessarily be the result of investigations initiated in 
the same period.  
Table 3.9 Initiations of anti -dumping investigations and measures applied, by Member  
(Number)  
Reporting 
Member  July 2018 -June 2019  July 2019 -June 2020  July 2020 -June 2021  
Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  
Argentina  15 6 11 12 8 13 
Australia  8 10 15 2 9 2 
 
21 This Section is without prejudice to Members' right to take trade remedy actions under the WTO.  
22 These peri ods coincide with Members' semi -annual reporting periods.  
23 Anti-dumping and countervailing investigations are counted based on the number ( n) of exporting 
countries or customs territories affected by an investigation. Thus, one anti -dumping or countervailing 
investigation involving imports from n countries/customs territories is counted as n investigations.  
112 209 92 110 
Trade-facilitating measures in force Trade-facilitating measures repealed
Trade-restrictive measures in force Trade-restrictive measures repealed524Trade coverage of COVID -19 trade and trade -related measures on goods, by mid-October 2021
(USD billion)
Source:   WTO Secretariat.Note:   Values are rounded.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 23 - 
 
  Reporting 
Member  July 2018 -June 2019  July 2019 -June 2020  July 2020 -June 2021  
Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  
Bahrain, Kingdom 
of; Kuwait, State 
of; Oman; Qatar; 
Saudi Arabia, 
Kingdom of; United 
Arab Emiratesa 5 2 1 2 3 1 
Brazil  0 3 4 6 13 3 
Canada  9 13 12 3 23 17 
Chile 0 1 1 0 1 0 
China  18 17 4 10 4 28 
Colombia  1 6 1 0 3 1 
Dominican  Republic  1 0 0 1 0 0 
Egypt  2 1 8 2 6 9 
European  Unionb 11 2 8 6 15 6 
Ghana  0 0 1 0 0 1 
India 21 19 98 9 60 32 
Indonesia  0 0 8 1 0 0 
Israel  0 3 0 0 0 0 
Japan  0 0 2 0 2 2 
Republic of Korea  7 6 1 0 7 1 
Madagascar  1   0   0   
Malaysia  8 2 4 7 9 5 
Mexico  5 6 7 3 3 6 
Morocco  0 1 0 0 3 1 
New Zealand  0 0 2 0 4 1 
Pakistan  10 5 7 2 9 7 
Peru 1 0 1 0 2 0 
Philippines  0 0 0 0 1 0 
Russian  Federationc 3 1 4 4 4 5 
South  Africad 3 0 0 3 10 0 
Chinese  Taipei  0 0 0 2 5 0 
Thailand  1 0 10 1 7 2 
Turkey  0 2 4 0 9 2 
Ukraine  11 8 7 10 10 2 
United Kingdome n.a.f n.a.f 0 0 1 0 
United  States  32 33 71 29 42 59 
Uruguay  0 0 0 0 1 0 
Viet Nam 5 0 12 3 8 7 
Total  178 147 304 118 282 213 
n.a. Not applicable.  
a Notified by all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member States collectively, as investigations are 
initiated by the GCC regional investigating authority on behalf of all GCC member States.  
b The European  Union is counted as one (28 member States until 31  January  2020).  
c  Notified by the Russian  Federation, but investigations are initiated by the Eurasian Economic Union 
(EAEU) on behalf of all its members, i.e. Armenia, Kyrgyz  Republic, Kazakhstan,  and Belarus (non -
WTO Member) collectively.  
d Notified by South  Africa, but in vestigations are initiated at the level of the Southern African Customs 
Union (SACU) on behalf of its member States (also for Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia).  
e The United Kingdom withdrew from the European  Union as of 1  February  2020. The Europea n Union 
and the United Kingdom communicated that during the transition period, which ended on 
31 December  2020, European  Union law, with a few limited exceptions, continued to be applicable to 
and in the United Kingdom. See WTO documents WT/LET/1462, 29  January  2020; and WT/GC/206, 
1 February  2020.  
f Member State of the European  Union during the period in question.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.27.   Chart 3. 9 shows that the number of initiations of anti -dumping investigations increased 
significantly in 2020 compared with the previous years. The 355 initiations in 2020 represent the 
peak since 2002, but lower than the all -time high of 372 in 2001.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 24 - 
 
  Chart 3.9 Initiations of anti -dumping investigations and measures applied, 2008 -21 
(Number)  
 
Note:  Data for 2021 cover January to June.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.28.   There was little change in terms of the products affected by anti -dumping investigations 
initiated during the three periods examined. Most initiations focused on products in the metal sector, 
followed by the chemicals sector and the plastics and rubber sec tor. 
3.29.   In terms of countries or customs territories affected by new anti -dumping investigations, 44 
exporting Members were affected during the first period, while 55 were affected during the second 
period and 46 in the last period. China remained, by far, th e most targeted Member by anti -dumping 
initiations during the three reporting periods , accounting for 26% of all investigations. China was 
followed by Viet  Nam and Malaysia , both of which accounted for 5% of the total initiations.  
3.30.   As of 8  October  2021, onl y two Members ha d notified anti -dumping actions referring to the 
COVID -19 pandemic. Brazil suspended anti -dumping duties on syringes and vacuum plastic tubes 
for blood collection, and Argentina suspended anti -dumping duties on syringes and parenteral 
solutions. 
Countervailing Measures  
3.31.   The number of global initiations of countervailing duty investigations  and the number of 
countervailing measures  fluctuated over the review period . Table 3. 10 provides information on which 
Members initiated countervailing inve stigations and applied final measures during the review period.  
Table 3.10 Initiations of countervailing investigations and measures applied, by Member  
(Number)  
Reporting Member  July 2018 -June 2019  July 2019 -June 2020  July 2020 -June 2021  
Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  
Australia  1 1 6 0 2 0 
Brazil  0 1 0 0 2 0 
Canada  0 5 4 0 3 2 
China  2 0 1 1 4 2 
Colombia  1 0 0 1 0 0 
European  Uniona 4 3 3 4 4 0 
218 217
173165208287
236229298
249
202215355
115143 143
134
99121161157181
171192203
146
114153
050100150200250300350400
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Inititations Measures
Source:  WTO Secretariat.Initiations of anti -dumping investigations and measures applied, 2008 -21
Note:  Data for 2021 cover January to June.(Number)WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 25 - 
 
  Reporting Member  July 2018 -June 2019  July 2019 -June 2020  July 2020 -June 2021  
Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  
India 9 1 11 8 5 1 
Peru 1 1 0 0 0 0 
Chinese  Taipei  0 0 0 5 0 0 
Ukraine  1 0 0 0 0 0 
United  States  18 18 23 15 19 25 
Viet Nam 0 0 0 0 1 1 
Total  37 30 48 34 40 31 
a The European  Union  is counted as one (28 member States until 31  January  2020).  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.32.   As with anti -dumping, countervailing duty investigations do not necessarily lead to measures 
being applied. However, an increase or decrease in the number of investigations initiated may be an 
early indicator of a likely increase or decrease in the number of measures applied. As it can take up 
to 18 months for an investigation to be concluded, these measures may not necessa rily be the result 
of initiations in the same period . 
3.33.   Chart 3. 10 provides annual figures on countervailing initiations of investigations and measures 
applied since 2008 up to the first half of 2021.  It shows an upward trend in countervailing initiations 
from 2015 to 2020, notwithstanding some fluctuation in 2019. The number of countervailing 
initiations in 2020 increased to the peak level of initiations that was observed in 1999 and 2018.  
3.34.   In the first half of 2021, 24  exporting countries or customs territor ies were affected  by new 
countervailing investigations. China was the most frequent target of investigations (42), accounting 
for 34% of all investigations during the three periods. India (12), the second most frequent subject, 
accounted for 12% of initiat ions, followed by Malaysia (9) and Turkey (9), both of which accounted 
for 7% of the total.  
Chart 3.10 Initiations of countervailing investigations and measures applied, 2008 -21 
(Number ) 
 
Note:  Data for 2021 cover January to June.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.35.   In terms of the products affected by countervailing investigations, metals accounted for the 
largest share of the initiations reported over the three reporting periods.  
1628
925
233345
31344155
3656
11 11
919
91013
111524
182835
24 24
0102030405060
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Initiations Measures
Source:  WTO Secretariat.Initiations of countervailing investigations and measures applied, 2008 -21
Note:  Data for 2021 cover January to June.(Number)WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 26 - 
 
  3.36.   As of 8  October  2021, no Member had not ified any countervailing duty action referring to the 
COVID -19 pandemic.  
Safeguard Measures  
3.37.   Safeguard measures are temporary measures applied in response to increased imports of 
goods that are causing serious injury, and are applied on imports  from all so urces, i.e. all exporting 
countries/customs territories.24 Safeguard measures are subject to different rules and timelines than 
anti-dumping and countervailing measures and are, therefore, not directly comparable to these other 
types of trade remedies.  
3.38.   Chart 3.11 shows the trend of initiations of safeguard investigations side by side with the 
trend of application of measures on a calendar -year basis for 2008 -20 plus first -half 2021. The most 
recent figure (first -half 2021) of initiations is 3, and for applications  10.25 If the trend in that period 
continues, the application figure for full -year 2021 would result in the largest figure since 1995. Until 
now, the largest number of applications was in 2003, with 15 applications.  
Chart 3.11 Initiations of safeguard investigations and measures applied, 2008 -21 
(Number)  
 
Note:  Data for 2021 cover January to June. Some notifications are ambiguous about the timing when 
measures took effect. For those, an additional notification  clarifying, ex post , the effective date of 
the measure is sometimes filed. For this reason, the number of applications of measures in a given 
period indicated in past reports may differ from the figures indicated in the most recent Report.  
Source:  WTO Sec retariat.  
3.39.   Table 3. 11, which shows the breakdown on a July -June basis of Members that initiated 
safeguard investigations and applied measures, confirms the recent trend of increased applications.  
 
24 With the exception of exporting Me mbers covered by the special and differential treatment provided 
for developing countries in Article  9.1 of the Agreement on Safeguards.   
25 Since an investigation initiated in a specific year can result in application of a measure in the 
subsequent year, t he number of initiations can be smaller than the number of applications in some years.  
1025
20
1224
1823
17
11
81630
22
3610
411
6811 11
69
712 12
10
05101520253035
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Initiations MeasuresInitiations of safeguard investigations and measures applied, 2008 -21
Source:    WTO Secretariat.Note:    [see original](Number)WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 27 - 
 
  Table 3.11 Initiations of safeguard investigations and measures applied, by Member  
(Number)  
Reporting 
Member  July 2018 -June 2019  July 2019 -June 2020  July 2020 -June 2021  
Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  Initiations  Measures  
Bahrain, Kingdom 
of; Kuwait, State 
of; Oman; Qatar; 
Saudi Arabia, 
Kingdom of; 
United Arab 
Emiratesa 0 1 1 0 0 1 
Canada  1 1 0 0 0 0 
Colombia  1 0 0 0 0 0 
Costa Rica  1 0 0 0 0 1 
Ecuador  0 0 1 0 0 0 
Egypt  1 0 1 1 0 1 
European  Unionb 0 1 0 0 0 0 
Guatemala  0 0 1 0 0 0 
India 0 1 3 0 0 0 
Indonesia  2 1 5 5 3 5 
Jordan  0 0 1 0 0 0 
Madagascar  3 2 4 1 0 3 
Malaysia  0 0 0 0 1 0 
Morocco  2 0 1 2 1 1 
Panama  1 0 0 0 0 0 
Peru 0 0 0 0 1 0 
Philippines  3 0 5 1 1 0 
Russian  
Federationc 3 0 0 1 0 0 
South  Africad 1 1 2 1 0 0 
Thailand  0 0 0 0 1 0 
Turkey  1 0 2 1 0 1 
Ukraine  0 1 6 0 3 2 
United  States  0 0 0 0 1 0 
Total  20 9 33 13 12 15 
a Notified by all GCC member States collectively as investigations are initiated by the GCC regional 
investigating authority on behalf of all GCC member States.  
b The European  Union  is counted as one (28 member States until 31  January  2020).  
c Notified by the Russian  Federation , but investigations are initiated by the EAEU on behalf of all of its 
members, i.e. Armenia, Kyrgyz  Republic , Kazak hstan,  and Belarus (non -WTO Member) collectively.  
d Notified by South  Africa , but investigations are initiated at the level of the SACU, i.e. also in respect 
of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.40.   In terms of products affected  by safeguard initiations, during the first two periods metals 
accounted for most of initiations. In the most recent period , initiations were not concentrated in any 
specific sector .  
3.41.   As of 8  October  2021, no Member had notified any safeguard action referr ing to the COVID -19 
pandemic.  
3.3  Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures26 
3.42.   The SPS  Agreement  requires WTO Members to provide an advance notice of intention to 
introduce new or modified SPS measures27, or to notify immediately when emergency measures are 
imposed. The main objective of complying with the SPS notification obligations is to inform ot her 
Members about new or changed regulations that may significantly affect international trade.  
 
26 Information presented in this Section was retrieved from the SPS Information Management System 
(http://spsims.wto.org ). This Sec tion refers to notifications to the WTO for the period 1  October  2020 to 
30 Septem ber 2021 and on specific trade concerns (STCs) raised at SPS Committee meetings held in 
November 2020 , March 2021 and June 2021.  
27 Transparency obligations are contained in Article 7 and Annex B of the SPS  Agreement . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 28 - 
 
  3.43.   An increased number of notifications usually implies enhanced transparency regarding food 
safety, and animal and plant health measures, most of which are presumably legitimate health -
protection measures.  
3.44.   From 1  October  2020 to 30  September  2021, 2,054 SPS notifications (regular and 
emergency, including addenda) were submitted to the WTO, a 7% increase compared to the previous 
period from 1  October  2019 to 3 0 September  2020. The share of notifications from developing -
country Members  remained stable at  70% of the total, compared with 68% during the previous 
12-month period  (Chart 3.1 2). 
3.45.   During the review period, WTO Members submitted 1,665 regular SPS notifica tions (including 
addenda), 66% of which were submitted by developing -country Members. Compared with the 
previous 12 -month period, the total number of regular notifications increased by 4% , while those 
submitted by developing -country Members increased by 2% . 
3.46.   An increase in the number of notifications of emergency measures (389 notifications, including 
addenda) submitted was observed compared with the previous period. While the total number of 
emergency notifications (including addenda) increased by 35% in th e current review period, the 
proportion of all emergency notifications (including addenda) submitted by developing -country 
Members  remained high, constituting 87% of the total (compared with 83% in the previous period). 
This may be because developing -count ry Members  have less extensive SPS  regulatory systems 
compared to developed -country Members. Consequently, when facing emergency challenges, they 
are more likely to have to introduce new regulations or change existing ones.  
Chart 3.12 Number of SPS notifications, including regular, emergency and addenda  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.47.   Many Members are following  the recommendation to notify SPS measures even when these 
are based on a relevant international standard28, as this substantially increases transparency. Of the 
1,146  regular notifications (excluding addenda) submitted from 1  October  2020 to 
30 September  2021, 49% indicated that at least one international standard, guideline or 
recommendation was applicable to  the notified measure . Of these, about 70% indicated that the 
proposed measure was in conformity  with the applicable international standard.  
3.48.   International standards often provide useful guidance regarding measures to address disease 
outbreaks and other eme rgency situations. Indeed, about 95% (270 in total) of the 284  emergency 
notifications (excluding addenda) submitted during  the review period indicated that an international 
 
28 WTO document G/SPS/7/Rev.4, 4 June 2018, para. 2.3. 
1,665
1,0951,607
1,075389
339304
252
02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8002,0002,200
All Members Developing-country
MembersAll Members Developing-country
MembersNumber of SPS notifications, including regular, emergency and addenda
Source: WTO Secretariat.Regular notifications Emergency notificationsOct. 2020 -Sep. 2021 Oct. 2019 -Sep. 2020WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 29 - 
 
  standard, guideline or recommendation was applicable to the notified measure. All indicated that the 
measure was in conformity with the applicable international standard.  
3.49.   Of the 1,146 regular notifications (excluding addenda) submitted during the review period, 
the majority were related to food safety.29 The remainder relat ed to plant protection and animal 
health and, to a lesser extent, to the protection of humans from animal diseases or plant pests, and 
the protection of the Member's territory from other damage from pests. It is usual for regular 
notifications to contain m ore than one objective.  
3.50.   Of the 284 emergency measures (excluding addenda) notified in the same period, the 
majority related to animal health, followed by those related to food safety, the protection of humans 
from animal diseases or plant pests, plant prot ection and the protection of the Member's territory 
from other damage from pests.  Emergency notifications may contain more than one objective.  
3.51.   WTO Members can raise specific trade concerns (STCs), at any of the regular meetings of the 
SPS Committee each ye ar, regarding a notified measure or the failure to notify an SPS measure. In 
the SPS Committee meetings of November 2020, March 2021 and Ju ly 2021, 39 STCs were raised 
for the first time (Table  3.12), and 49 previously raised STCs were discussed again.  
3.52.   The margins of the SPS Committee meetings provide important opportunities for delegations, 
often including capital -based experts, to discuss and resolve STCs bilaterally. For example, during 
the review period, Mexico, Brazil and Viet  Nam withdrew STCs that ha d been included in the 
proposed agendas for the upcoming meetings because bilateral progress had been made.30 
Furthermore, 34 STCs were reported as resolved during the review period.31 Since 1995,  51% of all 
STCs raised at a Committee  meeting  have been rep orted as resolved or partially resolved.  
Table 3.12 New SPS STCs raised in the November 2020, March 2021 or Ju ly 2021 
meetings  
Meeting  Total STCs raised  Members raising  Members 
supporting  Members 
responding  
New Previously 
raised  New Previously 
raised  New Previously 
raised  New Previously 
raised  
November  
2020 19 20 12 13 21 21 13 13 
March 2021  11 35 6 19 4 25 7 17 
July 2021  9 38 6 16 6 27 6 26 
Total  39 49 16 23 29 54 17 30 
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
3.53.   Of the 39  STCs raised for the first time at the November 2020, March  2021 or July 2021 SPS 
Committee meetings, 14 (36%) concerned food safety, 5 (13%) concerned measures covering 
animal health, 3 (8%) covered plant health  and 17 ( 43%) related to other types of concerns.32 
3.54.   Forty-nine previously raised STCs were discussed in the review period, of which 15 were 
discussed in all three meetings.33 Twenty -two STCs raised for the first time in the review period were 
discussed again.34 Of the 49 previously raised STCs, 17 (35%) concerned measures covering food 
safety, 11 (22%) concerned animal health, 6 (12%) related to plant health and  15 (31%) cover ed 
other types of concerns.  
 
29 The objective of an SPS measure falls under one or more of the following categories: (i)  food safety; 
(ii) animal health; (iii)  plant protection; (iv)  protection of humans from animal/plant pests or diseases; and 
(v) protection of territory from other damages from pests. Members commonly  identify more than one 
objective for a measure.  
30 WTO documents G/SPS/R/100 , 21 December 2020 ; and G/SPS/R/101 , 19 May 2021 . 
31 WTO document RD/SPS/114 , 29 October 2020 . 
32 Such as control, inspection and approval procedures, and administrative measures.  
33 The 15 STCs that were raised in both meetings were 193, 382, 392, 393, 406, 431, 439, 441, 448, 
456, 470, 471, 479, 485 and 486. Of these, five STCs ( 193, 382, 406, 392 and 393), discussed in the 
November 2020, March  2021 or July 2021 meetings , have been raised 10 times or more.  
34 These were STCs 487, 489, 490, 491, 493, 496, 497, 498, 500, 501, 502, 503, 504, 506, 507, 508, 
509, 510, 512, 513, 515 and 516. WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 30 - 
 
  3.55.   Discussions during the SPS Committee meetings continue to be multifaceted and dynamic. 
While pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) continue to be a topic of concern for Members, 
several STCs raised in the current review period related to approval procedures.  
COVID -19-related SPS measures (1  February  202035-30 September  2021)  
3.56.   The three standard -setting bodies recognized by the SPS  Agreement  (Codex, OIE and IPPC), 
as well as the World Health Organi zation (WHO), are monitori ng the COVID -19 situation and, so far, 
have not recommended any trade restrictions. In the absence of relevant international standards, 
SPS measures must be based on a risk assessment. However, it may take some time before sufficient 
scientific evidence be comes available. Under the SPS  Agreement , Members have the right to adopt 
provisional measures based on available information. As more scientific evidence emerges and risk 
assessments can be carried out, these measures must be reviewed within a reasonable period.  
3.57.   From 1  February  2020 to 30  September  2021, 30 Members (counting the European  Union  as 
one) notified 60 SPS measures taken in relation to the COVID -19 pandemic. Twenty -four measures 
were notified as regular notifications. Additionally, 20 addenda to  regular notifications were 
submitted, mostly extending both implementation periods of temporary measures and comment 
periods and dates of adoption of previously notified regulations. Eighteen measures were notified as 
emergency measures , and  10 emergency addenda were notified, mostly lifting temporary 
restrictions previously imposed or extending the validity of temporary trade -facilitating measures. 
Nine Members submitted their measures through an information communication (GEN document) , 
and one additiona l GEN document36 was submitted by 40 Members. Overall, 26% of notifications on 
COVID -19 are SPS measures.37 
Chart 3.13 Number of submitted SPS documents related to COVID -19, by date and trade 
effect, February 2020 -September 2021  
 
Note:  TF measures = trade -facilitating measures.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.58.   Initially, these measures mainly related to restrictions on animal imports and/or transit from 
affected areas (some of these were subsequently terminated) and increased certification 
requirements. Since the beginning of April 2020, most notifications and c ommunications have relate d 
to measures taken to facilitate trade, by allowing temporary flexibility for control authorities to use 
 
35 The first COVID -19-related notifications were received in February 2020.  
36 WTO document G/SPS/GEN/1778/Rev.5 , 14 January  2021 (also circulated as G/TBT/GEN/296/Rev.5 , 
14 January 2021 ). 
37 WTO, COVID -19 and World Trade . Viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/covid19_e.htm . 
0510152025
Feb.
20Mar.
20Apr.
20May
20Jun.
20Jul.
20Aug.
20Sep.
20Oct.
20Nov.
20Dec.
20Jan.
21Feb.
21Mar.
21Apr.
21May
21Jun.
21Jul.
21Aug.
21Sep.
21
Restrictions TF measures Extension of TF measures Other SPS measuresNumber of submitted SPS documents related to COVID -19, by date and trade effect, 
February 2020 -September 2021
Source:   WTO Secretariat.Note:   TF measures = trade facilitating measures .WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 31 - 
 
  electronic versions of veterinary and/or phytosanitary certificates, since the COVID -19 situation has 
made the transmission o f original paper certificates problematic. Overall, more than half of the 
measures notified were considered trade -facilitating, and the implementation period s for most of 
them have already been extended. Submitted documents are displayed by month and trade  effect 
in Chart 3.1 3. 
Box 3.1 Enhancing monitoring and transparency in SPS and TBT  
Accessing relevant information on SPS or TBT product requirements in export markets can represent a 
significant challenge, in p articular for SMEs. WTO Members are required to notify SPS and TBT measures, still 
in draft form, that may have a significant effect on trade and that are not in accordance with existing 
international standards. Each year, the WTO receives around 5,000  SPS and TBT notifications.  
The WTO facilitates the fulfilment of the transparency provisions contained in the SPS and TBT  Agreements 
and provides easy access to information. Timely access to notifications is crucial, given the 60 -day period that 
should normal ly be provided for submitting comments on the proposed regulations. The following publicly 
available online tools assist stakeholders in finding notifications of relevance to their trade and thus 
contributing to avoid and address potential trade barriers:  
 - SPS Information Management System (SPS IMS): www.spsims.wto.org ; 
 - TBT Information Management System (TBT IMS): www.tbtims.wto.org ; and 
 - ePing alert system: http://www.epingalert.org . 
The SPS/TBT IMSs  are search platforms that, among other things, help identify SPS or TBT notifications (or 
any trade concerns raised by Members) using parameters such as product, notifying Member and objective. 
ePing  is an online alert system allowing users (governments, ec onomic operators and civil society) to receive 
daily or weekly email alerts about SPS and TBT notifications covering products and markets of interest to 
them. ePing also facilitates dialogue among the public and private sectors to discuss and share informa tion 
on notifications of concern, allowing stakeholders to address potential trade problems at an early stage of the 
regulatory lifecycle.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Box 3.2 Digital opportunities for SPS systems  
Countries are increasingly using digital technologies in their SPS systems and the disruptions caused by the 
COVID -19 pandemic are accelerating this evolution. At the outset of the COVID -19 pandemic, countries 
committ ed not only to continue trading, but also to make trade easier by, for example, accepting electronic 
sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) certificates.  
Reports from the ePhyto Hub, the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC) system for the centralised  
exchange of phytosanitary electronic certificates, demonstrate a significant increase in countries ' exchange of 
e-certificates for plant products following the COVID -19 outbreak. The total number of electronic phyto 
certificates exchanged increased more t han tenfold from approximately 8,000 in December 2019 to almost 
85,000 in July 2021.  
Work by the OECDa on the potential for digital technologies to create efficiencies in SPS systems and enhance 
agro-food trade shows that digital technologies such as SPS e lectronic certificates have positive effects on 
trade volumes, although these effects do not materialise immediately, as implementation takes time and 
resources. The total value of export for animal products, vegetable products and processed food is estima ted 
to increase by 16%, 25% and 32%, respectively, two years after the creation of e -certificates (Figure 3.1).  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 32 - 
 
  Figure 3.1 Implementing SPS e -certificates increases trade  
Increase in export volumes from implementing SPS e -certif icates (%)  
 
Source:  OECD (2 021).  
Given the potential impacts on trade volumes, there are benefits to countries working to identify their 
automation needs within SPS systems and considering the appropriate expansion of their use of digital 
technologies to create greater efficiencies, facilitate trade, and assist with the healthy and safe supply of food 
products.  
Implementation is, however, not straightforward and a number of elements need to be considered for the 
successful expansion of digital technologies within SPS sys tems. These include careful planning and analysis 
of needs and priorities, along with investments in training staff and building capacity in the use of these 
technologies and access to dependable long -term sources of funding to make the system sustainable.  In 
addition to these investments, a clear and enabling regulatory environment is important, including in providing 
assurances regarding data storage, transmission, and use.  
Systems also need to operate across borders, requiring efforts to promote the inte roperability and equivalence 
of SPS systems using digital technologies. Continued participation in multilateral forums to consider and 
resolve technical issues relating to the use of these technologies and share best -practice guidance in the use 
of these t echnologies (including case studies) will be important in developing expertise in the implementation, 
monitoring, and oversight of these technologies.  
The expanded use of these digital technologies, while bringing benefits, can pose challenges for developi ng 
and least -developed countries, and all countries need to be mindful of the digital divide in capacity and 
capability to adopt these technologies and be ready to provide the support and assistance these countries 
may require.  
a OECD (2021), "Digital oppo rtunities for Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Systems and the trade 
facilitation effects of SPS Electronic Certification",  OECD Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Papers, 
No. 152, OECD Publishing, Paris , https://doi.org/10.1787/cbb7d0f6 -en. 
Source:  OECD (2021).   
3.4  Technical Barriers to Trade (TBTs)  
Notifications submitted to the TBT Committee  
3.59.   Under the TBT  Agreement , WTO Members are required to notify their intention to introduce 
new or modified TBT measures,  or to notify adopted emergency measures immediately. The principal 
objective of complying with the TBT notification obligations is to inform other Members about new 
or changed regulations that may  significantly affect trade.38  
 
38 Under the T BT Agreement , WTO Members are not required to notify all proposed TBT measures 
(technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures). Rather, as a minimum, they are required to 
16.0%19.2%3.8%
16.0%5.7%12.7%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%Processed foodVegetable productsAnimal productsAfter 1 year After 2 yearsIncrease in export volumes from implementing SPS e -certificates (%)
Source:   OECD (2021).WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 33 - 
 
  3.60.   During the review period39, WTO Members submitted 2,378 new regular notifications of TBT 
measures, a 23% increase compared to the preceding 12 -month period. Around 70% of these 
regular TBT notifications came from developing countries.  
3.61.   Some 56% of all new regular notifications  came f rom Uganda (214), Brazil (183), Tanzania 
(169), Rwanda (151), China (139), the United  States  (131), Kenya (118), the European  Union  (89), 
the Republic of Korea (77) and Burundi (69).  
3.62.   Of the 2,378 new regular TBT notifications, the majority indicated the pr otection of human 
health or safety as their main objective40, followed by quality requirements, consumer information, 
labelling, the prevention of deceptive practices and consumer protection, protection of the 
environment, reducing trade barriers and facilitating trade and harmonization.  
3.63.   A total of 1,425 "follow -up notifications"41 were submitted during the review period, a slight 
increase compared to the preceding 12 -month  period. The continuing and frequent use by Members 
of this type of notification  is a positive development, as it increases transparency and predictability 
across the measures' regulatory lifecycle.  
COVID -19-related TBT notifications42  
3.64.   During the review period, WTO Members submitted 78 TBT notifications (technical regulations 
and conformity assessment procedures) in response to the pandemic.43 As indicated in Chart 3.14, 
TBT notifications in relation to the COVID -19 pandemic were submitted by 21 WTO Members.  
 
notify only those measures that may have a significant effect on trade of other Members and are not in 
accordance with a relevant international standard (in the case of technical regulations), or relevant guidelines 
or recommendations issued by international standardizing bodies (in the case of conformity assessment 
procedures) . However, the TBT Committee, in its Sixth Triennial Review, encouraged Members, "for the 
purpose of enhancing predictability and transparency in situations where it is difficult to establish or foresee 
whether a draft technical regulation or conformity as sessment procedure may have a 'significant effect on 
trade of other Members', to notify such measures" . This recommendation was reiterated by the TBT Committee 
in its Eighth, and last, Triennial Review (November 2018).  
39 With respect to specific trade conc erns (STCs), this Section takes account of the STCs raised in the 
TBT Committee meetings of 28 -29 October  2020, 24 -26 February 2021 and 2 -4 June 2021.  
40 A TBT measure may  pursue a variety of legitimate objectives, although historically the majority fall 
under one of the following categories: the protection of human, animal or plant life or health ; or the 
environment. Members are required to identify the purpose of the measure in their notifications. It is not 
uncommon that more than one objective is identif ied for a measure.  
41 Follow -up notifications are called "addenda", "corrigenda" or "supplements". They can also be in the 
form of "revisions" if the original measure is substantially redrafted prior to adoption or entry into force. A 
revision replaces the original notification. All four  are linked to the original notification of a measure, and 
include additional pertinent information, such as the extension of a notification comment period ( addenda ), the 
withdrawal or revocation of a measure ( addenda ), if the measure is substantially redrafted prior to adoption or 
entry into force ( revision ) or when the adopted final text of the measure becomes available ( addenda ). See 
WTO document G/TBT/35 /Rev.1, 21  November  2019,  for further information on the different t ypes of TBT 
notifications.  
42 For further information on TBT and COVID -19, see WTO, Standards Regulations and COVID -19 – 
What Actions Taken by WTO Members , 4 December 2020. Viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/standards_report_e.pdf .  
43 TBT notifications are classified as COVID -19-related if they contain the terms "coronavirus", "COVID", 
"SARS -COV-2" or "nCoV". This includes not only regular notificatio ns but also 39 follow -up notifications (in the 
form of revisions  or addenda  to previous regular notifications).  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 34 - 
 
  Chart 3.14 COVID -19-related TBT notifications, by WTO Member  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.65.   TBT notifications in relation to the COVID -19 pandemic cover a wide range of products, 
including medicines (27), personal protective equipment (PPE) (12), medical supplies (11), others 
(9), general (8), medical equipment (6) and food (5).44  
3.66.   The notified measures deal with a variety of issues , including  extraordinary and temporary 
procedures put in place to handle the COVID -19 public health emergency and the implementation 
of remo te conformity assessment procedures when on -site inspections are not possible.  
Measures discussed in the TBT Committee  (STCs)  
3.67.   WTO Members use the TBT Committee as a forum for discussing trade issues related to 
specific TBT measures (technical regulations,  standards and conformity assessment procedures) 
maintained by other Members. These STCs normally relate to proposed draft measures notified to 
the Committee (but they can also relate to the implementation of existing adopted measures). Issues 
raised can r ange from simple requests for additional information and clarifications to more 
substantive questions about the consistency of measures with TBT  Agreement  disciplines.  
3.68.   A total of 245 (63 new and 182  previously raised ) STCs were discussed during the three 
Committee meetings that fell within the review period: 77 (24 new and 53 previously raised ) at the 
October 2020 meeting, 82 (20 new and 62 previously raised ) at the February 2021 meeting and 86 
(19 new and 67 previously raised ) at the June 2021 meeti ng.  
3.69.   As depicted in Table  3.13, these 63 new STCs concerned TBT measures by the European  Union  
(11); India (9); Chile (7); the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (5); the United  States  (3); Mexico (3); 
Colombia (2); the Republic of Korea (2); the Russian  Federation  (2); Canada (2); Viet  Nam (2); one 
each by Ecuador , Egypt , France , Morocco , Nigeria , Oman , Panama , Tajikistan , Thailand , Turkey , the 
United Arab Emirates , the United Kingdom , and Zimbabwe; and one collectively by the Kingdom of 
Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen and the United 
Arab Emirates. These new STCs covered regulations on a wide range of products.  
 
44 The category of "General" includes notifications without a specific product scope. The "Other" 
category includes, for instance, clothing, tex tiles and tobacco products.  
31
6
5
4
3 3 3 3 3 3
2 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
05101520253035
Source:  WTO Secretariat.COVID -19-related TBT notifications, by WTO MemberNumber of COVID -19-related TBT notificationsWT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 35 - 
 
  Table 3.13 New STCs raised in the TBT Committee meetings of October 2020, February 
2021 and June 2021  
New STCs  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, State of Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Yemen, United Arab 
Emirates:  Halal Feedstuff (ID 643) (raised by United  States; European  Union)  
China:  Commercial Cryptography Administrative Regulations (ID 644) (raised by United  States; 
European  Union)  
India:  Phase II of the Mandatory Testing and Certification of Telecommunicati ons Equipment (MTCTE), 
implementing the Indian Telegraph Amendment (ID 646) (raised by United  States)  
India:  Indian standards and import restrictions in the automotive sector (Quality Control Orders): wheel 
rims, safety glass, helmets (ID 649)  (raised by European  Union)  
Russian  Federation:  Federal Law No.  468 on wine making and wine growing in the Russian  Federation (ID 
650) (raised by Australia; European  Union; United  States)  
India: Order related to requirement of Non -GM cum GM - free certificate accompanied with imported food 
consignment (ID 651) (raised by Brazil; United  States; European  Union)  
Republic of Korea:  Revision of Safety Conformation Criteria for Textile Products for Infa nts (ID 652) 
(raised by European  Union)  
United  States:  Appliance Efficiency for Sprinkler Bodies (ID 653)  (raised by China)  
Chile: Technical specifications for the design of energy efficiency labels for washing machines (ID 654) 
(raised by the Republic of Korea ) 
France:  New legislative requirements about index of repairability of electrical and electronic equipment (ID 
657) (raised b y China)  
European  Union:  Waste Framework Directive (ID 658) (raised by India)  
European  Union: Wine labelling requirements – listing of importers for multiple destinations (ID 659) 
(raised by Australia)  
Panama:  Onions and Potatoes Harvest Life and Sprout ing Requirements (ID 662)  (raised by United  States)  
United Kingdom:  Wine labelling and documentation requirements at the end of the Brexit transition period 
(ID 663)  (raised by Australia)  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:  Technical Regulation for limiting and restricting hazardous materials in 
electrical and electronic equipment (ID 666) (raised by China; Japan; United Kingdom)  
India:  Draft Food Safety and Standards (Import) Amendment Regulation, 2020 (ID 667) (raised by Mexico; 
United  States)  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Air Conditioners - Minimum Energy Performance, Labelling and Testing 
Requirements for Low -Capacity Window Type and Single -Split (ID 668)  (raised by Republic of Korea)  
United  States:  Energy Conservation Program: Energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers 
(ID 670) (raised by China)  
India:  Refrigerating Appliances (Quality Control) Order, 2020 (ID 671) (raised by Republic of Korea)  
Thailand:  Ministerial Regulation Presc ribing Description, Production, and Method of Displaying of Standard 
Marks on the Industrial Products (ID 672) (raised by United  States)  
Mexico:  Conformity Assessment Procedure under Mexican Official Standard NOM -223-SCFI/SAGARPA - 
2018, "Cheese Names, Specifications, Commercial Information, and Test Methods" published on 
31 January  2019 (ID 678) (raised by United  States)  
Nigeria:  Onerous testing and conformity requirements by Société générale de surveillance  (SGS) for 
machinery and their parts (ID 679) (raised by India)  
European  Union: Testing methods for prohibited chemicals of regulation on cosmetic products (ID 680) 
(raised by  China)  
India:  Plain Copier Paper (Quality Order) 2020 (ID 681) (raised by Indonesia)  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:  Concerns on conformity assessment practices of Saudi Arabia against Turkish 
products (ID  683) (raised by Turkey)  
European  Union:  Draft EU Batteries Regulation (implementation of the European Green Deal) (ID 685) 
(raised by China; Russian  Federation)  
Egypt: Regulatory Guidelines for the Circulation of Cosmetics Products in Egypt (ID 686) (raised by 
European  Union)  
Russian  Federation:  On Safety of Wheeled Vehicles (TR CU 018/2011) (ID 687) (raised by Republic of 
Korea)  
Viet Nam:  The List of products and goods with unsafe capability under management responsibility of 
Ministry of Information and Communications (ID 688) ( raised by Republic of Korea ) 
Ecuador: Sanitary Technical Regulation on processed foods, processing plants, estab lishments for the 
distribution, marketing, and transportation of processed foods, and mass catering establishments (ID 689) 
(raised by United  States)  
European  Union: Chemical strategy for sustainability (implementation of the European Green Deal) (ID 
690) (raised by Russian  Federation)  
Republic of Korea:  Amendment of particular requirements for appliances for heating liquids (KC 60335 -2-
15) (ID 691) (raised by China)  
Canada: Concentration of Nicotine in Vaping Products Regulation (ID 692) (raised by Japan)  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 36 - 
 
  New STCs  
Chile:  Amendment to the general regulation of the compulsory system for livestock classification and the 
grading, marking and marketing of beef (ID 693) (raised by Brazil)  
European  Union:  Withdrawal of the approval of the active substance alpha -cypermethrin (ID  694) (raised 
by Brazil)  
Colombia:  Biofuels Decree – Resolution No.  40111 of 9  April 2021 (ID 695)  (raised by European  Union)  
Argentina:  Requirement of affidavit along with the product certification from a certified body for export of 
boards derived from  wood (ID 696) (raised by India)  
Colombia:  Good manufacturing practices of overseas production establishments (ID 697) (raised by 
European  Union)  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:  Technical Regulation for Building Materials – Part 4: Bricks, Tiles, Ceramics, 
Sanitary Appliances, and related products (published in the official gazette on 22 March 2019) (ID 698) 
(raised by European  Union)  
European  Union:  The specific test procedures  and technical requirements for the type -approval of motor 
vehicles with regard to the driver drowsiness and attention warning systems (ID 699) (raised by China)  
European  Union: Uniform procedures and technical specifications for the type -approval of motor vehicles 
with regard to their emergency lane keeping system (ELKS) (ID 700) (raised by China)  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Order on Standards for Import Products (ID 701) (raised b y India)  
United Arab Emirates:  Requirement of G -mark for every toy (ID 702) (raised by India)  
European Union: Phosmet (ID 703) (raised by Chile)  
Mexico:  Various State Measures Restricting Sale of Food and Drink Products to Minors (ID 648) (raised by 
United States)  
China: CSAR - Draft Specifications for Cosmetic Registration and Filings; Draft Specifications for 
Registration and Filing of New Cosmetics Ingredients; Draft Specifications for Cosmetic Efficacy Claim 
Evaluation, Provisions for the Supervisio n and Administration of Toothpaste (ID665) ( raised by Australia; 
Japan; Republic of Korea; United  States ) 
India:  Flat Transparent Sheet Glass and Safety Glass (Quality Control) Order (ID669) (raised by Republic of 
Korea)  
Oman: Water heaters -energy performance requirements; Electrical Clothes Washing Machines Energy and 
Water performance requirements and Refrigerators, Refrigerator -Freezers and Freezers -Energy 
Performance, Testing and Labeling Requirements (ID 673)  (raised by Republic of Korea)  
India: Caustic Soda Quality Control Order, 2017 (ID674) (raised by Chinese  Taipei)  
European  Union:  Non-recognit ion of test certificates (by Italy and the Netherlands) issued to electrical 
equipment by Central Power Research Institute (CPRI) (ID 675) (raised by India)  
Canada:  Medical Device Single Audit Program (MDSAP) (ID 676) (raised by China)  
China:  Inventory o f Existing Chemical Substances Produced or Imported in China (IECSC) requiring 
mandatory registration of certain chemicals for import and not notified at WTO (ID 677) (raised by India)  
Morocco: Automotive glass testing requirements (ID 682) (raised by Chi na) 
Turkey:  Eco-design regulation (ID684) (raised by  Republic of Korea ) 
China: Provisions for Cosmetics Registration (Draft for Comments) (ID641) (raised by Japan; Republic of 
Korea; United  States)  
China:  Administrative Measures on Cosmetic Labeling (ID 642)  (raised by Japan; Republic of Korea)  
Mexico:  Decree amending, supplementing, and repealing various provisions of the Regulations on Sanitary 
Control of Products and Services and the Implementing Regul ations to the General Law on Health with 
Respect to Advertising (ID  645) (raised by United  States)  
Zimbabwe: Electricity (Minimum Energy Efficiency Performance of Domestic Electrical Appliances) 
Regulations, 2020 (ID  647) (raised by Republic of Korea)  
European  Union:  Information requirements in SCIP database (ID 655)  (raised by China)  
Tajikistan: Additional inspection control of imported food products for palm oil content (ID 656) (raised by 
Russian  Federation)  
India:  Phthalic Anhydride (Quality Contr ol) Order, 2019 (ID 660) (raised by Chinese  Taipei)  
Viet Nam:  Decree No.  17/2020/ND -CP (ID661) (raised by Thailand)  
United  States: Revised Origin Marking Requirement for Goods Produced in Hong Kong (ID 664)  (raised by 
Hong Kong, China)  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.70.   The overall trend suggests an increasing use of the TBT Committee as a forum for Members 
to raise and resolve trade concerns non -litigiously. In 2021 , a record was reached with the largest 
number of STCs raised in a Committee, with 82 and 86 new and previo usly raised STCs during the 
TBT Committees of February and June, respectively, surpassing the previous record of 77 STCs 
raised in the October 2020 Committee  (Chart 3.15). The next TBT Committee meeting will be held 
in November 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 37 - 
 
  Chart 3.15 STCs raised  per year , 1995 -2021 
 
Note:  The methodology of counting previously raised STCs was revised. The new methodology counts an 
STC each time it is raised: if raised for the first time, it is counted as a new STC, and if raised again, 
it is counted as a previously raised STC. The 2021 data only cover the two TBT Committee meetings 
that fell within the review period.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.71.   During the review period, which includes STCs raised in the meeting s of the  TBT Committee 
in October 2020, February 2021 and June 2021 , eight "persistent"  STCs – i.e. those previously raised 
STCs that were raised more than 16 times in TBT Committee meetings – were discussed 
(Table  3.14). All of these persistent STCs concerned measures by G20 members.  
Table 3.14 Persistent STCs raised between 15 October 2020 and 15 October 2021  
Persistent STCs  
India:  Pneumatic tyres and tubes for automotive vehicles (ID 133) - raised 36 times since 2006  
China:  Requirements for information security products, including, inter alia , the Office of State Commercial 
Cryptography Administration (OSCCA) 1999 Regulation on commercial encryption products and its ongoing 
revision and the Multi -Level Protection Scheme (MLPS) (ID 294) - raised 31 times  since 2011  
Russian  Federation: Draft Te chnical Regulation on Alcohol Drinks Safety (published on 24  October  2011) 
(ID 332) - raised 28 times  since 2012  
European  Union:  Draft Implementing Regulations amending Regulation (EC) No.  607/2009 laying down 
detailed rules for the application of Council  Regulation (EC) No.  479/2008 as regards protected designations 
of origin and geographical indications, traditional terms, labelling and presentation of certain wine sector 
products (ID 345) - raised 26 time s since 2012  
India: Electronics and Information Technology Goods (Requirements for Compulsory Registration) Order, 
2012 (ID 367) - raised 25 times  since 2013  
European  Union:  Hazard -based approach to plant protection products and setting of import tolerances 
(ID 393) - raised 24 times  since 2013 
China:  Regulations for the Supervision and Administration of Medical Devices (Order No.  650 of the State 
Council) (ID 428) - raised 21 times  since 2014  
China:  Registration Fees for Drugs and Medical Device Products (ID 466) - raised 18 times  since 2 015 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.   
4
6
11
13
5
13
15
20
15
14
12
24
27
32
46
29
43
35
42
47
37
31
27
22
35
57
394
6
12
12
32
20
34
22
35
20
41
51
74
85
88
107
125
88
101
124
142
152
162
150
156
1294
10
17
25
17
45
35
54
37
49
32
65
78
106
131
117
150
160
130
148
161
173
179
184
185
213
168
050100150200250
New STCs Previously raised STCsSTCs raised per year, 1995 -2021
(Number)
Source:  WTO Secretariat.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 38 - 
 
  TBT Committee discussions during the COVID -19 pandemic  
3.72.   Members continued to use the eAgenda platform, with 52 Members engaging through the 
platform over the three TBT Committees held within the review period.  
3.73.   In addition to the regular meeting of the TBT Committee on 28 -29 October  2020, Members 
held an informal meeting of the Committee on 8  December  2020 to share experiences on TBT 
measures that they  adopted,  or were planning to adopt,  in response to the COVID -19 pandemic. 
Members implemented measures such as shifting from on -site inspections to remote office 
assessments; capacity -building programme s to address the lack of national alignment to 
international standards, to facilitate access to medical devices during  the pandemic; trade facilitation 
through the extension of validity periods of certificates; and postponing implementation of planned 
regulatory changes and simplifying surveillance and monitoring of notified bodies. The Secretariat 
also provided an overvi ew of two relevant Secretariat documents relevant to TBT -related COVID -19 
measures.  
3.74.   In light of the mandate in Article  15.4, the TBT Committee will complete its Ninth Triennial 
Review of the Operation and Implementation of the TBT  Agreement  at its last me eting of 2021. The 
TBT Committee agreed in October 2020 on a roadmap for its work and Members were invited, in 
line with this timeline, to submit proposals by 28  May 2021. In total, 30 proposals were submitted 
and discussed at formal and informal Committee  meetings. The proposals address a variety of issues 
covered by the work of the Committee, including good regulatory practice, regulatory cooperation 
between Members, standards, conformity assessment procedures, transparency, technical 
assistance and COVID -19. The TBT Committee will hold formal and informal meetings with a view 
to adopting the Ninth Triennial Review in November 2021. During 2021, the TBT Committee also 
continued its work on developing non -prescriptive practical guidelines regarding the choi ce and 
design of appropriate and proportionate conformity assessment procedures.  
3.5  Trade Concerns Raised in Other WTO Bodies45 
3.75.   During the review period, a number of trade issues and concerns were raised by Members in 
formal meetings of various WTO bodies. Th is Section provides a factual overview of such concerns 
raised between mid -October 2020 and mid -October 2021.46 The trade concerns covered in this 
Section have neither the status nor the procedural framework of the STCs raised in the SPS and TBT 
Committees . Nevertheless, they provide an up -to-date insight into which trade issues are being 
discussed by Members across the WTO and, as such, add important transparency. This Section does 
not reproduce the full substantive description of the trade concerns outlin ed by WTO Members, but 
provides a reference to the formal meeting(s) where a particular issue featured. A full account and 
context of the concerns can be found in the formal meeting records of the respective WTO bodies. 
The list of concerns and issues ment ioned in this Section is not exhaustive.  
3.76.   At the 1 -2 and 4 March 2021 meeting of the General Council  (GC)47, the delegations of 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay48 called on Members to exercise restraint in 
the adoption and implementation of export restrictions on COVID -19 vaccines. At the 5 -6 May 2021 
GC meeting49, the delegations of Paraguay, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica called on 
Members to exercise r estraint in the adoption and implementation of trade restrictions that block 
equal access to COVID -19 vaccines. At the 27 -28 July 2021 GC meeting50, a concern was raised on 
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Restrictive Policies on Poultry Imports (raised by Br azil). 
 
45 This Section does not include the SPS and TBT Committees (covered separately). Issues raised in this 
Section may subsequently have become the subject of a dispute.  
46 Members are encouraged to communicate to the Trade Monitorin g Section of the WTO trade issues 
which they have raised in WTO bodies and which they believe are relevant to the monitoring exercise.  
47 WTO document WT/GC/M/190 , 23 April 2021 . 
48 WTO document WT/GC/W/818 , 18 February 2021 . 
49 WTO document WT/GC/M/191 , 8 Ju ly 2021 . 
50 WTO document WT/GC/M/192 , 4 October 2021 . The matter has been also raised in the Committee on 
Agriculture and the SPS Committee.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 39 - 
 
  3.77.   During the review period, the Council for Trade in Goods  (CTG) held two meetings. At the 
CTG meeting on 25 -26 November 202051, seven new trade concerns were raised as per Table  3.15. 
Table 3.15 New trad e concerns raised at the 25 -26 November 2020 CTG meeting  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
China – Implementation of Trade Disruptive and Restrictive 
Measures  Australia  
Egypt – Import Restrictions for Sugar  European Union  
Nigeria – Foreign Exchange Restrictions Affecting Dairy Imports  European Union  
Panama – Import Restricting Practices  Costa Rica  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Trade Restrictive Policies and Practices 
Concerning Turkey  Turkey  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Various  Products  European Union  
United States - Revised Origin Marking Requirement for Goods 
Produced in Hong  Kong Hong Kong, China  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.78.   At the same meeting, 26 previously raised concerns were revisited by the Council as per 
Table  3.16. 
Table 3.16 Previously raised concerns repeated at the 25 -26 November 2020 CTG 
meeting  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Angola – Import Restricting Practices  Russian Federation  
Australia – Discriminatory Market Access Prohibition on 5G 
Equipment  China  
China – Customs Duties on Certain Integrated Circuits  European Union, Japan  
China – Export Control Law  European Union, Japan  
China – Measures Restricting the Import of Scrap Materials  United States  
Egypt – Manufacturer Registration System  European Union, Russian Federation  
European Union – Amendments to the Directive 2009/28/EC, 
Renewable Energy Directive  Colombia  
European Union – Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (t he 
European Green Deal of December 2019)  Armenia, China, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyz  Republic, Russian Federation  
European Union – Draft Implementing Regulations regarding 
Protected Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications, 
Traditional Terms, Labelling and Presentation of Certain Wine Sector 
Products  United States  
European Union – Enlargement of the EU to include Croatia: 
Negotiations under Article  XXIV:6 of the GATT  1994 Russian  Federation  
European Union – Implementation of Non -Tariff Barriers on 
Agricultural Products  Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, 
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, 
Paraguay, United States, Uruguay  
European Union – Proposed Modification of TRQ Commitments: 
Systemic Concerns  Australia, Brazil, Can ada, China, 
New Zealand, Russian Federation, 
United States, Uruguay  
European Union – Quality Schemes for Agricultural Products and 
Foodstuffs – the Registration of Certain Terms of Cheese as 
Geographical Indications  United States, Uruguay  
European Union – Regulation (EU) No. 2017/2321 and Regulation 
(EU) No. 2018/825  China, Russian Federation  
European Union – Regulation EC No. 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation)  Russian Federation  
India – Restrictions on Imports of Certain Pulses  Australia, Canada, European Union, 
Russian Federation, Ukraine, 
United  States  
Indonesia – Import and Export Restricting Policies and Practices  European Union, Japan, 
New Zealand  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, 
Oman, and Qatar – Selective Tax on Certain Imported Products  European Union, Japan, Switzerland, 
United States  
Mexico – Front of Pack Nutrition Labelling (Nom -51) United States  
Mongolia – Measures Applied with respect to Certain Agricultural 
Products  Russian Federation  
Russian Fed eration – Trade Restricting Practices  European Union  
 
51 WTO document G/C/M/138 , 12 March 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 40 - 
 
  Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
United Kingdom – Draft Goods Schedule and Proposed 
UK TRQ Commitments: Systemic Concerns  Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, 
New Zealand, Russian Federation, 
United States, Uruguay  
United States – Executive Order on Securing the Bulk -Power System  China  
United States – Export Control Measures for ICT Products  China  
United States – Import Restrictions on Apples and Pears  European Union  
United States – Measures regarding Market Access Prohibition fo r 
ICT Products  China  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.79.   At the CTG meeting on 31 March and 1 April 202152 five new trade concerns were raised as 
per Table  3.17. 
Table 3.17 New trade concerns raised at the CTG 31 March and 1 April 2021 meetings  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
European Union  – COVID -19 Vaccine Export Transparency and 
Authorization Measure  Australia  
India – Mandatory Certification for Steel Products  Japan  
India – Import Restrictions on Air Conditioners  Japan  
Mexico – Conformity Assessment Procedure for Cheese under 
Mexican Official Standard  NOM-223-SCFI/SAGARPA -2018 United States  
European Union – Sweden's Discrimina tory Market Access Prohibition 
on 5G  Equipment  China  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.80.   At the same meeting, 27 previously raised concerns were revisited by the Council as per 
Table  3.18. 
Table 3.18 Previously raised trade concerns repeated at the CTG 31 March and 1 April 
2021 meetings  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Angola – Import Restricting Practices  Russian Federation  
Australia – Discriminator y Market Access Prohibition on 5G 
Equipment  China  
China – Customs Duties on Certain Integrated Circuits  European Union, Japan  
China – Export Control Law  European Union, Japan  
China – Implementation of Trade Disruptive and Restrictive 
Measures  Australia  
China – Measures Restricting the Import of Scrap Materials  United States  
Egypt – Import Restrictions for Sugar  European Union  
Egypt – Manufacturer Registration System  European Union, Russian Federation  
European Union – Carbon Border Adjustmen t Mechanism (the 
European Green Deal of December 2019)  Armenia, China, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyz  Republic, Kingdom of Saudi 
Arabia, Qatar, Russian Federation  
European Union – Draft Implementing Regulations regarding 
Protected Designations of Origin and Geographical Indications, 
Traditional Terms, Labelling and Presentation of Certain Wine Sector 
Products  United States  
European Union – Implementation of Non -Tariff Barriers on 
Agricultural Products  Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, 
Costa Rica, Côte d'I voire, Ecuador, 
Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, 
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
United  States, Uruguay  
European Union – Proposed Modification of TRQ Commitments: 
Systemic Concerns  Australia, Brazil, China, 
New Zealand, Uruguay  
European Union – Quality Schemes for Agricultural Products and 
Foodstuffs – the Registration of Certain Terms of Cheese as 
Geographical Indications  Uruguay  
European Union – Regulation (EU) No. 2017/2321 and Regulation 
(EU) No. 2018/825  China, Russian Federation  
European Union – Regulation EC No. 1272/2008 (CLP Regulation)  Russian Federation  
 
52 WTO document G/C/M/139 , 16 June 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 41 - 
 
  Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
India – Restrictions on Imports of Certain Pulses  Australia, Canada, European Union, 
Russian Federation, Ukraine, 
United  States  
Indonesia – Import and Export Restricting Policies and Practices  Australia, European Union, Japan, 
New Zealand, United States  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Trade Restrictive Policies and Practices 
Concerning Turkey  Turkey  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, 
State of Kuwait, Oman, a nd Qatar – Selective Tax on Certain 
Imported Products  European Union, Japan, Switzerland, 
United States  
Mongolia – Measures Applied with respect to Certain Agricultural 
Products  Russian Federation  
Russian Federation – Trade Restricting Practices  European  Union, United States  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Various Products  Australia, European Union  
United Kingdom – Draft Goods Schedule and Proposed 
UK TRQ Commitments: Systemic Concerns  Australia, Brazil, China, 
New Zealand, Russian Federation, 
Uruguay  
United States – Executive Order on Securing the Bulk -Power System  China  
United States – Export Control Measures for ICT Products  China  
United States – Import Restrictions on Apples and Pears  European Union  
United States – Measures regarding Market Acces s Prohibition for 
ICT Products  China  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.81.   At the CTG meeting on 8 and 9 July 202153, 10 new trade concerns were raised (Table  3.19). 
Table 3.19 New trade concerns raised at the 8 -9 July 2021 CTG meeting  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
India – Caustic Soda Quality Control Order  Chinese Taipei  
India – Import Policy on Tyres  Chinese Taipei, European Union, Indonesia  
Sri Lanka  – Import Ban on Palm Oil  Indonesia  
India – Indian Standards and Import Restriction in the 
Automotive Sector (Quality Control Orders): Wheel 
Rims, Safety Glass, Helmet  Indonesia  
India – Plain Copier Paper Quality Order  2020 Indonesia  
China – Cosmetics Supervision and Administration 
Regulations (CSAR)  Australia, Japan, United States  
China – Subsidy Transparency and China's Publication 
and Inquiry Point Obligations under China's Protocol of 
Accession  Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, 
United Kingdom, United States  
European Union – the European Green Deal  Russian Federation  
United Kingdom – Extension of Safeguard Measures on 
Certain Steel Products  Brazil, Switzerland  
European Union – Extension of Safeguard Measures on 
Certain Steel Prod ucts Brazil  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.82.   At the same meeting, 25 previously raised concerns were brought to the Council's attention 
(Table  3.20). 
Table 3.20 Previously raised concerns repeated at the 8 -9 July 2021 CTG meeting  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Angola – Import Restricting Practices  Russian Federation  
Australia – Discriminatory Market Access Prohibition on 
5G Equipment  China 
China – Export Control Law  European Union, Japan  
China – Implementation of Trade Disruptive and 
Restrictive Measures  Australia  
China – Measures Restricting the Import of Scrap 
Materials  United States  
Egypt – Manufacturer Registration System  European Union, Russian Federation  
 
53 WTO document G/C/M/140 , 21 October 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 42 - 
 
  Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
European Union – Carbon Border Adjustment 
Mechanism (the European Green Deal of December 
2019)  Armenia, Kingdom of Bahrain, China, 
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Qatar, 
Russian  Federation, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  
European  Union – Implementation of Non -Tariff Barriers 
on Agricultural Products  Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, 
Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, 
Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, 
United States, Uruguay  
European Union – Proposed Mo dification of TRQ 
Commitments: Systemic Concerns  Brazil, China, Uruguay  
European Union – Draft Implementing Regulations 
regarding Protected Designations of Origin and 
Geographical Indications, Traditional Terms, Labelling 
and Presentation of Certain Wine Sector Products  United States  
European Union – Quality Schemes for Agricultural 
Products and Foodstuffs – the Registration of Certain 
Terms of Cheese as Geographical Indications  Argentina, Uruguay  
European Union – Regulation (EU) No. 2017/2321 and 
Regulation (EU) No. 2018/825  China, Russian Federation  
European Union – Regulation EC No. 1272/2008 (CLP 
Regulation)  Russian Federation  
European Union – Sweden's Discriminatory Market 
Access Prohibition on 5G  Equipment  China  
India – Import Restrictions  on Air Conditioners  Japan  
India – Mandatory Certification for Steel Products  Japan  
India – Restrictions on Imports of Certain Pulses  Australia, Canada, European Union, 
Russian  Federation, United States  
Indonesia – Import and Export Restricting Policies and 
Practices  European Union, Japan, New Zealand, 
United  States  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, the 
United Arab Emirates, the State of Kuwait, Oman, and 
Qatar – Selective Tax on Certain Imported Products  European Union, Japan, Switzerland, United 
States  
Mexico – Conformity Assessment Procedure for Cheese 
under Mexican Official Standard  NOM-223-
SCFI/SAGARPA -2018 United States  
Russian Federation – Trade Restricting Practices  European Union, United States  
Sri Lanka  – Import Ban on Various Products  Australia, European Union  
United Kingdom – Draft Goods Schedule and Proposed 
UK TRQ Commitments: Systemic Concerns  Brazil, China, Russian Federation, Uruguay  
United States – Export Control Measures for ICT 
Products  China  
United States – Import Restrictions on Apples and Pears  European Union  
United States – Measures regarding Market Access 
Prohibition for ICT Products  China  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.83.   At the 12 November 2020 meeting of the Committee on Marke t Access  (CMA)54, five new 
trade concerns were raised on: (i) the Russian Federation's draft decree restricting imports by certain 
entities (raised by European Union); (ii) the Russian Federation's track and trace Regime (raised by 
United States); (iii) Sr i Lanka's import ban on various products (raised by European Union); (iv) 
Panama's import -restrictive measures (raised by Costa Rica); and (v) India's import policies on 
tyres, television sets, and air conditioners (raised by European Union and Thailand). Persistent trade 
concerns were also raised on: (i) Angola's import restriction practices (raised by Russian Federation 
and United  States); (ii) China's custom duties on certain integrated circuits (raised by European 
Union, Japan, and Chinese Taipei); (iii ) the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism 
(the European Green Deal of December 2019) (raised by Russian Federation); (iv) the EU 
enlargement negotiations under Article XXIV:6 of the GATT 1994 to include Croatia (raised by 
Russian Federation ); (v) the EU renegotiations of tariff rate quotas under Article XXVIII of the GATT 
1994 (raised by Russian Federation); (vi) the rectifications and modifications of the United Kingdom's 
Schedule XIX (raised by Russian Federation); (vii) India's customs du ties on telecommunication and 
other products (raised by China); (viii) India's quantitative restrictions on imports of certain pulses 
(raised by Australia, Canada, European  Union, Russian Federation and United States); (ix) 
Indonesia's customs duties on te lecommunication products (raised by United States); (x) Mongolia's 
quantitative restrictions and prohibitions on the importation of certain agricultural products (raised 
 
54 WTO document G/MA/M/73, 7 April 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 43 - 
 
  by Russian Federation); (xi) Nepal's import ban on energy drinks (raised by Thailand) and (xii) the 
selective tax on certain imported products by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, 
United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar (raised by European Union, Switzerland and United States).  
3.84.   At the 29 -30 April 2021 meeting of the CMA55, 22 tr ade concerns were raised, of which 8 were 
new (Table  3.21).  
Table 3.21 Trade concerns raised at the 29 -30 April 2021 of Committee on Market 
Access  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising/interested in the concern  
Angola – Import Restriction Practices  Russian Federation, United States  
China  – Customs Duties on Certain Integrated Circuits  European Union, Japan, Chinese  Taipei  
China – Trade Disruptive and Restrictive Measures 
(new)  Australia  
European Union  – Carbon Border Adjustment 
Mechanism  
(The European Green Deal of December 2019)  Armenia, Kingdom of Bahrain, China, Kazakhstan, 
Kyrgyz Republic, Qatar, Russian Federation, 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  
European Union – Vaccine Export Transparency 
Mechanism (new)  Australia  
Egypt – Manufacturer Registration System (Decree N o. 
43/2016) (new)  Russian Federation  
India – Customs Duties on Telecommunication and 
Other Products  China  
India – Import Policies on Tyres  European Union  
India – Import Restriction on Air Conditioners  Japan  
India – Quantitative Restrictions on Imports of Certain 
Pulses  Australia, Canada, European Union, 
Russian  Federation, United States  
Indonesia  – Customs Duties on Certain 
Telecommunication Products  United States  
Indonesia  – Import Restriction on Air Conditioners 
(new)  Japan  
Mexico – Import Quota on Glyphosate (new)  United States  
Mongolia – Quantitative Restrictions on the 
Importation of Certain Agricultural Products  Russian Federation  
Nepal  – Import Ban on Energy Drinks  Thailand  
Russian Federation – Export Prohibition on Timber 
Products (new)  European Union  
Russian Federation – Track and Trace Regime  United States  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain, United 
Arab Emirates, State of Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar - 
Selective Tax on Certain Imported Products  European Union, Japan, Switzerland, United States  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Various Products  Australia, European Union  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Palm Oil (new)  Indonesia  
United Kingdom  – Rectifications and Modifications of 
Schedule XIX  Russian Federation  
United Kingdom  – Renegotiation of Tariff Rate Quotas 
under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994  Russian Federation  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.85.   At the 11 October 2021 meeting of the CMA56, 21 trade concerns were raised, of which 5 were 
new (Table  3.22).  
Table 3.22 Trade concerns raised at the 11 October 2021 meeting of the CMA  
Measures (implemented by)  Member(s) raising/interested in the concern  
Angola – Import Restriction Practices  European Union, Russian Federation, and United States  
Canada – Restrictions on the Commercial 
Importation of Cannabis and Cannabis 
Products for Medical Use (new)  Colombia  
China – Trade Disruptive and Restrictive 
Measures  Australia, Canada, European Union, Japan, New Zealand, 
United Kingdom, United States  
 
55 WTO document G/MA/M/74, 4 October 2021.  
56 WTO document G/MA/M/75, forthcoming.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 44 - 
 
  Measures (implemented by)  Member(s) raising/interested in the concern  
European Union  – Carbon Border Adjustment 
Mechanism (CBAM)  Australia, Kingdom of Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, 
Egypt, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, 
Paraguay, Russian Federation, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 
and Chinese Taipei  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of 
Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, State o f 
Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar  – Selective Tax on 
Certain Imported Products  European Union, Japan Switzerland, United States  
India – Indian Standards and Import 
Restrictions in the Automotive Sector (Quality 
Orders): Wheel Rims, Safety Class, Helmets 
(new)  Indonesia  
India – Plain Copier Paper Quality Order 2020 
(new)  Indonesia  
India – Quantitative Restrictions on Imports 
of Certain Pulses  Australia, Canada, European Union, Russian Federation, 
Ukraine, United States  
India – Import Policies on Tyres  European U nion, Republic of Korea , Indonesia, 
Chinese  Taipei, United States  
India – Import Restriction on Air Conditioners  Japan  
India – Import Policies on Tyres, Television 
Sets, And Air Conditioners  Thailand  
Indonesia - Import Substitution Programme 
(new)  European Union, United States  
Indonesia – Customs Duties on Certain 
Telecommunication Products  Canada, European Union, Japan, United States  
Mexico – Import Quota on Glyphosate  Canada, United States  
Nepal  – Import Ban on Energy Drinks  Thailand, United  States  
Russian Federation – Export Prohibition on 
Timber Products  European Union, United States  
Russian Federation – Discriminatory 
Application of Value Added Taxes (new)  United States  
Russian Federation – Track and Trace Regime  European Union, United States  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Various Products  Australia, European Union, Japan, Thailand, United States  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Palm Oil  Colombia, Indonesia  
United Kingdom  – Renegotiation of Tariff Rate 
Quotas under Article XXVIII of the GATT 1994  India, Mexico, New Zealand, Russian Federation  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.86.   At the 29 -30 April 2021 and the 11 October 2021 CMA meetings, Members also raised 
concerns in the context of the review of notifications under the 2012 Decision on notification 
procedures for quantitative restrictions.57  
3.87.   At the 21 April 2021 meeting of the Committee on Import Licensing  (CIL)58, new and 
persistent trade concerns were raised (Table  3.23). 
Table 3.23 Trade concerns raised at the April 2021 CIL meeting  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Argentina – Import Licensing System  United States  
Angola  – Import Licensing Requirements  European Union  
China  – Changes to Import Licensing for Certain 
Recoverable Materials  United States  
Dominican Republic – Import Licensing System  United States  
Egypt – Import Licensing System  United States  
Egypt  – Import Licensing Requirements for Certain 
Agricultural and Proce ssed Products  European Union  
India – Import Licensing Requirements for Boric Acid  United States  
India – Quantitative Restrictions on Certain Pulses  Canada, Australia, European Union  
India – Importation of Pneumatic Tyres  European Union  
Indonesia – Import Licensing System  European Union  
Indonesia – Import Licensing Regime for Cell 
phones, Handheld Computers and Tablets  United States  
Indonesia  – Import Licensing Restricting Policies and 
Practices  Australia  
 
57 WTO document G/L/59/Rev.1, 3 July 2012.  
58 WTO document G/LIC/M/52, 30 July 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 45 - 
 
  Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Indonesia  – Import Restriction s: Compulsory 
Registration by Importers of Steel Products  Japan  
Indonesia  – Import Licensing Regime for Certain 
Textile Products  European Union, Japan  
Indonesia  – Import Restrictions on Air Conditioners  European Union, Japan  
Philippines – Import Licensing System  United States  
Thailand  – Importation of Feed Wheat  European Union  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.88.   At the 8 October 2021 meeting of the Committee on Import Licensing  (CIL)59, new and 
persistent trade concerns were raised (Table 3.24). 
Table 3.24 Trade concerns raised at the October 2021 CIL meeting  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Angola  – Import Licensing R equirements  European Union  
China  – Changes to Import Licensing for Certain 
Recoverable Materials  United States  
Egypt  – Import Licensing Requirements for Certain 
Agricultural and Processed Products  European Union  
India – Import Licensing Requirements for Boric Acid  United States  
India – Quantitative Restrictions on Certain Pulses  Canada  
India – Importation of Pneumatic  Tyres  European Union, Indonesia  
Indonesia  – Import Restrictions: Compulsory 
Registration by Importers of Steel Products  Japan  
Indonesia  – Import Licensing Regime for Certain 
Textile Products  European Union, Japan  
Philippines – Import Licensing System  United States  
Sri Lanka – Import Ban on Palm Oil  Indonesia  
Tanzania – Import Licensing Regimes  United States  
Thailand  – Importation of Feed Wheat  European Union  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.89.   At the meeting of the Committee on Rules of Origin  on 30 October 202060, trade concerns 
were raised on the United States' country of origin marking (raised by Hong Kong, China).  
3.90.   The Committee of Participants on the Expansion of Trade in Information Technology Products  
(ITA Committee) has held two f ormal meetings on 15 April and 17 September 2021.61 At the 15 
April meeting, an implementation issue was raised concerning Indonesia, calling for aligning the 
tariff treatment of certain ICT products classified under subheading 8517.62 with Indonesia's WTO  
commitments (raised by United States, European Union and Japan). The implementation issue 
concerning Indonesia was reiterated at the Committee's meeting in September 2021. Another two 
implementation issues, concerning India (raised by China) and China (ra ised by European Union, 
Japan, and Chinese Taipei) were raised at the Committee's meeting in April.  
3.91.   At the 30 November -1 December 2020, 29 -30 March, 17 -18 June, and  23-24 September 2021 
meetings of the Committee on Agriculture  (CoA)62, several questions and concerns were raised with 
respect to Members' individual notifications, and on specific implementation matters (SIMs) under 
Article  18.6. During the review period, a total of 515 questions were discussed on individual 
notifications (287 questions), Article 18.6 matters (212 questions covering 110 SIMs), and overdue 
notifications (16 questions). Additional details regarding these questions and concerns can be found 
in Section 3.6 of  this Report.  
 
59 WTO document G/LIC/M/53, forthcoming.  
60 WTO document G/RO/M/75, 1 February 2020.  
61 WTO documents G/IT/M/73 , 29 June 2021  and G/IT/M/74, forthcoming.  
62 Questions raised under the review process in the CoA meetings on 30 November – 1 December 2020, 
29-30 March 2021, 17 -18 June and 2 3-24 September 2021 are available in WTO documents G/AG/W/208, 
19 November 2020; G/AG/W/210, 18 March 2021; G/AG/W/212 , 4 June 2021;  and G/AG/W/213 , 8 September 
2021. The questions, responses and follow -up comments are available through the Q&A section of the 
Agriculture Information Management System. Viewed at: http://agims.wto.org/.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 46 - 
 
  3.92.   At the meetings of the Committee on An ti-Dumping Practices63 on 28 October 2020 and 
28 April 2021, concerns were raised as per Table 3.25. 
Table 3.25 Concerns raised on anti -dumping practices  
Measures implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Australia - Sunset review – Ammonium Nitrate  Russian Federation  
Australia - Repetitive initiations on similar products: Aluminium 
micro -extrusions and Aluminium zinc coated steel (<600mm)  - Hot 
dip galvanised steel angle and solid base angle  China  
Canada - Sunset review – refined sugar  European Union  
Canada - Investigation - concrete reinforcing bars  Russian Federation  
China - Investigation and imposition of ADDs – barely  Australia  
China - Investigation - wines  Australia  
China - Final determinat ion and continued imposition of ADDs - 
stainless billets and hot -rolled plates and coils  Japan  
China - Final determination and continued imposition of ADDs – 
optical fibre preform  Japan  
Dominican Republic - Sunset review - steel reinforcing bars  Turkey  
Egypt - Initiation - pre-stressed concrete steel strands  Turkey  
Egypt - Initiation - machine -made carpet and other floor coverings  Turkey  
European Union - Investigation - steel wheels  China  
European Union - Investigation - glass fibre fabrics products  China  
European Union  - Final determination and continued imposition of 
ADDs – grain-oriented flat -rolled products of electrical steel (GOES)  Japan  
India - Final determination and continued imposition of ADDs – 
phthalic anhydride  Japan  
Indonesia - Final determination and continued imposition of ADDs - 
cold rolled stainless sheet  Japan  
Republic of Korea - Final determination and continued imposition of 
ADDs based on the 4th sunset review - stainless steel bar  Japan  
Mexico - Measures - bond paper  Brazil  
Mexico - Sunset review - hot-rolled sheet  Ukraine  
Mexico - Sunset review - alloy and non -alloy carbon steel plate in 
sheets and bars  Ukraine  
Mexico - Sunset review – bars and rods of iron or non -alloy steel  Ukraine  
Mexico - Continued application of an AD measure - cold-rolled sheet  Kazakhstan  
Mexico - Final determination and continued imposition of ADDs - 
seamless steel tubing  Japan  
Pakistan - Sunset review – cold-rolled coils/sheets  Ukraine  
Philippines - Sunset review and extension of measures – wheat flour  Turkey  
South Africa - Sunset review – frozen potato chips  European Union  
South Africa - Sunset review - frozen bone -in chicken portions  European Union  
South Africa - Initiation - Frozen bone -in portions of the species 
Gallus Domesticus  Brazil  
Thailand - Final determination and continued imposition of ADDs - 
flat cold rolled stainless steel and flat hot rolled steel in coils and not 
in coils  Japan  
Ukraine - Initiation - cement   Turkey  
Ukraine - Initiation - pivot-reclining devices (mechanisms) for 
window and balcony door blocks  Turkey  
United Kingdom - Transitional review - welded tubes and pipes of 
iron or non -alloy steel  Russian Federation  
United States - Administrative review - frozen warmwa ter shrimp  China  
United States - Multiple actions on aluminium products/sheets  China  
United States - Provisional measure - common alloy aluminium sheet  Norway  
United States - Provisional measure - common alloy alumin ium sheet  European Union  
United States - Provisional determination - seamless carbon and 
alloy steel standard, line, and pressure pipe  Russian Federation  
United States - Provisional measures - prestressed concrete steel 
wire strand  Ukraine  
United States - Initiation - seamless c arbon and alloy steel standard, 
line, and pressure pipe  Ukraine  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 
63 WTO documents G/ADP/M/58 , 29 January 2021;  and G/ADP/M/59 , 29 July 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 47 - 
 
  3.93.   Other issues and concerns raised concerned: (i) the length of the United States anti -dumping 
measures – 19 prolonged measures (raised by Japan); (ii) the European Uni on's Regulation (EU) 
2017/2321 and Regulation (EU) 2018/825 (item placed on the agenda by Russian Federation and 
supported by China); (iii) overall importance of prompt notifications for transparency purposes 
(raised by the United States) and (iv) transiti onal reviews of anti -dumping measures conducted by 
the United Kingdom (raised by China and Russian Federation).  
3.94.   At the meetings of the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  on 27 October 
2020 and 27 April 2021 concerns were raised on subsidies as per Table 3.26. 
Table 3.26 Concerns raised at the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  
Measures implemented by  Member(s ) raising the concern  
Canada - Sunset review – Refined sugar  European Union  
China - Countervailing duty investigation - n-Propanol (NPA)  United States  
China - Countervailing duty investigation – Barley  Australia  
China - Provisional measures - Wines in containers holding 2 litres or 
less Australia  
European Union - Countervailing duty investigation - certain woven 
and/or stitched glass fibre fabrics  China, Egypt  
United States - Provisional measures - Phosphate fertilizers  Morocco, Russian Fede ration  
United States - Provisional measures – Seamless carbon and alloy 
steel standard, line, and pressure pipe  Russian Federation  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.95.   Additional concerns were raised on: (i) elimination of export subsidies by the Members that 
received extensions under Article 27.4 of the SCM Agreement; (ii) low and declining level of 
compliance with the notification and transparency obligations in the SCM Agreement; (iii) requests 
for information pursuant to Article 25.8 and 25.9 (proposal on proced ures from the United States); 
(iv) subsidies and overcapacity (raised by Canada, European Union, Japan, Norway, and United 
States); (v) request for information on certain alleged subsidy programmes in the steel sector in 
China (raised by European Union and  United States); (vi) countervailing duty regulation of the United 
States regarding designation of developing country status in CVD cases (raised by Brazil); (vii) 
countervailing duty regulation of the United States regarding the assessment of currency 
undervaluation in CVD cases (raised by Brazil and China);  (viii) use of adverse facts available by the 
United States in certain CVD investigations (raised by China); (ix) transitional reviews of 
countervailing measures conducted by the United Kingdom (raised by China and 
Russian  Federation); (x) subsidy transparency and China's publication and inquiry point obligations 
under China's protocol of accession (raised by European Union and United States).  
3.96.   At the meetings of the Committee on Safeguards  held on 26 October 2020 and on 26 April 
202164, concerns were raised on specific safeguard actions as per Table 3.27. 
Table 3.27 Concerns raised at the Committee on Safeguards  
Measure Implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Costa Rica  
Investigation on refined white sugar Brazil  
European Union  
Investigation on certain steel products  Japan, Republic of Korea, 
Russian  Federation, Switzerland, 
China, India, Brazil, Turkey  
Kingdom of Bahrain; State of Kuwait; Oman; Qatar; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and United Arab Emiratesa 
Investigation on certain steel products  Japan, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, 
Ukraine, Uni ted States, India  
India 
Investigation on single mode optical fibre  Japan  
Indonesia  
Investigation on carpets and other textile floor coverings  Japan  
Investigation on articles of apparel and clothing accessories  European Union, Japan  
Investigation on cigarette paper  European Union  
Madagascar  
Investigation on pasta  Mauritius  
 
64 WTO documents G/SG/M/57 , 23 February 2021;  and G/SG/M/58 , 27 July 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 48 - 
 
  Measure Implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Malaysia  
Investigation on ceramic floor and wall tiles  Japan  
Morocco  
Investigation on welded pipes and tubes of iron or steel  European Union  
Investigation on wire rods and reinforcing bars  Ukraine  
Investigation on cold rolled sheets in coils or cut, and plated or 
coated sheets  Ukraine  
Peru 
Investigation on clothing  Brazil  
Philippines  
Investigation on galvanized iron sheets, coils and strip s Japan  
Investigation on motor vehicles  Japan, Thailand, Republic of Korea, 
European Union, Indonesia  
South Africa  
Investigation on certain flat rolled products of iron, non -alloy steel 
or other alloy steel  Japan, European Union  
Investigation on U, I, H, L and T sections of iron or non -alloy steel  Republic of Korea, Japan,  
Investigation on bolts with hexagon heads of iron or steel  Chinese Taipei  
Thailand  
Investigation on non -alloy hot rolled steel flat products in coils and 
not in coils  Japan  
Turkey  
Investigation on toothbrushes  European Union  
Investigation on wallpaper and similar wallcoverings  Ukraine, European Union  
Ukraine  
Investigation on fresh cut roses  Ecuador, European Union, Colombia  
Investigation on polymeric materials  European Union  
Investigation on wires  European Union  
United Kingdom  
Investigation on certain steel products  Japan, Russian Federation, Turkey, 
Switzerland, Republic of Korea, China, 
Brazil,  
United States  
Investigation on crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells  China  
Investigation on fresh, chilled, or frozen blueberries  Chile, Peru  
Investigation on large residential washers  Republic of Korea  
Measures taken following Section 232 investigations  India, Japan, European Union, Turkey, 
Russian Federation, China  
Viet Nam  
Investigation on certain semi -finished and finished products of 
alloy and non -alloy steel  Japan  
a Investigations are initiated at the level of the GCC.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.97.   At the meeting of the Trade -Related Investment Measures  (TRIMs) Committee on 23 March 
202165, new or returning issues were raised, as per Table 3.28.  
Table 3.28 Concerns raised at the TRIMs Committee  
Measure implemented by  Member(s) raising the concern  
Indonesia  
Comprehensive review of localization measuresa European Union, Japan, United States  
Import restriction on carpets and other textiles  Japan  
Import restriction on air conditioners  Japan  
India 
Import restriction on air conditioners  Japan  
Import restriction on tires  Japan  
Russian Federation  
Measures implementing the Russian Federation's  import substitution 
policyb European Union, United States  
a WTO docum ents G/TRIMS/Q/IDN/5, 14 May 2019; G/TRIMS/Q/IDN/6 , 13 March 2020; 
G/TRIMS/Q/IDN/7 , 7 June 2020; and G/TRIMS/Q/IDN/8 , 17 July 2020.  
 
65 WTO document G/TRIMS/M/49, 25 May 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 49 - 
 
  b WTO docum ents G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/4, 26 May 2016; G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/5, 27 September 2016; 
G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/6, 27 April 2017; G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/8, 24 January 2018; G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/7, 
8 November 2017 ; G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/9, 22 March 2018; and G/TRIMS/Q/RUS/10 , 2 September 2020.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.98.   At the meeting of the Working Party on State Trade Enterpri ses (STEs) of 2 November 202066, 
trade concerns were raised on: (i) India' s decision not to identify certain entities as STEs in its 2018 
and 2019 notifications (raised by United States and European Union); (ii) Brazil's notification of no 
STEs (raised by United States); (iii) the continued non -notification of STEs by the Russian Federation 
(raised by United States and European Union); and (iv) the low level of compliance with notification 
obligations relating to STEs (raised by United States).  
3.99.   At the meeti ng of the Working Party on STEs of 3 May 202167, trade concerns were raised on: 
(i) Brazil's decision not to identify certain entities as STEs; (ii) the involvement of STEs in China's 
importation of key agricultural commodities and coal (raised by Australi a); (iii) India' s decision not 
to identify certain entities as STEs in its 2018 and 2019 notifications (raised by United States and 
Australia); (iv) the continued non -notification of STEs by the Russian Federation (raised by United 
States and European Unio n); and (iv) the need to enhance transparency (raised by Canada, 
European Union, Japan, Republic of Korea, Philippines, Switzerland, and United States).  
3.100.   At the meeting of the Working Party on STEs of 5 October 202168, trade concerns were raised 
on: (i)  the involvement of STEs in China's importation of key agricultural commodities and coal 
(raised by Australia); (ii) India' s decision not to identify any STE for pulses in its 2019 notifications 
(raised by Australia); (i ii) the continued non -notification of STEs by the Russian Federation (raised 
by European Union, United Kingdom and United States); and (iv) the need to enhance compliance 
with notification obligations (raised by European Union, Japan, United Kingdom and Un ited States).   
3.101.   At the meeting of the Council for Trade in Services  (CTS) held on 4 December 2020, concerns 
were raised about certain tax measures of the Russian Federation (raised by United States).  At that 
same meeting, concerns were reiterated about meas ures of the Russian Federation related to market 
access for foreign -licensed fixed satellite operators (raised by United States).69 At the CTS meetings 
held on 4 December 2020 and 5  March  2021, concerns were reiterated about: (i) cybersecurity 
measures of China and Viet Nam (raised by Japan and United States); (ii) 5G -related measures of 
Australia (raised by China); (iii) measures of the Russian Federation requiring software 
pre-installation (raised by United States); (iv) measures of the United States rela ted to mobile 
applications (raised by China); (v) measures of India on prior approval for acquisitions of Indian 
companies and on the use of mobile applications (raised by China).70 
3.102.   At the meeting of the Council for Trade in Services  (CTS) held on 1 July 2 021, concerns were 
reiterated about: (i) cybersecurity measures of China and Viet Nam (raised by Japan and 
United  States); (ii) 5G -related measures of Australia (raised by China); (iii) measures of the Russian 
Federation requiring software pre -installation  (raised by United States); (iv) measures of the 
United  States related to mobile applications (raised by China); (v) measures of India on prior 
approval for acquisitions of Indian companies and on the use of mobile applications (raised by 
China).71 At that  same meeting, concerns were raised about measures by the Kingdom of 
Saudi  Arabia on locali zation of customer services (raised by United States).72 
3.103.   At meetings of the Committee on Trade and Development  (CTD) held on 20 November 
202073 and 29 March 202174, the LDC Group expressed concern about the relatively low rate of 
utilization of preferences by LDCs. Members were called upon to jointly identify the impediments to 
maximizing export potential under the preferences granted, so as to t ry to remove the obstacles 
and make the preferential arrangements more effective. At these same meetings, as well as at the 
 
66 WTO document G/STR/M/37, 17 December 2020 . 
67 WTO document G/STR/M/38, 17 June 2021.  
68 WTO document G/STR/M/39 , forthcoming.  
69 WTO document S/C/M/144, 21 January 2021.  
70 WTO documents S/C/M/144, 21 January 2021 and S/C/M/145, 1 April 2021.  
71 WTO document S/C/M/146, 22 July 2021.  
72 WTO document S/C/M/146, 22 July 2021.  
73 WTO document WT/COMTD/M/113, 18 December 2020.  
74 WTO document WT/COMTD/M/114, 15 June 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 50 - 
 
  CTD meeting of 28 June 202175, concerns were raised regarding the capacity constraints faced by 
developing countries and LDCs that p revented them from benefiting more fully from e -commerce. 
At the meeting of the CTD's Dedicated Session on Small Economies held on 2 November 202076, 
concerns were raised regarding the impact of the COVID -19 pandemic. Finally, at the meeting of the 
CTD's D edicated Session on Small Economies held on 6 July 202177, concerns were raised regarding 
the economic and trade impact of natural disasters.  
3.104.   The above Section provides evidence of the numerous trade concerns raised in the various 
WTO bodies between mid -October 2020 and mid -October 2021. During the review period, although 
the WTO Committees and Councils meetings were hosted virtually due to COVID -19 restrictions, 
Members continued to raise trade issues and concerns. Several new trade concerns were raised 
during the review period and several had already been raised in previous periods, indicating 
persistent and unresolved issues. Also, some trade concerns were raised in more than one WTO 
body, suggesting that these concerns involve cross -cutting and technical ly complex issues. It may 
also suggest that WTO Members are continuing to use multiple platforms within the WTO committee 
structure to address various aspects of such concerns. Systemically, this is significant because of 
the increased transparency which i t brings, but also because it demonstrates that Members are 
actively using the WTO committees to engage trading partners on real or potential areas of trade 
friction. At the same time, however, the repetition and non -resolution of the same trade concerns 
and issues in various WTO  bodies may also be a source of concern. The Secretariat will continue to 
closely monitor developments in this area.  
3.6  Policy Developments in Agriculture  
3.105.   The Committee on Agriculture  (CoA) provides a forum for Members to discuss matt ers 
related to agricultural trade, and to consult on matters related to Members' implementation of 
commitments under the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). The review work of the CoA is based on 
notifications that Members make in relation to their commitments . A provision in Article  18.6 of the 
AoA allows Members to raise any matter relevant to the implementation of commitments under the 
Agreement , i.e. specific implementation matters (SIMs). The Committee has also been tasked with 
the monitoring of the implem entation of specific outcomes reached under the agriculture 
negotiations.  
3.106.   During the period under review, the CoA held four regular meetings78, on 30  November -
1 December  2020, 29-30 March  2021, 17-18 June 2021 and 23-24 September  2021. Members 
posed 515 qu estions regarding individual notifications, overdue notifications, and SIMs under 
Article  18.6. Most questions concerning individual notifications were related to domestic support 
notifications (71%). For matters under Article  18.6 (SIMs), around 40% related to domestic support 
policies and 30% to policies affecting market access. Around 15% of SIMs concerned matters related 
to export prohibitions and restrictions on foodstuffs , and the remaining 15% of SIMs related to 
matters u nder the export competition pillar and other issues.  
3.107.   In total, 13 Members raised 212 questions on 110 SIMs in the 4 meetings covered by this 
Report.79 The average number of questions raised under Article  18.6 per meeting has been on the 
rise since 2011, re aching an all -time high of an average of 74 questions per meeting in 2020. These 
numbers include questions that were repeated over more than one meeting.  
3.108.   Of the 110 SIMs raised in the CoA during the review period, 70  were discussed for the first 
time. Of t hese, around 40% relat ed to domestic support programmes, 30% related to market access 
issues, 19% concerned policies prohibiting or restricting exports of foodstuffs, and the remaining 
11% concerned export competition and other issues.  
3.109.   SIMs in the area of  market access targeted measures that restricted, or had the potential to 
restrict, trade in agricultural products, including bovine meat (Indonesia's regulations on imports of 
bovine meat), cereals (China's maize import duties, Morocco's increase in wheat  tariffs, Nigeria's 
 
75 WTO document WT/COMTD/M/115, 5 August 2021.  
76 WTO document WT/COMTD/ SE/M/40, 12 January 2021.  
77 WTO document WT/COMTD/SE/M/41, 10 August 2021.  
78 96th, 97th, 98th and 99 th CoA meetings , respectively . 
79 Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European  Union, India, Japan, New  Zealand, Paraguay, the 
Russian  Federation, Turkey, Ukraine and the United  States.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 51 - 
 
  border closures, the Philippines ' market access volume utilization of corn and its Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Import Clearance (SPSIC) permits, and Chinese  Taipei 's ceiling price for imported rice 
under the tariff rate quota ( TRQ)), cot ton (India's increase on cotton tariffs), fruits and vegetables 
(Indonesia's imports of citrus, melons, strawberries and persimmons and the Kingdom of 
Saudi  Arabia's imports of agricultural products from Turkey), poultry (South  Africa 's review of tariff 
structure for poultry meat imports and Tajikistan's poultry tariffs), seeds (India's oilseeds policies), 
spirits (Côte d 'Ivoire's tax on imported spirits) and sugar (Egypt's sugar import ban). Certain SIMs 
related to Members ' broader import policies covering  several products.  
3.110.   In the domestic support pillar, Members sought clarification on support policies targeting 
specific products, including dairy products (Canada's farm gate milk prices and its dairy price 
increase in New Brunswick), cereals (China's minim um support prices, Japan's rice paddy renovation 
for new market development and the Russian  Federation 's wheat subsidies), cotton (India's cotton 
support), livestock (Germany's domestic support to the livestock sector), soybeans (France's 
soybean productio n and the E uropean  Union's blue box support), sugar (India's support to sugar 
and biofuels)  and wine (Canada's support to the wine sector) , as well as domestic support policies 
with a wider sectoral scope applied by eight Members.  
3.111.   Thirteen SIMs related to measures restricting or prohibiting exports, including on beef 
(Argentina's export restrictions on beef), cereals ( the Russian  Federation 's grain export duties, its 
formula -based grain export tax and its lack of notifications to the CoA regarding its recen tly 
implemented export restrictions ; Turkey's export restrictions on pasta ; and Ukraine's export cap on 
corn), fresh vegetables (India's export prohibition on onions), seeds ( the Russian  Federation 's 
sunflower seeds export duty and its draft resolution on export duties, and Ukraine's licensing 
requirement for exports of sunflower seeds and its Memorandum of Understanding with the effect 
of an export restriction), olive oil (Turkey's ban on olive oil exports) and soyabean ( the 
Russian  Federation 's soyabeans export duty).  
3.112.   Three SIMs sought further information and clarification on policies that potentially subsidized 
exports of agricultural products (India's export subsidies for sugar, and the Russian  Federation 's 
support on exports of high value -added agricult ural products and its support for exported agricultural 
products). Other SIMs concerned Austria's draft resolution to change the criteria for granting the 
"AMA seal", China's outstanding responses to questions raised in the CoA, France's requirements 
conce rning the origin of goods and meats on supermarket shelves and in cafeterias, respectively , 
and Tajikistan's new Tax Code.  
3.113.   A total of 40 SIMs that were discussed during the period under review were a follow -up to 
matters raised in previous CoA meetings. So me of these matters have been raised multiple times. 
For example, two SIMs (Canada's new milk ingredient class and India's pulses policies)  have been 
raised in 18 and 15 CoA meetings, respectively, attracting 64 and 60 questions. Similarly, matters 
related  to Mongolia's quota regime for importation, China's cotton policies, India's skim milk powder 
export subsidies and the Russian  Federation 's railway subsidy for exports have been raised on seven  
or more occasions. Other agricultural policies of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the 
European  Union , Honduras, India, Indonesia, New  Zealand , Nigeria, the Russian  Federation , 
Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United  States  were also the subject of repeated 
concerns under Article  18.6. 
3.114.   All 110 SIMs (new and repeated), including questions, answers and follow -up comments , 
can be accessed through the Agriculture Information Management System (AG IMS).80 
3.115.   Regarding steps taken by Members to implement the December 2015 Nairobi Ministerial 
Decision on Export Competition, of the 16 Members with positive export subsidy commitment levels 
in their schedules at the time of adoption of the Decision, 12 have had their revised expor t subsidy 
schedules certified (Australia, Colombia, Iceland, Indonesia, Israel, Mexico, Norway, South  Africa , 
Switzerland, Turkey, the United  States  and Uruguay); 2 (Canada and the European  Union ) circulated 
their draft revised schedules, which are pending  certification; and 2 still have to circulate their 
revised draft export subsidy (ES)  schedules (Brazil and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela). At the 
 
80 On the "Review Process Q&A" tab, select function "Search Q&A Submitted Since 1995" on the AG IMS 
(http://agims.wto.org/ ) and indicate in the search criteria the meeting numbers 96, 97, 98 and 99.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 52 - 
 
  September 2021 meeting of the Committee, Brazil reported that the draft ES schedule would be 
circulate d after the release of the Presidential Decree approving the Nairobi Decision.  
Policy developments in agriculture related to the COVID -19 pandemic  
3.116.   The four CoA meetings covered by this Report  included a dedicated agenda item on 
COVID -19 and agriculture. Wh ile Members also used the standard review process of the CoA to 
request clarification on each other's policies implemented in response to the pandemic, this standing 
agenda item provided an opportunity to engage in a broader discussion on the serious disru ptions 
the pandemic has inflicted on food and agriculture systems globally. The agenda item allowed 
Members to engage in the review of each other's ad hoc  reports on measures taken in response to 
the pandemic. In this regard, seven Members (counting the Eu ropean  Union  as one) submitted 
ad hoc reports to the CoA during the review period.81 In addition, at Members' request, the WTO 
produced a compilation of Members' COVID -19 agricultural measures on their ad hoc  reports 
submitted to the CoA.82 
3.117.   Observer Intern ational Organizations also contributed to discussions under the agenda item 
on COVID -19 and agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 
the OECD, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Grains Council (IGC) submitted 
reports outlining their work in relation to the pandemic.83 
3.118.   Some of the measures put in place by Members in response to the pandemic included 
restriction or prohibition on exports of certain goods, including agricultural products. The AoA 
establi shes disciplines for cases where Members institute export prohibitions or restrictions to 
prevent or relieve critical shortages of foodstuffs (Article  12). Transparency is at the heart of these 
disciplines. The AoA states that : (i) Members are to give due consideration to the effects of such 
prohibition or restriction on importing Members' food security; and (ii)  before any Member institutes 
an export prohibition or restriction, it shall give notice in writing, as far in advance as practicable, to 
the CoA, comprising such information as the nature and the duration of such measure, and shall 
consult, upon request, with any other Member having a substantial interest as an importer with 
respect to any matter related to the measure in question. These written not ices are referred to as 
ER:1 notifications. The AoA includes a special and differential treatment provision, whereby the 
above requirements do not apply to developing country Members unless the measure is taken by a 
developing country Member that is a net  food exporter of the specific foodstuff concerned. In the 
period under review, there was one notification submitted to the CoA by the Kyrgyz  Republic  on the 
export prohibitions of certain agricultural products attributed to the COVID -19 pandemic.84 
3.119.   Governm ents also implemented support measures to the agriculture sector in the wake of 
the pandemic. These measures were discussed at the Committee, including based on relevant 
Members' ad hoc  reports and notifications.85  
3.120.   The following box has been contributed b y the OECD.  
Box 3.3 Measuring and Assessing support to Agriculture  
In 2018 -20, agricultural support policies across the 54 countries covered in the OECD's annual Agricultural Policy 
Monitoring and Evaluation  report generated USD  720 billion per year in transfers to agriculture.a USD 272 billion of 
this comes in the form of market price support  paid by consumers (e.g., through higher prices from tariffs), while 
the remaining USD 447 billion are budgetary support paid by taxpayers. Much of this support does little to help, or 
even harms, its stated aims of improving food security, incomes and liv elihoods, and environmental sustainability.  
 
81 WTO documents for European  Union (G/AG/GEN/159/Add.3, 26 November 2020; 
G/AG/GEN/159/Add.4 , 24 March 2021; and G/AG/GEN /159/Add.5 , 20 September 2021 ); Israel 
(G/AG/GEN/160/Add.1 , 17 March 2021 ); Japan (G/AG/GEN/166/Rev.1 , 26 March 2021 ); Norway 
(G/AG/GEN/172 , 11 November 2020 ); El Salvador (G/AG/GEN/163/Add.1 , 4 February 2021 ); South  Africa 
(G/AG/GEN/180 , 12 March 2021 ); and Switzerland (G/AG/GEN/164/Corr.1, 19 November 2020; and 
G/AG/GEN/164/A dd.1, 25 November 2020 ).  
82 WTO document G/AG/W/209/Rev.1, 8  September 2021.  
83 WTO documents for FAO (G/AG/GEN/175 , 26 November 2020;  and G/AG/GEN/189, 11 June 2021); 
OECD (G/AG/GEN/1 76, 27 November 2020 ); WFP (G/AG/GEN/183, 16 March 2021; G/AG/GEN/188, 8  June 
2021; and G/AG/GEN/190, 7  September 2021); and IGC (G/AG/GEN/181, 16 March 2021; G/AG/GEN/182 , 
16 March 2021;  and G/AG/GEN/191, 14  September 2021).  
84 WTO document G/AG/N/KGZ/35 , 6 July 2021 . 
85 WTO documents G/AG/R/99, 13  July 2021; and G/AG/R/100 (forthcoming).  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 53 - 
 
  Individual producers received USD  540 billion in support per year (about 75% of all positive transfers to agriculture) 
through various support measures, including higher prices paid by consumers (Figure 3.2).  
Figure 3.2 Producer Support Estimate by country, 2000 -02 and 2018 -20 (% of gross farm receipts)  
 
Notes:  Countries are ranked according to the 2018 -20 levels.  
1. EU15 for 2000 -02, EU28 for 2018 -19 and EU27 plus UK for 2020.  
2. The OECD total does not include the non -OECD EU Member States. Latvia and Lithuania are included only for 
2018-20. 
3. The 12 Emerging Economies include Argentina, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the 
Philippines, the Russia n Federation , South Africa, Ukrai ne and Viet Nam.  
4. The All countries total includes all OECD countries, non -OECD EU Member States, and the Emerging 
Economies.  
Source:  OECD (2021), "Producer and Consumer Support Estimates", OECD Agriculture statistics (database), 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/agr -pcse-data-en. 
The most distorting forms of support amount to USD  338 billion per year, and include market price support 
(USD 272 billion), and payments linked to output or the unconstrained use of inputs (USD  66 billion). These measures 
are both inequitable (as support linked to production is disproportionately allocated to larger farms) and inefficient 
in transferring income to farmers (as a large share of the benefits leak in the form of hi gher land values or input 
prices). Furthermore, they are among the most environmentally harmful support policies, as they provide incentives 
for the intensification of input use, the allocation of land to supported crops, and the entry of new land into the  
agricultural sector. Payments based on variable inputs without appropriate constraints can encourage the excessive 
use of fertilisers and pesticides, causing severe damage to freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity.  
Instruments with more positive effects o n food security, incomes and resource use mostly fall within the category of 
general services, and particularly include investments in R&D, biosecurity and infrastructure. Despite evidence of 
high returns, spending on agricultural knowledge and innovation systems was just USD  26 billion per year (6% of all 
budgetary support), while spending on biosecurity and for the development and maintenance of infrastructure for 
the sector amounted to USD 50 billion per year (11% of budgetary support).  
To accelerate pro gress in addressing the challenges facing food systems, the OECD's report suggest that governments 
should:  (i) phase out price interventions and market distorting producer support; (ii) target income support to farm 
households most in need, and where possi ble incorporate such support into economy -wide social policies and 
safety -nets; and (iii) re-orient public expenditures towards investments in public goods – in particular innovation 
systems.  
a OECD estimates agricultural support as "gross transfers to agr iculture from consumers or taxpayers, arising 
from governments' policies that support agriculture" ( PSE Ma nual, p. 16). As such, the indicators provided here 
are indications of policy effort that differ from support estimates calculated by other institutions, including the 
WTO, which aim at different objectives and follow different methodologies (Diakosavvas, 2002; Effland, 2011; 
Brink, 2018). For 'domestic support' information based on the WTO framework, the relevant Members ' Table 
DS:1 notifications accessible on AGIMS may be consulted.  
References:  
 Brink, L. (2018), Two indicators, little in common, same nam e: Market Price Support – CAP Reform,  viewed at:  
http://capreform.eu/two -indicators -little-in-common -same -name -market -pricesupport/.  
 Diakosavvas, D. (2002), "How to Measure the Level of Agricultural Support: Comparison of the Methodologies 
applied by OECD  and WTO", China in the Global Economy. Agricultural Policies in China after WTO Accession, 
OECD Publishing, Paris, viewed at: https://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264158894 -en. 
 Effland, A. (2011), "Classifying and Measuring Agricultural Support: Identifying Di fferences Between the WTO 
and OECD Systems", Economic Information Bulletin 74, viewed at: http://www.ers.usda.gov/ (accessed on 19 
April 2019).  
Source:  OECD.  
-30-1010305070%2018-20 2000-02
Source:  OECD (2021), "Producer and Consumer Support Estimates", OECD Agriculture statistics (database), 
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/agr -pcse-data-en.Producer support estimate by country, 2000 -02 and 2018 -20 (% of gross farm receipt)WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 54 - 
 
  3.7  General Economic Support  
3.121.   At the 2 9 July 202 1 informal TPRB meeting dedicated to discuss ing the Director -General 's 
mid-year Trade Monitoring Report on Trade -related Developments86, WTO Members engaged in a 
comprehensive and constructive exchange of views. In the context of trade responses to the 
COVID-19 pandemic, several delegations expressed that this transparency platform offered an 
opportunity to understand the nature of policies and programmes implemented, their duration, and 
the envisaged timetables for a phase -out. Introducing her Report to the  meeting, the Director -
General emphasized that the Report did not question the explicit right of Members to adopt certain 
trade measures and had no legal effects on the rights and obligations of WTO Members . 
3.122.   Since July 2017, the Secretariat has been unable  to justify the inclusion of a separate Annex 
on general economic support measures in the Trade Monitoring Reports. This has been partly due 
to the low participation and response rate of WTO Members to the request for information , and partly 
because such a n Annex would be biased against those Members that traditionally share and publish 
detailed information o n such measures . Compounding the lack of information volunteered by 
Members, some delegations have often insisted on excluding general economic support  measures 
identified by the Secretariat from public sources  and for which verification was sought . The past few 
TPRB meeting s generated an exchange of views on how to address this issue , with several Members 
emphasizing the need to preserve and strengthen transparency through the trade monitoring 
exercise  while one Member had other views . Several Members welcomed the online COVID -19 
support measures list87 compiled by the WTO Secretariat, which was put in place in the early stages 
of the pandemic. The list provides an informal situation report and is an attempt to enhance 
transparency around support measures taken in response to the COVID -19 crisis. It includes only 
information and measures communicated by delegations directly to the WTO Trade Monitoring 
Section and only in the original language of the submission.  
Regular economic support measures  (not related to COVID -19) 
3.123.   In response to Director -General 's 16 March 202 1 and 1 September  2021 requests for 
information for this Trade Monitoring Report , 33 WTO Members (Albania; Colombia; 
European -Union88; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Ukraine; and Mauritius ) volunteered information 
on 26 regular general economic support measures  unrelated to the  pandemic . The Secretariat's own 
research suggests that during the review period many more support measures with potentially 
important ramifications for trade were implemented by WTO Members.  
3.124.   During the review period, regular support measures communicated by  WTO Members and 
those identified by the Secretariat, included measures to support farmers and the agricultural sector, 
as well as support to the manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and automotive sectors. Other measures 
included loans, financial and tax incen tives to support activities of MSMEs and businesses, 
investments to promote the use or development of digital technologies, as well as general stimulus 
packages. Some measures included incentives relating to environmental sustainability targets and 
renewab le energy projects. Several of these measures were multi -year programmes, with financial 
disbursements staggered over the lifetime of a project and some were one -off grants or aid schemes.  
COVID -19-related economic support measures  
3.125.   In response to Director -General 's 16 March 202 1 and 1 September  2021 requests for 
information  67 Members89 and 3 Observers90 volunteered 372 COVID -19-related support measures 
to the Secretariat.   
 
86 WTO document WT/T PR/OV/ W/15, 13 July 202 1. 
87 WTO, COVID -19: Support Measures . Viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_support_measures_e.htm .  
88 Counting the EU  (27) and its members separately.  
89 Angola; Australia; Bahrain, Kingdom of; Belize; Brazil; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; 
Dominican Republic; El Salvador; European Union (c ounting the EU  (27) and its members separately ); 
Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Israel; Macao, China; Madagascar; Malaysia; Mal i; Mauritania; Mauritius; 
Mexico; Moldova, Republic of; Montenegro; Myanmar; Nepal; Norway; Paraguay; Philippines; 
Russian  Federation; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; Tunisia; Turkey; Ukraine; 
United Kingdom; and Zambia.  
90 Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, and Iraq.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 55 - 
 
  3.126.   Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1,664 COVID -19-related economic support 
measures have been put in place by 109 Members and 4 Observers .91 Of these, as at 4 October 
2021, 1 ,020 (61%) were communicated directly to the WTO Secretariat. This number includes 66 
COVID -19-related support measures for MSMEs that were communicated directly to the Trade 
Monitoring Section  by 49 Members following the recommendation adopted by the Informal Working 
Group on MSMEs to further increase transparency and provide, on a voluntary basis, information on 
policies related to MSMEs.  
3.127.   The unprecedented number of COVID -19-related support measures put in place since the 
beginning of the pandemic far exceeds the activity seen in the wake of the global financial crisis of 
2008-09. So far in 2021, 414 such measures have been announced or imple mented in the form of 
grants, loans or stimulus packages targeting sectors of the economy heavily affected by the 
pandemic, including agriculture, health, aviation, transport, tourism, education, culture, as well as 
fiscal and financial measures to support  businesses and MSMEs and broader stimulus packages. 
Another set of support measures put in place by governments in response to the COVID -19 pandemic 
included measures implemented by Central Banks.  
3.128.   COVID -19-related support measures generally appear to be t emporary in nature. Some of 
the measures implemented in the early stages of the pandemic were extended in 2021, but overall, 
the flow of new support measures has slowed during the review period, particularly in the second 
half of 2021. Some of these measur es form part of rescue plans staggered over several years or 
stimulus packages worth several trillion US dollars. The large stimulus packages and economic 
support measures introduced by several governments have helped to mitigate the economic impact 
of the  pandemic and this is slowly seeing some economies beginning to recover. Central Banks in 
some countries have started lifting interest rates to address rising inflation or cut back  their bond 
purchasing programs, moving away from policies taken to address the economic impacts of the 
pandemic.  
3.129.   The responses of high -income economies have been significantly more generous in terms of 
the number and variety of measures implemented and funds allocated than those offered by lower -
income economies. The latter's re sponses have often relied on funding or other assistance obtained 
from international organizations and/or donors. The Secretariat identified 443 bilateral and 
multilateral assistance92 measures that were received during the review period by 122 Members and  
Observers to address the COVID -19 crisis. Of the 443 measures, 224 related to vaccination roll outs 
and bilateral vaccine donations. Others included additional financing for governments to address the 
pandemic in the forms of loans, grants, and donations of medical devices. Several assistance 
measures were also provided to support the education sector and MSMEs in facing the challenges 
brought by the pandemic.  
3.130.   The above has captured activities in regular and COVID -19-related economic support 
measures, inc luding bilateral and multilateral assistance for the period between mid -October 2020 
and mid -October 2021. Governments around the world have provided an unprecedented number 
and variety of support measures to address the social and economic impacts of the pandemic. These 
emergency support measures are central to governments' strategies to address the pandemic -
induced economic downturn and to ensure a sustainable recovery.  
3.131.   The trade monitoring exercise does not make any judgement as to the WTO -compatibility  of 
any of the measures referred to in this Section. While it is possible that these measures, whether 
taken as part of a Member's overall commercial strategy or as part of a Member's emergency 
response to the COVID -19 pandemic, may affect trade in some wa y, it is not always straightforward 
to conclude that they restrict or facilitate trade (and by how much), or that they distort competition.  
3.8  Overview of Trade Policy Reviews  
3.132.   Due to the restrictions imposed on account of the COVID -19 pandemic, only 15 Trade Policy 
Reviews (TPRs) were  undertaken between mid -October 2020 and mid -October 2021 (Table 3 .29). 
 
91 Azerbaijan, Belarus, Equatorial Guinea, and Iraq.  
92 Multilateral assistance refers to assistance from international organizations and regional development 
banks.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 56 - 
 
  TPRs aim to provide the WTO membership with a deeper understanding of the trade and economic 
policies of the Member under review and lead to constructive and insightful discussions.  
Table 3.29 Trade Policies Reviews mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021  
Member reviewed  Date of the Meeting  Documents related to this meeting can be 
viewed at:  
2020  
Thailand  24 and 26 November  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSo urce=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1900
18&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Indonesia  9 and 11 December  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query =@MeetingId=1901
75&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Macao, China  15 and 17 December  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1886
18&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
2021  
India 6 and 8 January  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query =@MeetingId=1905
85&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Nicaragua  27 and 29 January  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1924
97&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Myanmar  15 and 17 February  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1902
04&Langua ge=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  3 and 5 March  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query =@MeetingId=1886
51&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Mongolia  17 and 19 March  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query =@MeetingId=1943
81&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Qatar  6 and 8 April  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1886
52&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Tonga  14 and 16 April  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query =@MeetingId=1886
53&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Viet Nam  27 and 29 April  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1911
11&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Kyrgyz Republic  18 and 20 May  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1933
36&Langua ge=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Argentina  15 and 17 September  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query =@MeetingId=1917
15&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Singapore  22 and 24 September  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=1916
63&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Republic of Korea  13 and 15 October  https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/FE_Search/FE_S_S
006.aspx?DataSource=Cat&Query=@MeetingId=18 86
61&Language=English&Context=ScriptedSearches&la
nguageUIChanged=true#  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 57 - 
 
  3.9  Other  Selected Trade Policy Issues  
3.133.   The following Section provides a brief overview of the other selected trade policy issues 
where important developments took  place during the review period. It also includes follow -up to a 
number of issues which saw outcomes at MC11.  
COVID -19-related discussions at the General Council  
3.134.   The General Council has seen WTO Members engage on COVID -19-related matters on 
several occasions during the review period. At the 16 -18 December  2020, 1-2 and 4 March, 5 -6 May, 
27-28 July and 7 -8 October 2021 General Council (GC) meetings93, the TRIPS Council Chair reported 
on the discussions on the proposed waiver  on some TRIPS provisions94 by India, South Africa, and 
other co -sponsors in relation to the prevention, containment or treatment of COVID -19.  
3.135.   Based on Members demand and the need to channel all various and useful efforts on the 
WTO Response to the Pandem ic, the GC Chair set up on 22 June 2021 a Facilitator -led, horizontal 
and multilateral process under the auspices of the GC to streamline and organize work in this area 
and ensure transparency and inclusiveness. Ambassador David Walker was appointed by the  GC 
Chair to facilitate this process  and reported at the 27 -28 July and the 7 -8 October G C meetings95 on 
the discussions on the WTO Response to the Pandemic .  
3.136.   At the 16 -18 December 2020 and 1 -2 and 4 March 2021 GC meetings96, the European Union, 
Canada and  other co -sponsors drew the General Council's attention to the Trade and Health 
Initiative .97 At the 5 -6 May GC meeting, Canada and other co -sponsors referred to the relevant 
proposed General Council Declaration .98  
3.137.   At the 1 -2 and 4 March G C meeting99, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama and Paraguay 
presented their joint communication and called on Members to exercise restraint in the adoption and 
implementation of export restrictions on COVID -19 vaccines.100  
3.138.   At the 5 -6 May G C meeting, Paraguay, Colombia , Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica called on 
Members to exercise restraint in the adoption and implementation of trade restrictions that block 
equal access to COVID -19 vaccines.101  
3.139.   At the 27 -28 July G C meeting102, Canada, on behalf of co -sponsors of the Trade and Health 
Initiative, presented a "Draft General Council Declaration – COVID -19 and Beyond: Trade and 
Health" , the European Union presented its communication on "Urgent Trade Policy Responses to the 
COVID -19 Crisis"  and Chinese Taipei its communicat ion on a "Ministerial Declaration on Combating, 
Mitigating and Recovering from the Impacts of COVID -19 and Beyond".103 
Aid for trade  
3.140.   The Aid for Trade initiative was launched at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in 
December 2005. The recent trends in Aid -for-Trade (AfT) flows, show that AfT disbursements totalled 
USD 45.8 billion in 2019, up 1% from the previous year. Economic infrastructure accounted for 55% 
of total AfT support with 43% going to building productive capacity and 2% to trade policy and 
regulations.  
 
93 WTO documents WT/GC/M/188, 22 February 2021; WT/GC/M/ 190, 23 April 2021; WT/GC/M/191,  
8 July 2021;  WT/GC/M/192 , 4 October 2021;  and WT/GC/M/193  (forthcoming).  
94 WTO document IP/C/W/669 , 2 October 2020, its addenda  and its revision.  
95 WTO documents WT/GC/M/192 , 4 October 2021;  and WT/GC/M/193  (forthcoming) . 
96 WTO documents WT/GC/M/188 , 22 February 2021; and WT/GC/M/190 , 23 April 2021.  
97 WTO document WT/GC/223 , 24 November 2020.  
98 WTO document JOB/GC/251/Rev.1 , 22 April 2021.  
99 WTO document WT/GC/M/190 , 23 April 2021.  
100 WTO document WT/GC/W/818 , 18 February 2021.  
101 WTO documents WT/GC/M/191 , 8 July 2021; and WT/GC/W/826 , 26 July 2021.  
102 WTO document WT/GC/M/19 2, 4 October 2021.  
103 WTO documents WT/GC/W/823 , 15 July 2021; WT/GC/231 , 4 June 2021; and WT/GC/W/822 , 
18 June 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 58 - 
 
  3.141.   In addition to monitoring AfT flows, the WTO and OECD Secretariats are launching a new 
AfT Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) exercise. The exercise will survey AfT stakeholders to 
determine recent trends in AfT priorities, notably in relation to o ngoing recovery from the COVID -19 
pandemic. It also seeks to contribute towards policy coherence, by identifying how trade is 
integrated into national strategies related to sustainable development, digital connectivity, and 
women's economic empowerment. Th is M&E exercise is a key input deliverable for the 8th Global 
Review of Aid for Trade in mid -2022. The Global Review forms the centrepiece of the 2020 -2022 AfT 
Work Programme, themed "Empowering, Connected, Sustainable Trade".  
Dispute settlement  
3.142.   Between t he beginning of October 2020 and the beginning of October 2021, the WTO dispute 
settlement system continued to deal with a large number of proceedings initiated in 2018 and 2019. 
Following a significant drop in the number of newly initiated disputes in the  previous review period, 
the number of new complaints has rebounded to 10 over the past 12 months (Chart 3.16). Eight of 
these requests for consultations were filed between January and August 2021.  
3.143.   The subject matter of new disputes brought to the WTO span ned a wide range of issues 
covered under the GATT  1994,  the GATS,  the SCM Agreement, the Anti -Dumping Agreement, the 
Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade , the SPS Agreement, and the Agreement on Rules of 
Origin . As in previous years, both developed and  developing country Members have been involved 
in dispute settlement proceedings, as complainants, respondents , or third parties.  
Chart 3.16 New disputes initiated per year 1995 -2021 
 
Note:  2021 data cover the period between January to September.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.144.   As with other activity areas of the WTO, the ongoing COVID -19 pandemic has affected the 
functioning of the dispute settlement system. Lockdowns, travel restrictions and limited access to 
WTO premises have prevented panelists, arbitrators and delegations of WTO Members alike from 
participating in meetings in Geneva, with implications for proceedings. Nevertheless, work on most 
disputes has continued according to the schedules developed b y panels and arbitrators following 
consultation with disputing parties. In cooperation with the parties, and with the Secretariat's 
assistance, panels and arbitrators have developed procedures addressing the difficulties in holding 
in-person meetings. Thes e procedures include additional exchanges of written submissions in place 
of substantive in -person meetings or substantive meetings conducted virtually. As a result, between 
the beginning of October 2020 and the beginning of October 2021, panels and arbitr ators held fully 
253950
41
3034
2337
26
19
1220
1319
1417
827
20
1413171738
20
58
0102030405060
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Source:  WTO Secretariat.WTO_DS.1 -New disputes initiated per year, 1995 -21
Note: 2021 data covers the period from January to September.Requests for consultations in new disputesWT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 59 - 
 
  virtual or hybrid substantive meetings with parties in 20 disputes. As of the end of September 2021, 
panel proceedings in 34 disputes and 3 arbitrations on the level of suspension of concessions under 
Article 22.6 of the DSU were ongoing.  
3.145.   During the review period, panels circulated eight reports and one arbitrator issued a decision 
on the level of suspension of concessions or other obligations under Article 22.6 of the DSU. Between 
the beginning of October 2020 and the beginning of October 2021, Members appealed eight panel 
reports. These appeals cannot be considered at the current time, however, as in the absence of 
consensus among the WTO Members to launch the Appellate Body members selection process all 
seven positions on the Appellate Bo dy have been vacant since 30 November 2020.  
Electronic Commerce  
3.146.   Discussions on electronic commerce continue along two parallel tracks – multilaterally under 
the General Council and its relevant subsidiary bodies, and through the Joint Statement Initiative on 
Electronic Commerce (JSI). On both tracks, delegations are reiterating the importance of 
e-commerce in supporting the economic recovery from COVID -19 and the need to address 
development -related challenges.  
3.147.   At the multilateral level, discussions on the Work Programme and on the moratorium on 
customs duties on electronic transmissions have intensified, including at the General Council 
meetings in May and July 2021.  On 5 July 2021, the Chair of the General Council convened a 
structured discussion which foc used on three themes  based on his consultations in April, namely  (i) 
electronic transmissions; (ii) the imposition of internal non -discriminatory taxes on electronic 
transmissions , and;  (iii) the challenges and opportunities of e -commerce, particularly in the context 
of the COVID -19 pandemic. The meeting provided an opportunity for Members to share experiences 
and further explore some of these issues . Work also continue d in the relevant bodies entrusted with 
the implementation of the Work Programme.   
3.148.   JSI pa rticipants continue their negotiations under six broad themes: (i) enabling 
e-commerce; (ii) openness and e -commerce; (iii) trust and e -commerce; (iv) cross-cutting issues, 
such as transparency, domestic regulation, and cooperation; (v) telecommunications;  and (vi) 
market access. In September 2021, the co -convenors (Australia, Japan, and Singapore) circulated 
an updated consolidated negotiating text capturing progress made thus far. Clean text was reached 
on unsolicited commercial electronic messages (spam), e -authentication and e -signatures, electronic 
contracts, online consumer protection  and open government data. An article  on transparency has 
been "parked", subject to the final scope and legal structure of the initiative's outcome. Discuss ions 
held in September on capacity building and technical assistance also focused on possible ways of 
addressing the needs and challenges faced by developing and least  developed countries, as well as  
on proposals to help them implement the new rules on e -commerce and address the digital divide.  
Fisheries Subsidies  
3.149.   In line with the mandate in Target 14.6 of the Sustainable Development Goals and from 
MC11 , work continued in 2021 on an agreement to prohibit subsidies that contribute to illegal fishing 
and to overcapacity and overfishing, with special and differential treatment integral to the 
negotiations. Although the deadline to complete negotiations in 2020 had been missed, progress 
made during that year had been considerable, particularly given the restric tions on meetings and 
movement necessary in the context of the COVID -19 pandemic. These restrictions continued in 
2021. Nevertheless, work continued in virtual and hybrid mode and the Chair presented a revised 
version of a draft text of disciplines in May104 which was revised again in June .105 This revision was 
discussed at a meeting of the TNC held at Ministerial level on 15 July in virtual mode. At that meeting, 
Ministers stated that they wanted an agreement to be reached as soon as possible, preferably wel l 
in advance of MC12. Since then, Members have been engaged in intensive negotiations to reach that 
goal. 
 
104 WTO document TN/RL/ W/276, 11 May 2021.  
105 WTO document TN/RL/W/276/Rev.1, 30 June 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 60 - 
 
  Government Procurement  
3.150.   The WTO Agreement on Government Procurement 2012 (GPA 2012) continues to gain 
importance as an instrument for promoting trade a nd good governance in government procurement 
markets. Currently, the Agreement has 21 Parties, covering 48 WTO Members .106 Thirty -five WTO 
Members/Observers participate as Observers in the GPA Committee . 
3.151.   With Switzerland' s acceptance of the GPA 2012, on 1 J anuary 2021 the GPA 2012 replaced 
the 1994 GPA in relation to all GPA Parties.107 Moreover, the United Kingdom, in its own right, joined 
the GPA 2012, on 1 January 2021.108 
3.152.   Important progress was made on several accessions to the Agreement. Brazil circulated  its 
Replies to the Checklist of Issues and related information on its public procurement system in 
October 2020  and submitted its initial market access offer in February 2021 . GPA Parties welcomed 
Brazil's efforts in its accession process and provided com ments on the offer. Brazil's application for 
accession is the first from Latin America  and as such  is of systemic importance for the GPA. China 
has also actively pursued its efforts to accede to the GPA, by circulating extensive replies to questions 
and co mments put forward by GPA Parties . It also further modified its Government Procurement Law 
to ensure consistency with the GPA 2012 . North Macedonia,  Kazakhstan,  the Kyrgyz Republic , 
Tajikistan  and the Russian Federation also continued their  respective  processes of accession.  
3.153.   The accessions of Albania, Georgia, Jordan, and Oman are pending. Several Members 
updated the Committee  on their recent domestic developments and issues affecting their respective 
accession progress during the June meet ings of the Committee. Afghanistan, Mongolia, the Kingdom 
of Saudi Arabia and Seychelles have undertaken commitments regarding the initiation of 
negotiations on accession to the Agreement in their respective Protocols of Accession to the WTO.  
3.154.   The Committe e also continued to advance its Work Programmes concerning sustainable 
procurement; the collection and reporting of statistical data; and SMEs.  
Micro, Small and  Medium -sized  Enterprises (MSMEs)  
3.155.   The MSME Informal Working Group (MSME Group), with 91 Members,  met regularly 
throughout the reporting period. Work by the MSME Group focused on preparation for MC12 and 
implementation of the December 2020 package109, which was endorsed by 97 Members, including 6 
non-Members.  Further, a MSME Group Declaration for MC12 was cleared in September 2021, taking 
stock of the progress achieved and paving the way for future work.110 
3.156.   Other work by the MSME Group is proceeding based on proposals and presentations by 
Members on a variety of topics including inno vation policies, rural MSMEs, cyber -security and low -
value shipments. External presenters also delivered information to the MSME Group on UNCITRAL's 
Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) and supply chain finance and the MSME 
Group continued to receive briefings on MSME -related work and discussions in other WTO 
committees, including on MSMEs and intellectual property in the TRIPS Committee, the SPS and TBT 
notification system in ePing, and the ASYCUDA -CDS communication platform project by the EIF. 
Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs)  
3.157.   During the review period, WTO Members notified 51 RTAs ( 75 notifications) as compared to 
8 RTAs ( 13 notifications) during the previous period.  Most of these notifications concerned the entry 
 
106 The European Union and its 27 member States are covered by the Agreement as one Party.  
107 The GPA 2012 entered into force for Switzerland on 1 January 2021. With the entry into force of t he 
GPA 2012 for Switzerland, all GPA Parties have accepted the GPA  2012. 
108 The United Kingdom had previously been covered by the GPA 1994 and subsequently by the GPA 
2012 as a member State of the European Union and later in accordance with the Withdrawal A greement 
concluded between the European Union and the United Kingdom  and relevant decisions of the WTO Committee 
on Government Procurement. From 2018 to 2020, the United Kingdom negotiated with GPA Parties for GPA 
membership in its own right. On 2 December  2020, the United Kingdom deposited its instrument of accession 
to the GPA 2012.  
109 WTO document  INF/MSME/4/Rev.1, 18 March 2021.  
110 WTO document  INF/MSME/ W/36, 28 September 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 61 - 
 
  into force of agreements co ncluded by the United Kingdom following its withdrawal from the 
European Union and the termination of a transition period lasting until 31 December 2020. Of the se 
RTAs, 27 relate to trade in goods  only, one of which was notified under the Enabling Clause a nd 26 
under GATT Article  XXIV; 24 RTAs include trade liberalization in both goods and services and were 
notified under GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V. In addition, t he CRTA and the CTD  received 
notifications concerning seven RTAs already notified .111 
3.158.   As at 15 October  2021, the total number of RTAs notified to the WTO, and to the GATT 
before it , and currently in force, amounted to 350 (179 covering  goods and services, 169 goods  
only, and 2  services only). The WTO Secretariat has also identif ied and verified, through the 
respective parties, 55 RTAs that are in force, but have not yet been notified to the WTO.112  
3.159.   Judging from overall notifications, RTA activity remains  strongest in Europe ( 25% of RTAs in 
force), with successive EU enlargements , the United Kingdom's new agreements following its 
withdrawal from the EU  and agreements with countries in Eastern Europe and around the 
Mediterranean basin, as well as RTAs notified by EFTA; this is followed by East Asia ( 17%) and 
South  America ( 11%) (Chart 3.17). 
Chart 3.17 RTAs in force, by region  
 
Note:  RTAs involving countries/territories in two (or more) regions are counted more than once.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.160.   The WTO Members with the most RTAs in force are the European Union, the United Kingdom, 
the EFTA States, and Chile, with over 25 RTAs in force each, followed by Singapore, Mexico and 
Turkey, which have over 20  RTAs in force each . A number of other developi ng countries also have 
several RTAs in force, such as the Republic of Korea, Peru, India and Panama . 
3.161.   Over the years RTAs have become more complex, and many currently include provisions 
that go beyond market access in goods and services. Of 336 RTAs notifie d to the WTO and currently 
in force, the vast majority include dispute settlement mechanisms, followed by trade in goods related 
provisions such as technical regulations, standards, technical barriers to trade and sanitary and 
phytosanitary measures. Other  provisions frequently found in RTAs include intellectual property 
rights and government procurement. More recent RTAs also include provisions on which there are 
 
111 The WTO RTA Database (viewed at: http://rtais.wto.org ) provides updated information on all RTA 
notifications submitted by WTO Members . 
112 WTO document WT/REG/W/ 159, 11 June 2021 . 
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160EuropeEast AsiaSouth AmericaNorth AmericaAfricaCISCentral AmericaMiddle EastOceaniaWest AsiaCaribbean
Intra-Regional RTAs in force Cross-Regional RTAs in forceWTO_RTA.1 -RTAs in force, by region
Source:  WTO Secretariat.Note:  RTAs involving countries/territories in two (or more) regions are counted more than once.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 62 - 
 
  few or no WTO rules, including competition, environment, labour , and small and medium -sized 
enterprises (Chart 3. 18). 
Chart 3.18 Key provisions in RTAs  
 
Note:  Figures are based on 336 RTAs notified to the WTO and currently in force.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Trade and Environment  
3.162.   The Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) continued  to focus its discussion on  
important global  multilateral issues around  the intersection between trade and environmental 
policies , in particular on plastics pollution and circular economy; trade and climate  change .113 
Members also continued discussions on trade -related aspects of the EU Green Deal, including the 
plan to establish a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Other briefings included topics such as 
the ongoing preparations for COP26, the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability 
initiative , Fossil Fuels Subsidy Reform as well as Trade and Environment Initiatives by APEC.  
COVID -19 was also one of  the main themes raised this year . Members noted the link between 
environmental degradation and p andemics; the importance of ensuring a green recovery from 
COVID -19 and the role  of trade policy.   
3.163.   During the second WTO Trade and Environment Week  in November 2020 , several 
Member -driven side events were held in the margins of the CTE. In this context, two new initiatives 
were launched by groups of like -minded Members : (i) t he Structured Discussions on Trade and 
Environmental Sustainability (TESSD) ; and (ii) t he Informal Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and 
Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trad e (IDP).  First, the T ESSD  aims to identify areas for future 
work to help the WTO address sustainable  development challenges more effectively and to work on 
possible environmental sustainability "actions and deliverables".114 Second, the IDP seeks to identify 
opportunities for enhanced trade cooperation within the rules and mechanisms of the WTO to support 
efforts in other fora .115  
3.164.   The following box has been contributed by the International Trade Cent re (ITC).  
 
113 Annual Report 2020, WTO document WT/CTE/27 , 15 December 2020; WTO document  WT/CTE/M/70, 
17 March 2021 ; WTO document WT/CTE/M/71, 16 June 2021 . 
114 WTO document WT/CTE/W/249/Rev.1 , 11 December 2020 . TESSD currently counts with 53 
co-sponsors  (as of 4 October 2021) . 
115 WTO document WT/CTE/W/245 , 4 June 2007 . IDP currently counts with 1 8 co-sponsors  (as of 
4 October 2021) . 
27%83%86%65%51%94%65%72%72%59%34%33%53%
All tariffs eliminated by at least one PartySanitary and Phytosanitary measures (SPS)Technical regulations, standards, technical barriers to
trade (TBT)ServicesInvestment Liberalization ProvisionsDispute Settlement (DS)Government procurementIntellectual property rightsCompetitionEnvironmentLabourE-CommerceSmall and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)WTO_RTA.2 -Key provisions in RTAs
Source:    WTO Secretariat.Note:    Figures are based on 336 RTAs notified to the WTO and currently in force.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 63 - 
 
  Box 3.4 Small businesses that export more likely to adapt to climate change  
Climate change impacts follow an inequitable path. Small businesses in strongly affected countries tend to 
have relatively fewer resources, alternatives, and information with which to ad apt. The latest International 
Trade Centre (ITC) data show that, although smaller firms are less likely to adapt to environment risks than 
larger ones, exporting increases their propensity to protect themselves from the impacts of a changing climate.  
For b usinesses, adaptation means minimizing the risk of harm from climate change and/or exploiting 
opportunities arising from it.a SMEs may design adaptation measures to prepare themselves for specific 
climate threats, such as building physical barriers to redu ce flood damage, and strengthen overall resilience 
and competitiveness.  
The evidence indicates that smaller firms are less likely to take action to reduce the environmental risks they 
face. Sixty per cent of large firms reported that they had invested in a t least one measure to reduce exposure 
to environmental risks, according to ITC SME Competitiveness Surveys in Africa. In comparison, just 38% of 
micro, small and medium -sized firms had made such an investment.b Smaller firms have less capital at their 
disposal and hence less capacity to invest, even when there is a clear business case for doing so.  
The difficulties SMEs face in adapting to climate change seem to lessen, however, once they start exporting. 
SMEs that export are more likely to adapt to enviro nmental risks than SMEs that do not export, according to 
ITC survey data.c This may be explained by the fact that exporting gives small businesses the know -how and 
financial resources to assess, plan and address environmental risks.  
Export status and firm size affect tendency to adapt to environmental changed 
 
Exporting can help small firms adapt to climate change  
It pays to adapt to climate change now,  given the enormous impact it will have in coming decades.e Many 
stakeholders alr eady are determined to 'build back better '.f Part of this commitment must be geared towards 
supporting SMEs to adopt profitable, climate -friendly strategies, so that they can develop a competitive 
advantage by going green.g 
Because smaller firms often lack  the information, skills, financing, and time to dedicate to long -term planning, 
they tend to respond passively to shocks .h Moreover, many SMEs in developing countries lack access to the 
networks which could enable them to access the resources necessary fo r climate risk management. Larger 
companies are for their part increasingly seeing climate change as a significant long -term threat to their 
business models and investing to adapt to these changes.i 
If it is mainly large firms that have the foresight and c apital to adapt, only they will prepare adequately for 
climate change. Smaller companies that wait and try to cope after the event are likely to run down assets, 
with adverse effects on their competitiveness and survival. This could exacerbate corporate co ncentration, 
which research suggests is already on the rise because of the COVID -19 pandemic.j 
Current and potential WTO rules and deep trade agreements can help reconcile trade and climate policies, so 
they support SME 's role in sustainable development. A id for Trade also has an important role to play. For 
example, ITC 's experience providing technical assistance has demonstrated how it can help SMEs understand 
how climate change will affect their competitiveness on world markets and plan accordingly.k 
Private sector actors in the multilateral trading system also have an important role to play. Lead firms in 
global value chains can assist their suppliers to adapt to climate change, particularly in LDCs and small island 
developing States. Supply chain fin ancing, and export finance, must build on the lessons learnt from COVID -19 
to help suppliers cope when crisis hits and invest in greening their businesses in good times.  
Greater environmental awareness may provide a golden opportunity to accelerate progres s towards the 
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development through trade. Climate change responses should be designed to 
make the green transition feasible – and profitable – for SMEs, particularly those in hard -hit developing 
countries. Exporting is one way to  boost the resilience of SMEs in the face of climate change. IT C is an 
3860
44
346240
56
66
020406080100
SME Large Exporting SME Non-exporting
SMEPercentage of respondentsNot adapting to
environmental risks
Adapting to environmental
risksWTO_ITCBox -Export status and firm size affect tendency to adapt to environmental change*
*[See text]WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 64 - 
 
  active player in ensuring SMEs leverage their participation in international trade for effective adaptation to 
climate change.  
a John Agard and E. Lisa F. Schipper, "Annex II - Glossary, " in IPCC Assessment Report 5 Working Group 
2, The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 
1757–76. Viewed at: https://archive.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment -report/ar5/wg2/WGIIAR5 -
AnnexII_FINAL.pdf . 
b ITC, "SME Competitiveness Outlook 2021: Empowering the Green Recovery " (Geneva: International 
Trade Centre, June 24, 2021) . Viewed at:  https://www.intracen.org/SMEOutlook/ . 
c ITC, "SME Competitiveness Outlook 2021: Empowering the Green Recovery " (Geneva: International 
Trade Centre, June 24, 2021) . Viewed at:  https://www.intracen.org/SMEOutlook/ . 
d ITC, based on ITC SME Competitiveness Surveys in Benin, Botswana and Zambia with 1,359 firms. Data 
collected in 2018 and 2019. SMEs are defined as firms with less than 100 employees. Exporters include 
firms that export r egularly and those that export in an irregular and intermittent manner. Respondents 
were asked "In the last three years, did your company invest in any of the following measures to reduce 
the environmental risks that your company is facing? " Answer options  included irrigation systems; water 
purification systems; flood prevention systems; power generation systems; soil management practices; 
transportation means; air pollution controls; temperature controls; other measures to reduce 
environmentally -related ri sks; none; and do not know. Respondents who chose any of the answer 
options (besides none and do not know) are defined as "adapting to environmental risks "; those that 
chose "none", "do not know " or did not choose are defined as  "not adapting to environmen tal risks ". 
e For instance, some estimates suggest that investing USD 1.8 trillion globally in adaptation between 
2020 and 2030 could generate USD 7.1 trillion in total net benefits Global Commission on Adaptation, 
"Adapt Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience" (Rotterdam & Washington,  DC: Global 
Center on Adaptation & World Resources Institute, 2019).  
f Peter Bakker and John Elkington, "To Build Back Better, We Must Reinvent Capitalism. Here 's How, " July 
13, 2020 , viewed at:  https://www.we forum.org/agenda/2020/07/to -build-back-better -we-must-
reinvent -capitalism -heres -how/; Maria Mendiluce, "How to Build Back Better after COVID -19," World 
Economic Forum, April 3, 2020 , viewed at:  https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/how -to-build-
back-better-after-covid-19/; OECD, "Building Back Better: A Sustainable, Resilient Recovery after 
COVID-19," Policy Brief, OECD Policy Responses to Coronavirus (COVID -19) (OECD, September 2020), 
viewed at: http://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy -responses/responding -to-the-covid-19-and-
pandemic -protection -gap-in-insurance -35e74736/ . 
g For more information on ITC 's GreenToCompete strategy, see : 
https://www.intracen.org/greentocompete/ . 
h Caroline Schaer, "Editorial: Private -Sector Action in Adaptation: Perspectives on the Role of Micro, Small 
and Medium Size En terprises, " in Private -Sector Action in Adaptation: Perspectives on the Role of Micro, 
Small and Medium Size Enterprises. (Copenhagen: UNEP DTU, 2018), viewed at: 
http://www.unepdt u.org/PUBLICATIONS/Perspective -Series -2018. 
i AXA Group and UNEP, "Business Unusual: Why the Climate Is Changing the Rules for Our Cities and 
SMEs " (Paris and Geneva: AXA Group and the United Nations Environment Programme Financial 
Initiative Principles fo r Sustainable Insurance Initiative, 2015); Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 
"Weathering the Storm: Building Business Resilience to Climate Change " (Arlington: Center for Climate 
and Energy Solutions, 2013); EBRD, "Transition Report 2019 -20: Better Governance, Better Economies " 
(London: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 2019).  
j Nancy L Rose, "Will Competition Be Another COVID -19 Casualty? " (Brookings, 2020), 15, viewed at: 
https://www.brookings.edu/wp -content/uploads/2020/07/Rose_LO_ FINAL.pdf; The Economist, "Survival 
of the Fittest: Could the Pandemic Leave Markets More Concentrated?, " October 10, 2020, viewed at: 
https://www.economist.com/special -report/2020/10/08/survival -of-the-fittest; UNCTAD, "Impact of the 
COVID -19 Pandemic on Trade and Development " (Geneva: United Nations Conference on Trade and 
Development, 2020), viewed at: https://unctad.org/system/files/official -document/osg2020d1_en.pdf . 
k ITC. Forthcoming. Becoming a Climate Resilient SME.  
Source:  International Trade Centre (ITC). 
Trade Facilitation  
3.165.   The Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) entered into force on 22  February  2017, when two -
thirds of WTO Members presented their corresponding instruments of acceptance. At the conclusion 
of the review period, 154 Members had domestically ratified the TFA and  deposited their instruments 
of acceptance to the WTO, which represents 94% of the WTO  membership.  
3.166.   During the review period, 26 Members submitted notifications with their commitments under 
categories  A, B and C  as per Chart 3.19 below .  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 65 - 
 
  Chart 3.19 Number of WTO Members that presented TFA notifications, 14 October 2020 
to 30 September 2021  
 
Source:  https://www.tfadatabase.org .  
3.167.   In the reporting period, the  WTO's Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility (the Facility, or 
TFAF) halted the delivery of technical assistance activities at the request of a Member in the WTO 
Trade Facilitation Committee. Consultations have been convened to review the governance of the  
Facility and to clarify its relationship with the TF Committee.  
3.168.   Throughout this period, work has been ongoing to complete the first comprehensive update 
of the TFAF website since its launch in 2014. In addition to providing strengthened security, this 
upgrade will allow for the expansion and enhancement of the site's features and functions.  The TFAF 
Annual Report for the year 2020 was published during the review period .116 
Trade Financing  
3.169.   The recovery of trade in many countries has translated into increased  demand for import 
and export finance over the past few months. According to the Berne Union (the association of export 
credit agencies), the risk appetite for supporting trade transaction has also increased, although trade 
credit insurers are preparing fo r an increase in defaults incurred at the height of the pandemic.  
3.170.   The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated that the global trade finance gap had 
increased from USD 1.5 trillion in 2018 to USD 1.7 trillion in 2020, during the pandemic – despite 
the fall in world trade in 2020. The trade finance gap, i.e. the amount of trade finance requests that 
are rejected, affected mainly developing countries. The increased number of rejections of trade 
finance applications between 2018 and 2020 were linked to the high er risk and uncertainty prevailing 
during the pandemic. The perception of risk and expectations of losses by lenders vis-à-vis borrowers 
is typically higher during periods of recession. Lending requirements have been tightened. Local 
banks rejected more ap plications from local borrowers, because they received less  confirmation lines 
for letters of credit or less funding in foreign exchange from international banks  for trade 
transactions . 
3.171.   SMEs have been the category of companies most affected by the increase in the rejection 
rate. According to the ADB, 45% of SME's applications were rejected (against 38% for mid -size 
companies, and 10% for large companies). When rejected, in two -thirds of t he cases companies had 
to draw on their own funds or resort to informal modes of finance for the transaction to take place. 
In one -third of the cases, no funding was available. Women -owned SMEs faced considerable 
difficulties in accessing trade finance —among the women -owned firms surveyed, about 70% of their 
applications were totally or partially rejected. A significant share of the gap, occurs in Africa, 
according to the African Development Bank's own trade finance gap study: USD 90 billion, out of a 
marke t estimated at USD 415 billion (a 20% market gap) in 2019. The share of SME trade finance 
 
116 Viewed at: https://www.tfafacility.org/annual -reports . 
1
16
20
3
4
13
60
3
5
9Category A
Category B
Category C
Category shift from B to C
Category shift from C to B
Extension of time to implement
Transparency notifications
COVID-19 related transparency
notifications
Arts. 22.1 and 22.2
TACB arrangementsWTO_TFA.1 -Number of WTO Members that presented TFA notifications, 14 October 2020 -
30 September 2021
Source:  https://www.tfadatabase.orgWT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 66 - 
 
  applications rejected by banks is also about 45%, similar to the international average. However, 
trading firms being more likely to be SMEs, this rejection rate trans lated into a proportionally higher 
trade finance gap.  
Women 's Economic Empowerment: Trade Policy Trends in WTO Members  
3.172.   On 23 September  2020, the 127 proponents of the Buenos Aires Declaration  on Trade and 
Women's Economic Empowerment established the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender 
(IWG) .117 Members of the IWG work on the basis of four pillars: Experience sharing; Considering the 
concept and scope for a "gender lens "; Reviewing analytical work undertaken; and Contributing to 
the Aid for Trade work  programme.  
3.173.   Since January 2021, Members have advance d their technical work acquir ing a better 
understanding of the trade and gender  nexus. They focused their work on 12 categor ies of policy 
interventions , i.e. 1) Trade exports in the circular economy in s upport of women 's economic activity 
and livelihood; 2) Data collection leading to informed policies; 3) Assessing the impact of trade, 
trade policies and trade agreements on women; 4) Promoting female entrepreneurship; 5) Fostering 
women 's participation in  the economy; 6) Combating the impacts of COVID -19 on women; 7) Female 
leadership; 8) Gender chapters and provisions in free trade agreements and regional trade 
agreements; 9) Applying a gender lens to trade and WTO; 10) Development aid and Aid for Trade 
targeting women; 11) Standards and gender; and 12) Capacity building.  
3.174.   In parallel, some WTO M embers continue to integrate trade and gender issues in their trade 
policy review reports. Since 2018, 55% the WTO Members reviewed provided information  on their 
gender -responsive trade policies.118 
 
 
117 WTO document WT/L/1095/Rev.1 , 25 September 2020.  
118 In 25 out of 45 reviews carried out between January 2018 to September 2021 . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 67 - 
 
  4  POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE IN SERVICES  
4.1  Regular Measures Affecting Trade in Services  
4.1.  Some 178  new measures  affecting trade in services  were introduced by 59 WTO Members and 
one Observer1 since mid -October 2020  with more than 40% being horizontal measures, according 
to the information available to the Secretariat . Approximately half of the measures appear to be 
trade -facilitatin g, mostly relating to commercial presence and presence of natural persons . However , 
many policies appear to be restrictive, mainly referring to foreign investment  screening or affecting 
communication and network -enabl ing services. Annex 4 of the Addendum to this Report provides 
more detailed information on these  measures.2 
Measures affecting supply through multiple  modes of supply across various sectors  
4.2.  China  issued the first Negative List effective since 26 August 2021, on Hainan Cross -Border 
Trade in Services, covering cross -border trade, consumption abroad and movement of natural 
persons. The list includes 70 special administrative measures (market access, including local 
presence requirements, and national treatment restrictions ) in 11 sectors. Cross -border trade in 
services not included in the list will be conducted in accordance with corresponding regulations. 
Angola  introduced a new legal framework effective since 20  October  2020 to promot e local content 
in the oil and gas industry, indicating that all companies of the sector must source services provided 
by companies established in Angola (100% Angolan -owned or firms incorporated in the country).  
4.3.  In Brazil , a new law on the business environment, effective since August 2021, facilitate s the 
establishment and operations of companies by introducing changes to guidelines and procedures for 
entrepreneurs and legal entities, and to the law on the public registry of companies. Changes include 
the automatic granting of business licen ces for me dium-risk activities, the removal of the residency 
requirement for foreign administrators, the lifting of foreign investment restrictions in certain 
sectors, or the ending of the requirement that a local address is provided for establishment. The law 
also standardizes the payment of international trade fees and simplifies procedures related to 
international trade in services.  
4.4.  On 2 November  2020, Indonesia  enacted a new Law regarding Job Creation (Omnibus Law), 
which simplifies licen ce processes and harmonizes various laws and regulations in various sectors , 
including postal, telecommunication, health, maritime , transport, energy and related services. A new 
regulation effective since 4 March 2021, liberalized  foreign ownership limits  in several sector s: ICT, 
e-commerce, distribution, transportation, energy, construction  and health services  sectors . Changes 
were introduced by another regulation effective since 25 May 2021, indicating a  maximum foreign 
ownership of 49% on courier services  and removing postal services from the list of restricted 
activities. However, e -commerce of many products is now reserved for cooperatives and SMEs , 
limiting  the ability of foreign investors to engage in such activities. A "grandfather clause " provides 
exemptions for inv estments which were made and approved as determined in their respective 
business licen ces prior to the release of the two regulations.  
Measures affecting supply through commercial presence across various sectors  
4.5.  Since mid -October 2020,  Members introduced c hanges to their policies affect ing the supply of 
services through commercial presence ( Mode 3) . While some of those  appear to liberalize foreign 
investment, others introduced additional restrictions .  
4.6.  For example, China  released the new catalogue effective  since 27 January  2021,  of industries 
where foreign investment is encouraged, covering new activities such as ICT, e -commerce , retail 
services and online services (education, health or office services)  sectors . China also issued the 2020 
version of its market access negative list, effective since 10  December  2020, which includes the list 
of prohibited or restricted activities. Notably, restrictions on the establishment of financial holding 
companies were added to the list.  In the United Arab Emirates  (UAE), significant amendments were 
 
1 Sudan.  
2 The inclusion of any measure in the Annex does not imply any  judgement by the WTO Secretariat on 
whether or not such measure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature. Moreover, nothing in the  Annex implies any 
judgement, either direct or indirect, on the consistency of any measure with the provisions of any WTO 
agreement.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 68 - 
 
  made to the law on commercial companies, effective since 2  January  2021. Unless specific 
restrictions are created, the amendments stipulate 100% foreign ownership allowed in companies 
in the U AE, and the nationality requirement for the majority of the board of directors was lifted. It 
is no longer required to have a UAE national or local company as a registered agent in case of 
onshore branching in an Emirate.   
4.7.  Viet Nam released the list of act ivities for which foreign investment is permitted from 
26 March  2021, but under certain conditions. These cover 58 specific items such as finance, 
communication services, advertising, education, various professional services, health, logistics and 
one item  allowing authorities to issue pilot mechanisms on business lines considered as new (i.e.  not 
existing at the date of issuance of the decree). The list of activities where foreign investment is 
prohibited notably includes press, opinion polling, waste coll ection from households, security and 
investigation services, public postal services  and tourism services  (except tourism services for 
international tourists ). On 3 June 2021 Fiji introduced a new act on investment, which removes the 
requirement to apply fo r a Foreign Investor Registration Certificate but enables the government to 
establish a list of reserved and restricted activities. The act also introduces a screening process, 
whereas foreign investment can be prohibited to protect national security inter ests.  
4.8.  Oman  issued the list of prohibited activities for foreign investors , to promote local products and 
entrepreneurship. Sudan  (Observer)  published a new law on investment, effective since 11 April 
2021, requiring foreign investors to deposit at least USD 250,000 to obtain a licen ce. It also enables 
the establishment of a  list of sectors and activities not available to foreign investors .  
4.9.  Revised or new procedures pertaining to investment screening were adopted in several 
Members.  In China , new measures effective since 18  January  2021, authorize the review by the 
Foreign Investment Security Review Working Mechanism of foreign investments in certain sectors 
linked to security issues, and in important sectors such as transportation services, energy, financial 
services or in the area of di gital trade.  Also, a new law , effective since 1  December  2020, establishes 
the country's export supervision regime, which applies to "controlled items " that may cover services 
related to the maintenance of national security and also affects third parties t hat provide services to 
export operators concerned by the new law. Another new measure authorizes competent authorities 
to issue an injunction allowing Chinese citizens, legal entities and organizations not to recognize, 
implement or comply with foreign me asures or laws that are designed to bar economic, trade and 
related activities between China and other countries.  
4.10.   Canada  updated on 24 March 2021 its guidelines on the National Security Review of 
Investments , increas ing the scope of examination to sectors involving sensitive personal data, 
investment by foreign state -owned investors or private investors closely tied to enterprises 
influenced by foreign governments. In the United Kingdom , a new law adopted on 29  April 2021 
introduced , inter alia , mandatory n otification obligations for transactions in data -related 
infrastructure s, artificial intelligence, communications and transport. Japan  updated on 7 July the 
list of businesses subject to the requirement of submitting prior notification concerning inward di rect 
investment under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act . Certain services sectors related to 
critical minerals (including rare earth) were added to the list of core business sectors . 
4.11.   Australia  reformed the act and regulations pertaining to the rev iew of foreign investment to 
improve and update the operation of the framework across national security, compliance monitoring 
and enforcement, and integrity as well as, streamlining requirements and making technical changes 
to improve the operation of the  law. All proposed investments  by foreign persons into Australia that 
raise national security concerns can be reviewed, including compulsory review of proposed 
acquisitions of a direct interest (usually 10% or more) in a national security business. New Zea land 
removed the approval requirement of investments that do not affect control, except in strategically 
important businesses.  
4.12.   A number of European  Union  member  State s revised their FDI policies since mid -October 
2020 to introduce more scrutiny in certain  investment projects. For example, Denmark  established 
its foreign investment screening process, effective from 1 July 2021, requiring foreign investors to 
obtain prior approval for the acquisition of at least 10% equity or voting rights or equivalent control 
rights in existing companies, greenfield investments or special financial agreements giving significant 
influence over critical bus inesses. The sectors covered include, inter alia , IT security for classified 
information, critical infrastructure s, and other critical technologies.  An investment considered as a 
threat to national security or to the public order may be reviewed for up to five years after the WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 69 - 
 
  investment was made. Measures introduced by some EU member States (e.g.  Germany  and Malta ) 
also include the review of investments in connection to activities affecting security or public order in 
other EU member States.  
4.13.   In the United  States, a new rule , effective since 15  October  2020, modifies the criteria for 
mandatory declarations for certain foreign investment transactions involving a US business that 
produces, designs, tests, manufactures, fabricates or develops one or more "critical technologies ". 
The measure removes the previous analysis and nexus to the North American Industry Classification 
System (NAICS) codes and replaces it with an analysis of export control authorization requirements.  
Measures related to communication servi ces, e -commerce and digitally  enabled services  
4.14.   Several Members adopted new measures in relation to communications services, e -commerce 
and Internet - and other network -enabled services. In particular, during  the review period a number 
of new measures adopte d relate to digital services taxes.  For example, i n Mexico , a new decree, 
effective since 1 January  2021, addressed income tax and VAT treatment of digital services and 
transactions performed on online platforms. The withholding tax should be levied on the total amount 
of income without VAT that individuals receive or cash -in: 2.1 % for ground/land passenger transport 
services and the delivery of goods , 4% for lodging/accommodation services , and 1 % for the transfer 
of goods and the provision of services.  
4.15.   In Spain , from 16  January  2021, certain digital services are subject to 3% indirect tax 
applicable to revenues (excluding VAT) in which users ' participation  is required . Companies are 
subject to the tax if their global annual  net revenues are above EUR 750 million and Spanish annual 
taxable income subject to the tax is above EUR 3 million. The tax applies regardless of the tax 
residence of the digital service provider. India enacted on 28  March  2021 the Finance Act 2021, 
amend ing certain provisions related  to the 2% equalization levy for e -commerce operators 
introduced in April 2020. According to the 2021 Act, the levy will apply to foreign e -commerce 
operators for the sales of goods or the provision of services in India (whether on own -account or as 
interm ediary in the transaction), except for those sales or provision by a person resident in India or 
by the Indian permanent establishment of a non -resident  in India .  
4.16.   A number of Members introduced new or revised policies for Internet - and other network -
enabl ed services, communication services, and more particularly pertaining to cross -border data 
flows.  For instance, China  passed new laws covering data security and the protection of personal 
information, as well as a new regulation relating to the 2016 Cyber Security Law . The new regulation 
provide s a definition of Critical Information Infrastructure  (CII), clarifi es the responsibility of relevant 
authorities involved in the regulation of CII, and spells out the duties and liabilities of CII operators.  
The cross -border transfer of important data collected and generated by CII operators within China 
may be transferred overseas subject to a security assessment. Besides CII operators, non -CII 
operators may a lso be required to store personal information collected or produced through  their 
activities in China and be obliged to pass security assessments for cross -border transfers of the 
information.  
4.17.   India issued new guidelines  on 15 February 2021, seeking to eli minate prior approvals, 
licences and other restrictions on the collection, generation, preparation, dissemination, storage, 
publication, updating and/or digitization of geospatial data and maps in India. The guidelines restrict 
cross-border transfer of geo spatial data. Such data must be stored and processed only in India, even 
if are licensed to a foreign company by an authorized Indian entity. Panama  adopted a new law, 
effective on 29  March  2021, that restricts the transfer of personal data abroad unless t he recipient 
country or company complies with data protection standards defined in the law.  
4.18.   United States  signed an executive order on 9 June 2021 that repeal s and supersed es three 
prior e xecutive orders aimed at prohibiting transactions with TikTok and We Chat and eight other 
software applications. Th e order enables United States to take measures to protect sensitive data, 
develop standards for identifying software applications that may pose unacceptable risks and further 
develop plans to protect sensitive personal data against potential threats posed by certain connected 
software applications .  
4.19.   The Russian Federation  signed a law on 1 July 2021 impos ing certain requirements on foreign 
companies that target Russian Internet audience s. Companies with a daily audience  in the WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 70 - 
 
  Russian  Federation of more than 500,000 users are required to establish a representative office, a 
branch, or a legal entity in the country. India adopted the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media 
Ethics Code, which establish a new regu latory category. Significant social media intermediaries will 
be identified based on the number of registered users. Chief compliance officers and related positions 
of these intermediaries as well as , over-the-top service providers and news media content providers , 
must be employees resident in India.   
4.20.   Finally, some Members adopted new measures in the telecommunications sector, such as 
Kenya , where the minimum Kenyan equity participation requirement was increased from 20 % to 
30% in all licensed companies in  the sector, with a requirement to comply within  three years for 
existing licensed operators (ICT Policy Guidelines published on 9 April 2021). The Republic of Korea  
enacted and implemented amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act, including a 
requirement on foreign telecom services  suppliers to , inter alia, appoint a local representative.   
4.21.   Cuba introduced on 17 August 2021 a new law aiming at improving and increasing the 
coherence of the regulatory framework in the telecommunication sector by enco uraging 
technological convergence  and pushing for the extension of broadband  networks. The new law  also 
regulates the use of spectrum and defines the universal telecommunication services that must be 
provided by operators to all citizens . On 13 July 2021, the telecommunication authority of Nepal  
made the sharing of telecommunications infrastructure compulsory . It provided a list of 18 types of 
sharable passive infrastructure and regulate d maximum sharing price thresholds . 
Financial services  
4.22.   Important policy changes took place during the review period in the financial services sector. 
These included measures relating to forms of entry permitted and relaxation of foreign equity limits, 
as well as some new restrictive measures.  For example, Kazakhstan  amended  the relevant laws to 
allow foreign banks, insurance (and reinsurance) organizations and insurance brokers to open direct 
branches under certain conditions. In February 2021, t he United Kingdom  Financial Conduct 
Authority (FCA) issued new mea sures  that set out the Authority's approach to the authori zation and 
supervision of international firms and the circumstances in which they may need to establish a UK 
subsidiary rather than a branch.  
4.23.   In the insurance subsector, the Russian Federation  allows the establishment of branches of 
foreign insurers and reinsurers from 22 August 2021 and in India, since 19 August 2021, up to 74% 
foreign shareholding is permitted under the "Automatic Route" (49% previously) . On 
12 November  2020, the China  Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued a 
Notice on Matters Related to Insurance Fund Financial Equity Investment , which removes restrictions 
on financial equity investment of insurance funds. Since 1  February  2021, only licensed insurance 
instituti ons can engage in Internet -insurance business. Therefore, such activities can no longer be 
conducted via a third -party platform.  
4.24.   On 26  January  2021, the Central Bank of Myanmar  issued new rules for Non -Banking Financial 
Institutions (NBFI) operations in My anmar, such as conducting finance company business, leasing 
business or factoring business, which are defined in the Financial Institutions Law. The  rules cover 
NBFI registration  and the prohibition of deposit acceptance by these entities , and they open th e 
possibility for 1 00% foreign ownership.  From 1 July 2021, Indonesia  relaxed the foreign ownership 
and voting rights limits for payment services providers. For payment service providers of non -bank 
institutions, the maximum share of foreign ownership is 8 5% and the maximum share of foreign 
ownership with voting rights is 49%.  Since 1  January  2021, the National Payments Corporation  of 
India (NPCI) has limited to a maximum of 30% the market share of foreign electronic payment 
service suppliers processing online payments made through India's United Payment Interface 
(owned and operated by NPCI).   
Other services sectors  
4.25.   Members also adopted mea sures in other sectors. For example, in the education sector, China  
introduced a measure in effect since 1 September 2021, which forbids private f oreign -invested 
enterprises and social organizations controlled by foreign parties  to supply compulsory educat ion 
services. Furthermore, since 24 July 2021, foreign investment in "subject -based" training institutions 
is prohibited, whether through mergers or acquisitions, trustee arrangements, franchising, or WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 71 - 
 
  through a "variable interest entity" (VIE). All online "subject -based" training institutions are now 
subject to government approval.  
4.26.   With respect to health services, Thailand  legalized the telemedicine business in private 
medical facilities as of 2 February 2021. The telemedicine service must be separate d from and 
additional to the healthcare operator 's existing services. Stand -alone healthcare applications can no 
longer provide services without being under the supervision of such a facility.  Since June 2021 t he 
United Arab Emirates  allows cross-border transfe r of health -related data , including for telemedicine 
services , under certain conditions.  
4.27.   Regarding transport, Brazil  published a new decree on 12  April 2021, on public calls regarding 
the use of port facilities in organized ports and introduces temporary u se contracts. In the tourism 
sector, Costa Rica  authorize d since 23  April 2021 foreign -flagged vessels and their crew to engage 
in transport, diving, recreation and other touristic activities within Costa Rican waters. It also allows 
the hiring of national  crew members to carry out these practices .  
Measures affecting supply through the movement of natural persons  
4.28.   Various Members introduced new measures affecting the supply of services through the 
movement of natural persons, most of them being trade -facilitating . For example, Australia  
prioriti zed since 7 July 2021, the processing of skilled visa applications for temporary shortages and 
for temporary work. The Kingdom of Saudi  Arabia  introduced in April 2021  a new short -term work 
visa (the Temporary Work Visit Visa (TWVV) ) that provides foreign n ationals with a multiple -entry 
visa valid for one year and allows them to work for up to six months in that one -year period . In 
Singapore , a new work pass was introduced for qualified foreign nationals in technology roles.  
4.29.   However, some new measures appea red to be trade restrictive. For instance, in Cameroon , 
since June 2021 employment of nationals is prioritized in public -private partnership investment 
projects , and certain positions across all industries are reserved for nationals (e.g. human resources 
manager, legal affairs manager, accountant) . In Angola , a new law obliges investors in free trade 
zones to give preference to the employment of Angolans. Seychelles  modified in February 2021 the 
provisions of the Gainful Occupation Permit (GOP), calling for  stricter enforcement of labour market 
testing. In the Philippines , a new measure requires companies applying for or renewing Alien 
Employment Permits to  prove that the job vacancy was published in a general circulation newspaper 
for at least 15 days befor e the application is submitted and an affidavit stating that no applications 
were received, or no Filipino applicant was considered for the position .  
Air Services  Agreements  
4.30.   Table 4 .1 presents information on air services agreements (ASAs) concluded or amended 
during the period under review. These include both new ASAs and revisions of existing ones. As far 
as can be assessed from available sources, the majority of these ASAs provides f or improved access 
conditions than was previously the case. The air transport sector is under continued severe strain 
because of the COVID -19 pandemic and this appears to have generally resulted in a fall in the 
number of ASAs concluded during the reportin g period.  
4.31.   As part of the strategies for COVID -19 response and aviation recovery, at the end of 2020 
the Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC) concluded a new multilateral agreement to 
liberalize air cargo services in the region. The agreement ca me into effect immediately among its 10 
signatories, and establishes expanded traffic rights, namely "seventh freedom" traffic rights, 
permitting airlines from one LACAC Member State to provide all -cargo services between two other 
signatory States without restrictions on routes and capacity . The agreement will remain in effect for 
one year, until 31 December 2021, and may be extended for a further year, at the discretion of 
LACAC States.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 72 - 
 
  Table 4.1 Air Transport  Agreements3 concluded or amended between October 2020 and 
October 2021  
Parties  Date of 
signature  Source  
Israel  United Arab 
Emirates  20.10.2020  https://www.businesstravelnews.com/Global/UAE -
Israel -Sign-Agreements -for-Direct -Air-Service -Visa-
Exemptions  
Ukraine  Thailand  22.10.2020  https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric -polytics/3121605 -
cabinet -of-ministers -endorses -amendments -to-air-
service -agreement -with-thailand.html  
Bangladesh  Austria  19.10.2020  https://thepolicytimes.com/flight -operation -
between -dhaka -and-vienna/  
Cambodia  Hungary  3.11.2020  http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020 -
11/04/c_139490188.htm  
United 
Kingdom  United States  17.11.2020  https://www.cityam.com/uk -and-us-sign-aviation -
agreement -to-protect -vital-travel -links/  
Rwanda  Brazil  18.11.2020  https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda -ratifies -
5-bilateral -deals-expand -aerospace -network  
Rwanda  Democratic 
Republic of Congo  18.11.2020  https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda -ratifies -
5-bilateral -deals-expand -aerospace -network  
Rwanda  Namibia  18.11.2020  https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda -ratifies -
5-bilateral -deals-expand -aerospace -network  
Rwanda  Somalia  18.11.2020  https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda -ratifies -
5-bilateral -deals-expand -aerospace -network  
Rwanda  Tunisia  18.11.2020  https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda -ratifies -
5-bilateral -deals-expand -aerospace -network  
Rwanda  Republic of Korea  27.11.2020  https://www.newtimes.co.rw/news/rwanda -korea -
sign-deal-open-airspace  
Guyana  Suriname  7.12.2020  https://menafn.com/1101258838/Guyana -
Suriname -open-air-agreement -to-expand -
connectivity  
India Philippines  23.12.2020  https://www.cnbctv18.com/aviation/cabinet -
approves -signing -of-revised -bilateral -air-service -
agreements -with-afghanistan -philippines -
7811431.htm  
India Afghanistan  23.12.2020  https://www.cnbctv18.com/aviation/cabinet -
approves -signing -of-revised -bilateral -air-service -
agreements -with-afghanistan -philippines -
7811431.htm  
Brazil, Chile, 
Dominican 
Republic, 
Ecuador, 
Guatemala, 
Panama, 
Paraguay, 
Peru, Uruguay 
and Bolivarian 
Republic of  
Venezuela  Latin-American 
Civil Aviation 
Commission 
(LACAC) air cargo 
liberalization 
agreement  24.12.2020  
(until 
31.12.21)  https://www.atn.aero/#/article.html?id=78616  
Republic of 
Korea  Georgia  4.02.2021  http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=202102
05000273  
State of 
Kuwait  Luxembourg  26.03.2021  https://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=29
67911&language=en  
European 
Union  ASEAN  02.06.2021  https://www.atn.aero/#/article.html?id=80318htmlf
ile%5CShell%5COpen%5CCommand  
Morocco  Israel  11.08.2021  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/11/israel -
and-morocco -sign-three -deals-on-historic -visit 
Maldives  Turkey  02.09.2021  https://raajje.mv/105984  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 
3 The term "Air Transport Agreements" is used here to refer to Air Services Agreements, Memoranda of 
Understanding, Exchang e of Notes, and other such relevant instruments.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 73 - 
 
  4.2  COVID -19-Related Measures Affecting Trade in Services  
4.32.   Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Secretariat collected information on 153  
COVID -19-related measures affecting trade in services  put in place  by WTO Members and 
Observers .4 Out of these, 29 measures were implemented during the review period, a signi ficant 
decrease compared to  the number recorded in the early stages of the pandemic when governments 
were seeking to address and mitigate  the economic, social and health consequences of the COVID -19 
pandemic. The steep decline  in the number of new measures  confirms the downward trend already 
witnessed from the third quarter of 2020.  
4.33.   Most of the COVID -19-related measures appear to be trade -facilitating, including measures 
provid ing (or reintroduc ing) flexibility for transport services suppliers to ensure th at supply chains 
are not disrupted, facilitat ing entry processes for business travellers or essential  personnel in the 
transport sector, or providing flexibilities for the financial services sector. However, a number of 
measures are trade -restrictive, for instance  those  increasing the scope of foreign investment 
screening.   
4.34.   Since mid -October 2020, five COVID -19-related measures affecting trade in services taken 
by three  Members were reported as terminated.  Canada  confirmed the termination on 6  April 2021 
of two financial support measures initiated in March 2020 . Australia  removed on 1 January  2021 the 
temporary changes to the foreign investment review framework that were designed to safeguard its 
national interest during the COVID -19 pandemic. Finally, the two air transport measures reported 
earlier this year by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia  are no longer valid. Consequently, 138 of the 
reported measures affecting trade in services that were taken in response to the pandemic and its 
subsequent waves are still in force .  
4.35.   The full list of services measures taken in response to the COVID -19 pandemic  since the 
beginning of the COVID -19 pandemic is available on the WTO website.5  
 
 
 
4 Implemented by 18 WTO Members and 1 Observer (Iraq) . 
5 WTO, COVID -19: Measures affecting trade in services . Viewed at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_services_measure_e.htm . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 74 - 
 
  5  POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY  
5.1.  During the review period, WTO Members continued to fine -tune their intellectual property (IP) 
domestic frameworks, as shown by the communications  to the trade monitoring exercise and the 
notifications to the TRIPS Council. Members continued to implement specific IP measures aimed a t 
facilitating the development and dissemination of COVID -19-related health technologies, as well as 
at streamlining  procedural requirements for administrative IP matters  in the face of lockdowns . 
Acceptance of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement  
5.2.  During the review period, two Members deposited their respective instruments of acceptance 
of the Protocol Amending the TRIPS Agreement1: Gambia, on 20 October 2020; and Antigua and 
Barbuda, on 12 May 2021. On 1  January 2021, the United Kingdom confirmed its continued 
acceptance of the Protocol. To date, 133 Members are bound by the amended TRIPS Agreement, 
which incorporates an additional flexibility to address public health needs of countries with limited 
or no domestic capacity to produce phar maceuticals. The mechanism provides for a secure legal 
pathway that allows potential exporting Members to grant special compulsory licences exclusively 
for the production and export of generic medicines to the importing country or countries.  
IP-related international , bilateral, and regional trade a greements  
5.3.  During the review period, the following international instruments entered into force in the 
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of 
Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure and to the Strasbourg Agreement Concerning 
the International Patent Classification, on 16 October 2020; the Vienna Agreement Establishing an 
International Classification of the Figurative Elements of Marks and the Locar no Agreement 
Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs, on 3 December 2020; and the Nice 
Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the 
Registration of Marks, on 22 July 2021 . Switzerland acceded to the B eijing Treaty on Audio -visual 
Performances and the Marrakesh Treat y, in September 2021.  
5.4.  The Protocol to the Eurasian Patent Convention on the Protection of Industrial Designs of 
September 1994 entered into force on 11 April 2021 for the Russian Federation; and the Eurasian 
Regional System for Registration of Industrial Designs established under the Protocol was launched 
on 1 June 2021. Furthermore, the Treaty on Trademarks, Service Marks and Appellations of Origin 
of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), entered into force for all member States of the EAEU, on 
26 April 2021. The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission adopted Decision No. 53 on 
"Instructions to the Treaty Detailing the Respective Procedures", on 18 May 2021.  
5.5.  Members continued to negotiate reciprocal  trade agreements that contain substantive IP 
provisions. Currently, 76% of the RTAs in force and notified to the WTO contain specific IP provisions , 
increasingly d evelop ing the interconnection between IP and trade in goods and services, and the 
links of the IP system to other normative areas, such as investment, e -commerce, and competition 
policy. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement was signed, i n 
November 2020;2 the new  Free Trade Agreement between the European Free Trade Association and 
Turkey enter ed into force  in October 2021 and replac ed the 1991 agreement.3  
5.6.  On the bilateral front, the IP offices of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (SAPI) and C hina (CNIPA) 
signed a Cooperation Agreement on Patent Prosecution Highway, on 30 October 2020. Mexico and 
the United Kingdom signed an Agreement on the Mutual Recognition and Protection of Designations 
for Spirit Drinks, on 3 November 2020.4 The Saudi Aut hority for IP (SAPI)  launched a  Collaborative 
Patent Search Pilot Program with the Korean Intellectual Property Office  (KIPO) .5 
 
1 WTO document WT/L/641, 8 December 2005.  
2 The RCEP contains a comprehensive IP chapter, building on the TRIPS Agreement, the CPTPP, the 
Republic of  Korea -United States FTA (KORUS), and the ASEAN+1 FTA.  
3 Submission by Norway  to the WTO Trade Monitoring Report.  
4 Submission by Mexico to the WTO Trade Monitoring Report.  
5 Submission by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the WTO Trade Monitoring Report.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 75 - 
 
  National IP-related strategies  
5.7.  In December 2020, Albania launched its Cross -cutting Strategy Against Organized Crime and 
Seriou s Crimes 2021 -2025 and the Action Plan 2021 -2022.  It is also implementing its National 
Strategy for Integrated Border Management and Action Plan 2021 -2027.6 
Developments in domestic legislation and administration  of IPRs  
5.8.  Domestically, WTO Members and Observers are working to streamline IP into their economies. 
The relationship between  IP and trade continued to develop and diversify, as Members continued to 
modernize and fine -tune their IP legislation and administration  (Table 5.1 ). 
Table 5.1 Domestic legislation and administrative developments  
Member  Measure  
Albania  The Council of Ministers issued Decision No. 199 "On determining the special conditions of 
licensing, accompanying documents, procedures for reviewing or revoking the license, 
application fees and annual quotas of licenses for commercial activities of cultural assets", 
on 31 March 2021.  
Australia  Public consultations on: (i) geographical indications in th e framework of the negotiations 
of a Free Trade Agreement with the European Union took place in October -November 
2020; and (ii) on indigenous knowledge in the IP System, from February to May 2021.  
The Designs Amendment Bill 2020 was passed by Parliament, on 30 August 2021, 
received Royal Assent on 10 September 2021 and most measures will enter into force on 
10 March 2022.  
Azerbaijan  Resolution No. 104 of the Cabinet of Ministers established the  Technology 
Commercialization and Transfer Center on 22 April 2021.  
China  The National Intellectual Property Administration issued the Decision on Amending the 
Guidelines for Patent Examination (Announcement No. 391), entered into force on 15 
January 2021.  
The Decision of the Standing Committee of the National  People's Congress on 
Amendments to the Patent Law of the People's Republic of China became effective on 
1 June 2021.  
Colombia  Decree 360 -2021 strengthens the enforcement of IPRs by requiring IP holders to submit 
their complete coordinates to customs auth orities to facilitate communication, entered 
into force on 7 April 2021.  
Indonesia  The Regulations on the Procedures for Trade Mark Application, Patent Application and 
Compulsory Licenses were amended entered into force on 3 February 2021.  
The Ministry of  Finance Regulation No. 67/PMK.02/2021 set s the types and prices (in 
Swiss Francs) for non -tax state revenue for applications for registration and extensions 
based on the Madrid Protocol, entered into force on 17 June 2021.  
Mexico  The new Federal Law of Industrial Property Protection amended, consolidated, and 
supplemented prior legal instruments, it entered into force on 5 November 2020.  
Philippines  The Revised Rules of Procedure on Administrative Enforcement of Intellectual (IP) Rights 
brought electronic, digital or online channels under the authority of the IP Office; and 
entered into force 3 March 2021.  
Norway  The Customs and Goods Act provides IPR right -holders the possibility to submit electronic 
requests for the intervention of customs aut horities in cases of infringement, without 
obtaining a court decision; and entered into force 1 October 2021.  
Russian 
Federation  Federal Law No. 262 -FZ authorized certified scientific and educational organizations to 
undertake preliminary search and asses sment of patentability for inventions and utility 
models; and entered into force on 1 August 2021.  
Saudi Arabia, 
Kingdom of  SAPI issued the Rules for Licensing IP Agents, which entered into force on 19 November 
2020.  
SAPI expanded the scope of the optiona l Copyright Registration to architectural works; it 
entered into force on 28 December 2020.  
The competencies of the Ministry of Commerce regarding trademark enforcement were 
transferred to SAPI, as of 15 August 2021 . 
Singapore  The patent regime was enhanced by introducing a process for considering third -party 
observations during the examination of patent applications; and a re -examination of 
granted patents, as of 1 October 2021.  
Thailand  The IP Department of the Ministry of Commerce issued the noti ces on Accelerated 
Issuance of Trademark First Action; Accelerated Consideration on the Request of 
Trademark Renewal; and the New Version of Patent and Petty Patent Certificates, in April 
2021.  
 
6 Submission by Albania for the WTO Trade Monitoring Report.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 76 - 
 
  Member  Measure  
Ukraine  The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No . 1315 " On amending certain Resolutions of 
the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on intellectual property " authorized the National IP 
Institute to register copyrights and agreements relating to authors' rights over their 
works; and entered into force on 23 December 2020.  
The Law No. 1667-IX "On stimulating the development of the digital economy in Ukraine"  
amended the Law "On copyright and related rights " in terms of use of the copyright 
protection mark, allocation of property rights to the service work and copyrigh t royalties 
for the creation and use of the service work; and entered into force on 14 August 2021.  
Note:  The Table contains communications by Members and Observers to the WTO Trade Monitoring 
Report.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
COVID -19-related measures  
5.9.  Members implemented  several IP measures  in response to the pandemic. They  range from 
measures aimed at promoting innovation or facilitating access with respect to COVID -19-related 
health technologies to measures  that streamline  procedural requirements or establish online 
procedures to facilitate IP rights management for applicants, right  holders and other stakeholders. 
The Secretariat maintains an indicative list of measures online.7 
TRIPS Council  
5.10.   During the review period, the TRIPS Council met formally on five occasions, (14 -15 October, 
10 December 2020 , 10-11 March  2021,  30 April 2021 ; and 8 -9 June 2021 ) and held several informal 
open-ended meetings and consultations  by the Chairperson .  
5.11.   At the October 2020 , March and June 202 1 meetings, the Council discussed the proposal by 
India and South Africa to waive parts of the TRIPS Agreement during the pandemic8 and the proposal 
by the LDC Group to extend the transition period beyond 1 July 2021.9 The Council also considered 
the Eur opean Union's Communication on "Urgent Trade Policy Responses to the COVID -19 Crisis – 
Intellectual Property" and the proposed "Draft General Council De claration  on the TRIPS Agreement 
and Public Health and the Circumstances of the Pandemic".10 It also rev iewed Members' annual 
reports on incentives for technology transfer and technical cooperation activities. At the three  
meetings, Members continued to share information and best practices on domestic policies to boost 
MSMEs' intellectual property and compet itiveness in green technologies ; as well as IP financing, 
funding, and investment .11  
5.12.   Since mid -October 2020, 1 6 Members12 have notified legislative measures under Article  63.2. 
The United Kingdom submitted 75 notifications that charted the evolution over two decades in 
relation to trademarks and designs. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia submitted its responses to the 
illustrative list of questions on Article 27.3(b).13 
TRIPS -related Discussions in Trade Policy Reviews  
5.13.   The Trade Policy Reviews of Thailand;  Indon esia; Macao, China;  India;  Nicaragua;  Myanmar;  
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia;  Mongolia;  Qatar;  Tonga;  Viet Nam;  the Kyrgyz Republic;  Argentina;  
Singapore and  the Republic of Korea took place.  During these reviews, Members actively engaged 
and discussed a wide range of specific IP issues with a bearing on trade policy.  
 
 
7 Viewed at: https://w ww.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_ip_measure_e.htm .  
8 WTO document IP/C/W/669 , 2 October 2020 and addenda.  
9 WTO document IP/C/W/668 , 1 October 2020.  
10 WTO documents IP/C/W/680, 4 June 2021; and IP/C/W/681, 18 June 2021 respectively.  
11 WTO documents IP/C/W/667, 9 September 2020; IP/C/W/675 , 26 February 2021;  and IP/C/W/679, 
27 May 2021.  
12 Albania, Central African Republic, Croatia, European Union, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, 
New Zealand, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, Swe den, Chinese Taipei, Ukraine, United Kingdom and 
Viet Nam.  
13 WTO document IP/C/R/BT/SAU/1 , 21 January 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 77 - 
 
  6  TRANSPARENCY OF TRADE POLICIES  
Notifications and Surveillance in WTO Councils and Committees1 
6.1.  This Section provides a factual overview of the compliance and timeliness of Members' 
notifications to the WTO. Notifications are the primary instrument for ensuring transparency in the 
multilateral trading system. They are submitted by each Member and rev iewed by the relevant 
bodies of the WTO. The importance attached by WTO Members to this issue explains the very 
elaborate system of notifications and cross -notifications put in place under the terms of most 
agreements. Transparency in trade and in trade po licy-making is fundamental for allowing trade 
policy makers and economic agents to make informed decisions , and markets to operate more 
efficiently.  
6.2.  The overview of the compliance and timeliness of Members' notifications to the WTO illustrates 
that, with a few exceptions, compliance with notification requirements of the various 
WTO Agreements remains very uneven. Although there have been significant efforts by some 
delegations to bring the overall record of their notifications further up to date, the general sense is 
that progress on this front remains too slow. The lack of compliance with notification obligations 
across WTO bodies is problematic because it undermines individual agreements and , more generally , 
the operation of the multilateral trading system. There are several reasons for low compliance with 
notification requirements , and an important one relates to the lack of capacity of many 
WTO Members , despite the continued efforts by the WTO Secretariat and the Committees . This lack 
of capacity, and the  other reasons behind the poor compliance , must be addressed collectively by 
the WTO membership.  
Anti-Dumping  
6.3.  Pursuant to Article 16.4  of the Agreement on the Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994 
(the Anti -Dumping Agreement), all Members are req uired to submit to the Committee on 
Anti-Dumping Practices, on a semi -annual basis, reports of any anti -dumping actions taken within 
the preceding six months, using an agreed standard form.  Members that have not taken antidumping 
actions during a given six -month period are required to submit a simple nil notification. Members 
that have not established an authority competent to conduct anti -dumping investigations have the 
option to make a one -time notification  indicating that fact , which remains valid unless  and until they 
establish an investigating authority, in lieu of submitting nil notifications every six months.  
6.4.  Fifty-nine Members2 submitted semi -annual reports, either of anti -dumping actions taken, or 
of no actions having been taken, during the six -month period January -June 2021.  To date, 51 
Members have submitted one -time nil notifications.  The remaining 27  Members failed to submit 
semi-annual reports in respect of anti -dumping actions during the period  January -June 2021. Few 
of these  non-notifiers ar e likely to have taken antidumping actions  as they have never notified the 
establishment of an investigating authority.   
Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  
6.5.  The trends in the status of compliance with the obligation to notify subsidies to the Committee 
on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures under Article 25.1 during the period 1995 -2021 are shown 
in Table 6.1 . Subsidy notifications are required every two years , and Members were required to 
submit their 2021 new and full subsidy notifications by  30 June 2021.  
6.6.  The share of Members that notified subsidies remained between 30% and 50% between 1995 
and 20 21. The share of Members that made a "nil" notification fell significantly over the same period. 
Excluding 1995, the share of Members making the required notifications did not exceed 70%, and 
generally hovered around 60%. Conversely, the share of Members not m aking any notification 
registered a substantial increase since 1995, from 25% to 68%, albeit with some intervening 
fluctuations.  
 
1 Notifications in the SPS and TBT Committees are dealt with in Sections 3.3 and 3.4 of this Report.  
2 The European Union is counted as one (27  member States ). WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 78 - 
 
  Table 6.1 Status of subsidy notifications  
New and full subsidy notification  
(due on 30 June of the years shown)  
1995  
1998  
2001  
2003  
2005  
2007  
2009  
2011  
2013  
2015  
2017  
2019  
2021  
% share of total  
Members that notified subsidies  50 39 44 45 47 48 48 47 49 48 46 46 30 
Members that made a "nil" notification  25 16 15 14 13 11 17 20 18 17 13 7 2 
Sub-total of notifying Members  75 55 59 59 60 59 65 67 67 65 59 53 32 
Members that did not make any notification  25 45 41 41 40 41 35 33 33 35 41 47 68 
Note:  Status as at 8 October 2021. Values are rounded.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
6.7.  Pursuant to Article 25.11 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, all 
Members are required to submit to the Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing  Measures, on a 
semi-annual basis, reports of any countervailing actions taken within th e preceding six  months, 
using an agreed standard form. Members that have not taken countervailing actions during a given 
six-month period are required to submit a simple nil notification. Members that have not established 
an authority competent to conduct countervailing duty  investigations have the option to make a 
one-time notification  indicating that fact , which remains valid unless and until they establish an 
investigating authority, in lieu of submitting nil notifications every six months.  
6.8.  Forty-three Members3 submitted semi -annual reports, either of countervailing actions taken, 
or of no actions having been taken, during the six -month period January -June 2021.  To date, 45 
Members have submitted one -time nil notifications.  The remaining 49 Members failed to submit 
semi-annual reports in respect of countervailing actions  during the period  January -June 2021. Few, 
if any, of these non -notifiers are likely to have taken countervailing actions as they have never 
notified the establishment of an investigating authority .  
Safeguards Notifications  
6.9.  Unlike the Anti -Dumping Agreement or the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures, the Agreement  on Safeguards (SG) does not oblige Members to submit semi -annual 
reports. On the other hand, the Agreement on Safeguards obliges Members to notify individual SG 
actions, such as initiations of investigation or impositions of measure. The number of notifications 
regarding initiations and impositions  are explained in Section 3.2 of this  Report. In addition, pursuant 
to Article 12.6 of the Agreement on Safeguards , all Members are obliged to notify to the Committee 
on Safeguards their laws, regulations and administrative procedures relating to safeguard  measures. 
As of 7 October 2021, 73 Members4 had notified their legislations, while 47 Members had notified 
that they had no such legislation. Eighteen  Members had not made such a notification.  
State Trading Enterprises  
6.10.   The Working Party on State Trading Enterprises reviews notifications of state trading 
enterprises on behalf of the CTG. Since 2004, these notifications have been due every two years. 
Table 6.2  presents notifications received for the years in which a new and full notification was due.  
Table 6.2 Status of new and full STE notifications (due on 30 June of the year shown)  
Year  1995  1998  2001  2004  2006  2008  2010  2012  2014  2016  2018  2020  
Number  of 
Members 
that have 
notified  65 65 72 64 63 66 66 61 64 67 52 41 
Note:  Status as at 5 October 2021. The European Union and its member States provide a single 
notification and are therefore counted as one in this table. During the relevant notification periods, 
the United Kingdom was a member State of the European Union.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 
3 The European Union is counted as one (27 member States).  
4 The European Union is counted as one (27 member States).  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 79 - 
 
  Agriculture  
6.11.   The CoA continued its review of the implementation of Members' commitments under the 
AoA, primarily based on notifications submitted by Members. Twelve distinct notification 
requirements are applicable in the domain of agriculture, covering market access, domestic support, 
export subsidies, export prohibitions or restrictions, and the follow -up to the Marrakesh Net 
Food-Importing Developing Countries (NFIDC) Decision. The applicability of a notification 
requirement to a Member is largely dependent  on its specific commitments under the AoA. Of the 
12 notification requirements, 5 are "regular" or  "annual" notification requirements: (i)  imports under 
tariff and other quotas (MA:2); (ii)  special safeguards  (MA:5); (iii)  domestic support (DS:1); 
(iv) export subsidies (ES:1); and (v)  total exports (ES:2).5 
6.12.   More than 5,900 questions were raised in con nection with individual notifications under the 
CoA review process in the period 1995 -2021. Throughout the years, most of these questions focused 
on domestic support notifications  (DS:1 and DS:2), followed by questions concerning market access, 
in particul ar TRQs (MA:1 and MA:2). Specifically, since 2010, the prevalence of questions concerning 
domestic support notifications has been considerably high, representing between 70% and 80% of 
all questions raised in the  CoA concerning individual notifications (Ch art 6.1). 
Chart 6.1 Questions raised on individual notifications, per topic, per year, 1995 -2021 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
6.13.   From 15  October  2020 to 15  October  2021, Members submitted 344 notifications  (including 
addenda and corrigenda). A total of 287 questions were posed concerning individual notifications at 
the CoA meetings that took place during this period. In line with the historical trend, most of the 
questions related to domestic support notifications (75%), with notifications from India, the 
European  Union , the United  States  and Viet  Nam being subject to an extensive review based on 
multiple questions from other Members. A  total of 16 questions addressed overdue notifications from  
Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European  Union , India, Pakistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 
South  Africa , Thailand and the United  States . 
 
5 Annual notifications are required to be submitted no later than a certain number of days following the 
end of the year in question, in accordance with the deadlines set out in the Committee's Notification 
Requirements and Formats, WTO document G/AG/2, 30  June 1995.  
050100150200250300
Domestic Support Market Access Export restrictions
Export competition NFIDC DecisionQuestions raised on individual notifications, per topic, per year, 1995 -2021
Source:  WTO Secretariat.WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 80 - 
 
  Quantitative Restrictions (QRs)  
6.14.   The notification of QRs to the Market Access Committee is an obligation estab lished by the 
2012 Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative Restrictions (WTO document 
G/L/59/Rev.1, 3 July 2012). The Decision requires Members, every two years, to notify the WTO 
Secretariat of the QRs they have in force, as well as any chang es in the interim. As of 
4 October  2021, a total of 58 Members (counting the EU 27 as one) had submitted QR notifications 
and 79 Members had never submitted a notification since the requirement was established in 2012 .6 
The number of notifications for eac h biennial period is provided in Table  6.3. 
6.15.   As of 4 October 2021, 34 Members (counting the EU 27 as one), had submitted multiple 
notifications under the QR Decision informing of the introduction, modification or removal of 
temporary export prohibitions and  restrictions as a result of the COVID -19 pandemic.7 In terms of 
the continued application of these measures, while some Members have notified the extension of 
the temporary measures, and others have notified either the complete or partial elimination of the 
temporary export restrictions or have confirmed the expiration  of the measures, most Members have 
not notified additional information since their first QR notification. According to the Secretariat report 
"Summary of notified export restrictions and tr ade facilitating measures relating to the COVID -19 
Pandemic "8 approximately 11 additional Members provided information on 17 additional measures 
to the Trade Monitoring Report as a result of the COVID -19 but did not notify these measures under 
the QR Deci sion as of the date of this report.  
Table 6.3 Notification procedures for QRs  
No. Notification requirement  Total number of notifications received as at 
12 October  2020, by biennial period  
1 QRs in force (regular 
notification)a 2012-14: 29 notifications from 23 Members  
2014-16: 33 notifications from 3 0 Members  
2016-18: 31 notifications from 31 Members  
2018-20: 87 notifications from 49 Members  
2020-22: 63 notifications from 39 Members  
2 Changes to the QRs maintained 
(ad hoc), or introduction of new 
QRs 2012-14: 2 Members notified changes to existing QRs  
2014-16: 3 Members notified changes to existing QRs  
2016-18: 1 Member notified changes to existing QRs  
2018-20: 17 Members notified changes to existing QRs, most of 
which related to measures introduced as a result of the COVID -19 
pandemic  
2020-2022: 13 Members notified changes to existing QRs, most of 
which related to measures introduced as a result of the COVID -19 
pandemic  
3 QRs maintained by other 
Members  
(reverse notification)  No Member submitted this type of notification  
4 Non-tariff measures maintained 
by other Members  
(reverse notification)  No Member submitted this type of notification  
a Some of these notifications contain information only on COVID -19 measures. See Annex table in 
WTO document G/MA/QR/11, 5 October 2021.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Import Licensing  
6.16.   Notification requirements in the area of import licensing procedures result from the WTO 
Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures. They are complemented by the "Procedures for 
 
6 WTO document G/MA/QR/11, 5 October 2021.  
7 WTO document  G/MA/W/157/Rev. 3, 5 October 2021 . 
8 WTO document G/MA/W/168/Rev.1, 6 October 2021.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 81 - 
 
  Notification and Review under the Agreement on Imp ort Licensing Procedures" adopted by the 
Committee on Import Licensing in 1995 (G/LIC/3) and the "Understanding on Procedures for the 
Review of Notifications submitted under the Agreement on Import Licensing Procedures" adopted on 
23 October 1996 (G/LIC/4) . The notification requirements are described in Table 6.4.  
Table 6.4 Notification procedures for import licensing  
No. Notification requirement  Established in  Type  Notification  
category  
1 Submission of full texts of  
relevant laws and regulations  
and any changes thereto  Article 8.2(b) of the 
Agreement; WTO document 
G/LIC/3 , 7 November 1995  One-off and  
ad hoc  N/1 
N/2 
2 Sources in which information  
concerning import licensing  
procedures are published  Article 1.4(a) of the 
Agreement; WTO document 
G/LIC/3, 7 November 1995  One-off and  
ad hoc  N/1 
N/2 
3 New import licensing  
procedures and changes to  
existing procedures  Articles 5.1 -5.4 of the 
Agreement  Ad hoc  N/2 
4 Reply to the Questionnaire on  
Import Licensing Procedures  Article 7.3 of the Agreement; 
WTO document G/LIC/3, 7 
November 1995  Annual, by  
30 September  
each year  N/3 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
6.17.   The N/1 notification requires a WTO Member to notify all relevant laws and regulations with 
regard to import licensing procedures, as well as identify the source/publications containing such 
information. It contains both a one -off element (notification of existing laws and regulations and 
source/publications) and an ad hoc  element (changes to laws and regulations thereafter). In theory, 
a WTO Member should have at least one N/1 submission, providing its laws and regulations on 
import licensing or indicating  that its government does not maintain any import licensing regime.  
6.18.   The N/2 notification is an obligation for Members to notify new licensing laws/procedures or 
changes made to existing laws/procedures. It is ad hoc  in nature, and only due when specific 
circumstances occur. A new notification form (for notification under Articles 5.1 -5.4) was agreed at 
the Import Licensing Committee meeting held on 4 April 2019 for Members to use on a voluntary 
basis.9 WTO Members may use and are effectively using this no tification form for all notifications 
under Articles 1.4(a), 8.2(b) and 5.1 -5.4 (N/1 and N/2).10 The N/3 notification requires Members to 
reply to a Questionnaire describing all import licensing procedures in place by 30 September every 
year. 
6.19.   As at 8 Octob er 2021, 13 Members had not yet submitted any notification under any provision 
of the Agreement since joining the WTO. Twenty -three  Members had not submitted any notifications 
regarding import licensing related laws or regulations and eight Members never r eplied to the Annual 
Questionnaire under Article 7.3. During the review period, as at 8 October 2021, 121 new 
notifications under the Agreement on Import Licensing were received and circulated by the 
Secretariat.11 The Committee reviewed 83 N/2 notificatio ns relating to the institution of new import 
licensing procedures or changes in these procedures from 16 Members and 38 N/3 notifications from 
29 Members. No COVID -19-related notification was received by the Committee on Import Licensing 
during the review period.  
Rules of Origin  
6.20.   As of mid -October 2021, a total of 114 WTO Members12 submitted a notification on non -
preferential rules of origin under Article 5 of the Agreement on Rules of Origin. 52 Members informed 
the Committee that they implement non -preferential origin requirements, while 62 other Members 
notified that they do not.  Document G/RO/W/206 contains a detailed report on notifications received 
or outstanding. As noted in previous reports, however, the majority of these notifications were made 
in 1995 -96 and some are known to contain outdated or incomplete information. A gr oup of Members 
 
9 WTO document G/LIC/28, 1 May 2019.  
10 See footnote 1 to document G/LIC/28, 1 May 2019.  
11 The European U nion and its member States are counted as one.  
12 The European Union and its member States are counted as one.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 82 - 
 
  have proposed to update and standardi ze the information available by adopting a new notification 
template. This proposal is still being discussed in the Committee .13 
6.21.   In relation to non -reciprocal preferences for LDCs, all WTO Members except three have 
notified their LDC -specific origin requirements. In addition, the Ministerial Decision also requires 
preference -granting Members to notify their preferential tariffs and import statistics from LDCs. 
Compliance with these obligations has been slo wly improving but many gaps remain, in particular 
concerning preferential imports under LDC preferential schemes.  Document G/RO/W/163/Rev.9 
provides a detailed overview of the information gaps.  
Customs Valuation  
6.22.   Notifications  in the area of customs valuation stem not only from the Agreement on Customs 
Valuation  itself, but also from a number of Decisions that have been adopted by the C ommittee on 
Customs Valuation. There are five main not ification requirements . 
6.23.   Article 22 of t he Agreement on Customs Valuation and a Decision of the Committee contained 
in WTO document G/VAL/5 , 13 October 1995,  require the submission of the complete texts of 
national legislation (laws, regulations, etc.) that deal with customs valuation, as well a s any changes 
to such laws and regulations. During the period under review, 10 Members provided notifications 
regarding their customs valuation legislation, bringing the total number of Members that have made 
this notification up to 111. Members must also provide answers to the "Checklist of Issues" provided 
for in the Annex to document G/VAL/5. Nine Members submitted notifications containing this 
checklist, for a total of 76 Members that have complied with this notification requirement.  
6.24.   Members are also r equired to notify to the Committee the date of application of the Decision 
on the treatment of interest charges in the customs value of imported goods. 14 Fifty-four Members 
have already provided this date to the Committee, with five Members having done so  since 
mid-October 2020. Finally, Members that apply paragraph 2 of the Decision on the valuation of 
carrier media bearing software for data processing equipment15 must also notify the Committee of 
their practice. Six Members made such notification during the period under review, bringing the total 
to 50 Members.  
Preshipment Inspection  
Article 5 of the Agreement on Preshipment Inspection (PSI) provides that Members shall 
submit to the Secretariat copies of the laws and regulations under which they put the Agreement 
into force, as well as copies of any other laws and regulations relating to  PSI. Changes in such laws 
and regulations shall also be notified immediately after their publication. Since the last report, five  
Members have submitted notifications rel ating to PSI , bringing the total number of Members that 
have made such a notification to 115.  
Integrated Database (IDB)  
6.26.   Market access transparency is anchored on reliable and updated information . The IDB relie s 
on Members' officially approved data on tarif fs and imports and other  market access information like 
applied internal taxes and other duties and charges.  
6.27.   Chart 6. 2 present s the completeness of tariff and import notifications to the IDB, by number 
of notifications directly submitted by Members or collected by the Secretariat.  
 
13 WTO document G/RO/W/182/Rev.3, 24 February 2020.  
14 GATT document VAL/6/Rev.1, 1 October 1984.  
15 GATT document VAL/8, 10 October 1984.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 83 - 
 
  Chart 6.2 Completenessa of IDB tariff and import notifications, 2005 -21 
 
Note:  Notifications of i mports for 2020 and 2021 are not yet due.  
a The completeness of notifications is calculated on the basis of the number of Members' schedules 
(i.e. European Union member States are included in the European Union schedule, and Lichtenstein 
in Sw itzerland's). Information provided by the European Union on the period since 1 January 2021 
covers its current 27 Member States. For the period until 31 December 2020, tariff information 
provided by the European Union also covers the United Kingdom.  
Source : WTO Secretariat, as of 20 September 2021.  
6.28.   As of 20 September  2021, the coverage of IDB notifications was, on average, 83% for tariffs 
and 76% for import statistics, showing a minimal  increase compared to the last annual overview . In 
2021, the number of notifications of current tariff data which were du e by 31 March 2021 was the 
highest ever  and 60.3% of 2021 tariffs are now available. On import statistics, the latest outstanding 
year is  2019 for which 35% were received by the due date and 49% are already notified. Further, 
in 2021, of the 82 tariff submissions received, 60 of them (73%) included preferential tariffs.  
6.29.   Nonetheless, the IDB coverage  varies among Members . As shown in Table 6. 5, 49 Members  
(36%)  have complete tariff information, and 42 Members (or 31%) have complet e import statistics 
in the IDB. The table also shows high percentages of Members with at least 6 years of outstanding 
notifications - 29% for tariffs and 36% for imports.   
Table 6.5 Completenessa of notificati ons among Members  
Number of  Tariffs (up to 202 1) Imports (up to 20 19) 
years with outstanding data  No. of Members  % No. of Members  % 
None (complete data)  49 36 42 31 
1-2 years  18 13 22 16 
3-5 years  29 21 22 16 
6 or more years  40 29 49 36 
Total number of Members' schedules  136 100 135 100 
Memo: With at least one year of outstanding data  87 64 93 69 
a The completeness of notifications is calculated on the basis of the number of Members' schedules 
(i.e. European Union member States are included in the European Union schedule, and Lichtenstein 
in Switzerland's). Information provided by the European Union on the period since 1 January 2021 
covers its current 27 Member States. For the period until 31 December 2020, tariff information 
provid ed by the European Union also covers the United Kingdom.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
0102030405060708090100
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
Tariff
Imports
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Submitted Collected Missing
Note: Imports for 2020 and 2021 are not yet due.Completeness of IDB tariff and imports notifications, 2005 -21
(%)WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 84 - 
 
  6.30.   The IDB data are also used to calculate the statistics published in the World Tariff Profiles 
(WTP), a yearly compendium of comprehensive market access indicators.  
Balance -of-Payments Restrictions  
6.31.   Notification obligations in relation to restrictions to safeguard a country's balance of payments 
stem from Artic les XII and XVIII of the GATT  1994 and the Understanding on Balance -of-Payments 
(BOP) Provisions (described in Table 6. 6). 
Table 6.6 Notification  procedures for BOPs restrictions  
Legal source  Notification requirement  Type 
GATT 
Article XII:4(a)  
 
GATT 
Article  XVIII:12(a)  Any Member applying new restrictions or raising the 
general level of restrictions by a substantial 
intensification of the measures  applied under this 
Article shall immediately after instituting or intensifying 
such restrictions (or, in circumstances in which prior 
consultation is practicable, before doing so) consult 
with Members as to the nature of its BOP difficulties, 
alternative corrective measures which may be 
available, and the possible effect of the restrictions on 
the economies of other Members.  Ad hoc, followed by annual 
consultations  
 
Ad hoc, followed by biennial 
consultations  
Understanding on 
BOP Provisions, 
para. 9  A Member shall notify to the General Council the 
introduction of , or any changes in , the application of 
restrictive import measures taken for BOP purposes, as 
well as any modifications in time -schedules for the 
removal of such measures as announced under 
paragraph 1. Significant changes shall be notified to 
the General Council prior to, or not later than, 30 days 
after their announcement.  Ad hoc, followed by a yearly 
consolidated notification  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
6.32.   The last BOP consultations were completed  in July  2017 and no Member has notified the 
Secretariat of the imposition of measures for BOP purposes since then.  
Services  
6.33.   From mid -October 2020 to mid -October 2021, 39 new notifications were made under various 
GATS provisions, and a further three concerned changes to previously submitted notifications 
(Chart  6.3).  
6.34.   Out of the new notifications submitted, 13 were made under GA TS Article  III:3, by 
nine Members. This Article requires Members to notify to the Council for Trade in Services, at least 
annually, of any regulatory changes that significantly affect trade in services covered by its specific 
commitments. D uring the report ing period  2020-2021, fewer notifications were submitted under 
Article III:3 than in the preceding years.  
6.35.   During the reporting period, 24 agreements concerning economic integration in services were 
notified under GATS Article V:7, involving 81 Members.16 These agreements were referred to the 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements for consideration. After several years, during which the 
number of Economic Integration Agreements notified pursuant to Article  V:7 witnessed a relative 
slowdown , the number of not ifications increased substantially during the reporting period and is the 
highest ever recorded.17 
6.36.   During the reporting period, two  notification s were made under GATS Article  VII:4, involving  
three  Members. This Article requires Members to notify to the Co uncil for Trade in Services any new 
or existing mutual recognition agreements or arrangements. The number of notifications submitted 
 
16 The 27 m ember States of the European Union are counted individually . 
17 19 out of the 24 Economic Integration Agreements were notified by the United Kingdom and its 
trading partner s following the end of the transition period under the Withdrawal Agreement between t he 
European Union and the United Kingdom on 31 December 2020.  WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 85 - 
 
  pursuant to Article VII:4 increased markedly in 2018-2020 in comparison  to the previous two 
decades.  However, 2021 has not witnessed a continuance of this trend.  
Chart 6.3 Notifications pursuant to GATS Articles III:3, V:7 and VII:4, 1995 -2021 
 
Note:  2021 data cover up to 15 September 2021 . Changes to previously submitted notifications are not 
counted. Figures on Article V:7 include agreements of the EC/EU with its  future member States and 
EU-enlargement agreements.18 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
6.37.   No notifications were received under other GATS p rovisions during this period.  
6.38.   Between mid -October 2020 and mid -October 2021 , the Council for Trade in Services has not 
been notified of services -related measures taken in response to the COVID -19 pandemic.  In the 
previous reporting period, one notificatio n was made under GATS Article III:3 with regards  to the 
COVID -19 pandemic .19 
Preferential Trade Arrangements  
6.39.   Under the Transparency Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements (PTAs), which was 
established in December  201020, newly notified PTAs are to b e considered in dedicated sessions of 
the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD), on the basis of Secretariat -prepared factual 
presentations. Since the establishment of the Transparency Mechanism, 12 PTAs have been notified 
to the WTO. Three of these hav e been considered by the CTD in dedicated sessions21, while for 
several others the notifying Members have yet to provide the Secretariat with the information 
required for the preparation of the factual presentations. The CTD Chair provides an update at eac h 
 
18 On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty 
establishing the European Community (done at Lisbon, 13 December 2007) entered into force. On 
29 November 2009, the WTO received a Verbal Note ( WTO document WT/L/779 , 30 November 2009 ) from the 
Council of the European Union and the Commission of the European Communities stating that, by virtue of the 
Treaty of Lisbon, as of 1  December  2009, the Europe an Union replace d and succeed ed the European 
Community.  
19 Measures related to the COVID -19 pandemic affecting trade in services can be found in Section 4.2.  
20 WTO document WT/L/806 , 16 December 2010 . 
21 A fourth PTA, which concerns Thailand's duty -free trea tment for LDCs, is scheduled for consideration 
at the upcoming dedicated session of the CTD in November 2021.  
0102030405060
Article III:3 Article V:7 Article VII:4WTO -Serv.1 Notifications pursuant to GATS Articles III:3, V:7 and VII:4, 1995 -2021
Source: WTO Secretariat.Note: [see text]WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 86 - 
 
  meeting of the CTD's dedicated session regarding  the PTAs that are to be considered and urges the 
notifying Members to provide the data and information as soon as possible.  
6.40.   The Transparency Mechanism for PTAs also stipulates that an electronic database o n individual 
PTAs is to be maintained by the Secretariat. The Database on PTAs22 currently contains information 
on 36 PTAs. Table 6.7 provides an overview of the PTAs included in the database, which is updated 
primarily on the basis of information provided by the Members implementing PTAs.  
Table 6.7 PTAs of WTO Members  
WTO Member  Number of 
PTAs  Name or description of PTA  
Armenia  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
Australia  2 Generalized System of Preferences    
South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreementa 
Canada  2 Generalized System of Preferences    
Commonwealth Caribbean Countries Tariff  
Chile 1 Duty-free treatment for LDCs  
China  1 Duty-free treatment for LDCs  
European Union  4 Generalized System of Preferences    
Trade preferences for countries of the Western Balkans    
Trade preferences for Pakistanb   
Trade preferences for the Republic of Moldovac 
Iceland  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
India 1 Duty-Free Tariff Preference Scheme for LDCs  
Japan  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
Kazakhstan  1 Generalized System of Preferences 
Republic of Korea  1 Preferential Tariff for LDCs  
Kyrgyz Republic  2 Duty-free treatment for LDCsd 
  Generalized System of Preferences  
Montenegro  1 Duty-free treatment for LDCs  
Morocco  1 Duty-free treatment for African LDCs  
New Zealand  2 Generalized System of Preferences    
South Pacific Regional Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreementa 
Norway  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
Russian Federation  2 Generalized System of Preferences (1.1.2010 -10.10.2016)d 
  Generalized System of Preferences (as of 10.10.2016)  
Switzerland  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
Chinese Taipei  1 Duty-free treatment for LDCs  
Tajikistan  1 Duty-free treatment for LDCs  
Thailand  1 Duty-free treatment for LDCse 
Turkey  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
United Kingdom  1 Generalized System of Preferences  
United States  6 African Growth and Opportunity Act    
Andean Trade Preference Actf   
Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act    
Former Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands    
Generalized System of Preferences  
  Trade preferences for Nepal  
a Australia and New Zealand both provide preferences under this PTA.  
b The preferences granted under this PTA expired on 31  December  2013.  
c The preferences granted under this PTA expired on 31  December  2015.  
d The preferences granted under this PTA expired on 10 October 2016.  
e The preferences granted under this PTA expired on 31 December 2020.  
f The preferences granted under this PTA expired on 31  July 2013.  
Source:  Database on PTAs.  
Government Procurement  
6.41.   To ensure the transparency and predictability of its Parties' procurement regimes, the 
Agreement on Government Procurement sets out notification obligations for its Parties in five areas: 
(i) national implementing legislation on government procurement; (ii) procurement thresholds in 
national currencies; (iii) statistics on procurement activities; (iv) modifications to schedules of 
 
22 Viewed at: http://ptadb.wto.org . WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 87 - 
 
  commitments; and (v) media for the publication of procurement -related information. Var ious 
notifications were made during the reporting period under these requirements.  
Transparency of TRIPS  
6.42.   The TRIPS Agreement requires WTO Members to notify to the Council for TRIPS their IP laws 
and regulations  (Article 63.2) ; to establish and notify conta ct points in their administrations for the 
purposes of cooperation with each other, aimed at the elimination of trade in infringing goods; and 
to notify the  Council if they wish to use certain options under the Agreement relating to substantive 
obligations .  
6.43.   Chart  6.4 shows the laws and regulations notified from 1995 to 30 September 2021 . 
Notifications peaked in 1996, when developed -country Members notified existing laws or 
amendments that implemented the TRIPS  Agreement. From 2000 onwards, notifications 
predominately came from developing -country Members and recently acceded Members. The most 
recent rise in notifications reflects diverse approaches by Members in updating their IP regimes  in 
response to the changing economic, technological and social dimensio ns of IP , as well as the launch 
of e-TRIPS in 2019 . The e -TRIPS System  consists of:  the Submission System that enables Members 
to easily submit TRIPS notifications, review materials, and reports ; and  the companion Gateway 
which is an online information por tal that allows users to search the full range of TRIPS information 
managed by the Secretariat.23  
Chart 6.4 Notified laws and regulations under TRIPS Article 63.2 from 1995 to 
30 September 2021  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat. e -TRIPS.  
6.44.   The cumulative total of laws and regulations notified until 30 September 2021 was 5, 627 legal 
texts. They represent  a wide range of  national means of adapting and applying TRIPS standards, 
according to national priorities and wider policy frameworks. There are significant gaps in the 
coverage of more recent laws and legislative amendments, as several Members have not updated 
their init ial notifications for well over a decade.  
6.45.   Transparency obligations also refer to final judicial decisions and administrative rulings of a 
general application  on the subject matter of the TRIPS Agreement, as well as to agreements between 
 
23 Viewed  at: e-trips.wto.org . The Secretariat provides regular training sessions and updates to 
Members.  
01,0002,0003,0004,0005,0006,000
02004006008001,0001,200
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
First notification Amendment or revision to notified legal text(s)
Replacement or consolidation of legal text(s) Running TotalNotified laws and regulations under TRIPS Article 63.2 from 1995 to 30 September 2021WT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 88 - 
 
  governments or  governmental agenc ies, as provided for by Article  63.1. So  far, very few Members 
have shared such information with the TRIPS Council.24 
6.46.   Following the recommendation made by the TRIPS Council in March 201025, WTO  Members 
agreed to share information on, and noti fy bilateral agreements, related to the protection of 
geographical indications to which they are a party. The records indicate that few Members have 
shared or notified such agreements to the TRIPS Council, despite the conclusion of several such 
agreements.  
TRIPS Checklists  
6.47.   The TRIPS Council agreed  that to enable transparency on enforcement of IP Rights (i.e. 
Part III of the TRIPS Agreement)  Members should provide responses to an illustrative list of 
questions on their domestic systems, termed the Checklist on Enforcement.26 Similarly, 
questionnaires were agreed to implement the Agreement's built -in reviews under Article 24.2 on 
geographical indications ;27 and Article 27.3(b) on biotech patenting and plant variety protection .28 
The information therein can have  direct bearing on trade policy considerations  and aspects of the 
global economy: for instance, the Checklist on Enforcement reports in detail on border measures.  
Chart 6. 5 shows the Checklists on Enforcement; geographical indications; and biotech patenting and 
plant variety protection submitted from 1996 until 30 September 2021.   
Chart 6.5 Checklist on enforcement; geographical indications; and biotech patenting and 
plant variety protection from 1996 to 30 September 2021  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat. e -TRIPS.  
6.48.   During the review period, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia su bmitted its responses to the 
illustrative list of questions on Article 27.3(b).29 There were no  submissions of  responses to the other 
two Checklists. S ince 1996, 112 Members have submitted thei r Checklists  on Enforcement , and 16 
of those  have submitted rev isions ; the Checklist on Geographical Indications has been submitted by 
 
24 See for example: WTO documents IP/N/1/PHL/2 , 27 July 2001 ; IP/N/1/GBR/1 , 9 April 1996 ; and 
IP/N/1/HKG/3 , 21 January 2003 . 
25 Paras . 73 and 74 of WTO document IP/C/M/62 , 1 June 2010 . 
26 WTO d ocument IP/C/5 , 30 November 1995 ; and responses circulated in the IP/N/6/* series of 
documents.  
27 WTO document IP/C/13 , 14 May 1998  and its Addendum; and responses circulated in the 
IP/C/W/117/* ser ies of documents.  
28 See checklist in WTO documents IP/C/W/122, 22 December 1998; IP/C/W/273 , 5 June 2001  and its 
Rev.1; and responses circulated in the IP/C/W/125/* series of documents.  
29 WTO document IP/C/R/BT/SAU/1 , 21 January 2021.  
05101520253035
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Enforcement checklist - first notification Enforcement checklist - Update
Art. 24.2 - First notification Art. 24.2 - Update
Art. 27.3(b) - First notificationChecklist on enforcement; geographical indications; and biotech patenting and plant variety protectionWT/TPR/OV/24  
 
- 89 - 
 
  only 37  Members30, of which 6 notified updates ; and the Checklist on Biotech Patenting and Plant 
Variety Protection has been submitted by 28 Members ,31 and only one has provided an upd ate. 
Several Members have never provided a Checklist, and many have not updated their reports for over 
20 years.  
Technical Cooperation  and Technology Transfer  
6.49.   The TRIPS Council also agreed that developed Members should provide information  on 
technical coo peration ; and, on transfer of technology incentives for the benefit of LDCs. The resulting 
reports are circulated and reviewed by the TRIPS Council. They provide detailed information on 
measures taken to implement the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement at the national le vel.  
__________  
 
30 Australia ; Bulgaria ; Canada ; Colombia ; Croatia ; Cuba; Czech Republic ; Ecuador ; El Salvador ; 
Estonia ; European Union ; Honduras ; Hong Kong, China ; Hungary ; Iceland ; Japan ; Republic  of Korea ; 
Liechtenstein ; Lithuania ; Mexico ; Republic of Moldova ; Montenegro; Morocco ; New Zealand; Norway; Peru; 
Poland; Romania; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Switzerland; Chinese Taipei ; Turkey; Ukraine; United States; 
Uruguay; and the Bolivarian  Republic of Venezuela.  
31 Australia ; Bulgaria; Canada; Czech Republic; Estonia; European Union ; Hong Kong, China; Hungary ; 
Iceland; Japan ; Republic of Korea ; Lithuania;  Mexico; Republic of  Moldova; Morocco; New Zealand ; Norway;  
Poland ; Romania ; Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Slovak Republic; Sloven ia; South Africa; Switzerland; Thailand; 
Ukraine; United  States; and Zambia.