INF/TGE/COM/7  
INF/MSME/W/50  
 
23 January 2024  
(24-0504) Page: 1/3 
Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender  
Informal Working Group on MSMEs  Original: English  
 
  
PRACTICAL INTEGRATION OF INCLUSIVITY IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT POLICY:  
SHARING EXPERIENCES FROM APEC AND THE SAN FRANCISCO PRINCIPLES  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES  
The following communication1, dated  19 January 2024 , is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United States.  
 
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1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  The United States believes that an inclusive and equitable international trade and investment 
environment is critical to achieving the objectives of the WTO A greements and to advancing 
sustainable and inclusive economic growth and development.  The United States is pursuing reforms 
of the WTO that support, facilitate, and promote more inclusive trade and investment policies.  
1.2.  WTO Members have acknowledged the imp ortance of inclusivity in a number of ways, including 
in the MC12 Outcome Document where Ministers resolved to strengthen the inclusiveness of the 
multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.  Some Members have submitted 
communications expressing, for example, a desire to improve the inclusiveness of trade policy 
development, examine the distributional effects of trade and trade policy on different peoples and 
their communities, and improve the WTO 's ability to support fact -based deliberations throu gh 
increased external engagement.  The United States welcomes these communications and seeks to 
collaborate with other WTO Members to advance work improving the inclusivity of the multilateral 
trading system.   
2  CONTRIBUTIONS FROM APEC 2023  
2.1.  As host economy fo r APEC in 2023, the United States worked alongside other economies to 
advance trade and investment to equitably benefit APEC economies and people, including women; 
micro -, small -, and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs); and those with untapped economic 
poten tial, including Indigenous Peoples, persons with disabilities, and people from rural and remote 
areas.  
2.2.  In November 2023, leaders of the APEC economies recognized that, while trade and investment 
has contributed to rapid economic growth, increased living standards, and expanded economic 
opportunities for our citizens, more focus is needed on advancing policies aimed at growing 
economies in ways that advance sustainability and resilience to ensure that the benefits of trade and 
investment extend to a ll our peoples.  APEC leaders acknowledged that trade and investment policies 
should be a driver of inclusive and sustainable growth in the region, and that policies that support a 
free, open, fair, non -discriminatory, transparent, and predicable trade and investment environment 
contribute to uplifting livelihoods and sustainable economic growth for the region.  APEC leaders also 
recognized that the way to achieve economic inclusion and sustainability for each of the APEC 
economies may differ depending on wha t each economy and society looks like, reflecting a shared 
 
1 This communication has also been issued as WT/GC/W/921 , G/C/W/842 , S/C/W/463 , WT/COMT D/W/288  
document.  INF/TGE/COM/7 • INF/MSME/W/50  
 
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  desire for a balance across economic, social, and environmental dimensions in line with each 
economy 's circumstances.  
2.3.  Through the  San Francisco Principles on Integrating Inclusivity and Sustainability into Trade 
and Investment Policy , APEC leaders took an important step in recognizing that the following 
principles support the practical integration of inclusivity and sustainability into trade and investment 
policy:  
• Recognize the important roles of inclusivity and sustainability in the development and 
application of trade and investment policies that support strong, balanced, secure, 
sustainable and inclusive economic growth, positive environmental outcomes, and social 
well-being of all our peoples;  
• Incorporate envi ronmental sustainability and inclusion as important, complementary 
criteria, to amplify the benefits of economic initiatives and improve opportunities for all;  
• Recognize that valuing inclusion in trade policy, and fostering cooperation on this in APEC, 
can maximize available talent and innovation to overcome shared challenges, including 
climate change and other challenges to the region;  
• Foster the use of open, transparent, predictable, and participatory processes for the 
development and implementation of tr ade and investment policies and consideration of 
proposed policy actions, including publishing proposals or plans, public consultations, with 
a particular focus on inclusion of those who face barriers to economic participation.  
 
In accordance with economi es' laws and regulations, this may include:  
 
o Making information available on (1) public consultation and engagement 
opportunities and (2) the issue under consideration, in a manner that is timely, clear, 
accessible and freely available online and in other media accessible to a range of 
interested and affected persons and groups;  
o Conducting public consultations and engagement on trade policies and proposed 
trade policy actions in a transparent and inclusive manner; allow adequate time for 
interested persons to submit comments, accounting for the complexity or possible 
impact of the policy proposal; and consider comments received;  
o Ensuring consideration of particular perspectives and interests which can include 
MSMEs, working people, consumers, women, persons with disabilities, rural and 
remote populations, and Indigenous Peoples as appropriate, in the development, 
implementation, and monitoring of trade policies and trade policy actions.  
 
• Strengthen cooperation within APEC to support circular economy approache s and to 
underscore the importance of facilitating trade and investment in environmental goods 
and services, as a means to support our clean energy transitions, improve our 
environmental and economic performance, halt and reverse biodiversity loss, contrib ute 
to green growth and decent work, and better address global and regional environmental 
challenges while collaborating to improve opportunities for MSMEs to be competitive, 
specialized, innovative and expand into international markets;  
• Deepen understandi ng of the challenges and barriers facing groups with untapped 
economic potential, including those related to accessing international trade and 
investment opportunities;  
• Recognize the importance of improving the quality, scope, timeliness, disaggregation, 
availability and sharing of qualitative and quantitative open and publicly available data to 
understand and monitor the economic, environmental, and social impacts of trade policy 
on different peoples and their communities; identify data gaps and endeavor t o develop 
and strengthen data collection, research, and analysis;  
• Explore opportunities to utilize economy -specific analyses, experiences and best practices 
regarding the distributional effects of trade and trade policies, including by disaggregated 
popula tion groups.  
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  3  RELEVANCE AND APPLICABILITY TO WTO WORK  
3.1.  Many of the practical steps and actions included in the San Francisco Principles have significant 
overlap with, or are complementary to, WTO rules and practices.  Therefore, the San Francisco 
Principles may serve as a useful contribution to efforts WTO Members are considering to improve 
inclusivity in the WTO 's work and to ensure that the benefits of multilateral action are more widely 
shared.   
3.2.  In particular, WTO rules include fundamental notice and comme nt obligations, which could be 
examined and improved from an inclusivity perspective. Members could share experiences and 
lessons learned on their own domestic efforts to make trade -related information and documentation 
more accessible, to broaden and deep en consultation mechanisms and dialogues with impacted 
persons or stakeholders, and to conduct outreach to underserved, marginalized, disadvantaged or 
under -represented communities to improve access to trade policy decision -making processes.  
Transparency i s another fundamental pillar of WTO rules that could be strengthened and enhanced 
through WTO discussions, including the sharing of approaches to improving access to  publicly 
available and government data, with a particular focus on improving the data avai lable to better 
analyze and assess the social impacts of trade policies on different people and communities.   
4  SHARING DOMESTIC EXPERIENCES AS A NEXT STEP  
4.1.  The United States is undertaking its own reforms to improve inclusivity in its trade and 
investment policy making processes.  The United States is committed to thorough and thoughtful 
engagement in the development and implementation of its international trade policy agenda.  
Inclusive engagement is a key component to ensuring that resulting U.S.  trade policies are durable 
and equitable, and to building trusted, sustained lines of communication with all communities in the 
United States that could be affected by trade and investment policy decisions.  
4.2.  The United States intends to contribute to ongo ing discussions in the WTO on strengthening 
inclusivity in the multilateral trading system, including by sharing its own experiences and the 
practical steps taken by the United States to improve inclusiveness in its international trade and 
investment polic y decision making process.  
4.3.  The United States believes the San Francisco Principles can be a useful and practical 
contribution to WTO discussions . The United States welcomes and encourages contributions from 
other Members on  practical  steps they are taking  or challenges they are facing in improv ing 
inclusivity . These exchanges may  enhance our understanding of how common challenges are being 
addressed and create opportunities to learn from other Members in an open and constructive 
dialogue.  
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