RESTRICTED  
  
WT/TPR/W/74  
13 January 2015  
(15-0202)  Page: 1/21  
Trade Policy Review Body    
 
*In Original language only/En langue original e seulement/En el idioma original solamente . 
  OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT  
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING* HELD ON 8 DECEMBER 2014 
Delegations are invited to submit factual corrections, if any, on their own statement to the 
Secretariat (Mrs Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org , or to tprd@wto.org ) no later 
than 27 January 2015. 
 
Organe d'examen des politiques commerciales 
 
TOUR D'HORIZON DE L 'ÉVOLUTION DE L 'ENVIRONNEMENT COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL  
PROJET DE COMPTE RENDU DE LA RÉUNION* TENUE LE 8 DÉCEMBRE 2014 
Les délégations sont invitées à soumettre leurs éventuelles corrections factuelles concernant leurs 
propres déclarations au Secrétariat (Mme Barbara Blanquart: barbara.blanquart@wto.org , ou 
tprd@wto.org ) le 27 janvier 2015 au plus tard. 
 
Órgano de Examen de las Políticas Comerciales 
 
REVISTA GENERAL DE LA EVOLUCIÓN DEL ENTORNO COMERCIAL INTERNACIONAL  
PROYECTO DE ACTA DE LA REUNIÓN* CELEBRADA EL DÍA 8 DE DICIEMBRE DE 2014 
Las delegaciones pueden enviar a la Secretaría (Sra. Barbara Blanquart: 
barbara.blanquart@wto.org , o tprd@wto.org ) a más tardar el 27 de enero de 2015 las 
correcciones fácticas que deseen introducir en sus propias declaraciones. 
 
 
_______________ 
 WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE  
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT 
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
8 December 2014 
Chairperson: H.E. Mrs Mariam MD Salleh (Malaysia) 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
1. I would like to welcome you to this meeting of the TPRB, which was convened by Airgram 
WTO/AIR/4396 on 24 November 2014. The purpose of  this meeting is for Members and Observers 
to undertake their annual overview of developments in the international trading environment which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system in accordance with Paragraph G of Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement. As mentioned in the Airgram, today's discussion is assisted 
by the Director-General's Overview of Developm ents in the International Trading Environment, 
including trade monitoring, which was circulated in document WT/TPR/OV/17 on 24 November in English.
1 In accordance with the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the TPRB, the 
Director-General's Report was issued as an unrestricted document.  
2. At the outset, let me briefly recall that th e purpose of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism 
according to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreemen t 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 enforcem ent of obligations under WTO Agreements, for 
dispute-settlement purposes or to impose new policy commitments on Members. These fundamental principles also apply fully to the annual overview of developments in the international 
trading environment. 
3. Secondly, I would like to recall the Decision by Ministers at the 8th Ministerial Conference 
which called on the TPRB to continue and stre ngthen the monitoring exercise. In particular, 
Ministers expressed their commitment to comply with existing transparency obligations and 
reporting requirements needed for the preparation of the report, and to continue to support and cooperate with the Secretariat in a constructive fashion. It was recognised that this regular 
monitoring of trade-related developments enhanc es the relevance of the multilateral trading 
system. Specifically, the periodic reports by the Director-General provide Members with very useful information to keep track of developments and to analyse emerging trends in the area of 
trade policy. The creation of the Trade Moni toring Database in 2013 also provides added 
transparency on the implementation of trade measures. 
4. With all of this in mind, I would like to draw your attention to the relatively poor response 
rate provided by Members to the Secretariat in  preparation for this report. The process of 
providing and verifying information is crucial to guaranteeing and preserving the high quality and 
accuracy of the monitoring reports.  
5. This afternoon we will proceed as follows: I shal l first give the floor to the Director-General 
to introduce his report and launch our debate. Unfortunately, due to an important change to the 
Director-General's schedule for this afternoon, he is  not able to be present for the entire duration 
of this meeting and will have to leave immediately after delivering his statement.  
6. Following the statement of the Director-General, I shall open the floor for comments from 
delegations, and at the end of the discussions, th e Secretariat may wish to comment on the points 
made and issues raised by delegations.  
                                               
1 Following the meeting, a Corrigendum to the report was issued on 19 December 2014 in document 
WT/TPR/OV/17/Corr.1. WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  7. As usual for our meetings in this body, in the interest of brevity and to give all delegations 
the opportunity to speak, I will seek to ensure that interventions do not exceed seven minutes. If 
any delegation has a longer written statement and wi shes to have it incorporated into the minutes 
of this meeting, please send them electronically to the Secretariat. That way we can also use the 
limited time available to us for a more free-flowing substantive discussion. 
8. I would now like to invite the Director-General to make his introductory remarks. 
Director-General, you have the floor. 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
9. Thank you Madam Chairperson, Ambassador Salleh. Good afternoon, I am very happy to be 
here with you. I really do apologize in advance for not being able to stay for the whole session. We have a General Council coming up and there are a fe w loose ends that we need to tie up. We don't 
have much time but I will try to make a very clear and straightforward presentation about what is 
in the report. And, as usual, as you know, we like to have balance at the WTO – in all things we do. In fact, some would say we have a balance in life: for every positive there is a negative 
somewhere. 
10. So while we, at the General Council meeting of the 27
th o f  N o v e m b e r ,  w e r e  a b l e  t o  d o  
progress and had news that put us back on track, inevitably there is something going on which is 
not so good somewhere else.  
11. The annual report shows a bit of that on the developments in the international trading 
environment, which was circulated on the 24th of No vember. This report brings news of some real 
challenges in the international trading environment – challenges which require clearly our 
attention, and the attention of policymakers around the world. The report provides information on 
trade-restrictive, as well as trade-facilitating measures taken by WTO Members in the field of trade in goods and services. It covers the period running from mid-November 2013 to 
mid-October 2014. 
12. It also covers other relevant trade policy developments, including: 
 the trade policy reviews conducted in 2014; 
 regional trade agreements; 
 the Government Procurement Agreement;  
 the operation of transparency provisions contained in the various WTO agreements,  
 trade finance; and  
 dispute settlement.  
13. This meeting gives us the opportunity to look back at all these issues that have emerged 
over the course of the year and to consider how Members might wish to respond. 
14. I will set out some of the key findings of the report in a moment, but first I would like to say 
a few words on the process of preparing the document.  
Preparation of the report 
15. The information on country-specific measures identified in the section dealing with trade in 
services and in the four annexes is based on in puts submitted by Members and other official and 
public sources. Members concerned have had an opportunity to verify the accuracy of this 
information.  
16. I would like to thank the delegations who have participated in this exercise by providing 
relevant information on time and by ensuring subsequent verification of the reported measures. These inputs not only help expand the coverage of the report, they are also crucial in ensuring the 
accuracy of the information contained in the report. At the same time, it is unfortunate that, as in 
previous years, many Members continue to fail to participate actively in this process. Just 37% of Members responded to the request to submit info rmation on their new trade measures. This is 
slightly up from 35% in 2013 – but of course it is still far too low. It is also a matter of concern 
that even when Members participate in this in formation-gathering process, they often do not WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  provide information on certain types of measures – especially on the so-called behind-the-border 
measures, including general economic support.  
17. There are, of course, other organizations that monitor developments in the application of 
trade measures – and the findings in their reports sometimes differ from ours. We have carefully 
studied the methodologies used in those reports bu t remain confident that our work here provides 
a sound and realistic picture of current trade policy developments around the world.   
18. Finally, let me stress that this report is a constantly evolving product. As you will have 
noticed, we have made certain changes in order to present the main findings of the report in a 
clearer and more accessible way. We have also provided data on how the number of trade-restrictive and trade-facilitating measures has evolved since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.   
Restrictive measures and the economic context 
19. Let me now turn to the substance of the report. Rather than simply listing the findings of the 
report, I would like to draw out what I consider to be the significant policy issues affecting the 
trading system that have emerged in the current reporting period.  
20. In a climate of global economic uncertainty the continued accumulation of trade-restrictive 
measures pose a clear risk. Current prospects for world output and trade are far from favourable. 
During the course of the year, lower-than-expected GDP growth has led our economists to 
downgrade their forecasts for world trade growth to 3.1% in 2014 and 4% in 2015. Those numbers reflect significantly estimates of GDP growth which are conducted mostly by other 
organizations who have been revising the GDP grow th number. The moment that they revise their 
numbers we, of course, have to reflect that revi sion in our own trade expansion analysis. These 
rates are higher than in 2012 and 2013. But they are still significantly lower than the average 
growth rate in the twenty years prior to the glob al financial crisis of 2008. Some argue that this 
slower growth of world trade is now a permanent feature of the global economy.  
21. Against this backdrop, which is inevitable, recent trends in trade policy actions of Members 
are a cause for concern. The report points out that the stock of trade restrictions introduced by 
WTO Members since 2008 continues to rise. Of the 2,146 trade-restrictive measures introduced 
since 2008, only 508 have been removed – that 's about 24% of them. The total number of 
trade-restrictive measures still in place now stands at 1,638. The report also notes that the number of new trade-restrictive measures introduced  during the period under review is quite high, 
at 168. The average number of new trade-restrictive measures per month is higher in this period 
than in any other period since October 2008. While we have also witnessed a substantial increase in the number of trade-liberalizing measures, this should not detract from the overall picture.  
22. In addition, there is some evidence that, more  recently, the application of trade-restrictive 
measures is leading to heightened friction between Members on trade issues. Aside from the increase in the number of dispute settlement panels, Members have increasingly voiced concerns 
regarding specific measures taken by other Members in WTO subsidiary bodies, such as the 
Council for Trade in Goods. In this context, Member s should strive to show greater restraint in the 
imposition of new trade-restrictive measures, eliminate existing trade restrictions, and contribute to enhancing transparency on behind-the-border measures. 
RTAs 
23. A second very important policy issue identified in this report is the relationship between 
regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system. This is, of course, not a 
new issue but the report makes some interesting observations based on recent research.  
24. As of mid-October 2014, the WTO has been notified of 253 regional trade agreements. 
However, there are also 63 regional trade agreements in force that have not yet been notified to 
the WTO. And, of course, negotiations on new RTAs are under way. In some cases these 
negotiations are between parties that account for very substantial shares of world trade and GDP.  WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  25. Given the growth in the number and the changi ng scope and coverage of RTAs, there is 
clearly a need for a better understanding of the relationship between these agreements and the multilateral trading system.  
26. Building on recent research undertaken by the WTO Secretariat, the report provides an 
analysis of the extent to which provisions in RTAs actually go beyond the multilateral rules 
contained in the WTO Agreements. You may recall that this was also the subject of a seminar held here at the WTO in September on Cross-Cutting Issues in RTAs.  
27. As I have said before, bilateral and regional trade liberalization initiatives are welcome as 
long as they do not impose additional barriers to trade, and they also constitute building blocks 
towards trade liberalization.  
28. However, we cannot expect them to substitute the multilateral trading system. There are 
many subjects that by their very nature require a multilateral approach to be dealt with efficiently 
– such as trade facilitation, agricultural and fisheries subsidies, disciplines on trade remedies, regulation of financial and telecommunications services, and so on. It is a long list. 
29. Also, these initiatives mostly exclude the smallest and most vulnerable countries and do not 
fully address the gains from trade that can be obtained through global value chains. Therefore, while we welcome the RTAs, we cannot ignore their obvious limitations or the need to avoid 
harmful effects to third parties.  
30. Another issue to be mindful of is the potential complexity that may result from the existence 
of different sets of rules and regulations developed in these RTAs, which may be burdensome for traders and businesses. 
31. We must continue to deepen our understanding in this area to ensure that RTAs and the 
multilateral system can move forward together, complementing each other, and in the most effective way possible. 
32. Therefore, I think we should welcome the initial steps that we have taken in this report and 
commit to taking this work further in 2015.   
Compliance with transparency mechanisms 
33. Moving on, the third policy issue is that, alth ough improvements were made in some areas 
of our work in the WTO, compliance with various transparency mechanisms remains unsatisfactory. Again, this is not a new issue. 
34. Section 4 of the report contains a detailed overview of how Members have been complying 
with the various notification requirements contained in the WTO Agreement.  
35. Let me just cite a few examples which illustrate the seriousness of the problem that we face 
in this area of our work. With respect to the Agreement on Agriculture, the report notes that 
compliance with notification obligations in the areas of domestic support and export subsidies 
generally remains below 50%. In the case of th e SCM Agreement, the report notes that the 
percentage of Members that do not submit notifications on subsidies has risen from 27% in 1995 
to 44% in 2013. That is really something we should avoid. Regarding state-trading enterprises, the 
percentage of Members that do not make any notification has increased from 37% in 1995 to 66% in 2012. 
36. In light of this, I think there is an urgent n eed to improve compliance with the transparency 
provisions in the WTO Agreements. These transpar ency provisions are essential to ensure that 
Members have the necessary information to understand each other's trade policies and to ensure that WTO Agreements are properly implemented,  and to avoid unnecessary trade disputes.  
Conclusion 
37. So these are some key points which I think we should take away from this report. I hope 
you will have the time and patience to go through the report. WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  38. And, in closing, I would just like to leave yo u with three thoughts as we look towards our 
work in 2015.  
39. First, I think we would all agree that one of the key reasons why we value the multilateral 
trading system is because it is a proven bulwark against protectionism. We saw this in the 
response to the financial crisis where the mistakes of the past were not repeated. But preserving 
the system takes effort and commitment. And ther efore I think we must ensure that the policy 
issues raised in this report receive the fu ll and urgent attention that they deserve. 
40. Second, we must deliver on the commitments we made at the Special General Council on 
27 November to implement all of the Bali decisions and to develop a work programme on the remaining DDA issues. If we see this work through we could definitely provide a much-needed boost to economic growth and productivity across the globe and at the same time as 
immeasurably strengthening the multilateral trading system.  
41. Third, we must also recognize that our experience in 2014 has made it clear that we need to 
find ways to work more efficiently. We have shown that we can deliver and we did that in Bali. 
Now we need to figure out how to deliver more and how to deliver faster.  
42. So, thank you Madam Chairperson; this concludes my statement about the report. 
43. But, before I leave, I would like to thank delegations once again for their contributions to 
this report, and of course the Secretariat for their work in preparing it. I would like also to thank 
delegations in advance for their contributions and ideas this afternoon. We will take careful note of all your comments and will take them into account as we prepare the monitoring work for next year. 
44. Finally, I want to inform delegations that I will be sending out the usual request for 
information for the next monitoring reports in the first half of March. I would also like to encourage you all to participate in the monitoring exercise  and cooperate with the Secretariat as much as 
possible. 
45. I think we should aim to deliver a higher level of transparency and accuracy of information 
in 2015. The Secretariat is going to prepare a briefing for me on the comments that you make 
today. I will, together with the Secretariat, take all of your comments on board as seriously as I 
hope you will take my comments today. I hope you will have a very produc tive session. Thank you 
Madam Chair. 
STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 
MÉXICO 
46. La delegación de México agradece al Director-General y a su equipo por este informe, como 
siempre muy completo e imparcial. 
47. El corolario del informe que hoy discutimos, como el de los análisis de otras instituciones 
que también contribuyen al monitoreo de las medidas comerciales alrededor del mundo, es que el proteccionismo no puede resolver los problemas económicos que estamos viviendo a nivel global, 
aunque a corto plazo parezca una solución. 
48. Es muy preocupante que en los cinco meses que abarca este informe, la imposición de 
medidas restrictivas al comercio haya seguido incrementándose y, más inquietante aún, acumulándose, en virtud de que muy pocas medidas que ya existían han sido suprimidas en dicho 
período. 
49. Consistentemente, en este foro, se han señalado las fallas de los países del G-20 en el 
cumplimiento de su compromiso político al más alto nivel de no repetir los errores del pasado y de 
resistir el proteccionismo. Desde 2009, este compromiso ha sido refrendado año tras año en el 
seno del G-20. Y, sin embargo, el informe reporta la aplicación de un total de 168 nuevas medidas restrictivas por parte de los Miembros de la OMC en los últimos 12 meses, siendo los países del 
G-20 responsables de la mayoría de ellas. WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  50. Peor todavía, desde 2008 se han acumulado 1,638 medidas restrictivas, de ninguna manera 
compensadas por las de liberalización comercial. Aunque resulta encomiable que el número de medidas de liberalización haya aumentado considerablemente durante el período que cubre este informe (mediados de mayo a mediados de octubre de 2014), en comparación con el período 
anterior (mediados de noviembre de 2013 a mediados de mayo de 2014). 
51. Es menester insistir en la necesidad y compromiso de revertir las medidas ya existentes. 
También resulta necesario profundizar en la evaluación del impacto económico, por ejemplo en 
materia de empleo e inversión, de las medidas de restricción y distorsión al comercio que se 
registran, más allá del porcentaje de las importaciones afectadas por tales medidas. 
52. Un mensaje fundamental del informe es que se requiere una mayor transparencia por parte 
de los Miembros con el fin de mejorar el funcionamiento y los efectos de las barreras no 
arancelarias al comercio, incluyendo medidas regulatorias y subsidios. Al respecto, debemos 
empezar por cumplir cabalmente con las obligaciones de notificación establecidas en los acuerdos de la OMC. 
53. Otro mensaje clave del informe es que no obst ante el incremento continuo del número de 
medidas restrictivas del comercio acumuladas desde 2008, la respuesta a la crisis económica y financiera mundial de 2008 ha sido más moderada de lo que se preveía con base en crisis 
anteriores. Si bien coincidimos con esto, y con la conclusión de que el sistema multilateral de 
comercio ha actuado como un respaldo eficaz en contra del proteccionismo, consideramos que de ninguna manera hay lugar a la complacencia. 
54. Todos los Miembros de la OMC, y muy particularmente los del G-20, estamos llamados a 
hacer mayores esfuerzos en la lucha contra el proteccionismo. Como lo estamos también a 
asegurar la pronta implementación de todas las Decisiones de Bali y completar el programa de trabajo sobre los temas restantes de la Ronda de Doha con el propósito de preparar el terreno 
para una mayor liberalización del comercio multilateral. 
55. Antes de terminar, quisiera destacar la serie de reformas estructurales que está 
implementando el Gobierno de México, entre las cuales destacan las enmiendas constitucionales 
que tendrán importantes efectos en la modernización y apertura de los sectores de 
telecomunicaciones, radiodifusión y energía, medidas que son comentadas en las páginas 59 a 61 del informe (en su versión en inglés). 
56. Concluyo mi intervención reiterando el agradecimiento al Director-General y a la Secretaría 
por el excelente informe. 
EUROPEAN
 UNION 
57. The EU thanks the Director-General and the WTO Secretariat for the comprehensive report 
that has been produced and which forms a valuable basis for our discussions today.  
58. The EU notes with concern that the stock of restrictive barriers to trade continues to 
increase and that the pace of removal is not suffici ent. This echoes many of the interventions that 
the EU made in the Council for Trade in Goods and in its Sub-Committees.  
59. Furthermore, it confirms the conclusions of th e 11th report on potentially trade-restrictive 
measures recently published by the EU that emerging economies, (in particular Russia, China, India and Indonesia) still apply the bulk of new potentially-trade-restrictive measures, even if 
they're bound by G-20 commitments in that respect. In particular border measures, but also 
discriminatory domestic provisions on taxation or forced localisation have been the instrument of choice of these countries. 
60. Also, in the period assessed by the EU, the applic ation of export restrictions gained in pace. 
This is alarming, as we have fewer instruments in the WTO to fight such provisions, and they can significantly hinder global value chains and di stort the functioning of commodity markets.  
61. We also need to point out that, as indicated in the above-mentioned EU report, Russia has 
taken, in the reference period, June 2013–June 20 14, by far the largest number of general steps WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  of a protectionist nature, in a wide range of areas, through many trade policy tools. In particular, 
we would also like to stress the fact that most of the EU's and other WTO Members' agricultural products are banned from entering Russia since 7 August 2014, allegedly due to SPS concerns.  
62. Regarding transparency, the EU shares the Secretariat's concerns that " adequate 
information on behind the border measures includ ing regulatory measures and subsidies is still 
lacking ." It also shares the analysis that "in addition to measures reported in the specialized 
Committees, as well as in the CTG and general bodies, those measures have become more 
prominent in recent years, compared to conventi onal border measures, and therefore the need to 
increase the quality of the information available is paramount ." The EU supports the Secretariat's 
call for more efforts to improve the situation. 
63. Regarding RTAs, the EU welcomes the active monitoring of the situation by the Secretariat, 
which has led to recent notifications of RTAs that were in force but had not been the subject of 
proper notifications. The EU is glad to read in the Secretariat's report (page 96 paragraph 4.26) that "the notifications have continued to improve" and shares the Secretariat's hopes " that the still 
outstanding notifications will be submitted soon to the Secretariat". It is of the utmost importance 
to continue the ongoing work on transparency of FTAs. The EU generally supports actions promoting the transparency mechanism. In this re spect, the EU has actively worked, jointly with 
Chile, on the preparation of the first implementing  report submitted in accordance with Article 15 
of the Transparency Mechanism Decision.  
64. The EU strongly agrees that the multilateral system can and should do more to drive 
economic growth and development. This is precisely why the EU has supported the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement and the implementation of the rest of the Bali package. In this regard, allow 
me to welcome once again the recent decisions taken by the General Council, which put the post-Bali process back on track. This was however just a first step. What we need now is to ratify and 
implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement. We n eed to move forward on the other Bali issues 
including those of concern to LDCs. And we need to advance on the post-Bali work-programme so 
that we are put on a credible and realistic path towards the DDA's conclusion. By taking these 
steps, as well as making progress on other issues such as the expansion of the ITA, the 
multilateral system will truly be strengthened and will genuinely contribute to global growth. 
AUSTRALIA 65. Australia would like to thank the Director-General and the Secretariat for this report, and for 
your important contribution to increased transparency and improved monitoring of trade and 
trade-related measures 
66. There are three key challenges outlined by the Director-General’s Report: 
 an uncertain outlook for trade and economic growth; 
 the continued threat posed by trade protectionism; and  
 the emergence of a new body of trade norm s emerging through the proliferation of 
RTAs/FTAs which offers both opportunities and challenges for the multilateral trading 
system. 
67. The Overview Report is important because it asks us to focus on how the WTO can best 
address these challenges. The answer must be to move forward with the WTO’s negotiating 
agenda and produce trade-liberalizing outcomes. Outcomes that will allow trade reform and 
competition to be the powerful drivers of economic growth, job creation and higher living standards than they can be. 
68. Expanding the ITA will be one important thing we can do, as will moving ahead with the 
efforts to liberalise trade in environmental goods. But finalising and implementing a post-Bali work plan will be the biggest test that we face over the coming twelve months. Can we find a way 
forward which makes a real contribution to growing our economies and creating jobs for our 
populations? WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  69. Finally, let me join the Director-General in urging all Members to improve our efforts to meet 
our WTO transparency and trade-monitoring obligations 
70. The Director-General’s overview makes clear the benefits that will flow if we do. 
BRAZIL 
71. Brazil thanks the Director-General and the Secretariat team for this new report on the 
international trading environment, a document and an  exercise that Brazil has been following with 
interest. 
72. The Report notes that the stock of trade-restrictive measures introduced by WTO Members 
since 2008 continues to grow, despite the “containment” role of the multilateral trading system against a bigger surge in protectionism. In this context, it is important that we strive to unlock the potential for expanding trade flows. 
73. The Decisions taken by the General Council on 27 November allow us to get back to work, 
implementing the full Bali Package and preparin g the Post-Bali Work Programme by July 2015. 
74. Brazil reiterates its commitment to the Multilateral Trade System, and expects Members to 
engage in a constructive conversation that should lead up to the relaunch and, hopefully, 
conclusion of the DDA, aiming at concrete results in Agriculture, NAMA and Services. 
75. This process shall produce concrete, balanced and relevant results for all of our countries, 
with central attention to the needs of development and the resulting priority for all three pillars on 
agriculture, which have been left lagging behind for much too long. 
76. Turning back to the report, it is worth noting that Brazil continues to rank among the 
countries with the highest number of trade-facilitating measures, including tariff reductions for 
more than 3,100 products, such as capital goods, IT equipment, chemicals and foodstuffs. 
77. Let me reiterate, as Brazil has stated since we started the monitoring exercise, in our view, 
trade defence measures or the initiation of investigations are not intended in any way to restrict 
trade. Their application should not be viewed as  trade-restrictive but as a means of remedying 
non-compatible measures taken by trade partners, as provided in the Anti-dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and the Safeguards Agreement. 
78. As stressed in previous TPRB meetings, we re new once again our call for the Annual Report 
to become even more comprehensive, precise and useful, by including further information on behind-the-border measures. 
79. Likewise, support measures in the agricultural sector – always a matter of major systemic 
concern, particularly for developing countries – must receive even closer scrutiny. The report could 
be enriched through more detailed analytical data in this realm. 
80. Brazil stands ready to contribute towards transparency and the improvement of the trade 
monitoring function in the WTO and is open to a productive debate. 
HONG
 KONG,  CHINA 
81. Hong Kong, China thanks the Director-General and the Trade Policy Review Division for 
providing us with this useful report.   
82. We note from the report the encouraging sign that the pace of introducing new 
trade-restrictive measures has slowed down compared to the last reporting period. The number of trade-facilitating measures has also recorded a rather significant 65% increase. 
83. However, if we adopt a longer-term perspective, the stock of restrictive measures taken by 
Members since 2008 is still on the rise. The average number of trade-restrictive measures taken per month is also higher than any other period since 2008. We would appeal to all Members to WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  exercise restraint in introducing new restrictive measures and take positive actions to reduce 
existing ones.  
84. In some specific areas, however, the signals are more positive. A range of measures 
affecting trade in services were introduced by a number of Members during the reporting period. 
Most of them represent efforts to open up the services sectors for greater foreign participation and 
streamlining of regulatory frameworks that facilitate foreign investment and temporary movement of natural persons. The fact that these liberalization measures are taking place in countries 
spanning across different continents was particularly encouraging. In light of the growing 
importance of trade in services as final or intermediate components of global trade flow, we would encourage Members to continue to integrate liberalization measures into their services trade.  
85. On the use of trade-remedy measures, we note that anti-dumping (AD) actions remained 
the vast majority (267), followed by countervailing duty (CVD) actions (36) and safeguard (SG) 
actions (34). When comparing the figures for the current reporting with those in the previous 12 months, we are glad to see the slight decrease by 5% in the initiation of AD investigations and 
SG investigations, but the 30% jump in the CVD ac tivities is even harder to miss. We certainly 
want to keep track of such developments in su bsequent reports so as to better understand their 
implication. For those remedy measures which ar e already in place, we encourage Members to 
thoroughly review if such measures are still warranted. Dismantling unwarranted trade remedy 
measures is indeed a positive action to check the growth of protectionism. 
86. Our delegation also notes with interest the observations about RTAs and their impact on the 
multilateral trading system. The report indicates th at the total number of RTAs notified to the WTO 
and to the GATT amounted to 253 as of mid-Octobe r 2014. It also predicts that the number of 
RTAs will continue to grow. 
87. More importantly, the report observed that common provisions covered in RTAs nowadays 
include issues such as trade remedy measures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical 
barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, dispute settlement, as well as issues for which there are no WTO provisions such as competition policy , government procurement, electronic commerce, 
environment and labour. However, some issues such  as subsidies, with the exception of export 
subsidies, are notably absent from RTA texts.  Wh ile a number of RTAs explicitly forbid the parties 
from using export subsidies, they are silent on tackling the issue of subsidies or domestic support. 
88. On the level and range of commitments, the report states that research by the WTO 
Secretariat and the OECD shows a strong prefer ence for RTAs reaffirming the WTO rights and 
obligations of the RTA parties, though some issues for which there are no equivalent WTO rules are increasingly being included in RTAs. The report also mentions institutional matters regarding 
the WTO Transparency Mechanism for RTAs which has provided for a better understanding of the 
contents of the RTAs. However, the report remarks that the information on RTAs' implementation remains limited.  
89. We welcome the report's observations and consid er that there is a continued need for work 
by Members concerning the systemic implications of RTAs on the multilateral trading system. We 
would also continue to be constructive in contributing to the transparency of RTAs. 
90. This brings me naturally to the broader issue of the compliance of notification obligations, 
which is one of the key sources of information that the Secretariat could draw data from. The 
response rate to Director-General’s request for information for compilation of this report accounts for 37% of the total membership of the WTO, and information on regulatory measures and 
subsidies provided by Members is still limited. The percentage of membership providing timely 
replies to the Trade Policy Review Division has even suffered a slight drop (43% vs 47%). 
91. Enhanced transparency is a core value of the WTO, and it should remain our focus to 
encourage better compliance. Let me conclude by thanking the Director-General again for this 
useful report. We see great value in this exercise and look forward to its continuation. WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  UNITED  STATES 
92. The United States would like to thank the Director-General and the Secretariat for 
continuing their efforts to monitor trade and trade-related measures and for producing this extensive and informative end-of-year report.     
93. In focusing in part on the trade-facilitative measures Members have taken over the six 
months, the report underscores for us that the first order of business at the WTO must be to finish what we started by staying true to the results at Bali, implementing the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement and completing negotiations on a post-Bali work programme. The report also rightly 
notes that the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement would also have a positive economic effect. Success in each of these areas will bring about enhancements in the overall global environment for trade, wh ich benefits all Members.   
94. The only other point we would like to make today is to note our appreciation to those 
Members who actively participated in the monitoring exercise for the first time. This exercise is a unique one, and we hope additional Members will choose to contribute to it in 2015.    
INDIA 
95. M y  d e l e g a t i o n  w o u l d  l i k e  t o  j o i n  o t h e r s  i n  t h a n k i n g  t h e  D i r e c t o r - G e n e r a l  f o r  h i s  A n n u a l  
Report (WT/TPR/OV/17) on the overview of develo pments in the international trading environment 
and his statement this afternoon. 
96. The analysis of trade trends, particularly the fact that world trade grew more slowly than 
expected and continued instability prompting downgrades in economic forecasts, including by the WTO Secretariat, underscores the continued need for Members to desist from new protectionist 
measures to respond to the uncertain economic environment. 
97. The report brings out that the average number of trade-restrictive measures, including trade 
remedy actions, which cannot be termed as trade-restrictive, taken per month in the current 
reporting period (30.8 per month) and in the preceding year (31.3 per month) is higher than any 
other review periods since October 2008. This, along with the fact that the stock of restrictive trade measures introduced by Members since 2008 has continued to increase, is some cause for 
concern for the global trading environment. 
98. On a positive note, however, the number of trade-liberalizing measures has significantly 
increased in the current reporting period. But the relatively positive trend in the area of trade liberalizing measures should not distract us from the overall picture of increase in the stock of 
trade restrictions in recent years. 
99. While the report attempts to broadly cover the three main sectors - goods, services and 
agriculture - the analysis is more concentrated on the goods side. It would be important to cover 
in greater detail measures affecting trade in services and agriculture, which certainly impact on 
developing countries' trade. For example, measures affecting movement of natural persons since 2008 would certainly merit a clear and meaningful analysis. 
100.  The section on the TBT and SPS measures essentially lists the number of notifications made 
by Members and a statistical analysis of such measures. This section also does not bring out a picture in terms of the impact of such measures on trade. In our view, a detailed analysis of the impact of SPS and TBT measures on international trade would be an important area for further 
work. 
101.  Besides definitional and methodological issues re lating to the categorization of measures, in 
the overall, mere statistical analysis of trade-restrictive measures may give a misleading 
impression unless it is accompanied by a meaningful exercise to assess the real trade impact of 
such measures, which in particular have the potential to affect adversely developing country exports. 
102.  Beyond statistical data and factual analysis of trade and trade-related policy developments 
based on information shared by Members, which is informative, it would be useful to have an WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  expanded treatment in the future reports on the overall global economic outlook, seen from the 
trade perspective, and its impact on the international trading environment. Such an analysis could also highlight significant policy issues that ar e affecting the trading system, as envisaged in 
Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement. 
CHINA 
103.  China appreciates Director-General's comprehensive introduction.  
104.  First of all, we would like to commend the Secretariat for preparing the report, which draws 
a clear picture of the international trading environment in the period under review. This report, as 
well as the trade monitoring mechanism, has played an important role in restraining protectionism since the onset of the crisis. We would like to continue providing our full support to the WTO Secretariat for carrying on this work and encourage more Members to contribute to this 
mechanism by providing necessary information as requested.  
105.  A salient feature pointed out by this report is that most of the trade-restriction measures are 
still not withdrawn by major WTO Members. Although the pace of introduction of new 
protectionism measures is not accelerating, the number of overall restrictive measures is still 
picking up at a notable speed. We should also be vi gilant to the fact that if trade remedy actions 
are also taken into account, the average number of trade-restrictive measures per month in this 
review period is higher than in any other period since October 2008.  
106.  Unfortunately, China remains the biggest victim of protectionism and trade-restrictive 
measures. We are still the most affected Member for both anti-dumping and countervailing measures. In this regard, we urge Members to refrain from taking any new trade-restrictive 
measures, and rapidly withdraw those already in place.  
107.  On our side, the new leadership of China has demonstrated strong determination on 
domestic reform and further market liberation. This has been reflected by some important 
measures taken by China recently to facilitate imports and promote outward investment.  
108.  Finally, this report reminds us that the prospect of a strong global growth and world trade 
recovery is still bleak. At this critical juncture, together with other Members, we believe that full 
implementation of the Bali package, early de velopment of the Post Bali Work Program and 
conclusion of the DDA would be the most im portant instrument to avoid protectionism. 
ARGENTINA 109.  Gracias Señora Presidente y gracias al Director-General por la presentación de este informe. 
También agradecemos a la Secretaría por el trabajo continuo en la elaboración de estos 
documentos. Es un valioso instrumento que nos permite apreciar la evolución de la política comercial y las tendencias del comercio mundial. 
110.  En tal sentido, seguimos viendo con preocupación el lento crecimiento de la economía global 
y su consecuente impacto en los flujos comerciales, habiendo llevado a varias organizaciones internacionales a modificar sus pronósticos iniciales hacia la baja. En este contexto, y como 
exportadores de productos agrícolas primarios, nos inquieta en particular la caída de los precios de 
muchos "commodities" en los últimos meses. Esto ha significado, como bien dice el informe, un recorte en los ingresos por exportaciones en numerosos países, en especial de África y Latinoamérica. 
111.  Es por ello que, ante esta situación, adquiere mayor relevancia avanzar en los temas 
pendientes de la Ronda de Doha, particularmente en el sector agrícola, donde es cada vez más imprescindible eliminar las distorsiones que aún persisten en ese sector y que impiden a los países 
en desarrollo agro-exportadores sostener el crecimiento económico y el nivel de vida de sus 
poblaciones. 
112.  El otro tema que quisiéramos resaltar, como ya lo hemos hecho en otras ocasiones, es lo 
dificultoso que sigue siendo, conforme se indica en el documento, recabar información 
"confirmada" respecto de las barreras no arancelarias , es decir las "medidas detrás de la frontera". WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  Estas medidas han ido adquiriendo cada vez mayor importancia y, como bien se señala en el 
documento, es necesario una mayor transparencia al  respecto. Por ello, el aporte de los Miembros 
es indispensable para conocer al alcance o magnitud de tales instrumentos. 
113.  En particular, y lo queremos aclarar, nos estamos refiriendo a "medidas confirmadas". 
Consideramos importante, como ya también lo hemos dicho en alguna otra oportunidad, que la 
información no confirmada por los Gobiernos no figure en este documento, ya que en muchos casos se trata de medidas que no han sido sancionadas, que no se encuentren vigentes o que 
surgen de informes periodísticos. Este es un ejercicio de transparencia, para lo cual resulta 
esencial el aporte de los Miembros pero también mejorar el procesamiento de la información recibida. 
114.  A este respecto, estimamos también de utilidad  recabar toda la información de medidas que 
surjan de los propios comités o consejos de la OMC y no solamente algunas de ellas. Argentina, 
por ejemplo, planteó un tema en la reunión del Consejo de Mercancías de abril pasado y no figura aquí en este documento. 
115.  Es decir, estos informes son valiosos y hacen a la transparencia, pero la utilidad de los 
mismos y la propia transparencia se verían mejoradas con un mayor aporte de los Miembros, con la recolección de solamente información confirmada y el insumo que pueda provenir de los propios 
órganos de la OMC. 
REPUBLIC
 OF KOREA 
116.  I would like to join the previous speakers  in extending our sincere appreciation to 
Director-General Azevedo and the Secretariat for their hard work in preparing this Report.   
117.  We are of the view that the Director-General’s report and presentation captures very well 
the overview of developments within the contex t of international trading environments. Recent 
breakthroughs to implement the outcomes agreed at the MC-9 have created a new momentum to 
reinvigorate the multilateral trading system. Building on this momentum, we also need reflection 
on the function of the WTO, focusing on how the WTO can regain its relevance among the changing realities of our complex world.  
118.  It is quite good to see that the total number of trade-liberalizing measures increased to 350 
from 251 during the period under review. The moni toring report, however, draws our attention to 
the fact that the number of trade-restrictive measures still remains high at 339, which affects about 1.4% of world merchandise imports. These trade-restrictive measures fall short of an 
outbreak of protectionism, but we should vigila ntly monitor any developments to ensure that 
favourable trends are maintained. 
119.  We also believe that the proliferation of mega-RTAs has posed ramifications for the 
multilateral trading system and we should monitor these in order to keep them both 
complementary and mutually supportive.  
120.  In addition, we would like to make two specific points.  
121.  First, from November 2013 to October 2014, as in the previous period, the number of 
anti-dumping investigation initiations remains at more than 200 cases. While we certainly 
recognize that trade remedy measures are legi timate rights of WTO Members under the WTO 
Agreement, we cannot disregard the protectionist dimensions or the chilling effect on international 
t r a d e .  I n  t h i s  r e g a r d ,  w e  w o u l d  l i k e  t o  u r g e  M e m b e r s  t o  t a k e  m o r e  c a u t i o u s  a n d  p r u d e n t  
approaches to trade remedy measures. 
122.  Secondly, only 59 Members responded to the request to provide information on their new 
trade measures, even though the number of resp onding Members has slightly increased when 
compared to the previous report. In particular, there are concerns with regard to behind-the-border measures such as general economic support measures. To address this issue, it could be 
helpful to clarify what constitutes “general economic support measures.” The absence of such 
clarification may have compounded Members’ insufficient reporting, making any assessment potentially partial and possibly inaccurate. WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  123.  In closing, as the Director-General pointed ou t, protectionist pressures are bound to remain 
d u r i n g  a  s l u g g i s h  a n d  u n e v e n  e c o n o m i c  r e c o v e r y  w i t h  p e r s i s t e n t  h i g h  l e v e l s  o f  u n e m p l o y m e n t .  During times such as this, it is important to reinforce the monitoring mechanisms of the multilateral trading system by ensuring transp arency, one of the key functions of the WTO. 
Believing that a vibrant multilateral trading system is the best insurance policy to overcome 
protectionism, Korea will continue to work closely and constructively with other Members in this endeavour to further strengthen the monitoring and surveillance mechanism of the multilateral 
trading system.  
THE
 SEPARATE  CUSTOMS  TERRITORY  OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN  AND  MATSU 
124.  My delegation joins previous speakers in than king the Director-General and his team for the 
comprehensive annual report and the Director-General’s briefing today. This report provides us 
with a clear picture of what has been happening, not only in the macroeconomic environment, but 
also in terms of Members’ trade policies and measures, and their impact on the multilateral trading system. 
125.  The report draws our attention to certain aspects that we find to be of  particular interest. 
126.  On the positive side, we are pleased to see that fewer trade-restrictive measures have been 
imposed during this review period compared to the previous one, while the number of new 
trade-facilitating measures has risen. Moreover, the report suggests that the trade policy reaction 
to the 2008 global crisis has been more muted than might have been expected, based on the experience of previous crises. 
127.  We notice, however, that the stock of restrictive measures has continued to increase since 
2008. In fact, the number almost quadrupled from mid-October 2010 to mid-October 2014. The 
negative cumulative effect of this on global trade is of concern to us. My delegation echoes that Members should be striving to resist protectionist pressures and to exercise restraint on the 
imposition of new trade restrictions, as well as to remove existing measures wherever possible. 
Even more importantly, we should be working collectively on strengthening and expanding markets rather than closing them, particularly at a time when there is a slowdown in world trade 
and the global economy remains so uncertain. 
128.  With regard to regionalism, we note that its continuing rise and its growing complexity in 
terms of coverage represents a significant cha llenge to the multilateral system. We agree that 
Members need to keep working to ensure that regional trade agreements are operating 
harmoniously with WTO rules, and are complementary rather than a challenge to the multilateral 
trading system. 
129.  My Government has been one of those to have benefited from having its trade policy 
reviewed this year. As we stated during our review, we stand firmly behind the multilateral trading 
system and strongly support trade liberalization. We  also believe that the successful completion of 
the Doha Round negotiations is the best possible insurance against protectionism. The latest 
developments and the call for Members to get back on track and move forward in all areas are 
ve ry e nc ourag ing . W e  mus t make  e very e ffort to fina l ize  the  p os t-Bali work  p rog ramme in d ue time. My delegation remains committed to working closely with all other Members towards completing this task. 
130.  And last, but not least, I just want to add that we attach great importance to this monitoring 
exercise, which we are convinced does help to im prove transparency in the multilateral trading 
system. There is no doubt however, that for this exer cise to be of real and lasting value, fuller and 
broader participation across the Membership is needed. We call for more Members and Observers 
to respond to the Director-General’s request for information, and we would urge those that still have unverified measures listed in the annexes to the report to provide the information during the 
next round of monitoring. 
PAKISTAN 131.  First of all, I express a profound appreciation to the Secretariat’s for compiling developments 
in the international trading environment in a timely and objective manner.  WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  132.  The report reflects a mixed trend of concerns about continuation of trade-restrictive 
measures, and at the same time a measure of relie f about increasing trade-liberalizing measures 
during the period under review. The most disconcerting fact is that the stock of trade restrictions introduced since 2008 continues to rise, which underlines the need for showing restraint in the 
imposition of new measures and to effectively eliminate existing ones. The report reveals that of 
the trade-restrictive measures introduced since October 2008, only 24% have been removed while 76% are still in place.  
133.  However, the report’s conclusion that the over all trade policy response to the 2008 crisis has 
been significantly more muted, and that the MT S has acted as an effective backstop against 
protectionism – provides a basis for optimism. It is really comforting that trade-liberalizing measures significantly increased from 107 in the previous reporting period to 177 in the current 
reporting period, with a value of US$1183.4 billion.  
134.  Concerns about increasing protectionism were also reverberated in the European 
Commission's annual report on protectionism published on 17 November as the EU Trade 
Commissioner said that protectionism damages global value chains; that trade openness is what 
we need if we are to keep the recovery going, especially in times of global economic and political instability.   
135.  Although there is encouraging news of a bright outlook for recovery in the U.S., economic 
performance in several other countries and regions continues to dampen optimism. Related to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook released in October, MD Christine Lagarde showed concern over the disconnect between the markets and the real economy as well as divergent monetary policies 
between the U.S. and Europe, which appeared to perpetuate a growth gap on both sides of the 
Atlantic.  
136.  Among other developments to note is a salutary effect of the discovery of shale oil and gas 
that has helped to reduce oil prices. This has the potential of improving trade balances by reducing 
the import oil bills. There has been an inexorable  link between oil prices and food prices that has 
been driving up food prices and hence overall inflation.  
137.  As usual, the frequency and quantum of trade-remedy measures has been dominated by 
anti-dumping actions, and more initiations were recorded than terminations. These measures are 
also attributed to have the possibility of tit-for-tat retaliations which can have an unwholesome impact on the trade sentiment. 
138.  Over the long run, forecasts for world growth and trade have been revised downward, and 
economists are predicting that we may have en tered a new phase of mediocre growth due to a 
continued hangover from the 2008 crisis. Accordingl y, this document rightly urges the Members to 
show restraint in introducing new measures and to reduce the stock of existing ones, as well as 
enhancing transparency of behind-the-border measures. 
139.  Reporting by non-participating Members will help significantly in improving the coverage and 
quality of this exercise. 
ECUADOR 140.  El Ecuador desea agradecer el informe del Director-General y presentar una declaración 
general muy breve en el sentido de destacar la importancia que persiguen los objetivos del 
mandato que tiene el Órgano de Examen de Políticas Comerciales en el marco de un sistema 
basado en reglas y liderado por los Miembros, así como la contribución positiva de estos informes y la necesidad de perfeccionarlos para contar con información factual, adicional a la que se 
presenta, discute y analiza en los Comités respectivos de esta Organización. 
141.  Adicionalmente, el Ecuador considera fundamental la inclusión de información sobre el 
cumplimiento de recomendaciones del Órgano de Solución de Diferencias. 
142.  El informe presentado por el Director-General constituye un desafío para los Miembros en el 
sentido de cumplir las reglas para robustecer el sistema multilateral de comercio, sistema que el WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  Ecuador apoya sin reservas en el cual el tema de la transparencia es vital para el buen 
funcionamiento de esta Organización.  
143.  Los temas que se citan en el informe presentado en el documento WT/TPR/OV/17, respecto 
a mi país, en su mayoría tienen relación con las Reglamentaciones Técnicas adoptadas.  
144.  Estas reglamentaciones han sido planteadas como preocupaciones comerciales en el Comité 
de Obstáculos al Comercio. Por tal motivo, mi delegación solicita que se consideren las respuestas proporcionadas por mi país en dicho Comité, que deben constar en las actas de las respectivas 
reuniones. 
145.  Finalmente agradecemos a la Secretaría por la ardua labor invertida en la preparación de 
este informe. 
SWITZERLAND 
146.  My delegation would like first to thank the Di rector-General for his presentation and the 
WTO Secretariat for having produced this latest annual report on trade-related developments. Once again, it offers a thorough picture of the situation, problems and challenges we are facing in 
the area of international trade and trade policy.  
147.  Despite the importance attributed by Ministers to the TPRB work on monitoring trade and 
trade-related measures, we note with disappoi ntment that still no more than 37% of the 
Membership (counting the EU and its Member States separately) have replied to the 
Director-General's request for information. The fact  that a large majority of Members continue to 
withhold information on their measures undermi nes the objective of reaching a comprehensive 
overview of relevant developments.  
148.  More discipline in this respect is clearly required for the results to become truly 
representative and meaningful. In this context, we  welcome the fact that the Secretariat continues 
to publish the details of the degree of cooperat ion by Members and Observers, and we hope that, 
going forward, substantially more Members will engage in this exercise.  
149.  On the substance of the report, Switzerland notes with concern that growth of merchandise 
trade has continued to slow down and is expected to remain well below its long term average both 
in 2014 and 2015.  
150.  This development lends further weight to the Secretariat’s call to Members to show restraint 
in the imposition of new trade-restrictive measures and to effectively eliminate existing ones. Indeed, the continued accumulation of trade-restri ctive measures, especially by G-20 members, is 
quite worrisome. Repeated commitments by the G-20 to a standstill on new restrictive measures 
and to a rollback of existing ones should be fo llowed by action. Representing about 85% of world 
GDP and 80% of world trade, these countries have a particular responsibility in this regard. 
151.  The monitoring of measures which are potentially detrimental to trade makes a significant 
contribution towards containing protectionist pressures. A further strengthening of the WTO’s role in this respect should therefore be in the collective interest of all Members.  
152.  This being said, Switzerland strongly believes that trade growth is also hampered by the 
extensive use of trade remedies, notably anti-dumping measures. As indicated in the past, we see with concern that a number of Members, particularly among the G-20, continue to resort on a l a r g e  s c a l e  t o  a n t i - d u m p i n g  m e a s u r e s  a s  a n  i n s t r u m e n t  o f  t r a d e  p o l i c y .  E v e n  i f  s o m e  o f  t h e s e  
measures may comply with WTO obligations, their widespread use has a chilling effect on world 
trade, is hampering structural adjustment, is detrimental to global value chains, weakens competition policy, and tends to trigger tit-for-tat reactions from trading partners.  
153.  As the Secretariat’s report recalls, the multilateral trading system can do more to drive 
economic growth, recovery and development through liberalization and the strengthening of rules. With the Bali package, we managed for the first time since the creation of the WTO to reach a 
consensus on some important issues of the Doha Development Agenda, and after the WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  27 November decisions we are back on track. Let us build on this success and now rapidly tackle 
the remaining work under this agenda, starting with the Post-Bali Work Programme. 
THE RUSSIAN  FEDERATION 
154.  Russia welcomes the WTO Annual Report overviewing developments in the international 
trade environment and thanks the Director-General for his personal guidance as well as the 
Secretariat for its continuous work on monitoring and summing up of the current trends in the multilateral trading system.  
155.  For Russia this exercise has always been of crucial importance as it contributes to 
transparency and predictability of global trade. Our active participation in the WTO monitoring practices started long before Russia acceded to this Organization and will be further continued in due and timely course.  
156.  We share key findings of the report and we recognize the concerns of gradual accumulation 
of trade-restrictive measures by the WTO economies since 2008. The current state of global economy abounding with many uncertainties still does not suggest immediate positive prospects 
for trade. That adds additional value to our self-restraint and rollback initiatives against 
protectionism. In this context, international and regional fora such as G-20 and APEC set good examples to follow.   
157.  We also regret to note that this year shows the rise of "economically unmotivated" 
restrictive measures in bilateral trade relations, which Russia has always opposed but was forced to respond to in a retaliatory manner.  
158.  At the same time we are encouraged by indications in the report on some positive trends 
such as the growing number of trade-liberalization measures registered this year. We also concur 
with the general conclusion that trade-restrictive reaction to the 2008 crisis has been more muted than might have been expected based on the experience with previous crises. The central role 
behind this good news belongs to the multilateral trading system which stands today as the sole 
universal mechanism for securing free trade standards and fighting protectionism globally. 
CHILE 
159.  Agradecemos la exposición introductoria del Director-General y valoramos el excelente 
trabajo de la Secretaría en la preparación de es te informe que se ha transformado en un referente 
en la evaluación de la situación y tendencias del comercio mundial tanto fuera como dentro de esta institución. 
160.  El informe presentado abarca el conjunto del entorno del comercio internacional. Sin duda 
que la disminución del dinamismo tiene causas sistémicas y múltiples, que van desde el menor crecimiento de las grandes economías, la precarización del empleo, la disminución de la 
participación del trabajo en el producto, hasta los problemas que el nuevo Acuerdo sobre 
Facilitación de Comercio procura remediar. Pero sin duda que las medidas de restricción son una causa-efecto que también atenta contra el dinamismo de los intercambios.  
161.  A este respecto, quisiera destacar algunos contenidos del informe. Por ejemplo, sobre 
restricciones al comercio, preocupa que se mantenga la tendencia a la aplicación de este tipo de medidas y el recurso habitual a las medidas antidumping, introduce un elemento de inseguridad en el sistema. 
162.  Más positiva es la constatación del aumento de medidas facilitadoras del comercio durante el 
mismo período, que esperamos logren atenuar y revertir el impacto que las distorsiones tienen en el comercio internacional.  
163.  En esa línea, una rápida implementación del Acuerdo sobre Facilitación de Comercio, 
contribuirá a apoyar los esfuerzos de nuestra organización por un proceso de liberalización 
comercial más amplio y más profundo.   WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  164.  Constatamos en el punto 5.4 que 2014 ha sido el año más activo en materia de solución de 
diferencias. Ello demuestra la confianza que los Miembros depositan en dicho pilar. Por otra parte, el recurso cada vez más asiduo a este instrumento podría indicar una tendencia hacia el incumplimiento de los compromisos asumidos por los Miembros de esta Organización que conviene 
analizar.  
165.  El mayor valor de este órgano reside en los esfuerzos por aumentar la transparencia y la 
vigilancia de las políticas comerciales. Por ello, nos preocupa que sólo cerca del 30% de los 
Miembros hayamos respondido al llamado del Director General a entregar información para la 
preparación de este informe. 
166.  Es fundamental que los Miembros logremos apre ciar la utilidad de estos ejercicios y la 
calidad de este análisis, como referente para nuestros propios esfuerzos en la aplicación de las 
políticas públicas vinculadas al comercio, que se derivan de nuestros compromisos multilaterales. 
REPÚBLICA
 DOMINICANA 
167.  En primer lugar, deseamos agradecer al Director-General y a la Secretaría que ha elaborado 
este informe, el cual es muy completo, a la vez que refleja una situación económica que sigue 
siendo preocupante. En el referido informe, vemos que la recuperación económica, todavía no termina de afianzarse, y el crecimiento económico mundial fue irregular y sin desigual en 
diferentes países importantes. La economía de los Estados Unidos retornó el camino del 
crecimiento aunque el mismo es todavía muy limitado, el crecimiento económico cayó un 2,1% en el primer trimestre del presente año, y luego creció nuevamente en 4,6% en el segundo trimestre y un 3,5% en el tercer trimestre, para tener un crecimiento promedio en los primeros nueve 
meses del año de 2%. La tasa de desempleo di sminuyó a 5,8% en octubre, aunque aún sigue 
siendo alta. Al mismo tiempo, la producción se es tancó en la zona del euro y cayó fuertemente en 
le Japón en el período más reciente. La actividad económica creció con fuerza en China, pero en el 
Brasil se profundizó la recesión. 
168.  El informe indica que debido al crecimiento vacilante de la producción mundial en el primer 
semestre de 2014, el crecimiento del comercio también ha sido vacilante, particularmente en las 
economías en desarrollo. La Secretaría de la OMC estima un crecimiento del comercio mundial del 
3,1% en 2014 y del 4% en 2015. Cifras que debieron ser revisadas a la baja. En su informe más reciente sobre las Perspectivas de la Economía Mundial, el Fondo Monetario Internacional también ha reducido a la baja su previsión de crecimiento del PIB mundial real en paridad del poder 
adquisitivo en 2014 al 3,3% (el 2,6% a los tipos del mercado) y al 3,8% en 2015 (el 3,2% a los 
tipos del mercado). 
169.  La demanda mundial de importaciones se ha modificado notablemente a causa de la 
desaceleración del crecimiento en las economías en desarrollo y, simultáneamente, la desigual 
recuperación de los países desarrollados. Desde el último trimestre de 2013, la contribución de las economías desarrolladas al crecimiento nominal de las importaciones mundiales de mercancías ha 
sido mayor que la de los países en desarrollo, por primera vez desde 2011. Por lo que respecta a 
las exportaciones, la contribución de las economías en desarrollo pasó de ser negativa (un -0,4%) en el primer trimestre a ser positiva (un 1%) en el  segundo trimestre, en tanto que la contribución 
de los países desarrollados disminuyó. Esto indica que la creciente demanda de importaciones de 
los países desarrollados disminuyó. Esto indica que la creciente demanda de importaciones de los 
países desarrolladas se satisface cada vez más con las exportaciones de países en desarrollo. 
170.  Sin embargo, es preocupante que el informe indique que el volumen de restricciones al 
comercio introducidas por los Miembros de la OMC desde 2008 sigue aumentando. De las 
2.146 medidas restrictivas del comercio introducidas por los Miembros desde octubre de 2008, solo 508 (el 24% del total) se han suprimido. El número total de medidas restrictivas que siguen 
actualmente en vigor es de 1.638 (el 76% del total). 
171.  Durante el período comprendido entre mediados de noviembre de 2013 y mediados de 
octubre de 2014, los Miembros aplicaron 168 nuevas medidas restrictivas del comercio, lo que equivale a más de 15 medidas nuevas cada mes. Consideramos que el hecho de que estas 
medidas sigan aumentando incrementa las incertidumbres que subsisten en la economía mundial y WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  es importante que los principales actores de la ec onomía mundial ejerzan la debida moderación en 
la aplicación de este tipo de medidas. 
172.  Entendemos que los Miembros deben poner atención a los efectos acumulados de las 
medidas restrictivas comerciales nuevas y las que ya estaban siendo aplicadas, y que los 
miembros del G-20 que se comprometieron desde el inicio de la crisis a la no aplicación de 
medidas de restricciones del flujo del comercio tienen una responsabilidad mayor en este sentido, para crear confianza en el sistema multilateral, y tomar iniciativas de liberalización del comercio, 
incluso como una forma de palear la crisis económica mundial que todavía sigue azotando a 
cientos de millones de personas. 
173.  Por último, el cambio en la estructura de los sectores que están impulsando el crecimiento 
en China, señalaría una nueva tendencia entre el comportamiento de los crecimientos entre el 
producto global y el comercio global mundiales, debido a un mayor estímulo en el consumo interno 
de China, el cual parece demandar menos insumos de bienes y servicios externos. Esta situación debería ser tomada en consideración en los futuros análisis para conocer el impacto sobre la 
proyección del comercio global. 
SINGAPORE 174.  Singapore thanks the Director-General and the Secretariat for the annual report on 
Developments in the International Trading Environment. It is an important complement to the 
ongoing country-specific trade policy reviews. Trade monitoring is a key means of providing transparency in the WTO. It is an important part of the WTO’s regular work which we must 
continue to advance.   
175.  Even though the trade policy reaction to the 2008 global economic and financial crisis has 
been more muted compared with previous ones, the stock of trade restrictions introduced since then continues to rise. This is of particular concern in view of the continued global economic 
uncertainty and sluggish trade growth. We urge the WTO Members concerned to remove these 
restrictions and refrain from adding new ones.  
176.  Despite the best efforts of the Director-Gener al and the Secretariat at garnering Members’ 
inputs for this report, the level of response remains at only about one-third of Members. This is 
disappointing, especially since it is clear that such exercises contribute towards a greater understanding of international trade trends, whic h all Members benefit from. We strongly urge 
Members to improve on our collective participation in future trade monitoring exercises. Where 
relevant, we should also proactively provide information on non-tariff measures, such as 
behind-the-border measures, which seem to have become more prominent in recent years.   
177.  Finally, it is incumbent on WTO Members to make the multilateral trading system responsive 
and relevant to global trade developments, including in the areas of trade liberalisation, 
rule-making, and trade monitoring. It is therefore critical that WTO Members deliver on the General Council decisions adopted on 27 November 2014 with regard to the Bali decisions, to help 
restore the WTO’s credibility as the paramount organization on international trade. 
JAPAN 178.  First of all, Japan appreciates the Director-General’s and his team’s hard work for this 
annual report. It helps us to understand the current situation regarding trade and trade-related 
measures and provides us with a variety of important views on our fight against protectionism. 
179.  In my remarks, I would like to touch upon the following two points: the current trend of 
trade and trade-related measures and the improvement of monitoring. 
180.  Firstly, I would like to comment on the current trend of trade and trade-related measures. 
According to the Secretariat, world trade grew slower than expected in the current reporting 
period and the trade in goods in 2014 and 2015 will be lower than the average of the last 
20 years. These severe economic circumstances may cause an increase of protectionism. The total 
number of restrictive measures introduced since 2008 and still in place has reached its highest level. It is necessary for all of us to make our position crystal-clear to fight against protectionism, WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  exercising the maximum restraint to the introduction of new protectionist measures and making 
the utmost effort to eliminate the existing ones. 
181.  Among those measures introduced in the current reporting period, trade remedy measures 
account for almost half of the total number. In particular, in addition to the anti-dumping 
measures, countervailing measures have been on an increasing trend since 2012. The abuse of 
trade remedy measures can cause a negative impact  on world trade; therefore the implementation 
of these measures should be strictly in conformity with the relevant WTO agreement. 
182.  On the other hand, the number of trade-liberalizing measures significantly increased from 
107 in the previous reporting period to 177 in the current period. This is a positive sign as long as they are consistent with the WTO agreement. We w ill have to maintain and strengthen this trend 
in order to enhance trade liberalization and further expand world trade, under the multilateral 
trading system. 
183.  Secondly, regarding the improvement of monito ring, we reiterate the importance of TPRB 
monitoring in order to tackle protectionism. Japan strongly supports this regime and will continue 
our cooperation for the monitoring. 
184.  In the process for the preparation of the cu rrent report, more Members responded to the 
request for verification from the Secretariat. That is good news. But, as mentioned by the 
Director-General, still only 37% of the Members pr ovided information before the verification step. 
As we stated in the TPRB meeting in July, Japa n is concerned that there has been very little 
improvement in providing information for several years. All the Members should actively take part in this process in order to enhance the transparency of our trade policies and to make this report 
comprehensive and more credible. 
COLOMBIA 185.  Quisiera agradecer a la Secretaría por la elaboración de este documento y la presentación 
realizada por el Director-General.   
186.  Por ser los últimos en intervenir queremos ser breves y nos sumamos a los comentarios 
específicos al documento que han hecho la mayoría de los que nos antecedieron. 
187.  Esta revisión presenta una importante herramienta de evaluación del entorno comercial 
internacional y el rol que tenemos los Miembros en el desarrollo de nuestras políticas comerciales en este contexto.  
188.  En la revisión de este informe coincidimos con lo que han manifestado anteriormente. Esto, 
en la importancia de mantener la transparencia en esta organización, mediante la información con 
la que debemos contribuir los Miembros para este informe así como en el cumplimiento de los compromisos de notificación resultante de los acuerdos de esta casa.  
189.  Los hallazgos que se presentan en el informe sobre este tema muestran que aún estamos 
por debajo del 50% del total de los Miembros. 
190.  Destacamos igualmente el rol de esta Organización desde su inicio, para permitir a los 
Miembros discutir en este foro cómo las medidas comerciales deben responder adecuadamente al 
cumplimiento de los compromisos en la OMC y en garantizar los beneficios del comercio a las poblaciones de las naciones. 
191.  Como hemos manifestado en ocasiones anteriores, estamos totalmente comprometidos con 
el sistema multilateral y la Ronda de Doha para el Desarrollo. Es así que esperamos la completa 
implementación el paquete de Bali y la puesta en marcha de un plan de trabajo con miras a culminar el PDD. Estas son la principal contri bución que todos podremos hacer en lograr un 
entorno económico internacional menos distorsionado e incluyente. WT/TPR/W/74 
 
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  SECRETARIAT 
192.  Thank you for your comments and active participation in this meeting. As the 
Director-General indicated, we will report to him fully your points of view and suggestions. In particular, from the Trade Policy Review Division, I would like to thank you for the comments and 
suggestions that you have made regarding the trade monitoring exercise.  
193.  Of course, we recognize that the trade monitoring can be improved, in particular in the area 
of coverage of the measures and the verificati on of the reported actions. One of the unique 
features of this trade monitoring exercise is that it is the result of a joint work. We, the 
Secretariat, and most importantly you, the Members. And that is why we are pleased that all the participants that took the floor today called on the entire membership to enhance the participation in this exercise. 
194.  We have heard the suggestions on how we can improve the methodology, in particular 
trying to make more analys is of certain types of measures like TBT or SPS. Also, in particular, calling the Secretariat to enhance the co verage of behind-t he-border measures. 
195.  But to do that we really need your help, your active participation. If we are to embark on an 
analytical exercise, we need to ha ve more information. We cannot ba se our analysis only on partial 
information that is provided by part of the membership. In that sense, your call for all Members to 
participate more actively is really in the direction where we want to move. 
196.  There have been also some suggestions that we will certainly take on board. Some of you 
mentioned that probably a list of illustrative meas ures that have to be notified under the section 
on general economic support can facilitate the reporting of such measures. We will be working 
together with the trade monitoring team with a view to have some sort of illustrative list that we 
can provide to you. 
197.  There were also a couple of other suggestions and comments, in particular from Argentina 
regarding the inclusion or rather non-inclusion of certain measures that were referred to in other 
WTO Bodies. These will be discussed bilaterally with  one of my colleagues to explain why this was 
not done. 
198.  To summarize, the Director-General provides you a background paper on which you base 
your discussions and your exchange of views. Certainly in our trade monitoring we may have missed some of the measures but this sort of meet ing is the opportunity for you, all Members, to 
bring those measures that may not have been included in the report, or measures that we may 
probably not have been able to include in the report, and to raise them in this meeting. This is the 
good forum for you to exchange your views and comments regarding these measures so as to complement what the Director-General provides you in terms of background note that should 
serve as a basis for your discussions. 
CHAIRMAN'S CLOSING REMARKS 199.  I would like to conclude the meeting by than king the Director-General and the delegations 
for their contributions to the exch ange of views. I believe that our discussion today has reaffirmed 
the importance of the trade monitoring exercise in providing enhanced transparency of Members' 
trade and trade-related policies and measures. 
200.  The comments and issues raised by Members will be, as the Director said, duly transmitted 
to the Director-General. 
201.  I also take note of, and I think we should be greatly encouraged by the general commitment 
among Members to continue to improve their contribution to and participation in the monitoring 
exercise. 
202.  Thank you to all delegations for taking part in  this meeting, DDG, the Secretariat and the 
interpreters.  
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