WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
16 February 2018 
(18-1011) Page: 1/14 
Trade  Policy Review Body   
 
  
OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE  
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT  
MINUTES  OF THE MEETING  
4 December 2017  
Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Juan Carlos Gonzá lez (Colombia)  
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
1. Good morning and welcome to this meeting of the TPRB, whi ch was convened by Airgram 
WTO/ AIR/TPR/61 on 16 November.  
2. The purpose of this meeting is for Members and Observers of the Trade Policy Review Body 
to undertake their annual overview o f developments in the international trading environment 
which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system, as provided for in Paragraph G of 
Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement.  
3. As mentioned in the Airgram, today 's discussion is assisted by the  Director -General 's Annual 
Report which is aimed to set out the major activities of the WTO and to highlight significant policy 
issues affecting the trading system for the period between m id-October 2016 and 
mid-October  2017. The Report was circulated in d ocument WT/TPR/OV/20 on 16 November in 
English. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the TPRB, the Report was 
issued as an unrestricted document.  
4. At the outset, let me briefly recall that the purpose of the Trade Policy Review Mechani sm, 
which according to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement, is to achieve greater transparency in, 
and understanding of, Members ' trade and trade -related policies and measures. The TPRM is not 
intended to serve as a basis for the enforcement of obligations under WTO Agreements, for 
dispute -settlement purposes or to impose new policy commitments on Members. These 
fundamental principles also apply to the annual overview of developments in the international 
trading environment. As the trade monitoring exercise is part of the TPRM, the Report before us 
today as well as discussions amongst Members fall within the same, well -known parameters.  
5. I think it is also important to underline that the periodic reports by the Director -General - 
such as the Annual Report pres ented today – are first and foremost a transparency exercise. The 
monitoring exercise 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 n o 
legal implication with respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the Report with any WTO 
Agreement or any provision thereof.  
6. At the same time, the Trade Monitoring Reports seek to provide the WTO membership with 
regular updates on the state of g lobal trade and to shed light on the latest trends in the 
implementation of new trade policy measures. The reports, as well as our meeting today, are 
essential components of a platform which promotes transparency in trade policy -making and 
allows for const ructive peer review.  
7. I wish to recall also the Decision by Ministers at the 8th Ministerial Conference which called 
on the TPRB to continue and strengthen the trade monitoring exercise. In particular, Ministers WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  expressed their commitment to comply with exi sting transparency obligations and reporting 
requirements needed for the preparation of the trade monitoring reports, and to continue to 
support and cooperate with the Secretariat in a constructive manner.  
8. I would like to note that the prepar ation of thes e Reports rely on Members ' compliance with 
the notification requirements under the various WTO Agreements and on their timely input to the 
trade monitoring exercise. For the current Report, 46% of the membership provided input, 
representing around 95% of w orld imports.  
9. The Secretariat has made efforts to streamline the information gathering process, including 
providing delegations with further guidance and suggestions in terms of the format in which they 
can submit information. The Reports continue to evolv e in terms of the coverage and analysis of 
trade -related issues and seek to take into account discussions among WTO Members, for example 
in the context of the 6th Appraisal of the TPRM which Members concluded last year. Specifically, 
you will recall that o ne outcome of the Appraisal in the area of trade monitoring was to give 
Members an opportunity at these TPRB meetings to provide brief reports on significant changes in 
their trade policies between reviews, in the manner as envisaged in Section D of Annex 3 to the 
Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO. The Secretariat has invited all delegations to indicate 
whether any of them would like to volunteer participation, and although we have not received any 
request from any delegation in this respect for toda y's meeting, I should emphasize that this does 
not preclude any delegation from providing a brief oral report or update on specific changes in 
their trade policies which they would like to share with the membership.  
10. Now, turning to the Report before us tod ay, let me highlight a few main themes before 
inviting the Director -General to share his views.  
11. First of all, the Report is very timely as it provides us with a useful assessment of trends in 
world trade and some of the challenges faced by the international economy as we approach the 
11th Ministerial Conference. The report is also somehow so bering.  It reminds us that even though 
the onset of the global financial crisis may seem a long time ago, successive Trade Monitoring 
Reports, including the one before us today, have reminded us that the crisis has a long tail and 
that the world economy continues  to face uncertainty. As for in ternational trade, the 
Director -General 's Report strikes a cautiously optimistic note, which underscores the pertinence of 
caveats surrounding any predictions on international trade.  
12. Allow me to briefly make a couple of spec ific and substantive comments on the findings of 
the Report. For instance, the Report shows that Members introduced fewer new trade -restrictive 
measures compared to the previous Report. Indeed, the monthly average of nine measures put in 
place between mid -October 2016 and mid -October 2017 is significantly lower than the monthly 
average of 15 recorded in the previous period.  
13. On the other hand, WTO Members continued to implement measures aimed at facilitating 
trade. With almost 11 trade facilitating measures  per mon th, Members adopted fewer 
trade -facilitating measures compared to the monthly average of 18 recorded for the previous 
period. It is, however, important to emphasize that the estimated trade coverage of the import 
facilitating measures is more than two times larger than that of import restricting measures.  
14. By implementing more trade -facilitating than trade -restrictive measures, Members continued 
a trend observed over the past four years. Furthermore, Members ' implementation of the Trade 
Facilitation  Agreement and the ITA Expansion Agreement certainly have important and tangible 
on-the ground impact which send a strong signal regarding the multilateral trading system and the 
WTO's capacity to deliver.  
15. The Report also provides some interesting reading when it comes to the number and nature 
of the Specific Trade Concerns raised in the SPS and TBT bodies, as well as the increase in trade 
concerns registered in other WTO bodies. From a systemic point of view, I believe these are 
significant developments wh ich show the confidence that Members have in the work of regular 
bodies and their constructive efforts to resolve concerns through dialogue before resorting to a 
formal settlement.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  16. The Report also provides an overview of the compliance and timeliness of M embers ' 
notifications to the WTO. Transparency in trade and in trade policy -making is fundamental for all 
Members, as it allows economic agents to make informed decisions which in turn, permit markets 
to operate more efficiently. Notifications are the prim ary instrument for ensuring transparency in 
the multilateral trading system. The Report states that, with a few exceptions, compliance with 
notification requirements of the various WTO Agreements leaves much to be improved. It further 
adds that transparenc y and predictability are the first casualties of this situation as information of 
the existence and true cost of specific policies elude policy -makers and traders. There is no doubt 
in my mind that this report provides useful background information for Mem bers to continue to 
analyse the reasons behind the status of notification compliance.  
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE DIRECTOR -GENERAL   
17. Now, let me first give the floor to the Director -General to introduce his Report. 
Subsequently, I will open the floor for co mments from delegations.  
18. Good morning. I am  very pleased to join you today.  
19. This is always an important occasion. Even i n this busy period as we finaliz e our 
preparations for Buenos Aires, I think it is quite right that we take the time to review the major  
developments in the international trading environment over the past 12 months.  
20. So, you could argue that this meeting is even more important in this context because what 
we discuss here today is going to inform the ministers ' work in Argentina.  
21. Furthermore , transparency is essential to everything that we do at the WTO. It is , of course, 
very vital in ensuring  the predictability and stability of the multilateral trading system. This was 
fully recognized by Members in the 6th Appraisal of the TPRM undertaken last year.  
22. This annual overview is a key component in our transparency efforts.  
The Report  
23. The Report before you today looks at the implementation of trade -related measures across 
the WTO membership  in the last 12 months  between mid -October 2016 and mid -October 2017.  
24. It outlines a number of important trade -related developments, and gives an overall 
assessment of the main trends observed over this period.  
25. It also presents a pretty comprehensive account of the state of notifications by WTO 
Members  as the Chai r has just pointed out . 
26. And it looks at a wide range of other developments, including recent trade policy reviews 
and the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, the expanded ITA and other 
measures.  
27. In a nutshell, the Report aims to offer a hor izontal, objective and fact -based view of 
developments across the trade landscape.  
28. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that none of the country -specific trade measures 
recorded in this Report are classified as protectionist , as WTO -inconsistent, illegi timate, 
unnecessary or arbitrary. This is not the purpose of the Report.  
29. I have to stress that this exercise is not about judgements – it is about objectivity and facts.  
30. In a moment, I will outline the key findings of the Report. But first, I would like to  provide a 
brief background on the process of preparing this document.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  Preparation of this Report   
31. As in the past, information for the Report has been collected from direct inputs submitted by 
Members and Observers, as well as from other official and publi c sources  
32. I would like to thank the delegations that have actively participated in this exercise by 
providing relevant information on time, and by ensuring the subsequent ver ification of the 
information.  
33. 75 Members and 2 Observers contributed to this overview. As the Chair just mentioned, this 
amounts to around 95% of world imports.  
34. Although this figure is  quite impressive, the fact is that we can still improve the participation 
of Members. Over half of the membership did not take part.  
35. I strongly encourage all M embers to do so in future.  
36. Of course, the Secretariat remains available to help Members ' understanding  of this exercise 
and to facilitate their participation.  
Economic context  
37. The economic context for this year 's report is interesting, to say the least.  
38. International trade flows have rebounded strongly during the last 12 months after a very 
sharp slowdown in 2016. In September , we upgraded our forecast for trade growth in 2017 . This 
was due to  a sharp acceleration in global trade growth in the first half of the year. The original 
forecast was 2.4 %, and we are now forecasting growth of about 3.6% this year . 
39. This improved outlook is very welcome, but I have to stress that substantial risks that 
threaten the world economy remain in place and could easily undermine any trade recovery.  
40. Looking ahead, we have to keep up the hard work to help facilitate trade. Of course, this 
includes avoiding measures that can hamper and restrict trade flows.  
Key findings   
41. So now, let me turn to the key findings of the Report.  
42. It shows that 108 new trade -restrictive measures were put in place during the period. This 
equates to an a verage of 9 new measures per month. And it represents a very significant 
reduction compared to the monthly average of 15 that we had recorded in the previous period.  
43. Members also implemented 128 new measures that facilitate trade. This amounts to around 
11 trade -facilitating measures per month, which is significantly lower than the average of 18 
measures per month recorded in the previous Report.  
44. However, looking at the estimated coverage of these measures gives a different perspective.  
45. From this angle, import -facilitating m easures recorded in the period actually cover twice the 
value of the import -restrictive measures  implemented.  
46. Of course, we know that neither the numerical counting of measures nor their estimated 
trade coverage are bulletproof indicat ors of their real trade impact. However, both are quite useful 
to help illustrate the overall trend.  
47. In addition, I am pleased to note that liberalization associated with the expansion of the 
WTO Information Technology Agreement continues to feature promin ently. Import facilitating 
measures associated with the ITA covered around US$385 billion during the review period.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  48. So the picture is encouraging, but of course it could be better. And further progress will 
require continued commitment. I urge Members to r edouble efforts to refrain from implementing 
new trade -restrictive measures, and to reverse existing measures.  
49. Now, let me say a few words about the other findings of the Report.  
50. On trade remedy measures, the review period saw a slight deceleration both in  initiations of 
investigations and in terminations of measures, compared to the previous annual overview.  
51. However, despite the numerical significance of trade remedy actions, the amount of trade 
covered by these measures is relatively small.  
52. I should agai n stress, particularly in the case of trade remedies, that the Report does not 
call into question the WTO consistency of the measures listed nor whether they are a legitimate 
response to trade distortions introduced by the exporting parties.  
53. Now, turning to general economic support measures and subsidies.  
54. These issues have not been covered substantively in this annual overview, given the poor 
response rate to the request for information. We continue to face considerable challenges in 
getting Members to report on such measures. You may wish to reflect and provide further 
guidance to the Chair and to the Secretariat on how this issue might be best addressed in future 
reports.  
55. In the area of trade in services, recent developments show that the sector is see ing further 
liberalization, especially through the strengthening and clarification of regulatory requirements.  
56. At the same time, a number of services measures implemented during the review period 
appear to be trade -restrictive. We will be monitoring this situation continuously.  
57. I also want to highlight the section of the report dedicated to providing Members with an 
overview of the issues raised in individual Trade Policy Reviews over the past year.  
58. We know that the high number of TPRs can place a signifi cant burden of work on 
delegations, especially the smaller ones. Nonetheless, as the 6th Appraisal of the TPRM has shown, 
Members attach a lot of importance to this exercise and want to make it useful and manageable to 
everyone.  
59. The report also draws atten tion to the changing technological landscape and to the 
increasing significance of intellectual property in economic development. It shows that several 
WTO Members have adopted new national and regional policies related to IP and the digital 
economy.  
60. I also wish to underline the continued commitment of Members to notifying SPS and TBT 
measures for transparency purposes.  
61. Each year, the WTO receives more than 3,500 TBT and SPS notifications proposing new 
measures that may affect international trade. We are working with a number of partners to ensure 
that this information can be accessed in a simple and user -friendly way.  
62. We created the ePing tool exactly for this purpose. It allows users to receive daily or weekly 
email alerts about SPS and TBT notifications  covering products and markets of interest to them. 
And I am pleased to note that this initiative has attracted a lot of attention. We are happy with this 
and will keep you informed on further developments.  
63. Finally, while the Report shows some improvements  in terms of compliance and timeliness of 
Members' notifications, the overall picture is far from satisfactory.  
64. I want to echo the Chair's comments here.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  65. Timely notifications constitute an essential element for the transparency of the multilateral 
trading  system.  
66. We must continue to explore how we can improve compliance with notification obligations, 
including looking at the reasons why some Members have difficulties here.  
Conclusion  
67. So, these are some of the principal findings that I wanted to share with  you today.  
68. I hope that it can provide food for thought for your discussions.  
69. I really do look forward to continue working with all of you to help strengthen this exercise 
and ensure that transparency remains a cornerstone of our work.  
70. Thank you all for l istening. And thanks to the team in TPRD for their work in preparing this 
report. I appreciate the efforts that they have been putting in.  
71. I wish you a very productive meeting.  
STATEMENTS BY MEMBER S 
EUROPEAN  UNION  
72. The EU welcomes the release of the report and acknowledges the considerable amount of 
work that has been put into this document.  
73. This is again a very good and comprehensive report covering all the activities carried out by 
Members of this Organiz ation and drawing our attention to the recent trends and developments. 
We see this as a very valuable input to our work.  
74. We are happy to participate in this meeting today and to have the opportunity to take stock 
of the main developments in the internatio nal trading environment in the end of the very busy 
year.  
75. Allow me to make the following few points on transparency, trade facilitation and global how 
value chains  are evolving .  
76. Both the DG and the Chairman of the TPRB in their opening remarks underlined  the 
importance of the transparency.  
77. The EU supports the call made by the DG to all Members with respect to transparency and 
predictability.  
78. We join the remarks on the need for Members to support and contribute to the monitoring of 
trade developments and  trends. The quality of the product depends on how Members participate in 
its preparation.  
79. Transparency and predictability are two key features which are fundamental to producing 
regular, up -to-date and fact -based monitoring reports on the very latest tren ds. 
80. In this context, we regret to note this time again that Members do not notify their general 
support measures . The EU seems to remain alone in this domain.   
81. The report states that "the last annual overview had concluded that although the large 
economy -wide subsidies and high profile bail -outs of the early years of the financial crisis are now 
rarer, there is no evidence that Members have turned their back on subsidization as a policy tool, 
particularly in certain strategic sectors ".  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  82. However, gi ven the almost zero input from Members (other than the EU) on economic 
support measures, there is little basis for maintaining a specific reporting on this, which explains 
again the absence of the section and the annex on general economic support measures for the 
second time running now.  
83. The EU understands and shares the Director -General 's point of view and regrets this 
unfortunate situation in place, especially at a time where overcapacity remains a real issue for 
trade in certain sectors.  
84. We do not have the magic solution except to reiterate the call on Members to report their 
measures.  
85. The EU notes the references made by the DG on the Trade Facilitation Agreement that 
entered into force last February and has now been ratified now by more than ¾ of the 
membership.  
86. We continue having strong expectations and urge Members to ratify the agreement and 
developing M embers  to prepare their notifications of category A, B and C commitments with 
indicative timelines for commitments B. In this regard, we welcome the recent ratification and 
notification under category A commitments by South Africa.  
87. The EU is in the process of finaliz ing an updated strategy on Aid for Trade which emphasises 
our priority to trade facilitation and importantly, to assisting the LDCs to dr aw maximum benefits 
from the Trade Facilitation Agreement.  
88. On the basis of this updated strategy, t he EU will continue to prioritiz e Aid for Trade projects 
which facilitate trade, especially those which help partners to implement their commitments under 
the Trade Facilitation Agreement.  
89. Over the past five years (2011 -2015 latest figures) , the EU has committed over €450 million 
to support trade facilitation projects.  
90. I would like to point out that the report highlights the OECD study on the Global value 
chains (GVCs) that have changed the nature of production and specialization around the world.  
91. While these changes have been most obvious in manufacturing, they have also occurred in 
other sectors such as the agricultural and food sector.  
92. Agriculture remai ns the dominant source of value but  services notably form an important 
part of value added in agro -food exports – indeed, the service value added component is often 
greater than the one  of the industrial sector.  
93. This is an important issue and we hope that  progress will be made in this Organiz ation in the 
area of services.  
94. In closing, let me reiterate again – as both the DG and Chairman have done today – that 
both transparency and predictability are at the core of this trade monitoring exercise and are of 
systemic importance to Members - individually and collectively - as well as to the stakeholders and 
all the actors in the global economy.  
95. As stated on  the first pages of the report, WTO Members must collectively show leadership 
in reiterating their commitme nt to open and mutually beneficial trade as a key driver of economic 
growth and a major engine for prosperity, especially at this critical moment in time for the  WTO 
before the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference.  The EU fully supports that.   
UNITED  STATES  
96. Thanks to the DG for presenting the latest overview of developments in the inte rnational 
trading environment. We again find the report to be a valuable collection of data and analysis that 
helps us grasp broad trends in global trade.  We really value the Se cretariat efforts in producing 
this Report.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  97. We imagine that most Members  will join us in welcoming the R eport 's finding that the 
application of new trade -restrictive measures appears to have diminished during the period under 
review, and that WTO Members a re generally doing more to faci litate than to restrict trade. This 
seems to be a particularly important observation against the backdrop of frequently 
unsubstantiated assertions that the world is somehow sliding towards a new wave of 
protectionism.  
98. It's encouraging to see some confirmation that two of our more rec ent accomplishments 
within the O rganization – the expansion of the ITA and the implementation of the TFA – are, as 
anticipated, producing tangible, measurable results in the form  of an expansion of  trade flows and 
we appreciate the Chair and the Director General highlighting this.  
99. We particularly appreciate the report 's emphasis – underscored by the Chair and the DG in 
their presentation s this morning – on the vital role of transparency in helping to bring about 
stability and predictability in global trade.   
100.  Part 6 of the R eport, which lays out in detail the Secretariat 's tracking of performance in 
connection with agreement -specific notif ication requirements, merits  the attention of all Members. 
Here, regrettably, the story is not altogether positive, as illustrated, for example, by the stark 
statistic that only 27 % of M embers notified subsidies under the ASCM in 2017, or the graphic 
illustration of sharp rises in outstanding notifications under the Agreement on Agriculture.  
101.  These indicators account in large measure for the initiative of the United States to draw 
attention to the problem of poor performance in connection with notification r equirements through 
our recent submission to the Council on Trade in Goods.  As we mentioned last week in the General 
Council, we appreciated the substantive initial engagement on that proposal, and look forward to 
working with Members to continue to advanc e tangible progress in this area as we move into 
2018.  
102.  We also appreciate the r eport 's summary of TPRs since late 2016.   I'd like to take a few 
more moments this morning to share three observations from our engagement in the TPR process 
over the past year.  
103.  The first observation is with respect to M embers of a customs un ion who are reviewed 
together. We recognize that reviewing these Members together offers the possibility of achieving 
some efficiencies, given that certain trade measures that are in place in  their regimes may fall 
under the c ompetence of the customs union.  Of course, it is important to note here that each 
customs union member who is a WTO Member remains individually responsible for the WTO 
consistency of its trade measures, whether those meas ures fall within the competence of the 
customs union or not.  
104.  We are also beginning to recognize cer tain challenges from reviewing M ember s of a customs 
union together. One such challenge is simply the lack of time that Members have to engage each 
individu al customs union member.  For example, each of the eight members of WAEMU deserve 
more than 1/8 of the 7 minutes, or even 10 minutes, that Members can give  in their statements 
on Day 1. It has been our experience that many Members who are reviewed only once e very 6  or 
7 years appreciate Members ' focus on their trade regime and this is naturally limited for reviews of 
customs union members.  
105.  Another challenge is the difficulty of engaging directly with one customs union member 
when another member is in the chair  for the customs union. This is of particular concern when the 
customs union member who is NOT in the chair has not answered certain questions from WTO 
Members. The TPR meeting is a chance for Members to call attention to the unanswered questions 
and seek oral answers, with the understanding that written answers will still be provided  according 
to the rules.  The TPR process was never meant to be merely an exchange of paper.  
106.  This bring s me to our second observation.  We're noticing that not all Members under review 
are answering in writing the questions submitted by Members  according to the rules.  It's important 
to be clear – I'm not referring to answers that my delegation or  other delegations do not like.  I'm 
referring to questions that are not answered withi n the required timeframes; advance written 
questions must be answered in advance of Day 1, and follow -up questions must be answered WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  within 30 days of Day 2. We are seeing an uptick in unanswered questions, and we appreciate that 
the Secretariat may lack th e tools to continue to pursue answers after the 30 days ha s elapsed.  A 
continuation of this trend would erode the value of the TPR process.  
107.  The United States is starting to think about ways that the Chair might be able to keep 
attention focused on any unan swered questions after the 30 days has elapsed, and we look 
forward to engaging Members in the coming months to find a way to address this concern.  
108.  Our third observation is that Members, working with  the Chair, may want to pay more 
attention moving forward  to Observers and to attendees who are not observers to the TPRB.  
109.  For example, it might be beneficial to our work for the Chair to remind Observers who seek 
the floor to concentrate their remarks on the trade policies of the Member under review, and not 
on their own need for resources, however compelling that may be . 
110.  In addition, we ask for more coordination between the Chair and Members regarding 
requests for the floor from entities who are not Members of th e WTO or Observers of the TPRB.  
This has systemic implications for the TPR process.  
111.  Thanks very much for the Report and the opportunity to provide some observations today.  
MEXICO 
112.  My delegation wishes to thank you, Mr  Chairman, and the Director -General, for presenting 
this report. We als o thank the Secretariat for the professionalism and effort that went into 
preparing it.  
113.  The outlook for the forms of trade covered by the annual report (mid -October  2016 to 
mid-October  2017) was more than a little worrying, in view of latent protectionism and some 
serious questioning of the basic principles of the multilateral trading system and the policies aimed 
at keeping markets open.  
114.  However, despite this bleak panorama, there continue to be fewer restrictive measures than 
trade facilitation measures, as has been the case for four years running. According to this annual 
review, Members presented 108 new restrictive measures, which is less than  the 128  measures 
aimed at facilitating trade.  
115.  During last July's partial exercise, we mentioned our concern abo ut the way in which 
questions on the notifications presented to va rious committees, including the  Committee  on 
Agriculture, were taken into account. On that occasion, we pointed out that such questions did not 
prejudge whether or not a measure was restrict ive. 
116.  Although this annual report places more emphasis on questions relating to the 
implementation of agricultural commitments under Article  18.6 of the Agreement on Agriculture 
than on questions concerning a Member's specific notifications, it continues to  indicate which 
Members were asked questions in the annual export competition exercise. Once again, we believe 
that asking a question does not prejudge the type of measure and that such questions should not 
be treated in the same way as trade concerns rais ed in the TBT or SPS Committee.  
117.  It is also important to recall, as you and the report itself have noted, that "The main 
objective of monitoring these measures is to provide added transparency and to identify emerging 
trends in the application of trade poli cy measures ." Therefore, while the Members participating in 
this exercise account for a very significant volume of trade, it is also important to increase the 
number of Members taking part.  
118.  In conclusion, in view of the climate of economic uncertainty, we must step up our efforts to 
preserve the integrity of the multilateral trading system – our system – and one way of doing this 
is to promote trade policy transparency and predictability.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  SINGAPORE  
119.  I would like to thank the Secretariat first for the hard work in putting together this report 
and the D irector General  for his remarks .  
120.  We note from this latest report that during the review period, the monthly average number 
of trade -restrictive measures dipped to 9, compared to 15 i n the pr evious annual overview.  This is 
a welcomed development. We encourage Members to continue improving the global trading 
environment.  
121.  The monthly average number of trade -facilitating measures during this review period, 
however, dipped to 11 from 18 i n the pr evious annual overview.  We hope Members will continue to 
foster open and mutually beneficial trade, especially since trade can generate economic growth, 
boost development and reduce poverty.  
122.  Transparency and predictability in trade policy are key for all s takeh olders involved in world 
trade.  It is thus unfortunate that more than half of the membership did not participate in t he 
preparation of this report. Participation in the verification process was a lso uneven. This affects the 
Secretariat 's ability to pr oduce a holistic and accurate report on developments in the inte rnational 
trading environment.  
123.  As such, w e encourage Members to participate actively in future TPRB monitoring reports as 
they are an important resource for understanding the state of global t rade, thus better enabling 
the m embership to make effective decisions so the global trading environment is beneficial for all 
our people.  
KINGDOM  OF SAUDI  ARABIA  
124.  We would like to thank you, Chair, and the DG for presenting this report. We also would like 
to express our appreciation for the tireless efforts of the Secretariat in producing this report. Our 
special thanks go to Mr. Pedersen for his active following up with Members and for his remarkable 
patience.  
125.  We are all aware that this exercise is fundame ntal to ensure and reinforce transpar ency and 
predictability principle s and to keep Members updated about the developments in the international 
trading system.  
CANADA  
126.  Canada  would like to thank the Secretariat for preparing this comprehensive and very 
informative  report and the Director General for the summary of the findings.  
127.  I would like to begin by conveying Canada 's continued support for the WTO 's trade 
monitoring and surveillance activities. Both the country -specific and global trade monitoring 
activi ties of the TPRB are important tools for informing us of how well the multilateral trading 
system is functioning. They bring transparency to the framework for Members and traders alike, 
providing a valuable check against policies that may inhibit trade.  
128.  Canada is encouraged by this year 's report, particularly in terms of the continuing 
improvement in the rate of implementation of trade -facilitating  measures, as compared to 
trade -restrictive measures.  
129.  And while initiations of trade remedy investigations mad e up a high percentage of all trade 
measures, and Canada is one of the top users of countervailing initiations , it is important to recall 
that these are legitimate tools to address situations where unfair trading practices are causing or 
threatening to cau se injury to domestic industry.  
130.  At the same  time, we don 't want to lose sight of the fact that there is still a lot of work to be 
done in terms of improving transparency, not only in terms of responding to requests for 
information and verifications for the  trade monitoring report, but also on SPS and TBT measures 
and in agriculture. And while we acknowledge the relatively high number of acceptances to the WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  Trade Facilitation Agreement, we would strongly encourage M embers to move on to the next 
phase of imple mentation.  
131.  Last but not least, and this is becoming an important issue, Canada notes that we are 
concerned with the troubling level of compliance with subsidy notifications.  
132.  We look forward to continuing to engage with the WTO and other Members to address these 
issues in the year to come.  
133.  Thank you for giving me the floor this morning .  
SWITZERLAND  
134.  Like others before me, I wish to thank the Director General and the Secretariat for having 
put together this significant annual report. As in the past, this outs tanding document provides a 
most useful compilation of key data and figures. It follows a structure which has proven its worth 
and continues the well -established practice of being factual and objective.  
135.  Far from being perfunctory, this exercise in transpar ency allows us to pause for a moment 
and take a bird 's eye view. It gives us a chance to get a better sense of the overall picture.  
136.  The picture which emerges from the report is in many ways more positive than might have 
been expected.  
137.  For, we note with sat isfaction that the engine of world trade has regained traction. Only a 
year ago, there were commonly shared concerns that it might be stuttering. Back then, world 
trade was growing more slowly than world GDP. This phenomenon did not solidify into a negativ e 
trend.  
138.  On the contrary, world trade is accelerating once more. And a closer look at this pick -up in 
trading activity reveals that it was especially pronounced amongst developing economies.  
139.  As indicated by the report, this positive development must be interpreted with a pinch of salt 
as various factors such as currency movements and volatility in commodity markets might distort 
a clear reading of reality.  
140.  We particularly would like to note that while North -South t rade remains substantial, 
South -South tr ade continues to grow in importance. This is encouraging for the future.  
141.  As one can equally glean from the report, global value chains are given a better chance of 
success if the participating economies are buttressed by national economic reforms. This rem ains 
of course first and foremost a matter for domestic policy initiatives.  
142.  Now turning to other aspects of the monitoring report, it is also satisfying to learn that the 
number of new safeguard investigations continues to be on a declining trajectory. It should, 
however, not be overlooked that too many investigations eventually lead to the imposition of 
safeguard measures.  
143.  In addition, the number of anti -dumping measures remains high. They still concentrate 
around a handful of sectors and generally target specific products. However, they often generate 
adverse ripple effects with significant ramifications transcending national borders and single 
tradable products.  
144.  We also note that, like last year, Members have dismantled a variety of individual barriers to  
trade rather than erecting new ones. Close to one fifth of all the measures looked at in the report 
have to do with facilitating trade. Encouragingly, the measures designed to make trade easier are 
spreading and seem to be overtaking the trade coverage of  restrictive measures.  
145.  Let me conclude by underlining some of to the DG 's introductory remarks. Transparency and 
predictability are indeed of systemic importance for the multilateral trading system and for 
stakeholders in the global economy. For the WTO 's trade monitoring to fulfil its essential role, the WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  support by all Members is key. We hope to see increased and deeper participation as we go 
forward.  
146.  And, on that note, I would like to end this statement. Thank you Chairman.  
HONG  KONG,  CHINA  
147.  Thank the Dire ctor-General for presenting the annual report on the developments in the 
international trading environment. The Director -General 's report is an important instrument to 
enhance transparency on the latest developments in international trade and trends of tra de policy 
measures implemented b y WTO Members in the past year.  We appreciate the hard work that 
Director -General and his team have put into this exercise.  
148.  We would echo the Chair and the Director -General 's observations on the importance of 
transparency and predictability,  both of which are at the core of the trade monitoring exercise , and 
both of which are of  systemic importance to Members, individually and collectively . Trade thrives 
on predictability. There can also be no denying of the critical import ance of transp arency to 
international trade. They are the twin pillars of the multilateral trade, and there is considerable 
value to strengthen, but not undermine, these p illars.  
149.  On transparency, f or the current exercise, we note that replies to the Direct or-General 's 
initial request for information and replies to the requests for verification were received from 
75 Members. The participation rate is 46% of the membership which is lower than that of last year 
which was 51%. We appeal to Members to continue t o support Director -General 's monitoring work.  
150.  There is clearly room for improvement regarding the compliance and timeliness of Members ' 
notifications to the WTO. We support enhanced effort to step up compliance of notification 
requirements and encourage M embers to provide complete and timely notificat ions under the WTO 
Agreements. We encourage Members to work together constructively to consider ways to improve 
compliance of notification requirements taking into account genuine difficulties of  some  Members.   
151.  Specifically on the content of the report, w e note that 108 new trade -restrictive measures 
were put in place while 128 trade facilitating measures were implemented during the review 
period. Members continue to implement more trade -facilitating than trade -restrictive measure. We 
hope that this trend can continue which will provide a conducive environment to mutually 
beneficial trade.  
152.  It is encouraging to see greater trade libe ralization brought about by the implementation of 
the Information Technology Agre ement. We are also pleased to note that about 75% of all WTO 
Members have completed  ratifications of the Trade Facilitation Agreement.  
153.  WTO Members initiated on average 25 and terminated only 10 trade remedy investigations 
per month during the review period  which represents a slight deceleration compare d to previous 
annual overview. Anti-dumping measures continue to take up the bulk of  all trade remedy 
initiations. We hope Members would make careful considerations before the initiation of any trade 
remedy ac tions.  
RUSSIAN  FEDERATION  
154.  I would like firstly to thank the Director General and his staff for the good work done and 
this signature report. I am glad to see a notable decline in trade barriers in quantitive terms. It 
proves that despite heavy anti -trade r hetoric , the Members on average resist protectionism.  
155.  Nonetheless, it is time to stay watchful and collectively guard off free trade from isolationist 
instinct. The situation, if taken from the qualitative perspective, looks much more worrisome  for 
my country . In many places we witness attempts to raise new barriers to trade or distort market 
competition.  
156.  My country is highly concerned with ongoing imposition of substandard techniques in trade 
remedies as non -market economy status or surrogate p rices and costs replacement on no proven 
grounds. Moreover, some Members make increased use of allegedly politically motivated trade WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  restrictions that are applied unilaterally and arbitrarily and , in fact , serve as disguised means to 
impact business compet itiveness.  
157.  In conclusion, I would like to underline the necessity to fix the problem of weak notification. 
It results in many blind spots in the report and significantly diminishes its practical value. Russia 
calls upon all  the Members to keep up with thei r obligations and completely fill the gaps  for the 
report  next year.  
BRAZIL  
158.  I thank you, Chair, like others before  us, and the DG for having come here and presented 
the essential facts of this year's report. And, of course, we  thank the Secretariat for the hard work 
that went into it . We know that it is a lot of data and a lot of analysis as usual.  
159.  As the DG put it, transparency it 's an important element , a key element for us here at the 
WTO. And even at this busy moment in the  run up to Buenos Aires, it is important that we take 
time to see and take stock  on where we are on trade.  
160.  Like others we rejoice, it is auspicious  to note that there is a significant recovery of 
international trade flows , differing from previous forecast s, and it is also good to note that we have 
a reduction in trade restrictive measures, that the impact of facilitating measures is much more 
significant than that of restrictions.  
161.  We couldn 't agree more on the importance of transparency and over the years Brazil has 
been a solid participant  in this exercise, we actually have a pretty good record on the transparency 
side as well.  
162.  On the TPR exercise particularly, we note with satisfaction the conclusion of a successful 6th 
Appraisal but we have a note : we understand that there are a lot of new trending issues that are 
taking more space in our TPRs, in the analysis of the Secretariat. But this should not be done at 
the expense of more traditional sectors, notably agriculture. In one case this year, the opacity  of 
the agriculture chapter in the TPR of an important Member was  such that Brazil had to approach 
directly the Director of the division to require that it be prepared with more attention and more 
clarity.  
CHINA  
163.  China would like to thank the DG and the Sec retariat for the comprehensive annual report. 
The global economy is showing signs of moving in the right direction yet the threat of 
protectionism is still present. In this regard, the monitoring work needs to be continued and 
strengthened.  
164.  China will cont inue to support and to cooperate with the Secretariat to achieve this 
objective. We have noticed that Members have initiate d a wide range of trade remedy  
investigations, and imposed antidumping and countervailing duties which, in  fact, have  a 
restrictive impact on the flow of trade.  
165.  Trade remedy initiations recorded in the report have reached 300 which is alarming. 
Although WTO Agreements permit WTO Members to impose antidumping or countervailing duties 
to offset injury by distortive practic es, the abusive use of trade remedies measures in terms of 
both the quantity of cases and investigation methodologies , will damage the order of global trade 
and the interest s of other Members. We hope further work could be done by the Secretariat in this 
regard.  
166.  Finally, China believes that protectionism is not the right solution to address the challenges 
we face in the course of development. We will stick to our commitments in the cause of fighting 
protectionism and urge other Members to do the same.  WT/TPR/OV/M/15  
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  OMAN  
167.  I would like to thank the DG and the Secretariat and you, Mr. Chairman, for presenting the 
report on the overview of developments and international trade. I would like to comment on the 
DG's remarks on the number of Members that contributed in providing i nformation needed for this 
report.  
168.  We would like to suggest that we need to find a clear mechanism through the WTO National 
Committees in each country to coordinate and work with other government entities to provide 
information. I think what we need is to build awareness about the importance of this report in 
capitals because this might not be a priority for many of them. They just think we need to provide 
information and have so many priorities so  it might not be a priority providing the information and 
its importance to the WTO  report . So maybe this is something we need to do.  
169.  My other comment is related to the timing of this meeting. This is an important report that 
Members need to study and review thoroughly but this meeting is held today, just a few day s 
before the Ministerial Conference and most Members are busy in ongoing negotiations. I hope this 
point will be taken into consideration in organizing future meetings. I myself will have to leave 
now.  
THE SEPARATE  CUSTOMS  TERRITORY  OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN  AND  MATSU  
170.  We appreciate the efforts of the Secretariat for preparing the annual report and the 
participation of the Members to make it as complete as possible as well as the briefing and the 
active participation of the DG, particularly ahead of the Min isterial Conference.  
171.  My delegation fully supports the WTO continuing to conduct the trade monitoring activity in 
a transparent and predictable way. We would like to urge the Members to prudently use trade 
remedy measures and to urge more Members to participate in it and to cooperate closely  with the 
Secretariat.  
DDG AGAH  
172.  Thank you Chair. I don 't think that this year I will have any comments. The DG was here 
and listened to you most of the time. Once again, the remaining comments that were made in his 
absence will be duly conveyed to him. Thank you again for your faith in the work that we do for 
you.  
CHAIRPERSON 'S CLOSING REMARKS  
173.  I hope that you have found our exchange of views today useful. I think that we can all agree 
that improved transparency and predictability are essential  elements of a healthy and 
well-functioning multilateral trading system. The ability of the trade monitoring exercise to deliver 
factual and up -to-date information depends, as it was noted today, to a very large extent, on the 
input of Members, initially in terms of providing  information  and subsequently in verifying also that 
information. As it was noted earlier, for the current Report, 46% of the membership participated, 
representing around 95% of world imports. Your timely contributions to the trade monitoring 
reports are of paramount importance – to ensure and preserve the high quality and accuracy of 
the reports and further strengthen the constructive stakeholder relationship between the 
Secretariat and Members which is fundamental to this exercise.  
174.  I would like to thank all of you fo r your participation, all the delegations joining us today . It 
has been a very busy week so this is much appreciated. I would also like to thank the Secretariat 
and the team for the report which I think it is very good. To me, i t is a very useful way to lo ok in a 
very concise document at everything that happens in the Organization. This ends our meeting 
today. I look forward our next meeting on the 23 and 25 January 2018 when the TPRB will review 
the trade policies of The Gambia.  
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