WT/TPR/OV/W/11  
 
10 July 201 7 
(17-3670) Page: 1/141 
Trade Policy Review Body    
 
REPORT TO THE TPRB F ROM THE DIRECTOR -GENERAL ON  
TRADE -RELATED DEVELOPMENTS  
 
(Mid-October  2016 to mid -May 2017)  
Table of contents  
KEY FINDINGS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  3 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 8 
1   INTRODUCTION  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  9 
2   RECENT ECONOMIC AND TRADE DEVELOPMENTS  ................................ ......................  10 
2.1 Overview  ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 10 
2.2 Economic Developments  ................................ ................................ ............................ 11 
2.3 Merchandise Trade  ................................ ................................ ................................ ....14 
2.4   Trade in Commercial Services  ................................ ................................ ...................... 17 
2.5   Trade Forecast and Economic Outlook  ................................ ................................ ........... 17 
3   TRADE AND TRADE -RELATED POLICY DEVEL OPMENTS  ................................ ..............  23 
3.1   Overview of trends identified during the period under review  ................................ ........... 23 
3.2   Trade Remedies  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 28 
3.3   Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS)  ................................ ................................ ...42 
3.4   Technical Barrie rs to Trade (TBT)  ................................ ................................ ................. 48 
3.5   Policy Developments in Agriculture  ................................ ................................ ............... 55 
3.6   General Economic Support  ................................ ................................ ........................... 64 
3.7   Other Selected Trade Policy Developments  ................................ ................................ ....65 
4   POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE IN SERVICES  ................................ ......................  73 
5   POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE AND INTELLE CTUAL PROPERTY  ..........................  77 
ANNEX 1: MEASURES FA CILITATING TRADE  ................................ ................................ .. 80 
ANNEX 2: TRADE REMEDIES  ................................ ................................ ...........................  90 
ANNEX 3: OTHER TRADE  AND TRADE -RELATED MEASURES  ................................ ..........  102  
ANNEX 4: MEASURES AF FECTING TRADE IN SER VICES  ................................ ................  111  
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Box 1 About the WTO Monitoring Repor t  
This WTO Monitoring Report reviews trade and trade -related measures implemented by WTO Members during the 
period from 16 October 2016 to 15 May 2017. It is a mid -year preparatory contribution to the annual report by the 
Director -General under the TPRM ( Trade Policy Review Mechanism) mandate in which he provides the WTO 
membership with an overview of developments in the international trading environment. The most recent mid -year 
Monitoring Report was circulated on 4 July 2016 and the last annual Trade Mon itoring Report (WT/TPR/OV/19) by the 
Director -General was issued on 21  November 2016.  
 
This Report is issued under the sole responsibility of the Director -General of the WTO.  
 
The Trade Monitoring Report is first and foremost a transparency exercise. It i s intended to be purely factual and has 
no legal effect on the rights and obligations of WTO Members. It is without prejudice to Members' negotiating positions 
and has no legal implication with respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the report w ith any WTO 
Agreement or any provision thereof.  
 
The Monitoring Report aims to shed light on the latest trends in the implementation of a broad range of policy 
measures that facilitate as well as restrict the flow of trade and provide an update o n the sta te of global trade. The 
Monitoring Report neither seeks to pronounce itself on whether a trade measure is protectionist, nor does it question 
the explicit right of Members to take certain trade measures. The Reports continue to evolve in terms of the cover age 
and analysis of trade -related issues and take into account discussions among WTO Members in the Trade Policy 
Review Body. 
 
Although the restrictive trade measures as covered by the Monitoring Report have a restraining impact on the flow of 
trade, almos t all such measures appear to have been taken within  the flexibilities provided for in  the multilateral 
trading system. With respect to the tariff increases included in the reports, it is equally important to stress that the 
overwhelming majority of these measures are taken within bound ceilings and do not appear to break WTO rules.  
 
With respect to trade remedy actions it has been highlighted in discussions among WTO Members that several of these 
measures are taken to address what is perceived by some as a market distortion resulting from trade practices of 
entities in another trading partner. In fact, the WTO Antidumping and Subsidies Agreements permit WTO Members to 
impose antidumping (AD) or countervailing (CVD) duties to offset what is perceived to be i njurious dumping or 
subsidization of products exported from one Member to another. The Monitoring Reports are not in a position to 
establish if, where or when such perceived distortive practices have taken place. The WTO Monitoring Reports have 
never categ orized the use of trade remedies as protectionist, WTO -inconsistent or criticised governments for utilizing 
them. The main objective of monitoring these measures is to provide added transparency and to identify emerging 
trends.  
 
With respect to sanitary an d phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) measures covered in the 
Report, it is important to emphasize that they are neither classified nor counted as trade -restrictive or trade -
facilitating, and the increasing trend with respect to the n umber of notifications of such measures is carefully linked to 
the transparency provisions of the Agreements only. The Reports have consistently underlined the basic premise that 
an increased number of SPS and TBT notifications do not automatically imply g reater use of protectionist or 
unnecessarily trade -restrictive measures, but rather enhanced transparency regarding these measures. Finally, the 
Reports clearly emphasize that the SPS and TBT Agreements specifically allow Members to take measures in the 
pursuit of a number of legitimate policy objectives.  
 
The WTO Secretariat strives to ensure that the Trade Monitoring Reports are factual and objective accounts of recent 
trends in trade policy making. Since 2008, the Reports have also sought to provide a w ider and more nuanced 
perspective to developments in the area of international trade. For example, the Reports have consistently drawn 
attention to the fact that although the number of specific and often long -term restrictive trade measures remains a 
sourc e of continuous concern, other key factors such as the general economic downturn have also played a significant 
role in the slow -down of trade. With respect to both, vigilance is required.  
 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  KEY FINDINGS  
• WTO Members implemented 74 new trade -restrictive me asures during the review period  
(mid-October 2016 and mid -May 2017 ), including new or increased tariffs, customs 
regulations and quantitative restrictions, amounting to almost 11 new measures per month. 
This represents a significant decrease over the previ ous period and marks the lowest 
monthly average since  2008.  
 
• WTO Members applied 80 measures aimed at facilitating trade over this review period, 
including eliminated or reduced tariffs and simplified customs procedures. This equates to an 
average of over  11 new measures per month which is the second lowest monthly average 
since trade monitoring began in 2008.  
 
• During the review period, the estimated trade coverage for trade -facilitating import 
measures (US$183 billion) significantly exceeded  the es timated  trade coverage of 
trade -restrictive import measures  (US$49 billion).  
 
• This Report also highlights that initiations of trade remedy investigations represented 44% 
of the total number of trade measures taken during the review period; although the amount 
of trade covered is relatively small (US$27 billion for tr ade remedy initiations and 
US$6  billion for terminations).  
 
• Transparency and predictability in trade policy remains vital for all actors in the global 
economy. WTO Members must show leadership in reite rating their commitment to open and 
mutually beneficial trade, as a key driver of economic growth and a major engine for 
prosperity.  
 
• Faced with continuing global economic uncertainties, WTO Members should seek to continue 
improving the global trading envi ronment, including by implementing the WTO Trade 
Facilitation Agreement, which entered into force in February this year, and working together 
to achieve a successful outcome at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in December.  
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Trade -restrictive measures  
(average per month)  
12 15 22 
13 15 
14 19 
12 15 
11 
0510152025
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 mid-Oct15
to mid-
Oct16mid-Oct16
to mid-
May17Chart KF1
Trade restrictive measures, excluding trade remedies
Source:   WTO Secretariat.(Average per month)
Values are rounded.
 
Note:    Values are rounded.  Changes to averages of previous years reflect continuing updates o f the 
  TMDB.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  Trade -facilitat ing measures  
(average per month)  
91823
19
141623
1718
11
0510152025
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 mid-Oct15
to mid-
Oct16mid-Oct16
to mid-
May17Chart KF2
Trade facilitating measures, excluding trade remedies
Source:   WTO Secretariat.(Average per month)
Values are rounded.
 
 
Note:  Values are rounded.  Changes  to averages of p revious years reflect continuing updates o f the TMDB.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Trade remedy trends – initiations and terminations  
(average per month)  
21 28 
25 
23 29 
28 
25 
17 
16 18 18 
13 13 
10 
 - 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 mid-Oct15 to
mid-Oct16mid-Oct16 to
mid-May17WTO Trade remedies intitiations & terminations 
Initiations avg per month Terminations avg per month
 
Note:  Values are rounded.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 
Overview  of trade measures , mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017  
(by number)  
174 71 80 74 
Trade remedy initiations Trade remedy terminations
Measures facilitating trade Trade-restrictive measures399Chart 1.[w]
Trade measures, mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017
 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  Trade coverage of import measures , mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017  
(US$ billion ) 
27 6 183 49 
Trade remedy initiations Trade remedy terminations
Measures facilitating trade Trade-restrictive measuresUS$266Chart 1.[w]
Trade coverage of import measures, mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017
 
 
Note:    ITA expansion measures are not included . 
Source:   WTO Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY  
This WTO Trade Monitoring R eport reviews trade -related developments during the period from 
16 October 2016 to 15 May 2017.1 The Report continues to demonstrate the importance of 
transparency and predictability for all actors in the global economy. The rules -based global trading 
system, under -pinned by the WTO, remains a key pillar in the global economy to create the 
conditions for improved economic growth and prosperity.   
 
During the review period, 74 new trade -restrictive measures were put in place , including new or 
increased tariff s, customs regulations and quantitative restrictions, amounting to a monthly 
average of almost 11 new measures per month.  This represents a significant decrease over the 
previous period and marks the lowest monthly average since the 2008 financial crisis.  
 
WTO Members also implemented 80 measures aimed at facilitating trade  during  the review period, 
including eliminated or reduced tariffs and simplified customs procedures . At just over 11 trade -
facilitating measures per month, this is the second lowest mont hly average si nce the 2008 
financial crisis.  The trade cover age of the import -facilitating  measures (US$183 billion ) is more 
than three times the estimated trade coverage of the import -restrictive measures  (US$49 billion ) 
and more than six times higher tha n those estimated for trade remedy initiations (US$27 billion). 
In addition, liberalization associated with the 2015 expansion of the WTO's Information Technology 
Agreement  (ITA) continues to feature as an important contributor to trade facilitation.  
 
The larger trade coverage of import -facilitating measures during the review period is a very 
positive development . It is encouraging that WTO Members collectively continue to show 
moderation and restraint in the recourse to trade restrictions despite the pers istent uncertainty 
facing the global economy.  
 
Initiation s of trade remedy investigations represented 4 4% of all trade measures taken  during the 
review period , with i nitiations of anti -dumping investigations accounting for around 85% of trade 
remedy initia tions of investigations . The main sectors affected by trade remedy initiations during 
the review period were wood and articles of wood; vehicles; and furniture, bedding material, 
lamps. The main sectors where trade remedy duties were terminated were articl es of iron and 
steel; machinery and mechanical appliances; and aluminium and articles thereof. The trade 
covered by trade remedy initiations and terminations recorded in this Report is estimated at 
US$27 billion and US$6 billion , respectively.  
  
A range of  other subjects are also covered by this Report. WTO Members, in particular developing 
Members, remained very active in notifying their Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures.   
WTO Members continued also to notify their Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)  measures at a stable 
pace with the majority of new notifications being submitted by develop ing Members .  TBT follow -
up notifications have significantly increased during the review period. The SPS and TBT notification 
obligations are meant to promote enhan ced predictability and transparency regarding measures 
taken to address legitimate policy objectives.  
 
In both the SPS and TBT Committees , WTO Members have dedicated considerable time in 
discussing Specific Trade Concerns ( STCs), suggesting that Members increasingly see the TBT and 
SPS Committees as fora in which trade  concerns  may be effectively resolved non -litigiously.  
 
In the area of agriculture, WTO Members  continued to make use of the Committee on Agriculture 
(CoA) as a forum to discuss agricultural policies and issues related to the implementation of 
commitments. In 2016, a peak in the number of questions on individual notifications and under 
Article 18.6 of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA)  was recorded.  The overwhelming majority of 
these questions  focused on Members' domestic support notifications and commitments . 
 
General economic support measures played an important role in many economies in the immediate 
aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The trade monitoring reports have consistently repor ted on 
these measures which included domestic bailouts, substantial measures targeting the financial  
sector, state aid programmes and large -scale multi -sector and sometimes economy -wide stimulus 
packages. Recent years have seen fewer such support schemes , with measures appearing to be 
increasingly sector -specific and export -oriented, including various trade finance initiatives , often to 
                                                
1 Unless otherwise indicated in the relevant Section.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  assist SMEs or start -up enterprises. The number of WTO Members that provided information on 
general economic support measu res implemented during the current review period , remained, 
again, disappointingly low.   
 
Work on the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) continued to make progress 
and reached an important milestone on 22 February 2017 when a sufficie nt number of ratifications 
were received for the Agreement to enter into force. Eighteen additional ratifications were received 
since the end of the last reporting period.  
 
On trade in services, the review period saw a number of significant and diverse pol icy 
developments in several economies.   Most of the new measures are either horizontal in nature – 
relating to measures affecting the supply of services through commercial presence and the 
movement of natural persons – or pertain to financial services and the communication sector.   As 
in the past, the majority of the se measures provide for additional liberalization or aim to 
strengthen or clarify regulatory frameworks.   At the same time, however, certain other measures 
appear  to be more trade-restrictive .   
 
The Amendment to the Agreement on Trade -Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights 
(TRIPS) entered into force on 23 January 2017.  This marked the first amendment to a multilateral 
trade agreement since the creation of the WTO in 1995. The Amendment addresses health -related 
needs of developing and least -developed country WTO Members (LDCs), by providing a legal 
pathway for the export of low -cost medicines produced under compulsory licen ses. Several WTO 
Members adopted new national and regional policie s related to IP and the digital economy.  
During the review period, s lower growth in world trade and output partly reflected weak 
investment spending and although some trade indicators were up in the first quarter of 2017, 
underlying risk factors remain sig nificant. World merchandise trade volume growth slowed to 1.3% 
in 2016, down from 2.6% in 2015, as weak economic growth and low commodity prices had a 
negative impact on import demand in both developed and developing economies. World GDP 
growth also slowed  to 2.3% in 2016, down from 2.7% in 2015. The WTO's most recent trade 
forecast of 12 April 2017, estimated that world merchandise trade would grow by 2.4% in 2017, 
within a range from 1.8% to 3.6%.  For 2018, world merchandise trade growth is expected to b e 
between 2.1% and 4%.  
 
Faced with continuing global economic uncertainties, WTO Members should show leadership in 
reiterating their commitment to open and mutually beneficial trade, and continuing to strengthen 
the rules -based multilateral trading system.   WTO Members should seek to continue improving the 
global trading environment, including by implementing in full the WTO Trade Facilitation 
Agreement, and working together to achieve a successful outcome at the 11th WTO Ministerial 
Conference in December.  
 
1  INTRODUCTION  
1.1.  This monitoring report2 reviews trade and trade -related developments during the period 
mid-October 2016 to mid -May 2017.3 It is a mid -year preparatory contribution to the annual 
report by the Director -General provided for in paragraph (g) of  the Trade Policies Review 
Mechanism (TPRM) mandate which aims to assist the TPRB in undertaking an annual overview of 
developments in the international trading environment that are having an impact on the 
multilateral trading system. This report is intend ed to be purely factual and is issued under the 
sole responsibility of the Director -General. It has no legal effect on the rights and obligations of 
Members, nor does it have any legal implication with respect to the conformity of any measure 
noted in the report with any WTO Agreement or any provision thereof. This and other important 
clarifications are covered in more detail in Box 1.  
                                                
2 The previous WTO Trade Monitoring Report presented to the TPRB (WT/TPR/OV/19, 
21 Novembe r 2016) covered measures taken over the period from mid -October 2015 to mid -October 2016. 
The WTO trade monitoring reports have been prepared by the WTO Secretariat since 2009.  On 30 June 2017,  
the WTO Secretariat, together with the Secretariats of the OEC D and UNCTAD, issued a report on trade and 
investment measures implemented by G20 economies during the period mid -October 201 6 to mid -May 2017 
(available on the WTO website). The G20 measures identified in that document are reproduced in this report.   
3 Unless otherwise indicated in the relevant section.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  1.2.  Section 2 of the Report provides an overview of recent economic and trade trends. Section 3 
presents an account of selected  trade and trade -related policy developments during the review 
period. Policy developments in trade in services and trade in intellectual property are included in 
Section s 4 and 5, respectively . Annexes to the report list specific trade policy measures of 
individual Members implemented  during the period under review in four categories: trade -
facilitating measures (Annex 1); trade remedy actions (Annex 2); other trade and trade -related 
measures (Annex 3)  and services measures (Annex 4).  For the first time it  has not been possible 
to establish a separate annex on general economic support measures  implemented by WTO 
Members.  The country -specific measures listed in the four annexes are new measures 
implemented by Members and Observers during the period under rev iew.4 Measures implemented 
outside this period are not included in these annexes. The compilation of all measures recorded  by 
the trade -monitoring reports since October  2008 is available in the Trade Monitoring Database .5 
1.3.  Specific developments related to S anitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures and Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT) are covered separately under  Section 3.  
1.4.  Information on the measures included in this report has been collected from inputs submitted 
by Members and Observers, as well as from o ther official and public sources. Replies to the 
Director -General's request for information on measures taken during the period under review were 
received from 68 Members6, which represents more than 40% of the membership and covers just 
over 87% of world imports.7 One Observer also replied to the request for information. The WTO 
Secretariat has drawn on these replies, as well as on a variety of other sources, to prepare this 
report. Country -specific information was sent for verification to 84 delegations.  Participation in the 
verification process was uneven, and in a number of cases  the Secretariat received only partial 
responses and often after the indicated deadline.8 Where it has not been possible to confirm the 
information,  this is noted in the Annexes.  
Replies to the Director -General's request for information 
Argentina  
Australia  
Brazil  
Canada  
Chile 
China  
Colombia  
Congo, Dem. Rep.  
Costa Rica  
European Union (28)  
Georgia  
Hong Kong, China  
India 
Indonesia  Japan  
Korea, Republic  of 
Malaysia  
Mauritius  
Mexico  
Moldova, Republic  of 
Mongolia  
Nepal  
New Zealand  
Norway  
Pakistan  
Peru 
Philippines  
Russian Federation  Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of  
Serbia*  
Seychelles  
Singapore  
South Africa  
Switzerland  
Chinese Taipei  
Thailand  
Turkey  
Ukraine  
United States of America  
Uruguay  
Viet Na m 
 
* Observer 
2  RECENT ECONOMIC AND TRADE DEVELOPMENTS  
2.1 Overview  
2.1.  World merchandise trade growth in 2016 was the lowest since the global financial crisis, just 
1.3% in volume terms as measured by the average of exports and imports.  The pace of expansion 
                                                
4 The inclusion of any measure in this report or in  its annexes implies no judgement by the WTO 
Secretariat on whether or not such measure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature. Moreover, nothing in th is 
report implies any judgement, either direct or indirect, as to the consistency of any measure referred to in the 
report with the provisions of any WTO Agreement.  
5 http://tmdb.wto.org/ . Measures listed in Annexes 1,  2 and 3 in this Report will feature in the TMDB 
after the TPRB meeting on 24 July 2017.  
6 The European Union and its member States counted separately.  
7 This figure includes intra -EU trade.  
 8 The information contained in the annexes reflects the overall participation in the exercise and 
responses to the verification request and should therefore not be considered exhaustive.  
 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  was half as strong as in 2015, when trade grew 2.6%, and well below the 4.7% average rate since 
1980.   
2.2.  Sluggish trade volume growth in 2016 was accompanied by world real GDP growth of 2.3% 
at market exchange rates, down from 2.6% in the previous year and below the 2.8% average 
since 1980.   
2.3.  Reasons for the lacklustre performance of trade and output growth last year are multi -
faceted, including cyclical and structural factors. The most trade -intensive components of GDP 
were weak in 2016, as investment spend ing slumped in the United States and as China continued 
to rebalance its economy away from investment and towards consumption.  Primary commodity 
prices also remained low compared to their levels of a few years ago, depriving oil -based 
economies in particu lar of export revenues needed to purchase imports.  
2.4.  Export volumes grew at around the same rate in both developed economies (1.4%) and 
developing economies (1.3%) in 2016. Import growth was modest in developed countries (2%) 
and stagnant in developing econo mies (0.2%). Developing economies suffered a sharp 3% 
quarter -on-quarter decline in their volume of imports in the first quarter of 2016, equivalent to an 
annual rate of -11.6%, but growth resumed in the second quarter and losses were recovered by 
the end of the year.  Meanwhile imports of developed economies were flat throughout the year.  
2.5.  Despite weak but positive growth in volume terms, the dollar value of world merchandise 
trade declined for the second year in a row due to falling export and import price s. World 
merchandise exports were valued at US$15.46 trillion in 2016, down 3.3% from the previous year. 
The pace of contraction was slower than in 2015, when export values fell 13.5% due to a strong 
appreciation of the U.S. dollar and plunging oil prices.  
2.6.  The value of world commercial services exports was nearly unchanged in 2016, increasing by 
just 0.1% to $4.77 trillion. As with merchandise trade, nominal trade values for commercial 
services are strongly affected by changes in prices and exchange rates a nd should be interpreted 
with caution.  
2.7.  Trade is expected to strengthen globally in 2017 and 2018, but only if governments pursue 
an appropriate mix of policies and the global economic recovery proceeds as expected. In its most 
recent forecast of 12 April, the WTO Secretariat projected merchandise trade volume growth of 
2.4% in 2017, but due to a high level of economic and policy uncertainty this is placed within a 
range from 1.8% to 3.6%. Trade growth should pick up slightly in 2018 to between 2.1% and 4%.  
2.2 Economic Developments  
2.8.  The volume of world merchandise trade has generally grown faster than world real GDP at 
market exchange rates since the Second World War (about 1.5 times on average), although in the 
1990s trade grew more than twice as fast as out put. However, since the onset of the global 
financial crisis in 2008, trade and output have grown at roughly the same rate, with a 1:1 ratio 
prevailing between the two  indicators . Last year marked the first time since 2001 that the ratio of 
trade growth to  GDP growth dipped below 1, falling to 0.6. This ratio is expected to recover partly 
in 2017, but the continued weakness of trade growth relative to GDP growth remains a source of 
concern.  
2.9.  Global economic activity picked up gradually during the review peri od, although growth 
remains unsteady and unbalanced. GDP strengthened in major economies in the third and fourth 
quarters of 2016 before slowing in the first quarter of 2017.  Output in the United States grew at 
an average rate of 2.8% (seasonally adjusted  and annualized) in the second half of 2016, up from 
1.1% in the first half, but the pace of expansion slowed to 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017. 
Unemployment has continued to decline, falling to 4.4% in April from 4.9% in the second quarter 
of last year .  
2.10.   GDP growth was steady in the European Union in 2016, increasing slightly from 1.8% on 
average in the first half of the year to 2% in the second half, and remained at 2% in the first 
quarter of 2017. Unemployment in the European Union has declined gradua lly to 8% in March 
from 8.5% in the first half of 2016, but jobless rates vary considerably across EU member WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  countries. For example, Germany’s unemployment rate was 3.9% in the latest period while the 
rate for France was 10.1%.  
2.11.   Japan’s GDP growth remained weak but positive in the second half of 2016, averaging 1.2% 
in Q3 and Q4.  This is down slightly from the 2% average rate observed in the first half of the 
year.  Figures for GDP growth in the first quarter of 2017 are not available yet.  The country's 
unemployment rate is low by developed country standards and continues to decline, falling to 
2.8% in March 2017 from 3% at the start of the year.  
2.12.   China’s GDP growth rose to approximately 7.2% (annualized and seasonally adjusted) in the 
second half of 2016 f rom around 6.6% in the first half of the year.  No comparable harmonized 
employment rates are available for China, but economic activity and presumably employment 
continues to shift gradually away from manufacturing and toward services.  
2.13.   The economic situa tion in South and Central America remained deeply negative, as Brazil's 
economy continued to contract ( -3.1% annual rate) in the second half of 2016.  In contrast, GDP 
growth in Argentina picked up to 1.1% in the second half of last year after falling 5.3%  in the first 
half. 
2.14.   Significant fluctuations in exchange rates in recent years have strongly influenced nominal 
trade and economic statistics, most of which are denominated in current U.S. dollar s. These 
developments are illustrated by Chart 2.1, which shows nominal effective exchange rate indices for 
selected economies from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) through April 2017. In 
2016, the U.S. dollar  appreciated 4.4% on average against the currencies of  US trading partners 
(i.e. in "nominal effective" terms) after having risen nearly 13% in 2015. Dollar appreciation 
contributes to lower dollar prices for commodities since it allowed the same quantity of goods to be 
purchased with fewer units of currency.  
2.15.   Other exchange rate developments in 2016 included a 4.6% average depreciation of China’s 
yuan against the currencies of its trading partners and a 10% decline in the average value of 
sterling. The yuan had risen 9.5% in 2015 so the devaluation in 2016 cou ld be seen as a 
correction. Meanwhile, the nominal effective exchange rate of the euro remained stable in 2016, 
with a modest rise of 1.9%.  The nominal effective exchange rate of the U.S. dollar  is up around 
20% since the start of 2015, while sterling is down around 8%.   
2.16.   Dollar appreciation can cause trade denominated in other currencies (e.g. intra -EU trade) to 
be undervalued when measured in dollar terms. As a result, trade statistics in nominal dollar terms 
should be interpreted with caution under curr ent circumstances.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  Chart 2.1 Nominal effective exchange rate indices for selected economies, January 2014 
- April 2017 a 
(index, January 2014 = 100)  
60708090100110120130
United States Japan China Brazil Euro area United KingdomChart 1[Coleman]
Exchange rate indices for selected economies, January 2014 -April 2017a
Index, January 2014=100
Source:  Bank for International Settlements (BIS).a   Nominal effective exchange rate indices against a broad basket of currencies.
 
 
a Nominal effective exchange rate indices against a broa d basket of currencies.  
Source:  Bank for International Settlements  (BIS) . 
2.17.   Monthly primary commodity prices have risen steadily since the start of last year, although 
growth for the whole of 2016 (i.e. the 12  months of 2016 compared to the previous 12  months) 
remained negative. Fuels saw the biggest decline in prices of any category of primary commodities 
year-on-year, falling 16.5%. Smaller declines were recorded for agricultural raw materials ( -5.7%) 
and metals ( -5.4%). In contrast, food prices increased slightly (1.3%). Commodity prices overall 
fell around 10% in 2016, i.e. considerably less than the 35% drop recorded in 2015 , but still 
significant, particularly for resource -producing countries whose export earnings have continued to 
fall (albeit at a slo wer pace ). 
2.18.   Commodity prices are up in 2017 for the year -to-date (i.e. January -April).  For example, 
fuel prices are up 48.3% compared to the same period in 2016, but they are still down 47.8% 
compared to their level at the start of 2014 ( Chart 2.2 ). 
2.19.   The pe rsistent weakness of fuel prices is partly explained by the resilience of oil production 
in the United States, including production from non -traditional sources such as shale. According to 
the US Energy Information Administration, oil output declined in th e first half of 2016 but rose in 
the second half, limiting the year -on-year decline in output to 5.5%. Production for the whole of 
2016 was still 77% higher than the level recorded in 2008.  Despite a firming of oil prices since the 
start of 2016, a return  to prices in the neighbourhood of US$100 oil/barrel is unlikely at current 
production levels.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 14 - 
 
  Chart 2.2 Prices of primary commodities, January 2014 - April 2017  
(index, January 2014 = 100)  
20406080100120
Food and beverages Agricultural raw materials Metals FuelChart 2[Coleman]
Prices of primary commodities, January 2015 -April 2017
Indices, January 2014=100
Source:  IMF Primary Commodity Prices.
 
Source:  IMF Prima ry Commodity Prices.  
 
2.3 Merchandise Trade  
2.20.   Chart 2.3 shows year -on-year growth in the dollar value of merchandise trade (red line), as 
well as relative contributions to nominal trade growth from developed and deve loping economies 
(stacked bars). Year -on-year growth in the dollar value of world trade returned to positive values 
in the fourth quarter of 2016 after eight months of contraction.  Developing economies have been 
a greater drag on world import demand since  the fourth quarter of 2015.  This stands in contrast 
to the period during and immediately following the global financial crisis, when imports of 
emerging markets in particular helped cushion the global downturn.  Higher oil prices and reduced 
financial vo latility in Asia may boost imports of developing economies in 2017 and beyond.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 15 - 
  Chart 2.3 Contributions to year -on-year growth in world merchandise exports and 
imports, 201 4Q1 - 2016Q4 
(% change in US$ values)  
1.80.8 0.6
-2.1
-6.7 -6.3 -6.0-5.3-2.4-0.1 -0.21.2
-0.41.2 1.6
-2.0
-5.8 -6.9-8.6-6.9-6.3-3.6-1.90.91.42.0 2.2
-4.1
-12.5
-13.2
-14.6-12.2-8.7-3.7-2.12.0
-20-15-10-50510
2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2 2015Q3 2015Q4 2016Q1 2016Q2 2016Q3 2016Q4Chart 3[Coleman]
Contributions to year -on-year growth in world merchandise exports and 
imports, 2014Q1 -2016Q4
Source:(Percentage change in US$ values)
Notea Includes significant re -exports. Also includes the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Due to scarce data availability, Africa and Middle East are under -represented in world totals.
WTO Secretariat estimates, based on data compiled from IMF International Financial Statistics; Eurostat 
Comext Database; Global Trade Atlas; and national statistics.Developed economies Developing economiesa
World, year -on-year percentage change2.12.3
1.1
-2.3
-6.7
-6.8-6.7-5.1-2.6-0.4 -0.20.4-0.1 -0.30.5
-0.8
-5.4-5.7
-6.7-6.5-5.6-3.1-2.10.72.0 2.01.7
-3.1
-12.1-12.5
-13.3-11.6-8.2-3.5-2.31.1
-20-15-10-50510
2014Q1 2014Q2 2014Q3 2014Q4 2015Q1 2015Q2 2015Q3 2015Q4 2016Q1 2016Q2 2016Q3 2016Q4Exports
Imports
 
 
a Includes significant re -exports. Also includes the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).  
Note:  Due to scarce data availability, Africa and Middle East are under -represented in world totals.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates, based on data compiled  from IMF International Financial Statistics; 
Eurostat Comext Database; Global Trade Atlas; and national statistics.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 16 - 
 
  Chart 2.4 Volume of exports and imports of selected economies, 2012Q1 - 2016Q4 
(seasonally a djusted volume indices, 2012Q1 = 100)  
708090100110120130
2012Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2013Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2014Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2015Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2016Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4Chart 4[Coleman]
Volume of exports and imports of selected economies, 2012Q1 -2016Q4
708090100110120130
2012Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2013Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2014Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2015Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
2016Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4(Seasonally adjusted volume indices, 2012Q1 = 100)
Exports
Imports
Source: WTO Secretariat/UNCTAD.JapanEU-extra trade EU-intra trade United States
Developing Asia
Note: Data for the United States, Japan and the EU were obtained from national statistical sources while figures 
for Brazil and Developing Asia are seasonally adjusted Secretariat estimates.Brazil
 
 
Note:  Data for the United States, Japan and the EU were obtained from national statistical sources while 
figures for Brazil and Developing Asia are seasonally adjusted Secretariat estimates.  
Source:  WTO and UNCTAD Secretariat s. 
2.21.   Merchandise trade in volume terms grew moderately in leading economies in the second 
half of 2016, Brazil's exports and extra -EU imports being notable exceptions.  Exports and imports 
of the United States were up 2.7% and 2.6%, respectively, i n 2016Q4 compared to 2016Q2.  
Extra -EU exports were up 3.5% and extra -EU imports down 1.2% over the same period, with WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 17 - 
  intra-EU trade up by 1.0%.  Japan's exports rose 4% between 2016Q2 and 2016Q4, while the 
country's imports only increased slightly (0.2%) over the same interval.  Exports of developing 
Asia (including China) were only up 1.8% during this period, but imports rose 4%. Finally, Brazil's 
exports fell 8.6% (albeit from a high level), while imports remained deeply depressed, dropping a 
further 0.9 % between Q2 and Q4.  
2.22.   Growth in most countries has continued to strengthen in the first quarter of 2017, although 
the fact that data are reported in nominal U.S. dollar terms means that exchange rate fluctuations 
have to be taken into account when consideri ng developments for particular economies.  
2.4  Trade in Commercial Services  
2.23.   Year-on-year growth in world exports of commercial services strengthened in 2016Q3 
before weakening in 2016Q4. Weakness in the last period was mostly due to falling services trade 
in Eu rope, since export and import growth in North America and Asia remained relatively strong 
through to the end of the year. The diminished performance in Europe may have been due to 
increased uncertainty and exchange rate fluctuations following the Brexit re ferendum and the 
United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union. The United Kingdom is a major exporter 
of commercial services, accounting for 12% of total EU exports and 17% of EU imports in 2015. It 
remains to be seen whether this weakness will be  persistent or temporary.  
2.24.   Chart 2.5 shows year -on-year growth in the U.S. dollar value of commercial services trade 
for selected economies through 2016Q4. The strongest export growth in the fourth quarter was 
recorded by India (11%) followed by Japan (9%).   The biggest declines were registered by China 
(-5%) and the Russian Federation ( -4%).  EU exports to the rest of the world, i.e. extra -EU 
exports, were down 4% in Q4.  Although not shown in this Chart, exports of the United Kingdom 
were down 10.1%, inclu ding trade with the rest of the European Union.  
2.25.   Asian economies recorded strong year -on-year import growth in the fourth quarter of 2016, 
including India (17%), China (13%) and Japan (6%).  Growth also turned positive in Brazil (5%) 
following steep decline s earlier in the year.  Extra -EU imports declined by 5% in Q3 and by 6% in 
Q4, partly due to falling imports of the United Kingdom, which dropped 14%.  Large declines in EU 
countries could reflect exchange rate fluctuations. Unfortunately, there is no volu me indicator for 
services trade akin to the WTO's merchandise trade indices to gauge the quantity of services 
transactions.  
2.5  Trade Forecast and Economic Outlook  
2.26.   Several leading indicators of world merchandise trade volumes were up sharply in the first 
quart er of 2017, including container shipping, air freight and export orders. This could point to 
stronger global trade growth, at least in the short -run. Balanced against these positive signals are 
several clear and significant downside risks.  Unexpected infl ation could force central banks to 
tighten monetary policy more quickly than they would like, undercutting economic growth and 
trade. Changes in fiscal policy could also have unintended consequences for economic activity and 
trade flows. Uncertainty due to  the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union could 
also have an impact on regional and global trade growth. Finally, increased use of restrictive trade 
measures could affect demand and investment over the longer term. In light of these 
consider ations, the likelihood of downside risks emerging in 2017 and beyond is considerable.  
2.27.   The WTO's most recent trade forecast of 12 April 2017 predicted merchandise trade volume 
growth of 2.4% in 2017. Due to the presence of significant downside risks and the  prolonged weak 
trade growth in recent years, this estimate is placed within a range of 1.8% to 3.6%.  The central 
estimate depends on developed economies maintaining generally accommodative fiscal and 
monetary policies, on economic recovery proceeding as expected in emerging economies, and on 
restrictive trade measures not proliferating. World trade growth could be as low as 1.8% in 2017 if 
downside risks emerge, or it could be as high as 3.6% if economic conditions strengthen. In 2018 
trade volume growth should be between 2.1% and 4% ( Table 2.1). WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 18 - 
 
  Chart 2.5 Merchandise exports and imports of selected economies, January 2012 – 
March  2017   
(US$ billion)  
Chart 2.5[Coleman]
Merchandise exports and imports of selected economies, January 2012 -March 2017
United States Japan(US$ billion)
European Union (extra -trade) China
Canada Turkey050100150200250
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-170102030405060708090
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
050100150200250
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17050100150200250
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
0102030405060
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-1705101520
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17Australia Republic of Korea
051015202530354045
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-170510152025
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
05101520
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17Indonesia
051015202530
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17Brazil
 
 
 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 19 - 
   
 
Russian Federation India
Mexico Malaysia
Thailand Argentina
Source :  IMF, International Financial Statistics;  Global Trade Information Services GTA database; national 
statistics.Imports ExportsChart 2.5 (continued)[Coleman]
0102030405060
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-1705101520253035404550
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
024681012
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17South Africa
051015202530354045
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17Singapore
01020304050
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-170510152025
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
051015202530
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-170123456789
Jan-12 Jan-13 Jan-14 Jan-15 Jan-16 Jan-17
 
 
 
Source:  IMF Internatio nal Financial Statistics, Global Trade Information Services, Global Trade Atlas 
database, national statistics.  
 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 20 - 
 
  Chart 2.6 Commercial services exports and imports of selected economies, 2015Q4 - 
2016Q4  
(year-on-year % change in current US$ values)  
-35-30-25-20-15-10-50510152025
United States European Union
(extra)Japan China India Brazil Russian
FederationChart 6[Coleman]
Commercial services exports and imports of selected G -20 economies, 2015Q4 -2016Q4
-30-25-20-15-10-5051015202530
United States European Union
(extra)Japan China India Brazil Russian
Federation(Year -on-year % change in current US$ values)
Exports
Imports
Source: WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats.2016Q3 2015Q4 2016Q1 2016Q2 2016Q4
 
Source:  WTO and UNCTAD Secretariats.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 21 - 
  Table 2.1 Merchandise trade volume and real GDP growth, 2013 -2018  
(annual % change)  
 2013  2014  2015  2016  2017P  2018P  
Volume of wo rld merchandise 
tradea 2.4 2.7 2.6 1.3 2.4    (1.8 -3.6)   2.1-4.0 
Exports              
Developed economies  1.7 2.4 2.7 1.4 2.8    (1.9 -4.0)   2.1-4.2 
Developing economiesb 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.3 2.2    (1.8 -3.4)   2.0-4.0 
North America  2.7 4.2 0.7 0.5 3.2    ( 2.7-4.0)   3.7-4.7 
South and Central America  1.7 -2.2 2.5 2.0 1.4     (1.3 -1.6)   2.2-2.6 
Europe  1.7 2.0 3.6 1.4 2.8    (2.0 -4.2)   1.9-4.1 
Asia 5.4 4.3 1.1 1.8 2.5    (1.7 -3.9)   1.9-4.4 
Other regionsc 0.5 0.9 4.3 0.3 0.8    (1.1 -2.0)   1.0-3.0 
Impor ts             
Developed economies  0.0 3.6 4.7 2.0 3.0    (2.2 -4.4)   2.0-4.0 
Developing economiesb 4.6 1.7 0.5 0.2 2.2    (1.8 -3.3)   2.5-4.3 
North America  1.3 4.8 6.7 0.4 3.0    (1.8 -4.8)   2.5-5.1 
South and Central America  4.5 -2.4 -5.8 -8.7 0.1   ( -0.6-1.0)   1.0-3.0 
Europe  -0.2 3.2 4.3 3.1 2.9    (2.0 -4.2)   1.6-3.6 
Asia 4.8 3.0 2.9 2.0 3.2    (3.2 -4.1)   2.8-4.6 
Other regionsc 1.8 -0.9 -5.1 -2.4 0.5   ( -0.4-1.8)   2.5-3.0 
Real GDP at market exchange 
rates  2.2 2.6 2.6 2.3 2.7 2.8 
Developed eco nomies  1.1 1.7 2.2 1.6 2.0 2.0 
Developing economiesb 4.6 4.2 3.5 3.5 4.0 4.2 
North America  1.7 2.4 2.5 1.6 2.3 2.7 
South and Central America  3.3 0.6 -0.9 -2.0 1.0 2.0 
Europe  0.5 1.6 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.7 
Asia 4.4 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.0 
Other regionsc 2.7 2.5 1.1 1.7 2.4 3.0 
 
a Average of exports and imports.  
b Includes the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including associate and former member 
States.  
c Other regions comprise Africa, Middle East and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).  
Note:  Figures for 2017 and 2018 are projections.  
Sources:  WTO Secretariat for trade; consensus estimates for GDP, with data source from the International  
Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United 
Nations, the Eco nomist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and national sources.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 22 - 
 
  Box 2.1 The WTO World Trade Outlook Indicator  
In 2016 the WTO launched the World Trade Outlook Indicator (WTOI), which is designed to provide “real time” 
information on the current trajectory of world trade and clues about its direction in the near future.   The WTOI 
combines six component indices of trade -related data into an overall index that signals trade conditions 3 -4 
months ahead of quarterly trade volum e data. Index values of 100 indicate t rade growth in line with 
medium -term trends, while readings greater or less than 100 suggest above or below trend growth.  
 
The WTOI’s component indices are either leading with respect to world trade or coincide with tr ade data but 
are available earlier. These include:  
 
 - export orders reported by manufacturers in purchasing managers indices;  
 - international air freight in freight tonne kilometres (FTKs) from the International Air  
        Transport Association (IATA);  
 - container throughput of major ports, in twenty -foot equivalent (TEU) units;  
 - automobile sales and/or production in selected economies;  
 - customs data on electronic components trade in physical units; and  
 - customs data on agricultural raw materia ls trade in physical units.  
 
The latest WTOI release of 15 May 2017 had an overall reading of 102.2, which is up slightly from 102.0 in the 
previous release of 14 February 2017.  These values suggest that trade volume growth will be above trend in 
the firs t and second quarters of 2017 once complete data for these periods are available. These results are 
broadly in line with the WTO trade forecast issued on 12 April, which foresaw a return to moderate trade 
growth this year after sluggish expansion last year .  
 
Increased strength in the overall index is tempered by weakness in certain component indices. Export orders, 
container shipping and air freight have all recorded strong gains in recent months, but these upward trends are 
balanced by weaker demand for a utomotive products, electronics and agricultural raw materials.  
 
 
World Trade Outlook Indicator 102.2 Drivers of trade
(Index, trend = 100) Level of Direction
Index of change
Merchandise trade volume (Q2) 98.6
Export orders 104.2
International air freight (IATA) 104.4
Container port throughput 104.1
Automobile production and sales 99.7
Electronic components 97.9
Agricultural raw materials 98.6
 
 
The main contribution of the WTOI is to identify turning points and to gauge momentum in world trade.  It has 
performed well since its launch in July of last year, correctly signalling we ak trade growth in 2016 and 
acceleration in the first quarter of 2017. Although is not a forecast per se, it complements trade statistics and 
forecasts from the WTO and other organizations and contributes to better monitoring of global trade 
developments.  The WTO will continuously evaluate the indicator going forward and make adjustment from time 
to time as necessary to enhance its performance.   
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 23 - 
  3  TRADE AND TRADE -RELATED POLICY DEVEL OPMENTS  
3.1.  The following Sections provide analysis of selected trade and trade -related policy 
developments during the period from mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017.  
3.1  Overview of trends identified during the period under review  
3.2.  The trade measures compiled for this report are presented in three categories: (i)  measures 
that clearly facilitate trade (Annex 1); (ii) trade remedy measures (Annex 2); and (iii) other trade 
and trade -related measures (Annex 3).  The trade monitoring exercise is first and foremost about 
transparency and providing WTO Members with back ground information on recent trends in the 
implementation of trade and trade -related  measures. The Trade Monitoring Report is intended to 
be purely factual and without prejudice to the rights and obligations of WTO Members.  
3.3.  The total number of trade and tr ade-related measures recor ded over the period 
mid-October  2016 to mid -May 2017 was 399. This figure includes 80 trade facilitating measures, 
245 trade remedy measures and 74 other trade and trade -related  measures.9 
3.1.1  Measures Facilitating Trade  
3.4.  Annex 1  to this Report lists measures which may be considered as trade facilitating.  
3.5.  During the review period, 80 measures aimed at facilitating trade were recorded for WTO 
Members (Table 3.1) which represent s 20% of the  total number of measures recorded. This 
amounts to a monthly average of just over 11  trade facilitating -measures , significantly lower than 
the monthly average (18) recorded in the most recent monitoring report . More importantly, 
however, is the fact that the estimated tra de coverage10 of the import -facilitating measures 
recorded for the review period ( US$183.1 billion) is more than three times higher than the 
estimated trade coverage of import -restrictive measures ( US$49.4 billion). More information on 
these numbers is prov ided below.  
3.6.  From Table 3.1 it can also be seen that among trade facilitating measures, the reduction or 
elimination of import tariffs continue  to dominate .11 Simplified customs procedures for imports  
were also recorded for some Mem bers. On the export side, the elimination and simplification of 
specific customs procedures  represent the  most important types of export -related measure 
recorded. No elimination or easing of existing quantitative restrictions on exports was recorded 
during  the review period. Similarly, during the period under review no measures to reduce local 
content requirements were recorded.  
                                                
9 See annexes 1 -3. These annexes do not include SPS, TBT and services measures, which are dealt with 
in Sections 3.3, 3.4, and 4 and  Annex 4  
10 The value of trade is calculated using the UNSD Comtrade database, and is counted at the six -digit 
tariff line level.  In cases where the same product is subject to more than one restrictive measure against the 
same partner, the trade coverage i s counted only once.  When the relevant HS codes were not provided or 
could not be clearly identified, no calculation was done.  
11 For example: reduction or elimination of import tariffs on capital goods, telecommunication and 
informatics.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 24 - 
 
  Table 3.1 Measures facilitating trade (Annex 1)  
Type of measure  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  
Mid-Oct 15 to 
mid-Oct 16  
(WT/TPR/OV/19)  
Mid-Oct 16 to 
mid-May 17 
(7 months)  
Import  196 144 186 220 161 173 68 
- Tariff 153 109 155 167 121 128 57 
- Customs procedures  24 30 17 35 30 35 10 
- Tax 2 4 2 11 5 5 1 
- QRs 16 1 12 7 3 3 0 
- Other  1 0 0 0 2 2 0 
Export  25 15 10 47 35 40 12 
- Duties  11 4 3 19 6 6 2 
- QRs 11 9 4 5 1 4 0 
- Other  3 2 3 23 28 30 10 
Other  8 3 1 4 4 3 0 
- Othera 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 
- Local content  8 3 1 4 3 0 0 
Total  229 162 197 271 200 216 80 
Average per month  19.1 13.5 16.4 22.6 16.7 18.0 11.4 
a Other than local content measures.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.7.  The trade coverage of the import -facilitating measures introduced during the review period 
was US$183.1 billion, i.e. 1.12% of the value of world merchandise imports.12 The HS Chapters 
within which the majority of trade facilitating measures were taken include mineral fuels and oils 
(HS27) 38.9%, machinery and mechanical appliances (HS84) 17.7%, electrical machinery and 
parts thereof (HS85) 6.1% and animal and vegetable fats and oils (HS15) 3.6%.13 
Box 3.1 Trade coverage of the ITA Expansion Agreement  
The review period covered by this Report covers measures resulting from the implementation of the ITA 
Expansion Agreement.   
According to preliminary Secretariat estimates the trade coverage of the import -facilitating measures 
implemented during the review period in the context of the ITA Expansion Agreement amounted to 
US$99.3  billion or around 0.6% of the value of world merchandise impo rts.a These measures were 
implemented by Australia , Guatemala, the Republic of Korea and Switzerland and are reflected in Annex 1.  
Given the very significant trade coverage value of these measures, they have not been included in the figures 
evaluating the trade coverage of the trade -facilitating measures in Section 3. 1. 
For more details on the ITA Expansion Agreement see Section 3.7.  
_______________  
a             Calculated at HS six -digit level and using 2015 import figures.  
Source:    WTO Secretariat.  
3.1.2 Trade Remedy Actions14 
3.8.  A detailed overview of trade remedy measures taken by WTO Members during the review 
period is contained in Annex 2. This Section now applies the same methodology to the counting of 
                                                
12 The trade cover age of a measure is calculated to be the value of imports of the specific product 
concerned from countries affected by the measure as a share of the value of total world merchandise imports. 
Highly -traded goods may significantly influence trade coverage es timates.  Figures are based on 2015 annual 
imports.  
13 These figures do not include import -facilitating measures implemented in the context of the ITA 
Expansion Agreement (see Box 3.1).  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 25 - 
  anti-dumping and countervailing investigations as in Section 3. 2, i.e. on the basis of the number of 
exporting countries or customs territories affected by an investigation or a termination. Thus, one 
anti-dumping or countervailing investigation involving imports from n countries/customs territories 
is counted as n investigations. Similarly, a termination of an investigation without the imposition of 
a measure or a termination of an imposed measure on imports from n countries/customs 
territories is counted as n terminations.15 
3.9.  During the review period, 245 trade remedy actions were recorded ( Table 3.2), i.e. 61% of 
the total of all trade measures recorded for the period under review.  As can be seen from the 
table, WTO Members typically have initiated more new trade remedy  investigations than 
terminations of trade remedy actions.16 The period under review witnessed a slight deceleration of 
the monthly average of initiations compared to the period covered by the previous report and to 
calendar year 2016.  The monthly av erage of terminations also fell. Anti -dumping measures 
continue to make up the bulk (85%) of total initiations and (89%) of total terminations. Table 3.2 
also appears to suggest that the monthly average of new trade remedy initiations taken by WTO 
Members over the review period has declined to its lowest level since 2015.  
Table 3.2 Trade remedy actions (Annex 2)  
Type of measure  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  
Mid-Oct 15 to 
mid-Oct 16 
(WT/TPR/OV/19)  
Mid-Oct 16 to  
mid-May 17 
(7 months)  
Initiations  255 338 304 278 345 340 174 
- AD 208 287 236 230 300 290 147 
- CVD 23 33 45 31 34 33 24 
- SG 24 18 23 17 11 17 3 
Average per month  21.3 28.2 25.3 23.2 28.8 28.3 24.9 
Terminations  206 186 221 212 161 161 71 
- AD 175 160 186 167 133 132 63 
- CVD 21 17 23 25 13 17 7 
- SG 10 9 12 20 15 12 1 
Average per month  17.2  15.5  18.4  17.7  13.4  13.4 10.1 
Note:  The information on trade remedy actions for 2012 -16 is based on the semi -annual notifications by 
WTO Members . For mid -October 2016 to mid-May 2017, the information is based on the responses 
and the verification received directly from WTO. Anti -circumvention measures are not included in the 
above numbers.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.10.   The trade remedy actions taken during the rev iew period covered a wide range of products. 
In the case of initiations of investigations, the most recent main sectors (HS Chapters) were wood 
and articles of wood (HS44) 26.2%, vehicles ( HS87) 18.5%, furniture, bedding material , lamps  
(HS94) 13.8%, and articles of iron and steel (HS73) 9.4%. For terminations, the main sectors 
were articles of iron and steel (HS73) 29.1%, machinery and mechanical appliances (HS84) 27%, 
aluminum and articles thereof (HS76) 12.2% and electrical machinery and parts thereof (H S85) 
6.4%.  
3.11.   The trade coverage of trade -remedy initiations introduced during the review period by WTO 
Members was US$26.9 billion (0.16% of world merchandise imports). For terminations the trade 
coverage was valued at US$6.4 billion (0.04%).  
                                                                                                                                                  
14 The coverage of trade remedy actions in this report in no way prejudg es the right of WTO Members to 
take trade remedy actions. See also Box 1.  
15 According to many WTO Members, trade remedy measures are taken to address market distortions 
resulting from trade practices in another trading partner. The WTO Antidumping and Sub sidies Agreements 
permit WTO Members to impose duties to offset what is perceived by some to be injurious dumping or 
subsidization of products exported from one Member to another. The trade m onitoring exercise is not in a 
position to establish if, where or  when such perceived distortive practices have taken place.  
16 Termination means either the termination of the investigation (without imposition of a measure) or 
elimination of the imposed measure.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 26 - 
 
  3.1.3  Other Tr ade and Trade -Related Measures  
3.12.   Annex 3 to this Report lists measures which may be considered to have a trade -restrictive 
effect.  
3.13.   A total of 74 new trade -restrictive measures were recorded for the review period . This 
represents  18.5% of the total number of  measures recorded  and a m onthly average of almost 11 
measures , down from 15 measures recorded for the previous period , but broadly in line with the 
monthly average for the whole of 2016 .  
3.14.   Tariff increases make up just over half of all import restrictive m easures, followed by a 
range of customs procedures, quantitative restrictions and an import tax. With respect to export 
and other measures, quantitative restrictions and local content regulations make up the bulk of the 
measures recorded ( Table 3.3).  
Table 3.3 Other trade and trade -related measures (Annex 3)  
Type of measure  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  
Mid-Oct 15 to 
mid-Oct 16 
(WT/TPR/OV/19)  
Mid-Oct 16 to 
mid-May 17 
(7 months)  
Import  126 137 135 169 105 133 56 
- Tariff 72 87 87 105 68 81 32 
- Customs procedures  32 26 18 30 18 26 18 
- Tax 6 6 7 16 6 11 1 
- QRs 14 16 8 12 12 11 5 
- Other  2 2 15 6 1 4 0 
Export  22 30 26 44 21 34 10 
- Duties  3 5 11 13 7 7 2 
- QRs 12 9 9 7 9 12 6 
- Other 7 16 6 24 5 15 2 
Other  13 7 12 15 12 15 8 
- Othera 5 6 11 15 8 4 1 
- Local content  8 1 1  4 11 7 
Total  161 174 173 228 138 182 74 
Average per month   13.4   14.5   14.4   19.0   11.5  15.2 10.6 
a Other than local content measures.  
Source:  WTO Secre tariat.  
3.15.   The other trade and trade -related measures recorded in Annex 3, and which may be 
considered trade-restrictive , cover a wide range of products. The main sectors (HS Chapters) 
were: iron and steel (HS72) 18.9%, plastics and articles thereof (HS39) 14 .7%, electrical 
equipment and parts thereof (HS85) 13.5% and precious metals (HS71) 8.6%. The trade coverage 
of the import -restrictive measures affecting imports introduced during the review period was 
US$49.4 billion, i.e.  0.3% of the value of world me rchandise imports.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 27 - 
  Chart 3.1 Smoothed averages of trade -restrictive measures  
(number of measures,  12-month averages)  
510152025
2009
Sept2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017Smoothed averages of restrictive measures 
12-months average
 
Note:  The smoothed averages were calculated as simple averages of the trade -restrictive measu res 
recorded over a period covering the 12 past months. For example, the September 2009 entry 
corresponds to the average number of trade -restrictive measures implemented from October  2008 
to September  2009. Data were sourced from the TMDB and cover the per iod from October  2008 to 
April 2017.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.16.   Chart 3.1 presents a complementary approach in the analysis of the trade -restrictive 
measures by introducing smoothed averages of measures over time. The purpose of the smoothed 
averages techniq ue is to reduce the effects of random variations and to reveal underlying trends, 
including seasonal and cyclical components. The smoothed averages of the number of trade -
restrictive measures implemented by WTO Members indicate limited variation despite tw o peaks 
recorded in 2012 and in 2016. After a period of intense activity, the current period is characterized 
by a deceleration in the implementation of new trade restrictions.  
3.17.   The quasi numerical pa rity recorded between the number of trade -facilitating an d trade -
restrictive measures ( Chart 3.2 and 3.3 ) hides the fact that the corresponding estimate s of the 
imports covered by are vastly different. The Charts show that of the 399 trade and trade -related 
measures recorded in this Rep ort, the trade coverage of the import -facilitating measures is 
considerably larger ( US$183.1  billion) than the trade coverage of the import -restrictive measures 
(US$49.4  billion). The trade coverage of trade remedy initiations and terminations amounts to 
approximately US$26.9  billion and US$6.4  billion, respectively .17 
                                                
17 These trade coverage estimates should be treated with cau tion, as they may  be influenced by 
highly -traded goods, exchange rates effects and availability of import statistics and detailed HS codes.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 28 - 
 
  Chart 3.2 Overview of measures  taken by WTO Members and Observers , 
mid-October  2016 to mid -May 2017  
(by number)  
174 71 80 74 
Trade remedy initiations Trade remedy terminations
Measures facilitating trade Trade-restrictive measures399Chart 1.[w]
Trade measures, mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017
 
 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Char t 3.3 Trade coverage of import measures, mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017  
(US$ billion)  
27 6 183 49 
Trade remedy initiations Trade remedy terminations
Measures facilitating trade Trade-restrictive measuresUS$266Chart 1.[w]
Trade coverage of import measures, mid -October 2016 to mid -May 2017
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.18.   The above Section has provided information on the latest trends in trade policy making 
among W TO Members and confirmed several developments identified in  previous reports. For 
example, the numerical importance of trade remedy measures , and anti -dumping in particular , in 
the overall number of trade measures introduced during the review period  is fully consistent with 
previous reports. In addition, i t is significant to note that the estimated trade coverage of 
import -facilitating measures significantly exceeds the estimated trade coverage of 
import -restrictive measures. This is an important finding be cause it suggests that despite the 
persistent uncertainty facing the global economy and fears about protectionist pressures, WTO 
Members  collectively appear to have shown considerable restraint in seeking  recourse to trade 
restrictions.  
3.2  Trade Remedies18 
3.19.   This Section provides an historical assessment  of trends in trade -remedy actions in the 
period s from January - December 2014 ("first period") , January - December 2015  
("second  period") and January - December 2016 (" third period") , including an in -depth analys is of 
the specific actions  of Members and Observers . Concerning anti -dumping, data for the third period 
indicate a significant increase in the number of new investigations initiated.  The number of 
countervail investigations initiate d also increased slightl y in the third period compared to the 
                                                
18 This section is without prejudice to the right of Members to take trade remedy actions under the 
WTO. These period s coincide with the Member's semi -annual reporting periods.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 29 - 
  previous one, whereas, t he number of safeguard investigations initiated decreased.  The total 
number of initiations for the latter two types of trade -remedy investigations remained considerably 
lower than for anti -dumpi ng. 
Anti-Dumping Measures19 
3.20.   Anti-dumping initiations slightly decreased from the first to the second period, from 236 to 
230, before increasing significantly to 300 in the third period ( Table 3.4). The table also provides 
informati on on which Members initiated anti -dumping investigations.  
Table 3.4 Initiations of anti -dumping investigations  
Reporting Member  Jan - Dec 2014  Jan - Dec 2015  Jan - Dec 2016  
Argentina  6 6 25 
Australia  22 10 17 
Brazil  35 23 11 
Canada  13 3 14 
Chile 0 2 1 
China  7 11 5 
Colombia  6 7 1 
Costa Rica  0 1 1 
Dominican Republic  0 0 1 
Egypt  9 4 14 
El Salvador  0 0 1 
European Union  14 12 14 
Guatemala  1 0 0 
India 38 30 69 
Indonesia  12 6 7 
Israel  0 1 1 
Japan  1 2 1 
Korea, Republic of  6 4 4 
Malaysia  8 14 0 
Mexico  14 9 6 
Morocco  1 2 4 
Pakistan  0 12 24 
Paraguay  0 0 1 
Peru 0 1 0 
Philippines  0 0 1 
Russian Federationa 7 1 1 
Saudi Arabia,  
  Kingdom ofb 0 1 0 
South Africac 2 0 0 
Chinese Taipei  0 0 8 
Thailand  0 7 10 
Trinidad and Tobago  1 0 0 
Turkey  12 16 17 
Ukraine  2 2 1 
United States  19 42 37 
Uruguay  0 1 0 
Viet Nam  0 0 3 
Total  236 230 300 
a Notified by the Russian Federation; investigations are initiated by the Eurasian Economic Union 
on behalf of all  of its members collectively.  
b Notified by the Kingdom of  Saudi Arabia; investigations are initiated by the Gulf Cooperation 
Council  on behalf of all its members collectively . 
c Notified by South Africa; investigations are initiated by the Southern Afric an Customs Union on 
behalf of all its members collectively .  
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
                                                
19 Anti-dumping and countervailing investigations are counted on the basis of the number of exporting 
countries or customs territories affected by an investigation. Thus, one anti -dumping or counte rvailing 
investigation involving imports from n countries/customs territories is counted as n investigations.   
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 30 - 
 
  3.21.   Chart 3.4 shows that the number of anti -dumping investigations initiated increased from 
165 in 2011 to 287 in 2013 , decreased to 236 and 230 ini tiations in 2014 and 2015, respectively, 
then climbed  in 2016 to 300 investigations. This is the highest number of initiation s since the 311 
of 2002, but still off the all -time high of 372 in 2001.  
Chart 3.4 Total anti -dumping investigation initiations  by reporting Member, (2008 -2016)  
218 217
173
165208287
236230300
050100150200250300
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Chart 3.3
Anti-dumping initiations by reporting Member, 2008 -16
Source:    WTO Secretariat.
 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.22.   While anti -dumping investigations do not necessarily lead to the imposition of measures, the 
significant rise in the number of investigations initiated  is an important indicator suggesting a 
likely rise in the number of measures imposed. Over the three periods, a total of 501 anti -dumping 
measures were imposed (as shown in  Table 3.5).  However, as it can take up to 18 months for  an 
anti-dumping investigation to be concluded once initiated, these measures may not necessarily be 
the result of initiations in the same period.  
Table 3.5 Number of Anti -Dumping Measures Imposed  
 Jan - Dec 2014  Jan - Dec 2015  Jan - Dec 2016  
Measures imposed  157 181 163 
Source: WTO Secretariat  
3.23.   Chart 3.5 shows that there was little change in terms o f the products affected by 
anti-dumping investigations initiated during the three per iods examined, with the majority of 
initiations focused on products in the metals, plastics and rubber and chemicals sectors.  
3.24.   Metal products were subject to the most initiations in each period, accounting for 38% of all 
initiations in the first period, 46 % in the second period and 43% in the third period. In each 
period, at least 89 initiations targeted metals, of which 85% focused on steel products ( goods 
classified under HS Chapters 72 and 73) . Over the three periods combined, the United  States  (61), 
Australia (35), the European Union (28), Canada (27), and Mexico (23) accounted for more than 
half of the 323 initiations on metals. An increase in the number of initiations targeting metal 
products was seen in the third period  (i.e. January -December  2016)  with 13 investigations 
initiated by Canada and India, 12 by the European Union, ten by Thailand and nine by Egypt. 
Initiations targeting  metals across the three periods were mostly directed at products from China WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 31 - 
  (91, of which 79 involved steel products), th e Republic of Korea (33, of which 32 involved steel), 
India (22, of which 19 involved steel) and Chinese Taipei. In many instances, investigations were 
launched on the same product from several exporting countries. For instance, four steel products 
were th e focus of 67 investigations.  
3.25.   Chemical products accounted for the second largest share of initiations over the three 
reporting periods, with a 22% share of initiations in the first period and a 17% share in the second 
and third period s. India accounted fo r 65 of the 143 new investigations on products in this sector 
over the three reporting periods, followed by Brazil (13) and Pakistan (11). These initiations 
involved  mostly chemical products from China (42), the Republic of Korea (16) and the United 
States  (9). Similar ly to metals sector investigations, investigations into chemicals frequently 
involved  the same product from different countries – 18 products accounted for 79 of the 
investigations in this area.  
3.26.   Plastics and rubber ranked third over the three  periods examined, accounting for 19% of all 
initiations in the first period, 10% in the second period, and 12% in the third period. Almost one 
third of the 105 plastics and rubber investigations were initiated by Brazil (30), and the next 
largest user in this sector was India with 15 investigations, followed by the United States (13). 
China was once again the main subject  of investigations in this sector (23), followed by the 
Republic of Korea (10), India (8) and Thailand (8).  
3.27.   In terms of countries affect ed by new anti -dumping investigations, 41 exporting Members 
were affected during the first period, while 42 were affected during the second period and 43 in 
the third period. China remained, by far, the Member most frequently subject to anti-dumping 
initiations during the three reporting periods – investigations into Chinese products accounted for 
30% of all investigations during these periods. The Republic of Korea was the second Member 
most frequently subject to anti -dumping initiations during the three r eporting periods account ing 
for 9% of the total initiations during these periods, followed by India at 5%.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 32 - 
 
  Chart 3.5 Anti-dumping initiations by product  
Jan -Dec 2014 Jan -Dec 2015
Chemicals
22%Plastics 
19%Metals
38%Other
8%
Metals
46%
Chemicals
17%Plastics
10%Other
15%
Machinery
7%Textiles
3%Stone / Plaster
2%
Stone/Plaster
5%Textiles
4%Machinery
3%Chart [X.X]
Anti-dumping initiations by product
 
 
Source: WTO Secretariat.Jan -Dec 2016
Chemicals
17%Textiles
5%
Metals
43%Machinery
5%
Paper
7%Stone / Plaster
5%
Plastics
12%Other
6%
 
 
Note:   Values are rounded.  
Source:   WTO Secretari at. WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 33 - 
  Countervailing Measures  
3.28.   Initiations of countervailing duty investigations decreased by 24% between 2014 and 2016 , 
although a s shown in  Table 3.6, initiations of countervailing duty investigations increased slightly 
to 34 in 20 16 compared to 31 in 2015. Over the three periods examined, 92% of countervail 
investigations were conducted concurrently with an anti -dumping investigation.   
3.29.   Among the fourteen Members that initiated countervailing investigations during the three 
periods  examined, the United States initiated the most new investigations  accounting for 52% of 
all initiations in these periods. Canada, the second largest user, accounted for 15%, while Australia 
accounted for 11%. The remaining investigations were conducted by  eleven  different countries, 
including notably Egypt, which initiated eight investigations in these periods.  
Table 3.6 Initiations of countervailing duty investigations  
Reporting Member  Jan - Dec 2014  Jan - Dec 2015  Jan - Dec 2016  
Australia  2 2 8 
Brazil  1 0 1 
Canada  12 3 2 
China  0 0 1 
Egypt  6 0 2 
European Union  2 2 1 
India 1 0 1 
New Zealand  0 0 1 
Pakistan  0 0 1 
Peru 1 0 0 
Russian Federationa 1 0 0 
Turkey  0 1 0 
Ukraine  1 0 0 
United States  18 23 16 
Total  45 31 34 
a Notified by the Russian Federation; investigations are initiated by the Eurasian Economic Union on 
behalf of all of its members collectively.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
3.30.   Chart 3.6, reflecting annual figures, shows  an upward trend in countervail initiations since 
2010, notwithstanding some fluctuation in 2012. In fact, the number of initiations recorded in 
2014 (45) exceeds the previous peak of 41 initiations observed in 1999.20 
                                                
20 WTO document WT/TPR/OV/W/2, p. 18. 15 July 2009.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 34 - 
 
  Chart 3.6 Countervailing investigation initiations  
1628
925
233345
3134
05101520253035404550
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Chart 3.5
Countervailing investigation initiations by reporting Member, 2008 -16
Source:      WTO Secretariat.
 
 
Source:   WTO Secretariat . 
3.31.   As with anti -dumping, countervailing duty investigations do not necessarily lead to the 
imposition of measures. Over the three periods, a total of 49 countervailing m easures were 
imposed (as shown in  Table 3.7) and the number of countervailing measures imposed more than 
doubled  between 2014 and 2016. However, as it can take up to 18 months for a countervail 
investigation to be concluded once i nitiated, these measures may not necessarily be the result of 
initiations in the same period.  
Table 3.7 Number of Countervail ing Measures Imposed  
 Jan - Dec 2014  Jan - Dec 2015  Jan - Dec 2016  
Measures impose d 11 15 23 
Source:  WTO Secretariat  
3.32.   Concerning the types of products affected by countervail investigations, Chart 3.7 shows 
that metals accounted for most of the initiations reported over the three reporting periods, 
occupying a 53%, 74% and 59% share of all initiations in the first, second and third period s, 
respectively. For the three periods combined, 67 of the 110 total initiations recorded covered 
metals, and 62 of these focused on steel products. The United States  initiated over half of the 
investigations of steel products. Ten of the 16 steel -related initiations in the third period involved  
products from China.   
3.33.   Over the three reporting periods, plastics were the second most -investigated  sector with 15 
initiations, followed  closely by paper products with 10 initiations.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 35 - 
  Chart 3.7 Countervailing duty initiations by product  
Jan -Dec 2014 Jan -Dec2015
Chemicals
11%Metals
53%
Metals
74%Plastics
10%
Plastics
16%Other
3%
Machinery
7%Machinery
3%
Paper
10%Other
13%Chart 3.6
Countervailing duty initiations by product
 
Source: WTO Secretariat.Jan -Dec 2016
Other
15%
Plastics
15%Metals
59%Chemicals
6%
Paper
6%
 
Note:   Values are rounded.  
Source:   WTO Secretariat.  
3.34.   In terms of countries or customs territories affec ted by new countervail investigations, 18 
exporting Members were affected during the first, 12 during the second and 11 during the third 
period s. Similarly to anti -dumping, China was the most affected Member throughout the periods 
reviewed. Investigations into Chinese products accounted for 39% of all investigations during 
these periods. India, the second most affected Member during the three reporting periods, 
accounted for 12% of all initiations during these periods, followed by Turkey, which accounted fo r 
9%.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 36 - 
 
  Sunset Reviews  
3.35.   This Section examines the effect the global financial crisis may have had on anti -dumping 
(AD) and countervailing actions (CVD), by analysing the extent to which measures imposed 
following the financial crisis have been extended or ha ve expired (or have otherwise been 
terminated) - possibly suggesting that the financial crisis could have been a factor that contributed 
to the imposition of the measure. This Section, therefore, examines measures imposed as a result 
of investigations init iated in 2008, before the financial crisis, as well as 2009 and 2010, when the 
full effects of the financial crisis were being felt.21   
3.36.   The relevant WTO Agreements stipulate that anti -dumping and countervailing measures can 
remain in force only for as long  as necessary to counteract injury caused by dumped or subsidised 
imports. In addition, they must expire no later than five years after their imposition unless it is 
determined, through a review, that removal of a measure would likely lead to a continuatio n or 
recurrence of dumping or subsidisation and injury. In such a case, the measure can be extended 
for up to a further five years. This review process is often referred to as a sunset review. 
Investigating authorities generally invite applications for a s unset review before a measure 
expires, and in the absence of a review, they allow the measure to lapse.   
3.37.   As of 31 December 2016, measures imposed as a result of investigations initiated in 2008 -
2010 are in various stages of their lifecycle. Some measures are still within the initial five -year 
imposition period, some are under review22, some have been extended and some have expired.   
3.38.    Chart 3.8 shows the status of AD and CVD measures resulting from investigations initiated 
in 2008,  2009 and 2010 by WTO Members as at 31 December 2016.  
Chart 3.8 Status of measures resulting from AD and CVD investigations initiated in 2008, 
2009 and 2010  
020406080100120140160180
2008 2009 2010
Original measure Under review Extended No longer in effectChart 3.7[x_WTO wide]
Status of measures resulting from AD and CVD investigations initiated in 
2008, 2009 and 2010 for all WTO members as at 31 December 2016
WTO Secretariat. Source:
 
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
                                                
21 It is assumed that investigations in response to the financial crisis would not have been initiated 
before January  2009.  
22 A sunset review must be initiated prior to the expiration date of the measure, but the measure may 
remain in force after this date pending the outcome of the review.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 37 - 
  3.39.   All of the 167 measures  resulting from investigations initiated in 2008 by WTO Members 
have now been subject to expiry action (either a sunset review or termination), along with all of 
the 164 measures for 2009. However, approximately one third of measures resulting from 
investi gations initiated in 2010 (35 out of 113) have not yet been subject to any expiry action.  
Table 3.8 Proportion of expiring measures that were subject to a sunset review for all 
WTO Members (based on the year the investigation was initiated)  
Expiring measures  Investigation initiated in  
2008  2009  2010a 
Not reviewed  39% 29% 24% 
Reviewed  61% 71% 76% 
a Only 78 measures resulting from investigations initiated in 2010 have so far expired or been subject 
to revi ew. 
Note:  Based on the year the investigation was initiated.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.40.   Table 3.8 shows the proportion of measures that were due to expire for which a sunset 
review has been conducted; noting that mea sures not reviewed will automatically expire. For 
measures resulting from investigations initiated in 2009 ("the 2009 measures"), 71% were 
reviewed, higher than the 61% found for 2008 ("the 2008 measures"), although there is 
insufficient information to det ermine whether this difference is significant.  
3.41.   As at 31 December 2016, 102 sunset reviews had been completed for measures resulting 
from investigations initiated in 2008, 84 for 2009 and 31 for 2010, as shown in  Table 3.9. 
Availa ble information shows that the expiry of the measure would lead to a continuation or 
recurrence of dumping/subsidisation and injury and extended the measures for 88% of the 2008 
measures and 85% of the 2009 measures - no significant change after the financ ial crisis began.  
3.42.   Based on the data currently available, there is no discernible change in extension versus 
expiry of measures coinciding with the financial crisis. As further time passes and additional data 
become available, other trends may reveal themse lves.  
Table 3.9 Results from completed reviews (based on the year the investigation was 
initiated)  
 Investigation initiated in  
 2008  2009  2010  
Number of completed reviews  102 84 31 
Measure extended  88% 85% 90% 
Expiry of measure  12% 15% 10% 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
Safeguard Measures  
3.43.   Unlike anti -dumping and countervailing measures, safeguard measures are temporary 
measure s imposed in response to increased imports of goods that are causing serious injury and 
are imposed on products from all sources. Thus, safeguards are subject to different rules  and 
timelines than anti -dumping and countervailing measures and are, therefore, not directly 
comparable to these other types of trade remedies  (Box 3.2). 
3.44.   Chart 3.9 shows the recent trend of initiations of safeguard investigations. Setting aside the 
exceptionally large figure (34) recorded in 2002, the year 2009 saw the largest number of 
initiations since 1995 with 2 5 (the year 2000 was also 25), and the years 2012 and 2014 saw the 
second and third largest. From that high level, safeguard action s now seem to be declining . Taken 
on a yearly basis, the number of initiations has now declined for two consecutive years. Th is trend 
can also be confirmed by the fact that the number of measures impos ed has more than halved 
from the high levels  recorded in 2014 and 2015 ( Table 3.10). WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 38 - 
 
  Chart 3.9 Safeguard in vestigation initiations (2008 -2016)  
1025
20
1224
1823
17
11
051015202530
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Chart 3.6
Safeguard initiations by reporting Member, 2008 -2015
Source:     WTO Secretariat.
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat  
3.45.   Table 3.10 shows the breakdown of the Members that have initiated recent investigations.  
Table 3.10 Initiations of Safeg uard Measures  
(number of new investigations)  
Reporting Member  Jan - Dec 2014  Jan - Dec 2015  Jan – Dec 2016  
Chile 0 4 0 
China  0 0 1 
Costa Rica  1 0 0 
Ecuador  1 0 0 
Egypt  2 2 0 
India 7 2 1 
Indonesia  3 1 0 
Jordan  1 0 1 
Malaysia  1 1 2 
Morocco  1 1 0 
Saudi Arabia, Kingdom ofa 0 0 2 
South Africa b 0 0 2 
Thailand  1 0 1 
Tunisia  2 1 0 
Turkey  3 1 0 
Ukraine  0 1 0 
Viet Nam  0 2 1 
Zambia  0 1 0 
Total  23 17 11 
a  Notified by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; investigations are initiated by the Gulf Cooperation  Council (GCC) 
on behalf of all of its members collectively.  
b  Notified by South Africa; investigations are initiated by the Southern African Customs Union on behalf of all 
of its members collectively.   
Source:  WTO Secretariat . WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 39 - 
  Table 3.11 Imposition of safeguard measures by calendar year  
Year Number  Year Number  Year Number  
2000 7 2006 7 2012 6 
2001 8 2007 5 2013 8 
2002 13 2008 6 2014 11 
2003 15 2009 10 2015 11 
2004 6 2010 4 2016 5 
2005 6 2011 11   
Note: Some notifications are ambiguous about the timing when the measure takes e ffect. For those 
notifications, Members sometimes subsequently file an additional notification clarifying, ex post, the 
timing of the taking effect. For this reason, the number of imposition indicated in past reports can 
differ from the figures indicated in the most recent report.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
3.46.   Chart 3.10 shows the product s covered by these investigations. There has been a significant  
increase in of the share  of investigations involving metal products (the vast majority of which 
involve steel products) since 2014. In 2016, 10 out of the 11 initiations occurred in the metal 
sector, i.e. 91%.   
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 40 - 
 
  Chart 3.10 Safeguard initiations by product  
Chart 3.9
Safeguard initiations by product
Jan -Dec 2014 Jan -Dec2015
Paper
17%Chemicals
13%Metals
35%
Metals
53%
Plastics
12%Chemicals
6%
Vegetables
4%Paper
6%
Wood
9%
Foodstuffs
12%Stone / Plaster
12%Textiles
4%
Machinery
9%Plastics
4%Stone/Plaster
4%
 
Source: WTO Secretariat.Jan -Dec2016
Metals
91%Foodstuffs
9%
 
Note:  Values are rounded.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 41 - 
  Box 3.2 Comparing Safeguards with Anti -dumping and Countervailing Duties  
The three trade remedy instruments – safeguard s ("SG"), AD and CVD – share many characteristics. Most 
importantly, all three instruments are designed to address a situation where (i) the domestic industry of the 
country importing a product is suffering injury ("material injury" in the case of AD and c ountervailing duty; and 
"serious injury" in the case of SGs), and (ii)  there is a causal relationship between such injury and certain 
imports. The pertinent determinations need to be made in an investigation undertaken by the importing 
Member in accordance  with the relevant WTO Agreement.      
 
There are, however, also many differences between the three instruments. Some of the more significant ones 
are highlighted below:   
 
First, the imposition of AD or countervailing measures depends upon a finding that certain "unfair" practices 
exist.  In the case of AD, the importing Member must find that the exported product is sold at dumped prices, 
as defined under the AD Agreement, while for countervail it must find that the exported product is subsidized 
within th e meaning of the Subsidies Agreement. By contrast, for SGs, the importing Member need only to show 
that imports of the product have increased in certain ways, and that this increase is a result of unforeseen 
developments and the effect of WTO obligations. Thus, the imposition of an SG measure does not depend upon 
a finding of the existence of an "unfair" practice.   
 
Second , the imported products examined, and the scope of the resulting measure, are different. An SG 
investigation examines all imports of a p roduct, irrespective of source, and (with the exception of special and 
differential provisions for developing countries with small import shares), the SG measure also applies to all 
imports irrespective of source. By contrast, AD and countervailing investi gations relate to imports from 
particular countries, and the measures apply only to imports from that country. (This does not mean that 
Members cannot impose AD or CVD on the same product being exported from multiple countries, but each 
country gets its ow n distinct measures).  
 
The broader scope of SG measures needs to be kept in mind when comparing the imposition and initiation 
figures of AD and countervailing measures with those for SG measures. A single SG measure may affect 
imports from many countries, while it would require multiple AD and/or countervailing measures to imports 
from all those sources. In this sense, a single SG measure will likely have greater trade implications than a 
single AD or countervailing measure.   
 
Third, while AD and counterva iling measures can only take the form of a duty, SG measures may also take the 
form of a quota or a tariff rate quota.  
 
Fourth , because SG measures do not depend upon a finding that there has been an "unfair" practice, the 
Safeguards Agreement obliges an i mposing Member to offer compensation or face the suspension of equivalent 
concessions (trade retaliation). There are detailed rules governing compensation and suspension.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat . 
Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  
3.47.   At its 2 5 October 2016 and 25 April 2016 meetings, the Committee on Subsidies and 
Countervailing Measures23 reviewed Members' notifications of specific subsidies, notifications of 
countervailing duty legislation, semi -annual reports of countervailing actions and ad hoc 
notifications of preliminary and final countervailing measures taken.  
3.48.   Transparency in respect of subsidies emerged as a major topic at both meetings. The 
Committee discussed the importance of transparency, shortcomings in compliance with subsidy 
notification obligations and ways to improve the timeliness and completeness of such notifications 
under the SCM Agreement. In this regard, the Committee discussed a proposal regarding the 
Committee's review procedures as well as a proposal about fisheries sub sidies transparency.   
3.49.   At both meetings, the Chairs also drew attention to the 31 December 2015 deadline for the 
elimination of export subsidies by Members that received a final two -year extension under 
Article  27.4. They reminded beneficiary Members that t hey should have made their final 
transparency notifications by 30  June 2016. The Committee reviewed the final notifications that 
had been received, and discussed the status of notifications by the Members that had not yet 
made their final notifications. As  of 31 May 2017, only nine of 19 beneficiary Members had 
provided their final transparency notifications.  
                                                
23 Minutes G/SCM/M/9 8, G/SCM/M/9 9, G/SCM/M/ 100 and G/SCM/ M/101 (to be circulated).  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 42 - 
 
  3.3  Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  (SPS)24 
3.50.   Under the SPS Agreement, WTO Members are obliged to provide an advance notice of 
intention to introduce new  or modified SPS measures25, or to notify immediately when emergency 
measures are imposed. The main objective of complying with the SPS notification obligations is to 
inform other Members about new or changed regulations that may significantly affect trade.  
Therefore, an increased number of notifications does not automatically imply greater use of 
restrictive measures, but rather enhanced transparency regarding these measures.  
3.51.   In the period from October 201 6 through  March 201 726, 715 SPS notifications (regula r and 
emergency , including addenda ) were submitted to the WTO. Notifications from developing -country 
Members accounted for 66% of the total number. In the previous six -month period, from April 
through September 201 6, a total of 718 notifications were submi tted, of which 62% were by 
developing -country Members , in other words , a 6% increase  in the share of notifications made by 
developing -country Members as compared to the previous six-month period  (Chart 3.11). 
3.52.   If we consider regula r notifications (including addenda), from October 2016 through 
March  2017, WTO Members submitted 583 regular SPS notifications; 60% of which were 
submitted by developing -country Members. Compared with the p revious six -month period 
(April -September 2016), t here was a 15% decrease in the total number of notified measures, 
while the share of notifications made by developing -country Members remained stable.  
3.53.   The number of notifications of emergency measures increased  compared with the previous 
period ( Chart 3.11). Moreover, t he share of emergency notifi cations submitted by 
developing -countr y Members increased as compared to the pr evious period. From October 201 6 
through March 201 7, 92% of the 132 notifications of emergency measures were submitted by 
developing -country Members. For the previous period (April -September 201 6), 88% of the 33 
emergency notifications had been submitted by developing -country Members.  This high proportion 
of emergency measures notified by developing  country Membe rs might stem from the fact that 
they do not have as extensive  SPS regulatory systems as developed -country Members do, and 
consequently, when facing emergency challenges, they are more likely to have to introduce new 
regulations or change existing ones.  
                                                
24 Information presented in this section has been retrieved from the SPS Information Management 
System (SPS IMS: http://spsims.wto.org ). This section is based on notifications to the WTO for th e period 
1 October 2016 to 31 March 2017. Specific trade concerns (STCs) are only raised at SPS Committee meetings. 
The information in this section summarizes the STCs raised at the October 2016 and March 2017 SPS 
Committee meeting s. 
25 Transparency obligat ions are contained in Article 7 and Annex B of the SPS Agreement. Annex B of 
the SPS Agreement requires that Members notify measures whose content is not substantially the same as that 
of an international standard, guideline or recommendation, and when the  measure may have a significant 
effect on trade.  However, the Recommended Procedures for Implementing the Transparency Provisions of the 
SPS Agreement, adopted by the SPS Committee in 2008 (G/SPS/7/Rev.3), recommend that Members also 
notify measures which  are based on the relevant international standards, and provide a broad interpretation of 
effects on trade.  
26 For the SPS Section, the review period covers 1 October 201 6 to 31 March 201 7. WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 43 - 
  Chart 3.11 Number of SPS notifications, including addenda  
 
685
415583
34933
29132
122
0200400600800
All Members Developing-country
MembersAll Members Developing-country
MembersChart [X.X]
Number of SPS notifications
Source: WTOSecretariat.Regular notifications Emergency notificationsApr. 2016 -Sep. 2016 Oct. 2016 -Mar 2017
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.54.   Many Members are following the recommendation to notify SPS measures even when these 
are based on a relevant international s tandard, as this substantially increases transparency 
regarding SPS measures. Of the 415 regular notifications (excluding addenda) submitted from 
October 2016 to March 2017, 216 (52% of the total) indicated that an international standard, 
guideline or reco mmendation was applicable to the notified measure. Of these,  62% referred to 
Codex, 26% to IPPC and 12% to OIE ( Chart 3.12). Furthermore, the notification formats include 
an entry asking whether the proposed regulation conforms to  the relevant international standard. 
Of the notifications that have identified a relevant international standard, 80% indicated that the 
measure was in conformity with, or substantially the same as, the existing international standard,  
guideline or recomm endation .  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 44 - 
 
  Chart 3.12 Regular SPS notifications and international standards  
Codex
62%
OIE
13%
IPPC
26%
Source : WTO Secretariat.Chart [X.X]
Regular SPS notifications and international standards
None
48%Relevant 
international 
standard
52%
 
 
 
Note:  Codex Alimentarius (Codex), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and International Plant 
Protection Convention (IPPC ).  
Source: WTO Secretariat.  
3.55.   International standards often provide useful guidance regarding measures to address 
disease outbreaks and other emergency situations. Indeed, 9 6% of the 125 emergency 
notifications (excluding addenda) submitted from October 201 6 to March 201 7 indicated that an 
international standard, guideline or recommendation was applicable to the notified measure ( Chart 
3.13). They all indicated that the measure was in conformity with an existing international 
standa rd. 
Chart 3.13 Emergency SPS notifications and international standards  
Codex
1%
OIE
97%
IPPC
2%
Source: WTO Secretariat.Chart [X.X]
Emergency SPS notifications and international standards
None
4%Relevant 
international 
standard
96%
 
 
Note:  Codex Alimentarius (Codex), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and International Plant 
Protection Convention (IPPC).  
Source:  WTO Secretariat . WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 45 - 
  3.56.   Of the 415 regular notifications (excluding addenda) submitted from October 201 6 to 
March  2017, the majority were related to food safety.27 The remaining notifications related to plant 
protection, animal health , the protection of hum ans from animal diseases or plant pests  and the 
protection of the Member's territory from other damage from pests. Several of the regular 
notifications identified more than one objective per measure.  
3.57.   Of the 125 emergency measures (excluding addenda) notified in the same period, the 
majority related to animal health, followed by food safety, measures related to  the protection of 
humans from animal diseases or plant pests, plant protection  and the  protection of the Member's 
territory from other damage from pe sts. Similarly, the majority of emergency notifications during 
this period identified more than one objective per measure.  
3.58.   While there is no formal provision for "counter notification", concerns regarding a notified 
measure or the failure to notify an SPS measure, can be raised as a specific trade concern (STCs) 
at any of the three regular meetings of the SPS Committee each year. In the two Committee 
meetings of October 2016 and March 2017, ten new STCs were raised. Six of these STCs related to 
food safety,  two to plant health, one to animal health, and one to other types of concerns ( Table 
3.12). 
3.59.   The SPS Committee meetings provide important opportunities for delegations, which often 
include experts from capital, to discuss and reso lve STCs bilaterally. One new STC included on the 
proposed agenda for the October 2016 meeting and another two included on the March 2017 
agenda meeting were withdrawn following bilateral consultations, i.e. Mexico's concerns regarding 
the Kingdom of Saudi  Arabia's restrictions on honey imports , Senegal's concern regarding India's 
fumigation requ irements for cashew nuts , and Japan's concern regarding Thailand’s import 
restrictions on plant products.  
Table 3.12 SPS new STCs raised between October 2016 and March 2017  
STC Document title  Members 
maintaining the 
measure  Members 
raising 
the 
concern  Members 
supporting 
the 
concern  Date raised  Primary 
objective  
412 EU Maximum Residue 
Limits (MRLs) for 
bitertanol, 
tebufe npyrad and 
chlormequat 
(G/SPS/N/EU/168)  European Union  India  27/10/2016  Food 
Safety  
413 Guatemala's 
restrictions on egg 
products  Guatemala  Mexico   27/10/2016  Food 
Safety  
414 Indonesia's food safety 
measures affecting 
horticultural products 
and animal pr oducts  Indonesia  Philippines   27/10/2016  Food 
Safety  
415 US seafood import 
monitoring programme  United States  China  Chile 27/10/2016  Other  
416 China's import ban on 
fresh mangosteen  China  Indonesia   27/10/2016  Food 
Safety  
417 India's import 
requirements  for teak 
tree wood  India Panama  Ecuador  27/10/2016  Plant 
health  
418 Viet Nam's suspension 
of groundnut seed 
imports  Viet Nam  Senegal   22/03/2017  Food 
Safety  
419 US MRLs for 
chlorpyrifos  United States  Israel  Ecuador  22/03/2017  Food 
Safety  
420 EU non -recognition of 
regionalization for 
avian influenza  European Union  Russian 
Federation   22/03/2017  Animal 
Health  
                                                
27 The objective of an SPS measure falls under one or more of the fo llowing categories:  (i) food safety, 
(ii) animal health, (iii) plant protection, (iv) protect humans from animal/plant pest or disease, and (v)  protect 
territory from other damages from pests. Members are required to identify the purpose of the measure in  their 
notifications. It is not uncommon for more than one objective to be identified for a measure.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 46 - 
 
  STC Document title  Members 
maintaining the 
measure  Members 
raising 
the 
concern  Members 
supporting 
the 
concern  Date raised  Primary 
objective  
421 Thailand's import 
restriction on papaya 
seeds  Thailand  Chinese 
Taipei   22/03/2017  Plant 
health  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.60.   Sixteen previously raised STCs were discussed at the October 2016 or March 2017 SPS 
Committee meetings (ten were discussed in both meetings). Of these, several address persistent 
problems which have featured regularly on the SPS Committee agenda, some going back over a 
decad e. In particular, two STCs have been discussed 29  and 22 times respectively (Table 3.13). In 
addition, two STCs  raised for the first time in October  2016 were discussed again in March  2017.28 
Table 3.13 Previously -raised SPS specific trade concerns discussed in October 2016 
and/or March 2017  
STC Document title  Members 
maintaining 
the measure  Members 
raising the 
concern  Members 
supporting 
the concern  First date 
raised  Times 
subsequently  
raised  
193 General import 
restrictions due to 
Bovine Spongiform 
Encephalopathy 
(BSE)  Certain 
Members, 
specifically 
Australia, 
China, Japan, 
Korea, Republic 
of, Ukraine  European 
Union, 
United States 
of America  Canada, 
Switzerland, 
Uruguay  01/06/2004  29 
238 Application and 
modification of the 
EU Regulation on 
Novel Foods  European Union  Colombia, 
Ecuador, 
Peru Argentina, 
Benin; 
Bolivia, 
Plurinational 
State of;  
Brazil, Chile, 
China,  
Costa Rica, 
Cuba,  
Dominican 
Republic,  
El Salvador, 
Guatemala,  
Honduras, 
India, 
Indonesia, 
Mexico,  
Nicaragua, 
Paraguay,  
Philippines, 
Uruguay,  
Venezuela, 
Bolivarian 
Republic of  01/03/2006  22 
354 China's import 
restrictions on 
Japanese Foods in 
response to the 
nuclear power plant 
accident  China  Japan   27/06/2013  10 
289 Measures on catfish  United States of 
America  China, Viet 
Nam Thailand  28/10/2009  8 
                                                
28 These were STC 415 and STC 416.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 47 - 
  STC Document title  Members 
maintaining 
the measure  Members 
raising the 
concern  Members 
supporting 
the concern  First date 
raised  Times 
subsequently  
raised  
382 European Union 
revised proposal for 
categorization of 
compounds as 
endocrine 
disruptors  European Union  Argentina, 
China, United 
States of 
America  Australia, 
Brazil, 
Burkina 
Faso, 
Burundi, 
Canada, 
Central 
African 
Republic, 
Chile, 
Colombia, 
Costa Rica, 
Dominican 
Republic,  
Ecuador, 
Egypt, El 
Salvador,  
Ghana, 
Guatemala,  
Guinea, 
India, 
Indonesia, 
Jamaica, 
Kenya, 
Madagascar, 
Malaysia, 
Mexico, New 
Zealand, 
Nigeria, 
Pakistan, 
Paraguay, 
Peru,  
Philippines, 
Senegal, 
Sierra Leone, 
South Africa, 
Thailand, 
Chinese 
Taipei, Togo, 
Uruguay, 
Viet Nam,  
Zambia  25/03/2014  7 
387 Chinese Taipei's 
import restrictions 
in response to the 
nuclear power plant 
accident  Chinese Taipei  Japan   26/03/2015  6 
390 The Russian 
Federation's import 
restrictions on 
processed fishery 
products from 
Estonia and Latvia  Russian 
Federation  European 
Union   15/07/2015  5 
392 China's import 
restrictions due to 
African swine fever  China  European 
Union   15/07/2015  5 
393 Rep. of Korea's 
import restrictions 
due to African 
swine fever  Korea, Republic 
of European 
Union   15/07/2015  5 
395 China's proposed 
amendments to the 
implementation 
regulations on 
safety assessment 
of agricultural 
GMOs  China  Paraguay, 
United States 
of America   15/07/2015  5 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 48 - 
 
  STC Document title  Members 
maintaining 
the measure  Members 
raising the 
concern  Members 
supporting 
the concern  First date 
raised  Times 
subsequently  
raised  
344 Measures on 
shrimp  Brazil  Ecuador   18/10/2012  4 
394 Costa Rica's 
suspension of the 
issuing of 
phytosanitary 
import certificates 
for avocados  Costa Rica  Guatemala, 
Mexico  Ghana, 
South Africa, 
United States 
of America, 
Venezuela, 
Bolivarian 
Republic of  15/07/2015  4 
184 Lack of 
transparency for 
certain SPS 
measures  China  United States 
of America   01/03/2004  2 
397 India's amendment 
to its import policy 
conditions for 
apples; Restriction 
to Nhava Sheva 
port India Chile, New 
Zealand  European 
Union, United 
States  14/10/2015  2 
406 China's import 
restrictions due to 
Highly Pathogenic 
Avian Influenza  China  European 
Union,  
United States   16/03/2016  2 
411 Russian Federation 
import restrictions 
on certain animal 
products from 
Germany  Russian 
Feder ation European 
Union   30/06/2016  2 
Source: WTO Secretariat.  
Box 3.3 Enhancing Monitoring and Transparency in SPS and TBT  
Accessing relevant information on SPS or TBT product requirements in export markets can b e a huge 
challenge, especially for SMEs. The WTO helps tackling this potential trade barrier through the combination of 
transparency requirements included in the SPS and TBT agreements and two online tools that make 
information easily accessible: the SPS a nd TBT Information Management Systems (SPS/TBT IMSs). WTO 
Members are required to notify proposed SPS and TBT measures if they may significantly affect international 
trade. Each year the WTO receives more than 3,500 notifications.  
 
Publicly available onli ne tools help stakeholders find notifications of relevance to their trade:  
 
 - the SPS IMS www.spsims.wto.org ,  
 - the TBT IMS www.tbtims.wto.org , and  
 - the new ePing www.epingalert.org .  
 
The SPS/TBT IMSs are search -platforms that help among others find SPS or TBT notifications by using 
parameters such as products, notifying Member and objective. ePing is an online alert system allowing u sers to 
receive daily or weekly email alerts about SPS and TBT notifications covering products and markets of interest 
to them. ePing helps stakeholders track, discuss and adapt to new regulatory conditions, avoiding trade 
disruption by addressing potentia l frictions at an early stage.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.4  Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)29 
3.61.   Under the TBT Agreement, WTO Members are required  to notify their intention to introduce 
new or modified TBT measures, or to notify adopted emergency measures immed iately upon their 
adoption . The main objective of complying with the TBT notification obligations is to inform other 
Members about new or changed regulations that may  significantly affect trade.30 Therefore, an 
                                                
29 For the TBT Section, the review period covers 1 October 2016 to 30 April 2017.  
30 Under the TBT Agreement, WTO Members are not required  to notify all proposed TBT measure s 
(technical  regulations or conformity assessment procedures) . Rather, they are only required to notify those 
measures that may have a significant effect on trade  of other Members and are  not in accordance  with a 
relevant international standard . However, the TBT Committee in its Sixth Triennial Review encouraged 
Members, "for the purpose of enhancing predictability and transparency in situations where it is difficult to WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 49 - 
  increased number of notifications does not nec essarily imply greater use of unnecessarily trade -
-restrictive measures. Rather, TBT notification obligations are meant to promote enhanced 
transparency regarding measures taken to address legitimate policy objectives, e.g. the protection 
of human, animal or plant life or health or the environment.31 
3.62.   From 1 October 201 6 to 30 April 2017 (the "review period") , WTO  Members submitted 931 
new regular notifications of TBT measures .32 This represents roughly the same number of new 
regular regulations notified by Me mbers compared to the previous seven -month period .33 
Developing country Members (including CIS and LDC Members) notified 74% of new regular 
regulations during the current review period, i.e. no significant change in this share as compared 
to the previous pe riod.34 
3.63.   The Members which notified the most new regular regulations  during the review period 
were: United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Bahrain, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, State of 
Kuwait and Yemen  (132 collectively ); the European Union  (101);35 the U nited States  (86); 
Uganda  (80); Kenya  (77); t he Republic of Korea and Tanzania  (44 each) ; Mexico  (30); Chile  (28); 
Canada and Chinese Taipei  (23 each); and Japan  (20). One important development during the 
review period is the significant increase in region ally-harmonized Gulf Cooperation Council draft 
technical regulations notified by GSO Members in joint notifications (on behalf of all seven 
Members) to provide a common deadline for comments on these measures and facilitate the 
handling of comments receive d. 
3.64.   Of the 931 new notifications received during the review period , the main indicated 
objectives36 were: protection of human health or safety ( 62%), quality requirements ( 25%), 
protection of the environment ( 25%) and prevention of deceptive practices and co nsumer 
protection ( 17%).37 
3.65.   In terms of follow -up notifications38 a total of 421 were submitted during the review period, 
significantly higher as compared from the previous seven -month  period.39 Follow-up notifications 
are important because they help to increa se transparency and predictability across the regulatory 
lifecycle.  
                                                                                                                                                  
establish or foresee whether a draft technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure may  have a 
'significant effect on trade of other Members', to notify such measures."  
31 TBT Agreement obligations are also subject to 25 separate Special and Differential Treatment (S&D) 
provisions con ferring developing country Members, LDC Members in particular, certain flexibilities. The 
TBT Agreement contains more S&D provisions than any other WTO Agreement apart from the GATT  1994.  
32 Viewed at: http://tbtims.wto. org 
33 From 1 March to 30 September 2016 , the overall  number of regu lar notifications was 1,002 .  
34 The great majority of regular notifications submitted from  1 March to 30 September 2016  (around 
78%) were  from developing -country Members, including LDCs.  
35 75 EU -wide notifications plus 26 notifications from certain individual EU member states: 
Czech  Republic  (4); Estonia (2); Finland (4); France (5); Hungary (2); Ireland (1); Italy (2); Lithuania (1); 
Slovenia  (2); and Spain (3).  
36 A TBT measure may  pursue  a variety of legitimate objectives, although historically the majority falls 
under one of the following categories: the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, or the 
environment. Members are required to identify the purpose of the measure in  their notifications. It is not 
uncommon that more than one objective is identified for a measure.  
37 For the review period, the main indicated objectives for new notifications saw that the protection of 
human health or safety has remained the same from the  previous period whereas prevention of deceptive 
practices and consumer protection has increased by 6% ; however quality requirements decreased by 5% and 
protection of the environment decreased by 3%.   
38 These notifications are called "addenda", "corrigenda ", or "supplements". They can also be in the form 
of "revisions" when the original  measure has been substantially re -drafted prior to adoption or entry into force. 
A revision replaces the original notification. They are linked to the original notification of a new regulation and 
include additional pertinent information, such as updated deadlines for entry into force, access to the final 
adopted text, withdrawal or cancellation, unofficial translations or other updates with respect to notified 
regulations.  See G/TBT/35 for further information on different types of TBT notifications.  
39 From 1 March to 30 September 2016 , the overall  number of  follow -up notifications was 364.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 50 - 
 
  3.66.   Any Member may  raise STCs with respect to TBT measures proposed or adopted by other 
Members.40 These STCs are frequently discussed in the regular meetings of the TBT  Committee, 
with more th an 50 STCs discussed per meeting in recent years ( Chart 3.14).  
Chart 3.14 STCs discussed per committee meeting, March 2006 -March 2017  
6 716 15 1513 13 14
813 14 15 16
1318
81217
11 10 10 929 2730
29364252
45
2828 2536 35
3135
47 383949
46 47 48
010203040506070
New concerns Previously raised concerns
Source:  WTO Secretariat. 
 
Note:  This chart counts the number of STCs on  the agenda of the TBT Committee per meeting. The same 
STC can be raised at all three meetings that ordinarily take place in a year and, in this chart, it is 
counted under all three meetings.   
Source:   WTO Secretariat . 
3.67.   Depending on the extent of the trade -restrictiveness  and importance of the issue to the 
Members raising the STC, the same measure may come  up at one or more meetings of the TBT 
Committee. For example, a STC may be discussed at only one meeting (as a new STC), and 
subsequently a resolution to  the trade concern may be found . Alternatively,  an STC may be 
discussed at subsequent meetings ( previously raised STC ), usually reserved for long -standing and 
more serious concerns.  
3.68.   A total of  19 new STCs were raised during the two Committee meetings that  fell within the 
review period : 10 new STCs were raised at the  10-11 November 201 6 meeting  and 9 new STCs 
were raised at the  29-30 March  2017 meeting . The data from the last TBT Committee meeting for 
2016, confirms the number of new STCs raised during that  year (81) was consistent with the 
number of new STCs during  the previous two years (86 in 2015 and 85 in 2014)41, as illustrated 
by Chart 3.15. 
                                                
40 Members use the TBT Committee as a forum to discuss trade issues related to specific measures 
(technical regulations, standards or conformity assessment procedures) maintained by other Members. These 
are referred to as STCs  and normally relate to proposed draft measures notified to the TBT Committee or to 
the implementation of existing mea sures. Issues raised range from simple requests for additional information 
and clarifications to questions on the consistency of measures with TBT Agreement disciplines.  
41 Details on STCs raised in the TBT Committee are available through the TBT IMS 
(http://tbtims.wto.org ).  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 51 - 
  Chart 3.15 Number of STCs raised with r espect to Members' TBT measures  per year  
4712 12 13 12 121926 2832 3259
313849 50
13152015 141224273246
294335
424737
21
172232
27 27
2436465874
617594
7385 86
71
0102030405060708090100110120
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016Chart 3.12
Number of STCs raised with respect to Menbers' TBT measures per year
Source:   WTO Secretariat.New concerns Previous concerns
 
 
Note:  This chart counts the number of TBT measures discussed as STCs per year. The data for 2016 
include the STCs raised at the March, June and November 2016 Committee meetings. Previously 
raised STCs are counted  only once even if they are raised  in subsequent meetings  in the same year . 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.   
3.69.   The Members wh ose measures attracted new STCs during the review period were : the 
European Union  (5)42, the Russian Federation  (3), China  (2), the Republic  of Korea  (2), and 
Bolivia, Plurinational State of, Brazil, Mexico, Dominican Republic, India, Kazakhstan43, Uganda 
and Viet  Nam (one each) ( Table 3.14). In terms of Members raising most new STCs  during the 
review period , the Unite d States  (12), the European Union  (8), Mexico  (5) and Japan  (4) were the 
most active  ones.  
3.70.   As seen in  Table 3.14, new STCs discussed in the review period regulated a wide range of 
products, including in particular tobacco and alc oholic beverages, ICT products (including 
"e-waste"),  agricultural and food products , pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, as well as,  
toys, vehicles, chemicals and steel.  
Table 3.14 New TBT STCs raised in the Committee meetings of November 2016 and 
March 2017  
New STCs with respect to measures maintained by Members  
Bolivia, Plurinational State of: concerning Technical regulations on the labelling of foods and products 
destined for human consumption that con sist of, contain or derive from genetically modified organisms (ID 
517) (raised by Guatemala and Mexico);  
                                                
42 Three STCs with respect to EU -wide measures and two STCs with respect to a measure from Italy and 
a measure from Ireland (listed below in Table 3.15).  
43 This STC is only counted once because it wa s raised jointly with respect to both Kazakhstan and the 
Russian Federation (STC IMS ID 514, listed below in Table 3.15).  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 52 - 
 
  New STCs with respect to measures maintained by Members  
Brazil:  concerning Regulation RDC No 123 on food additives and processing aids authorised for use in wine of 
4 November 2016 (raised by  the European Union) ; 
China:  concerning Tentative Administrative Rules on Enterprises Average Fuel Consumption and New Energy 
Vehicle Credits and Administration Regulation on the Access of New Energy Vehicle Manufactures and Products 
(raised by United States and Europe an Union );  
China:  concerning Cyber Security Law ( raised by the United States, Japan, European Union and Australia ); 
Dominican Republic: concerning Requirements for importing steel rebar - RTD 458 and other requirements 
(raised by United States ); 
Europe an Union: concerning Country of Origin Labelling (ID 523) (raised by New Zealand and United States);  
European Union:  concerning Organic production and labelling - Maté (erva -mate) ( raised by Brazil ); 
European Union: concerning  Radio Equipment Directive (raised by China ); 
Ireland : concerning the Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 (ID 516) (raised by Guatemala and Mexico);  
Italy :  concerning Labelling requirements of the origin of grains used in the preparation of dried pasta (raised 
by Mexico, United Sta tes and Canada ); 
India: concerning the E -waste (Management) Rules, 2016 (ID 515) (raised by Japan, Republic of Korea and 
United States);  
Korea , Rep. of : concerning Household Chemical and Biocidal Products  (raised by United States and Japan ); 
Korea , Rep . of: concerning Amendment of the Notifications on Warning Messages on Smoking and Drinking 
(ID 518) (raised by Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and United States);  
Mexico: concerning  Official Standard PROY -NOM-199-SCFI-2015: Alcoholic bevera ges - Designations, 
physicochemical specifications, commercial information and test methods (ID 522) (raised by the 
European  Union);  
Russian Federation: concerning Medical devices (ID 520) (raised by the United States and European Union);  
Russian Federat ion: concerning Pharmaceutical products - Resolution 1314 of the Government of the Russian 
Federation on determining compliance of medicinal products' manufacturers with the requirements of Good 
Manufacturing Practice (non -notified ); draft decisions of th e Board of the Eurasian Economic Union (ID 521) 
(raised by the United States and European Union);  
Russian Federation and Kazakhstan:  concerning the amendments No. 2 to the Technical Regulation of the 
Customs Union on Safety of Toys (TР МС 008/2011) (ID 51 4) (raised by Ukraine, United States and European 
Union);  
Uganda: concerning Alcoholic beverages specifications (ID 519) (raised by  the United States and 
European  Union);  
Viet Nam: concerning Alcoholic Beverages  (raised by Mexico) . 
Source:  WTO Secretari at. 
3.71.   In addition, 95 previously raised STCs were discussed during the current review period (47 
in the November 2016 meeting and 48 in the March  2017 meeting ). Overall, 114 new and 
previously -raised STCs were discussed during review period. In the last four  years, in particular, a 
higher number of  STCs were discussed per meeting , as well as per year. Chart 3.16 shows the 
total number of STCs discussed per Committee meeting per year since 2005. As this Chart 
indicates, 173  STCs were discussed during the three Committee meetings held in 2016, the 
highest number since 1995. This figure also represents a 400% -plus increase as compared to that 
for 2005, when only 33 STCs were discussed. This Chart also shows that the total number of STCs 
discussed in the first Committee meeting of 2017 (March) is identical  to that of the previous 
meeting in November 2016 (57), which seems to suggest that the upward trend of STCs discussed 
per year/per  meeting is not abating. This may also suggest an increa sing use of the TBT 
Committee as a forum for M embers to raise and resolve trade  concerns  non-litigiously,  rather than 
allowing them to escalate into formal disputes . WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 53 - 
  Chart 3.16 STCs discussed per TBT Committee  meeting, 2005 -30 April 2017  
1220 203443354465
41515560 57
1221303347
345159
39445056
922243547
465536
515357
020406080100120140160180
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
March Meeting June Meeting November MeetingChart 3. 15[TBT]
STCs discussed per committee meeting, 2005 -30 April 2017
Source:   WTO Secretariat.150148
63131
102160
74
33115105
137
Note:   This chart counts the number of STCs on the agenda of the TBT Committee per meeting. Nota that the same STC can 
be raised at all three meetings in a year and , in this chart, is counted under all three meetings. Data for 2017  include ST Cs 
raised at the March meeting only.173
57
 
Note:  This chart counts the number of STCs on the agenda of the TBT Committee per meeting. The same 
STC can be raised at all three meetings in a year and, in this chart, is counted under all three 
meetings. Data for 2017 incl ude STCs raised at the March meeting only.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.72.   This upward trend also shows that the Committee has spent more time discussing STCs 
than any other item on the agenda . An average of around 20 STCs were discussed per meeting in 
2006 where as in 2016 that figure was 57.  As illustrated by  Chart 3.17, there is a marked 
correlation between the number of new notifications and new STCs raised each year. Since 1995, 
an average of around 68% of STCs discussed in TBT Commit tee meetings relate to notified 
measures.  Similarly, and also since 1995, M embers have raised  529 new STCs, in the TBT 
Committee, with a n upward trend in ST Cs observed since 2005.44 
                                                
 44 In March 2016, the WTO TBT Committee discussed the 500th new STC . Viewed at :  
https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news16_e/tbt_11mar16_e.htm  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 54 - 
 
  Chart 3.17 Number of TBT not ifications and new STCs 1995 -2016  
05101520253035404550
020040060080010001200140016001800
Number of notifications New STCsNotifications
New STCsChart 3.16
Number of TBT notifications and new STCs 1995 -2016
Source: WTO Secretariat.
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.   
3.73.   Among previously raised STCs involving measures implemented by WTO Members , 
regulations in the area of toys have featured during discussion s in the TBT Committee. Box 3.4 
takes a closer look at the nature of these regulations.   
 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 55 - 
  Box 3.4 Regulation on toys  
Regulation on toys:1 World trade in toys is worth around US$50 billion (2015) and has been steadily growing 
since at leas t 2010. The top importers and exporters of toys are G20 economies.2 Toys are frequently subject 
to regulations addressing in particular health or safety risks they may present to children and youth.  
 
Since 1995, WTO Members have notified 200 toy -specific r egulations to the TBT Committee.3 The highest 
number of toy specific notifications was submitted in 2008.4  The vast majority (almost 89%) of these 
notifications concerned toy specific "technical regulations", with the rest mostly concerning "conformity 
assessment procedures" (CAPs).5  Most notifications (almost 65%) have been submitted by developing 
Members. Individually, the main notifying Members are Israel (35), China (25), the Unit ed States (24) and the 
European  Union (11).6 The great majority (around 70%)7 of notified toy specific regulations address the 
protection of human health or safety.8  Among these, the most prominent specific objective is the protection 
against risks arising from chemical, toxic or hazardous substances, followed by the protecti on agai nst risks of 
physical injuries.9 
 
Since 2000, and increasingly from 2013, Members have been raising STCs in the TBT Committee with respect 
to toy specific measures. To date, a total of 21 toy -related concerns have been raised and discussed in the 
Committee. These concerns mainly focused on three areas: labelling, standards, and CAPs. In this respect, 
although the vast majority of toy specific notifications are on "technical regulations" (e.g. prescribing or 
prohibiting the use of certain chemicals in  the manufacturing of toys), most concerns raised in the Committee 
involve instead CAPs, i.e. procedures to assess whether the toy conforms with the specifications prescribed in 
toy-specific regulations.10  With respect to the latter, WTO Members are more specifically concerned with: 
duplicative local testing, non -acceptance of foreign test results or certificates from accredited laboratories, 
testing methodologies applied, as well as sampling, inspection and registration requirements. With respect to 
labelling, and international standards o n toys, concerns revolve mostly around: excessive and burdensome 
labelling and marking rules, deviations from relevant international and regional standards on restricting toxic 
substances, as well as on the scientific evi dence upon which the measure's adoption was based.  
 
The 21 toy -related trade concerns have been raised in roughly equal numbers by both developed and 
developing Members. On the other hand, toy specific measures from developing Members are slightly more 
often targeted in STCs than those from developed Members; this seems to correlate with the trend identified 
above that most toy -specific measures are notified by developing Members.  
_______________  
1 This box only takes into account notifications and STCs con cerning TBT regulations and standards addressing toys specifically . 
Apart from such measures, toys can, and commonly are, also subject to other regulations covering a variety of products and/or  
situations, for instance: general food packaging and labelling  regulations inter alia  prohibiting toys to be attached to certain food 
products considered to be unhealthy for children; general tobacco -control measures that, among other requirements, prohibit the 
manufacture and/or sale of toys, or any other objects re sembling or in the form of tobacco products;  or, conversely, general 
tobacco -control measures prohibiting tobacco products to be manufactured or sold with the appearance of candies or toys. Toys can als o 
be affected and covered by certain general regulati ons concerning the recycling of plastic -made products, or the use of chemicals in the 
manufacture of consumer products. The universe of TBT measures affecting trade in toys may therefore be significantly broader  than 
those covered in this box.  
2 Toy trade has been growing by an average 3% per year since 2010. China and the European Union (28 member States) are 
by far the largest toy exporters (more than 85% of all exports in 2015), with the United States and the European Union being by far the 
largest toy i mporters (more tha n 70% of all imports in 2015).  
3 Notifications submitted from January 1995 to 30 April 2017. Source: http://tbtims.wto.org/  
4 Twenty -four toy -specific notifications were submitted in 2008 (well above  the average of 9.5 per year since 1995). This may 
also explain the high number of toy -related STCs discussed in the TBT Committee in 2008. See e.g. 
https://www.wto.org/english/ news_e/news08_e/tbt_20march08_e.htm  
5 177 toy -specific technical regulations.  
6 Counting both EU -wide notifications as well as notifications by certain EU member States.  
7 143 out of 200 notifications. 
8 Additionally, but to a much lesser extent (41 out o f 200 notifications), another important objective addressed by these 
measures is the prevention of deceptive practices and consumer protection.  
9 56% of these notifications simply concern health/safely measures addressing "general protection", while 26% sp ecifically 
address toxic ity in toys, 11% physical injury, with the remaining 7% addressing a variety of other specific risks. 
10 70% (14 out of 20 STCs concerned toy -specific CAPs). 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.   
3.5  Policy Developments in Agriculture  
3.74.   The Committe e on Agriculture (CoA) provides a forum for Members to discuss matters 
related to agriculture trade and to consult on matters relating to the implementation of 
commitments under the Agreement on Agriculture ( AoA), including rules -based commitments. The 
review work by the CoA is based on notifications Members make on their commitments. There is 
also a provision in Article 18.6 that allows Members to raise any matter relevant to the 
implementation of the commitments under the AoA.  
3.75.   In the framework of the CoA  meetings in November 2016 and March 2017, Members posed 
a total of 184 questions, including both questions on individual notifications and under Article 18.6, WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 56 - 
 
  with a large number of these questions directed at issues related to domestic support notificati ons 
or implementation of domestic support commitments.  
3.76.   In total, 12 Members raised 66 questions on 40 implementation -related issues (Article  18.6) 
in the November 2016 and March 2017 CoA meetings. As can be seen in Chart 3.18, the average 
number of questions raised under Article 18.6 per meeting has been increasing since 2011 
reaching an all -time high in 2016 with an average of 3 3 questions per meeting with a total of 1 31 
questions. These numbers include questions that were repeat ed from one meeting to the next 
because responses were not provided in the relevant time -frames.  
Chart 3.18 Average number of questions raised under Article 18.6 per meeting 
(1995 -2017a) 
010203040Chart x.[1]Agri
Average number of questions raised under Article 18.6 per meeting (1995 -
2017a)
Source:  WTO Secretariat.a   2017 data covers only the March 2017 meeting.
 
a 2017 data covers o nly the March 2017 meeting.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.77.   Out of the 40 implementation -related issues raised in the CoA during  the review period, 
22 issues were discussed for the first time, whereas the remaining issues had been discussed one 
or more times in p revious years (under Article 18.6 ). Table 3.15 indicates the specific issues 
relating to implementation commitments that were discussed for the first time in the CoA during 
the November 2016 and March  2017 meeting s.45  
3.78.   Half of the new issues  raised in the November 2016 and March 2017 CoA meetings related 
to domestic support policies , e.g. measures benefiting producers of dairy, fruit, rice, livestock, 
oilseeds and wheat were subject to questioning by WTO Members. Similarly, question s were also 
raised regarding agricultural policies of a general scope such as the EU's intervention programmes 
and Canada's agri -marketing programme . Members also raised a number of questions in relation 
to measures that restricted , or had the potential to  restrict, trade of agricultural  product s (e.g. 
Indonesia's draft regulation on supply and distribution of milk products, Russia n Federation 's 
higher applied tariffs than bound rates in some agricultural products and Thailand's import permits 
for feed whea t). For the first time, the subject of how trade policies may be affected by the exit of 
the United Kingdom from the European Union was raised in the CoA. One question sought 
                                                
45 The complete questions and answers can be accessed through the Agriculture Information 
Management System  (AG IMS) at http://agims. wto.org/  by using the ID numbers ( Table 3.15) in the function 
"Search Q&A Submitted Since 1995 ".  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 57 - 
  clarification in the area of export subsidies , i.e. India's export subsidies for onions and one in the 
area of export restrictions and prohibitions , i.e. India's export restrictions on sugar.  
Table 3.15 Article 18.6 new issues  
Question Summary  Question raised 
by Products  Number 
of 
questio ns CoA 
meetings  ID number  
Thailand's import 
permits for feed wheat  Australia,  
European Union, 
United States  Animal feed, 
wheat, corn  3 83 83107, 83045, 
83013  
Canada's Market price 
support for dairy 
products  New Zealand  Dairy, milk, 
milk powders, 
butter,  cheese, 
other  2 82, 83  83001, 82058  
India's minimum 
support price for Kharif 
crops  United States  Rice, oil seeds, 
fats and oils, 
seeds, 
vegetable oils 
and fats, 
fats/oils of 
animal origin, 
other fats and 
oils, cotton  2 82, 83  83043, 82005  
Australia's wi ne 
equalization tax  European Union  Alcoholic  1 83 83006  
Canada's Agri -
Marketing Program  Indonesia    1 83 83067  
Egypt's new 
regulations  Indonesia    1 83 83068  
EU intervention 
programmes  Australia    1 82 82023  
European Union's 
support for livestock 
sector New Zealand  Live animals, 
bovine, swine, 
sheep and 
goat, poultry, 
horses, other  1 83 83055  
Greek coffee tax  Viet Nam  Coffee  1 82 82003  
India - minimum price 
for sugar cane in Uttar 
Pradesh  European Union  Cane or beet 
sugar  1 83 83010  
India's buffer st ocks of 
pulses  Canada  Processed 
vegetables  1 83 83122  
India's export 
restriction on sugar  European Union  Sugar, cane or 
beet sugar, 
other  1 82 82033  
India's export 
subsidies for onions  European Union  Fresh 
vegetables  1 82 82032  
India's minimum 
support p rice for 
wheat  Australia  Wheat  1 83 83106  
India's support price 
for Rabi crops  European Union  Wheat  1 83 83009  
India's trade statistics  United States    1 83 83044  
Indonesia's draft 
regulation on supply 
and distribution of milk 
products  European Union  Milk 1 83 83011  
Japan's mark -up on 
imported rice  China  Rice 1 83 83035  
Russia n Federation 's 
higher applied tariffs 
than bound rates  European Union    1 83 83012  
Thailand's financial 
assistance to fruit 
farmers  United States  Fruit 1 83 83047  
U.S. Federal M ilk 
Marketing Order 
(FMMO)  Canada  Milk 1 83 83124  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 58 - 
 
  Question Summary  Question raised 
by Products  Number 
of 
questio ns CoA 
meetings  ID number  
United Kingdom - 
Modification of 
agricultural schedule 
of commitments  Indonesia    1 83 83069  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.79.   Other discussions related to follow -up questions on persistent areas of concern.  A num ber of 
these issues have been raised in the CoA multiple times. One case had been raised in 17 CoA 
meetings (i.e. Brazil's domestic support programmes). India's sugar export subsidies were the 
subject of questioning in the CoA for the fourteenth time. Canada's wine sale policy , its tariff -rate 
quota for cheese and its new milk ingredient class continued to receive considerable scrutiny from 
the membership . Other recurrent issues included India's importation of apples and Sri Lanka's 
increase in milk powder tariffs, both of which have been discussed in six CoA meetings ( Table 
3.16). 
Table 3.16 Questions previously raised under Article 18.6  
Question 
Summary  Question 
raised by  Products  Num ber of 
questions  Number  
of CoA 
meetings 
in which 
the issue 
was 
discussed  CoA 
meetings  ID number  
India's sugar 
export subsidies  Australia, 
Brazil, 
Colombia, 
European 
Union, 
Thailand,  Sugar, 
cane or 
beet sugar, 
other  25 14 50, 51, 52, 
73, 74, 75, 
76, 77, 78, 
79, 80, 81, 
82, 83  83105, 82024, 
81025, 81062, 
80011, 80037, 
79023, 79047, 
78016, 78017, 
77035, 77044, 
76016, 76025, 
76050, 75028, 
74007, 74055, 
73036, 73055, 
73067, 73068, 
52005, 51001, 
50003  
Brazil's 
domestic 
support 
programmes  United States  Wheat, 
corn, rice, 
malt, 
coarse 
grains, 
cotton  17 17 65, 66, 68, 
69, 70, 71, 
72, 73, 74, 
75, 76, 77, 
78, 79, 80, 
81, 83  83038, 81008, 
80024, 79001, 
78002, 77066, 
76039, 75023, 
74021, 73026, 
72051, 71028, 
70007, 69027, 
68007, 66002, 
65011  
Canada's New 
Milk Ingred ient 
Class Australia, 
India, New 
Zealand, 
United States  Dairy, 
milk, milk 
powders, 
butter, 
cheese, 
other  16 5 79, 80, 81, 
82, 83  83054, 83039, 
82012, 82059, 
82013, 82001, 
81001, 81009, 
81049, 81054, 
81055, 81056, 
80003, 80005, 
80006, 80025, 
79035  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 59 - 
  Question 
Summary  Question 
raised by  Products  Num ber of 
questions  Number  
of CoA 
meetings 
in which 
the issue 
was 
discussed  CoA 
meetings  ID number  
Canada's  wine 
sale policy  Australia, 
European 
Union, New 
Zealand, 
United States  Alcoholic  14 5 79, 80, 81, 
82, 83  83007, 83041, 
83104, 83135, 
82057, 82002, 
81003, 81011, 
81024, 81046, 
81047, 81097, 
80008, 80009, 
80094, 80095, 
79003  
Canada's tariff -
rate quota for 
cheese  New Zealand, 
Norway, 
Switzerland, 
United States  Cheese  8 6 75, 76, 77, 
80, 81, 83  83003, 83004, 
83005, 81004, 
81051, 81052, 
80001, 80002, 
80007, 77037, 
77001, 76023, 
75026  
Sri Lanka's 
increase in milk 
powder tariffs  Australia, New 
Zealand  Dairy, 
milk, milk 
powders, 
butter, 
cheese, 
other  8 6 69, 70, 78, 
80, 81, 82  82062, 81007, 
81063, 80016, 
78001, 78022, 
70006, 69002  
European 
Union's 
agriculture 
policies  Australia, 
India, New 
Zealand  Dairy, 
milk, milk 
powders, 
butter, 
cheese, 
other, 
bovine, 
swine,  7 3 80, 81, 82  82027, 82028, 
81005, 81058, 
81060, 81061, 
80010  
India's wheat 
stocks and 
exports  Canada, 
United States  Wheat  7 4 72, 73, 74, 
83 83042, 72061, 
72008, 73039, 
73003, 74048, 
74001  
India's 
importation of 
apples  Chile, 
European 
Union, New 
Zeala nd, 
United States  Fruit 6 6 78, 79, 80, 
81, 82, 83  83056, 82060, 
81006, 80014, 
79067, 78084, 
78085, 78086, 
78088  
Switzerland's 
export subsidy 
budget  Australia, New 
Zealand    5 3 77, 78, 83  83057, 77006, 
77030, 78023, 
78025  
India's new 
crop insurance 
scheme Canada, 
European 
Union    4 3 79, 80, 82  82031, 80068, 
79024, 79051  
Zambia's public 
stocks and 
exports of 
maize  European 
Union  Corn 3 3 81, 82, 83  83014, 82030, 
81033  
Turkey's 
subsidies aimed 
at incentivising 
the use of 
domestic dairy  New Zealand  Dairy, 
milk, milk 
powders, 
butter, 
cheese, 
other  3 3 81, 82, 83  83058, 82067, 
81065  
U.S. purchase 
of cheese stock  Australia, 
Canada  Cheese  3 2 81, 82  82061, 82025, 
81066  
China's regional 
assistance 
programmes  Australia    2 2 81, 82  81053, 82014  
Turkey's 
domestic 
support policies  Canada    2 2 81, 82  82056, 81064  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 60 - 
 
  Question 
Summary  Question 
raised by  Products  Num ber of 
questions  Number  
of CoA 
meetings 
in which 
the issue 
was 
discussed  CoA 
meetings  ID number  
U.S. Price Loss 
Coverage and 
Agriculture Risk 
Coverage 
programmes  India   2 2 81, 82  82026, 81070,  
Argentina's tax 
policies  Ukraine    2 2 80, 82  80059, 82041  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.80.   Regarding the review of notifications,  timely and complete notifications are fundamental for 
effective monitoring of the implementation of commitments. Twelve distinct notification 
requirements are applicable in the domain of agriculture covering the following areas : market 
access, domestic support, export subsidies, export prohibitions or restrictions and the follow -up to 
the Marrakesh NFIDC Decision. The applicability of a notification requirement to a WTO Member is 
largely dependent on its specific commitments und er the AoA. Out of the 12 notification 
requirements the following five are "regular" or "annual" notification requirements: (i) imports 
under tariff and other quotas (MA:2), (ii) special safeguards (MA:5), (iii) domestic support (DS:1), 
(iv) export subsidi es (ES:1) and (v)  total exports (ES:2). Annual notifications are required to be 
submitted no later than a certain number of days following t he end of the year in question, in 
accordance with the deadlines set out in document G/AG/2.  
3.81.   For the period 1995 -2015, there were a total of 1,831 outstanding regular notifications.46 
Out of the five annual notification requirements, Domestic Support (DS:1) and Export  Subsidy 
(ES:1) notifications have the highest number of outstanding notifications47 in every year since 
1995. Members' outstanding notifications  of imports under tariff and other quotas  (MA:2), s pecial 
safeguards  (MA:5) and notification of total exports ( ES:2) is much lower Chart 3.19. It should be 
noted, however, that domestic supp ort and export subsidy notifications must be submitted by the 
whole Membership, whereas, in the other areas the obligation to notify will depend upon each 
Members' commitments.    
 
                                                
46 "Ad hoc " notification  obligations are applicable only upon maintenance of  a specific measure 
(e.g.  application of export restric tions) as well as the annual notifications where it was not possible to 
determine a priori whether the concerned notification requirement would be applicable (e.g.  Table NF:1 
applicable to donor Members only).  
47 Note by the WTO Secretariat (G/AG/GEN/86/Rev .27) on compliance with notification obligations  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 61 - 
  Chart 3.19 Total outstanding  notifications per type of notification requirement per year 
(1995 -2015)  
050100150200250
MA:2 MA:5 DS:1 ES:1 ES:2Chart X.[2]Agri
Total outstanding notifications per type of notification requirement per 
year (1995 -2015)
Source:    WTO secretariat
 
Note:  MA:2 - Imports under tariff and other quotas, MA:5 - Special safeguards, DS:1 - Domestic support, 
ES:1 - Export subsidies, ES:2 - Total exports.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.82.   While a large number of outstanding notifications remain, there has been a concerted effort 
by Members to bring their notifications up -to-date, as can be seen in  Chart 3.20, where 
notifications reporting more than one year (which migh t include the required year and/or any 
pending previous years) have been submitted by Members. Since  2009 onwards, the average 
number of years reported per notification has fluctuated between two and three . WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 62 - 
 
  Chart 3.20 Number of regular notifications in agriculture and years reported 
(1995 -2017a) 
050100150200250300350400450500
Number of regular notifications Total number of years reportedChart x.[3]Agri
Number of regular notifications in agriculture and years reported, 1995 -
a   Until 16 Mach 2017.
Source:  WTO Secretariat.
 
a Until 16 March  2017. 
Note:  The total number of years reported might include the required year and/or any pending previous 
year(s). For example, in 2009 Mexico submi tted one MA:2 notification reporting in -quota imports for 
eight years (2000 -2007). For the purpose of this table, t his means that Mexico reported eight  
implementation years.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat  (G/AG/GEN/86/Rev.27) . 
3.83.   From 15 September 2016 to 15 April 2 017, Members submitted 1 37 notifications, (including 
addenda and corrigenda). A total of 118  questions were posed during the November 2016 and 
March 2017 CoA  meetings concerning these and previously submitted notifications. As seen in  
Chart 3.21, during the review period the majority of  questions raised related to domestic support 
notifications ( 88%). In particular, domestic support notifications by the United States, the 
European Union and the Russia n Federation attracted a consid erable number of questions. There 
were 13 questions raised concerning the lack of notifications by other Members.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 63 - 
  Chart 3.21 Number of questions raised per section (mid -October 2016 – mid-May 2017)  
Overdue notifications
(13)
Market access
(9)
Export Competition
(5)
Article 
18.6
66Individual 
notifications
118 Domestic 
support
(104)Chart 0.2
Number of questions raised per section ( mid-October 2016 –mid-May 2017 )
Source: WTO Secretariat.
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.84.   Further to the Nairobi Ministerial Decisions, the Committee held its first annual dedicated 
discussion in the field of export competition  at its June 2016 CoA meeting . The discussion w as held 
on the basis of the Secretariat's background do cument48 that was based on the answers to a 
questionnaire sent to Members, relevant information from export subsidy ( ES:1) and food aid 
(ES:3) notifications and relevant notifications to the Working Party on State Trading Enterprises.  
In that context , five Members posed questions to 18 Members regarding their policies in the area 
of export subsidies, e xport credits, export credit guarantees or insurance programmes , agricultural 
exporting of State Trading Enterprises and international food aid ( Table 3.17)49. A number of 
questions requested clarification from Members on how they intended to ensure compliance of 
their policies with the relevant provisions of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition .50 
Additionally, at the November 2016 and March 2017  CoA meetings, Chile posed a question to New 
Zealand on the implementation of the Ministerial Decision on Export Competition.51  
Table 3.17 Questions asked in the context of the CoA annual dedica ted discussion in the 
field of export competition held in June 2016  
Question answered by  Question raised by  Areas  
Brazil  European Union  Export subsidies; export credits, export credit 
guarantees or insurance programmes  
Canada  European Union  Export subsid ies 
China  European Union  Export credits, export credit guarantees or 
insurance programmes  
Colombia  European Union  Export subsidies  
India Australia, Canada  Agricultural exporting state trading enterprises; 
export credits, export credit guarantees or 
insurance programmes  
Indonesia  European Union  Export subsidies  
Israel  European Union  Export subsidies  
Japan  Canada  International food aid  
Mexico  European Union  Export subsidies  
New Zealand  Chile, European Union  Agricultural exporting State Trading Enterpr ises 
Norway  European Union  Export subsidies  
Russian Federation  Australia, European 
Union  International food aid; agricultural exporting 
State Trading Enterprises  
South Africa  European Union  Export subsidies  
                                                
48 G/AG/W/125/Rev. 4 and addenda  
49 G/AG/W/155  
50 WT/MIN(15)/45  
51 G/AG/W/159 (ID 82065) and G/AG/W/160 (ID 83037)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Question answered by  Question raised by  Areas  
Switzerland  European Union  Export subsidies  
Turkey  European Union  Export subsidies; international food aid  
Uruguay  European Union  Export subsidies  
United States  Australia, Canada, 
European Union  Export credits, export credit guarantees or 
insurance programmes; international food aid  
Venezuela,  
Bolivarian Rep. of  European Union  Export subsidies  
 
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
3.6  General Economic Support  
3.85.   Since October 2008 the trade monitoring reports have consistently reported on general 
economic support measures implemented by WTO Members. In the immedi ate aftermath of the 
2008 financial crisis , general economic support measures played an important role in many 
economies. These measures included very significant domestic bailouts, substantial measures 
targeting the financial sector, state aid programmes and large -scale multi -sector and sometimes 
economy -wide stimulus packages.  
3.86.   The WTO Monitoring Report published in November 2016 provided a brief historical overview 
in the area of general economic support measures implemented by WTO Members since 2008. At 
the end of 2016 some  849 general economic support measures had been recorded since the 
beginning of the monitoring exercise , with a quarter of these measures introduced in direct 
response to the financial crisis.  
3.87.   Large -scale, multi -sector or economy -wide stimulus packages constitute the bulk of general 
economic support measures introduced by WTO Members since October 2008. These types of 
measures were extensively used during the first three years of  the monitoring exercise. 
Multi-sector measures have been traditionally very broad and can cover, simultaneously and under 
one programme, a diverse range of sectors from agriculture and forestry to the medical and 
shipbuilding  sectors . Separately, the banking and financial sectors received a very significant shar e 
of the general economic support in 2008 -09. These subsidies were all but eliminated in the 
following years. The agriculture and food sectors have been the second largest recipient of general 
economic support measures. A variety of objectives are covered by these measures, including 
long-term improvements in productivity, incentive packages through tax breaks and preferential 
credit lines.  
3.88.   After 2009, there was a significant decrease in the number of such support programmes 
with measures appearing to be in creasingly sector -specific and export -oriented, including various 
trade finance programmes, often to assist SMEs or start -up enterprises. Over the years, the annex 
covering general economic support measures has covered a wide variety of programmes and 
sectors that have benefitted from general economic support measures which may have had 
potentially important trade -related effects. Whereas several of the general economic support 
measures and subsidy programmes which were implemented almost immediately follow ing the 
onset of the financial crisis included features which had real potential to curb or distort 
international trade, it has often been very difficult to ascertain the impact of certain measures on 
trade flows. As a result, and even if reporting these m easures provided an important element of 
transparency, the WTO trade monitoring reports neither classified nor counted such measures as 
trade -restrictive . 
3.89.   An important development over the past couple of years has been the increasing number of 
instances wh ere WTO Members appeared to have reduced or eliminated economic support 
programs, e.g. a reduction of fuel subsidies or the elimination of financial aid and local content 
preferences for energy -related equipment.  
3.90.   However, collecting and verifying informati on on general economic support measures has 
continued to represent a significant challenge in the preparation of the Reports. While there seems 
to be a generic recognition among WTO Members that general economic support and subsidies at 
the national as wel l as sub -national level often can have an important impact on trade, the lack of 
active cooperation in providing relevant information in this area has been a problem since the 
beginning of the exercise. In addition, the fact that some WTO Members are relat ively transparent WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  regarding general economic support measures compared to others has meant that on several 
occasions a few Members accounted for more than half of all reported general economic support 
measures. This, combined with the insistence of others to have their support programs excluded 
from the Report, has effectively compromised the balance in the reporting of such measures.  
3.91.   The number of WTO Members that provided information on general economic support 
measures implemented during the current revi ew period remained again disappointingly low. Yet, 
it is widely known that several large -scale bailout packages in the dairy and the energy sectors 
have been implemented over the past six months. This reinforces the conclusion of previous 
Reports that the universe of general economic support measures is much greater than what this 
exercise has managed to capture and that such programs will remain attractive policy tools to 
governments, particularly for strategic sectors, despite the often significant financ ial cost of such 
programmes.  
3.92.   At this juncture, and based on the information provided on general economic support 
measures, there is little basis for maintaining an annex for this type of policies which would 
provide a credible and transparent account of re cent developments across the full WTO 
membership.  
3.7  Other Selected Trade Policy Developments  
3.93.   The following Section provides a concise overview of other selected trade policy issues 
where important developments took place during the review period.  
Regional Tr ade Agreements  
3.94.   Between mid -October 2016 and mid -May 2017 eight new RTAs and three accessions to 
existing RTAs were notified to the WTO. These bring the total to 274 RTAs notified and in force 
(corresponding to 440 notifications in goods, services and acces sions). Since June 2016 all WTO 
Members are now involved to some degree in RTAs.52 While most RTAs are bilateral, involving two 
parties, recent negotiations seem to suggest a trend towards consolidation of existing bilateral 
agreements within and across reg ions. 
3.95.   The Trans -Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement was originally negotiated between 12 
partners (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, 
Peru, Singapore, United States and Viet Nam,  although the United States ha s since withdrawn) 
and is an enlargement of an existing RTA .53 Negotiations for a Regional Comprehensive Economic 
Partnership (RCEP) involve 16 partners: ten ASEAN members and Australia, China, Republic of 
Korea, Japan, India and New Zealand. The ASEAN memb ers already have agreements in force with 
these six partners and the negotiations aim to have one common agreement which is based on the 
"ASEAN+1" agreements. Negotiations began in November 2012; eighteen rounds of negotiations 
have been held to date.  
3.96.   The Pacific Alliance includes Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The parties to this agreement 
already have bilateral agreements in force. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is a customs 
union between five parties of which four are WTO Members (Armenia, Kazakh stan, the Kyrgyz 
Republic and the Russian Federation) and one is acceding to the WTO (Belarus). In Europe, the 
Trans -Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations involve the 28 members of 
the EU and the United States. On the African Contin ent, efforts are ongoing to bring existing 
regional economic communities together through the Tripartite Free Trade Area, followed 
eventually by a Continental Wide Free Trade Area. Finally, negotiations on the Trade in Services 
Agreement (TiSA) concentrate  only on the further liberalization of trade in services between 23 
parties, including both developed and developing Members.  
3.97.   While most of these plurilaterals are currently being negotiated, and it remains to be seen 
what they achieve by way of further t rade liberalization, they have the potential to considerably 
reduce the current fragmentation of trade relations through separate bilateral trade agreements.  
                                                
52 Following the notification of the Japan -Mongolia FTA, Mongolia is also party to one RTA.  
53 The Trans -Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership, which has been in force since 2006 between Brunei 
Darussalam, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Trade Facilitation  
3.98.   Work on the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) continued to make 
progress and reached an important milestone on 22 February 2017 when a sufficient number of 
ratifications54 was received for the Agreement to enter into force. The required number of 110 
acceptances was reached – and even surpassed - with a total of  112 instruments having been 
deposited by the end of that day. This marks an increase of 18 ratifications since the end of the 
last reporting period (mid -October 2016).  
3.99.   Advances were also made on the notification side. Members provided a series of 
submissi ons informing of : 
(a) the provisions they will implement as of the TFA's entry into force (the so -called 
"category A commitments");  
 
(b) the provisions they consider to require additional time (the so -called "category B 
commitments");  
 
(c) the provisions they consider to require both additional time and capacity -building support 
(the so -called "c ategory C commitments").  
 
3.100.   Over 90 Members had submitted related notifications when the TFA entered into force.55 
Ninety -two of them covered category A, with some al so designating provisions under categories B 
(9) and C (8).  In addition six WTO Members, i.e. Chinese Taipei; Hong Kong , China; Israel; 
Korea, Republic of; Mexico and Singapore committed to implementing the entire TFA as of its entry 
into force, which mak es the number of WTO Members with complete A, B and C records even 
higher.  
3.101.   Work continued with respect to technical assistance and capacity -building initiatives. In 
2014 the Director -General launched a WTO Trade Facilitation Facility56 (the Facility) to as sist 
developing and LDC Members in implementing the TF A that became operational on 
27 November  2014. The Facility works closely with individual Members to ensure they are 
receiving the information and support needed. It also provides information on assista nce 
programmes and, where needed, it can conduct match -making between donors and recipients. The 
Facility supports Members' efforts to implement the Agreement by acting as a repository for 
training materials, case studies and best practices on implementati on of the measures. It provides 
training programmes and support materials to assist Members to fully understand their obligations. 
This year the Facility assisted Members to prepare their category ABC notifications and build the 
capacity of the national tr ade facilitation committees by conducting national and sub -regional 
workshops. It also offered an advanced course for chairs of national trade facilitation committees, 
with the cooperation of partner organizations. Two courses were conducted in English in 2016 with 
courses in French and Spanish planned for early 2017.  
                                                
54 See http://www.tfafacility.org/ratifications . 
55 See http://www.tfafacility.org/notifications . 
56 Viewed at http://www.tfafacility.org/ . WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  Box 3.5 Trade facilitation and the global economy: 2017 OECD Trade Facilitation 
Indicators update  
Implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agre ement (TFA), which entered into force on 22 February 2017, 
is expected to generate reductions in trade costs of between 12% and 18%1 for countries (depending on level 
of development and ambition of implementation) and provide a much needed boost to global growth.2  
The OECD Trade Facilitation Indicators (TFIs)3 measure progress on the full range of issues covered under the 
TFA for more than 160 countries. They provide a targeted tool for monitoring and benchmarking country 
performance on trade facilitation,  for highlighting areas where further reform would bring benefits, and for 
assessing the impact of reforms. While not designed to assess compliance with specific TFA provisions, at the 
moment of entry into force of the TFA, the TFIs offer a snapshot of the  state of play on trade facilitation around 
the world, highlighting best practices and the main advances and challenges that countries will need to address 
on their path to implementing measures in areas covered by the Agreement.  
"Trade Facilitation and th e Global Economy” ( forthcoming ) provides updated TFIs to 2017 and important new 
evidence on the gains from trade facilitation reforms in an interconnected global economy, including how fast 
and efficient border procedures and improved delivery times affect  the operation of supply chains. Enhanced 
transparency, predictability and simplification of border procedures have the potential not only to reduce trade 
costs and promote economic efficiency but also to remove both the incentives and opportunities for co rruption.  
The updated TFIs show that, in early 2017 implementation of a wide range of trade facilitation measures falling 
under the scope of the TFA is well under way (Figure 1). For example, such good progress can be highlighted in 
the areas of advance r ulings, fees and charges and simplification and harmonization of documents. Significant 
improvements have also been achieved since 2015 in other areas such as involvement of trade community, 
automation or streamlining of procedures. The biggest challenges lie in co -operation among all the agencies 
involved in border processes, both domestically, and across borders.    
Overall, performance within income groups is far from homogeneous in most policy areas, as both high and low 
performers can be found within a ll groups. That said, a number of policy areas, such as advance rulings or 
automation, appear to be closely associated with income, which suggests that aid for trade investments in 
capacity building in these areas are likely to yield significant benefits.  
Figure 1. TFIs 2017: full sample snapshot, income groupings  
 
Note:  The shaded area depicts measures that go beyond the mandatory provisions of the TFA. The dotted 
portion of the grey line highlights the fact that all TFA provisions for external border ag ency co -operation are 
“best endeavours”. _______________  
 1 OECD (2015), “Implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement: The Potential Impact on 
Trade Costs”, http://www.oecd.org/tad/tradedev/WTO -TF-Implementation -Policy -Brief_EN_2015_06.pdf.  
 2 OECD (forthcoming), “Economy -wide effects of trade facilitation: a METRO model simulation”.  
 3 http://www.oecd.org/trade/facilitation/indicators.htm  
Source:   OECD.  
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Government Procureme nt 
3.102.   At present, the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) has 19 parties comprising 
47 WTO Members. Another 29 WTO Members participate in the GPA Committee as observers. Out 
of these, nine Members are in the process of acceding to the Agreement . Substan tive discussions 
on the accessions of Australia, Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic have taken place since the last 
report, in the hope that negotiations on these accessions might be concluded in principle in 2017. 
Constructive dialogue also took place reg arding accession to the Agreement by China. Separately, 
during the review period the Russian Federation and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 
initiated their respective GPA accessions.      
3.103.   Significant work was done by the Committee in relation to its agreed Work Programmes  
which were adopted at the time of the conclusion of the renegotiation of the Agreement in 2012 .  
The Work Programmes are intended, broadly, to: (i) promote transparency with respect to Parties' 
implementation of the Agreement; (i i) facilitate, where relevant, improvements in the 
administration of the Agreement; and (iii) contribute, where appropriate, to preparations for future 
negotiations that are called for in the revised GPA. Activity focused, in particular  on the Work 
Program mes dealing with: (i) access to government procurement  activities by small and 
medium -sized enterprises (SMEs); (ii) the collection and reporting of statistical data; (iii) 
exclusions and r estrictions in Parties' Annexes ; and (iv) the promotion of sustaina bility in Parties' 
procurement processes . An important input to the latter work programme was a Symposium which 
took place on 22 February 2017 and in which civil society representatives offered relevant 
suggestions for consideration by the Committee ( Box 3.6).  
Box 3.6 Symposium on Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP)  
The Symposium on Sustainable Procurement, organized by the WTO Secretariat at the request of the 
Committee on Government Procurement, took place on 22 February 2017. It featured inputs from diverse non -
governmental experts on sustainability issues in addition to national experts and representatives of other 
international organizations.1  
 
In the course of the Symposium:  
 
  The scope for promotion of sustainability objectives under the revised Agreement on Government 
Procurement (adopted in 2012) was highlighted.  
  The experience of several WTO Members in successfully implementing SPP projects was discussed.  
  The following dimensions of SPP  were considered : (i) protection of the environment; ( ii) social 
dimensions (e.g . human rights , working conditions) and ( iii) economic opportunities (e.g. innovation 
research/investment , open competition, supply chain competitiveness and the promotion of small 
business).   
  SPP was defined as a strategic tool, regarding which prioritisation and assessment are important at 
every stage of a procurement process.  
 
________________  
 1 All presentations are available at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/gproc_e/gp_symp_22feb17_e.htm#fnt -1 
Source: WTO Secretariat . 
3.104.   The Secretariat launched an enhanced version of its e-GPA web portal to better service  the 
information needs of GPA Parties, accession candidates and their suppliers  (https://e -
gpa.wto.org/ ). The system is intended to provide user -friendly access to Parties' market access 
schedules and other information tha t Parties provide pursuant to the Agreement, in a modern and 
interactive format. It synergizes importantly with particular elements of the revised GPA text that 
are aimed at promoting the use of electronic tools in Parties' procurement systems.  Separately,  
interest has been expressed by some Parties in exploring possibilities for  expanded use of 
electronic tools for exchanging information on actual  procurement opportunities and statistical 
data. 
3.105.   To ensure the transparency and predictability of its Parties' procurement regimes, the GPA 
sets out notification obligations for its Parties in five areas, i.e. national implementing legislation 
on government procurement; procurement thresholds in national currencies; statistics on 
procurement activities; modificatio ns to schedules of commitments; and  media for the publication 
of procurement -related information.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  3.106.   Numerous notifications were made during the reporting period pursuant to these 
requirements. Some of the foregoing obligations have been simplified in the re vised version of the 
GPA, to enable Parties to use electronic tools in providing relevant information.  
Box 3.7 Identifying Measures affecting Government Procurement  
Behind the border measures have emerged as sig nificant barriers to trade. One such measure is home -bias in 
government procurement, which refers to a government’s tendency to favour domestic suppliers over foreign 
suppliers in government procurement. This bias can be explicit, as when regulations and p olicies are written to 
favour domestic firms, but also implicit, such as when the procurement procedures do not expressly target 
foreign bidders but effectively reduce their access to procurement opportunities.  
To assist governments in identifying measures  affecting government procurement in their own - or other 
countries' - systems, the OECD has created a taxonomy of measures affecting government procurement.1  The 
taxonomy is not designed to pass judgment on the legitimacy of the public policy objectives that measures 
seek to achieve, but rather to highlight the trade impact of the measures as one element for consideration in 
policy -making and with a view to promoting consideration of less trade-restrictive  measures to achieve the 
same policy objectives.  
The taxonomy covers 44 different sub -categories of both explicit and implicit measures that can affect cross -
border procurement and provides a methodology to guide collection of information.2 The categories of explicit 
measures include, for example, market access restrictions, domestic price preferences, and local content 
requirements. The categories of implicit measures include, for example, the type of tendering system, the 
qualification or evaluation criteria for purchasing decisions, the review and compl aints mechanisms, and the 
transparency of the system, all of which - depending on how they are implemented - can deter companies 
wishing to enter a foreign GP market.  
Domestic bias in government procurement markets appears to be increasing over recent yea rs (Figure 1) in 
both developed and developing economies. These figures need to be treated with caution, however, as more 
intensive use of domestic suppliers can also reflect the fact that, first, the goods and services that 
governments procure are likely to have a higher proportion of non -tradable products and second, local 
companies can be simply better placed for certain types of services (e.g.  cleaning services).  
Figure 1 Evolution of home -bias over time  
Positive sign indicates  home -bias, which is defined as the government’s propensity to spend procurement 
funds on domestic rather than imported goods and services.  
Home bias in DevelopingHome bias in Developed
-1.0-0.50.00.51.01.52.0
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012Home bias in Government Procurement Home bias in Developing Home bias in Developed
 
Source: Gourdon and Messent 2017  
Joining the WTO GPA is found to reduce home -bias in procurement markets.  Additio nally, where procurement 
rules require local presence, access can be made more difficult by separate restrictions on FDI. The 
combination of local presence requirements and sectoral restrictions or requirements related to foreign 
investment can also increa se the burden on foreign suppliers and serve as a disincentive for contesting 
procurement opportunities.  Indeed, results show that, the effect of the GPA in reducing discrimination is 
strengthened in economies with low barriers to foreign direct investment , while trade agreements that include 
investment provisions are found to increase the impact of GPA in reducing domestic bias (Gourdon and 
Messent, 2017). This suggests that countries negotiating procurement agreements could also benefit from 
negotiating i nvestment agreements in parallel.  
_______________  
 1 OECD 2017, "Taxonomy of Measures Affecting Trade in Government Procurement Processes".  This 
work also forms part of UNCTAD MAST project.   
 2 A pilot exercise involving 6 countries showed that the incid ence of measures across countries is 
highly varied, with firms in different countries facing very different challenges in dealing with GP related 
measures.  
Source:     OECD . WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  ITA Expansion  
3.107.   Under the newly concluded WTO ITA Expansion agreement, import duties  will be 
eliminated on 201 high -tech products whose annual trade is estimated at US$1.3 trillion, 
accounting  for approximately 10% of world trade in goods. Products covered by the ITA Expansion 
include new generation multi -component integrated circuits (MC Os), touch screens, GPS 
navigation  equipment, portable interactive electronic education devices, video game consoles, and 
medical equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging products and ultrasonic scanning 
apparatus.   
3.108.   The ITA Expansion agreement will re sult in the rapid and meaningful liberalization of trade 
in new generation IT products.57 According to preliminary estimates by the WTO Secretariat, 
customs duties on 95.4% of Participants' imports on these products will be fully eliminated by 
2019. Negotia tions were conducted by 25  Participants58, representing 54 WTO Members and 
accounting for approximately 90% of world trade in these products. The ITA Expansion agreement 
is open to any other WTO Member wishing to join it. The new tariff commitments will be recorded 
in each Participant's WTO Schedule of concessions and applied on an MFN basis, which means that 
all WTO Members will benefit from duty -free market access for the covered products.  
Dispute Settlement  
3.109.   The trend in recent years of an increasing numbe r of cases being handled by the WTO 
dispute settlement system continued during the review period. Between mid -October 2016 and 
mid-May 2017, the Dispute Settlement Body received 11 new requests for consultations and 
established 10 new panels, including bas ed on earlier filed requests. Seventeen  requests submitted 
within the last two years remained in consultations at the end of the review period. As of mid -May 
2017, there were 21 active panels, Appellate Body and arbitration proceedings, while 11 
establishe d panels were awaiting composition.  
3.110.   During the review period, eight panel reports and two Appellate Body reports were 
circulated to WTO Members. In addition, Arbitrators circulated two arbitration awards on the 
reasonable period of time for implementation  under DSU Article 21.3(c). An Arbitrator in one 
dispute circulated its decision concerning the level of retaliation in proceedings brought under DSU 
Article 22.6. In terms of subject matter, a number of disputes raised claims under the GATT 
Agreement, whi le trade remedies and subsidies remained among the most actively litigated topics. 
A number of recent and on -going disputes involve complex factual and legal issues. A recent trend 
has seen the growing role of expert evidence in proceedings, in particular in disputes concerning 
the application of sanitary and phytosanitary measures. An increased focus on compliance 
proceedings was another highlight of WTO dispute settlement during the review period. As of mid -
May 2017, there were four ongoing compliance pro ceedings before panels and one before the 
Appellate Body. A high number of compliance proceedings could be an indication that 
implementing WTO rules is not always a straightforward process.  
Aid for Trade  
 
3.111.   The 2016 -2017 Aid for Trade Work Programme, themed  "Promoting Connectivity" draws 
on the results of the 2015 Global Review, which recognised the burden of high trade costs on 
developing countries, particularly LDCs, in connecting to the global trading system.   
3.112.   A key activity underpinning the work program me is the Aid for Trade monitoring and 
evaluation (M&E) exercise, carried out in partnership with the OECD. The 2016 M&E exercise 
focused on: how and why Aid for Trade priorities have changed since 2015; the status of 
implementation of the WTO TFA; e -comme rce and digital connectivity; and infrastructure 
enhancement and the improvement of related services markets through support of investment 
climate reforms. As part of the joint M&E work, the OECD tracks Aid for Trade flows. OECD figures 
highlight that over all disbursements in Aid for Trade reached US$39.8 billion in 2015.  Total 
commitments recovered after a US$1 billion drop in 2014, growing to a new high of 
US$53.8 billion in 2015.  LDC Aid for Trade commitments grew from US$13 billion in 2014 to 
                                                
57 Members implementing the ITA Expansion agreement are reflected in A nnex 1.  
58 On 9 December 2016, Macao, China joined the ITA Expansion and became the 25th Participant.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  US$17.2 billion in 2015.  Disbursements to LDCs increased from US $9.3 billion in 2014 to 
US$10.6  billion in 2015.   
3.113.   Analysis of the M&E exercise submissions will be published in the 2017 edition of the Aid 
for Trade at a Glance to be launched at t he 2017 Global Re view of Aid for  Trade , scheduled for 
11-13 July 2017 . The Global Review provides an opportunity for stakeholders to examine how Aid 
for Trade is contributing to the integration of developing countries and least developed countries 
into the multilateral tra ding system, and to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable 
Developmen t. 
Trade Financing  
3.114.   Unmet global demand for trade finance, as measured annually by the Asian Development 
Bank (ADB), with the support of several institutions, remained high and  stable at US$1.6 trillion, in 
2015, or 10 -15% of the total value of trade finance markets. Disproportionally affecting SMEs and 
developing countries, most of the gap is recorded in developing Asia, as well as in Latin America, 
Africa and the CIS countries . According to the 2016 Global Enabling Trade Report by the World 
Economic Forum, trade finance features among the top three obstacles to exporting for more than 
half of the countries in the world.  Globally, 58% of SMEs saw their trade finance requests rej ected, 
against 10% for multinational companies, according to the ADB. New types of trade finance 
providers are entering the market  and banks are digitizing their internal processes to reduce costs. 
Nevertheless, 70% of 800 surveyed firms from 91 countries were unfamiliar with digital finance.  
3.115.   With the support of WTO Members, the Director -General outlined in 2016 a number of 
possible measures aimed at addressing the challenges of accessing trade finance59, i.e. enhancing 
trade finance facilitation programmes , helping local banking sectors to grow by improving training, 
better monitoring of problems, and maintaining a closer dialogue with regulators.  
3.116.   Progress has being recorded in the past year. Multilateral development banks are in the 
process of adapting tr ade finance facilitation programmes, with a view to better respond to the 
needs of SMEs. For example, supply chain finance for SMEs has been made available by the ADB, 
and plans to increase current exposure  are being discussed. The World Bank's Internation al 
Financial Corporation (IFC) has been increasing trade finance in Africa. The Board of the African 
Development Bank decided to lift the four -year sunset clause on the Bank's trade finance 
programme, introduced in 2013, to make trade finance a regular act ivity of the Bank. The Islamic 
Development Bank has increased the amount of trade supported in its geographical area from 
US$5 to US$7  billion annually, particularly in the poorest countries of its membership. The EBRD 
has continued to expand its trade fin ance facilitation programme in North Africa. Also, synergies 
are being explored by multilateral development banks. The IFC and ADB have been exploring co -
risk sharing arrangements to provide more trade finance in Viet Nam and such partnerships are 
being co nsidered by other multilateral institutions. It is estimated that up to 8,000 trade 
transactions, involving mainly SMEs in the developing world are being facilitated by multilateral 
development banks.  
3.117.   Part of the trade finance gap reflects a knowledge gap , notably in developing countries. To 
address this, professional organizations from the private sector are strengthening their cooperation 
with multilateral development banks. For example, the International Chamber of Commerce 
e-learning Academy has starte d to cooperate with the Factoring International Association and 
other professional institutions, while obtaining support from the ADB. Private sector organizations 
are in a better position to engage now that the WTO has helped increase awareness and promot ed 
the development of the international trade finance registry.  
                                                
59 "Trade Finance and SMEs: Bridging the Gaps in Provision", see at 
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/tradefinsme_e.pdf  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Box 3.8 Developing a typology to analyse and measure digital trade  
In some ways, digital trade is not new. Digitally related transactions - in relation to goods or services - have 
been part of the landscape for many years and often raise the same, or similar, issues as non -digital 
transactions. But what is new is the scale of transactions, the pace of change and the emergence of new 
players transfo rming production processes and industries. In this fast -evolving environment, governments are 
facing growing regulatory challenges, not just in managing digital disruption, but also in ensuring that the 
opportunities and benefits from digital trade can be realised and shared in an inclusive manner.   
 The digital transformation is increasingly changing how and what we trade. Digitally enabled trade is not just 
about digitally delivered services, it is also about supply -chain trade in goods and services enab led through 
growing digital connectivity increasing access to foreign markets for firms, not least SMEs, in a way that would 
previously have been unimaginable. It is also about more bundled goods (packages of goods or services or 
both and services embodied  in goods); growing trade in smaller, often lower value physical packages and in 
digitally delivered services; and increased trade in emerging  ‘information industries’ providing at -a-distance 
‘big data’ analytics or quantum computing services.1 
 
Digital tr ade is underpinned by data flows.  In addition to being at the core of innovations such as cloud 
computing, the Internet of Things and Additive manufacturing (including  3D printing), data flows also 
underpin trade less directly by enabling control and coo rdination along global value chains (GVCs) or by 
enabling trade facilitation measures. Data flows are thus a means of production, an asset that can be traded, a 
way of delivering some services, and the means of organising GVCs.  
 
Broadly cast, digital  trade  encompasses digitally enabled transactions in goods and services which can be 
either digitally or physically delivered and which involve consumers, firms and governments. A flexible and 
modular typology can help unpack the How (physically or digitally del ivered); the What (good or service) and 
the Who (the actors) of digital trade, and serve as a tool for thinking through trade policy and measurement 
issues (Figure 1). 
Figure 1: Towards a flexible typology of digital trade  
 
 
 
Digital trade raises a number  of trade policy issues. For example, the significant growth in trade in small 
packages ordered online poses challenges from both a trade facilitation and revenue point of view, with 
countries looking again at de minimis  thresholds and the management of pa rcel trade. A range of issues for 
market openness can arise from the combination of goods and services trade along the digital trade supply 
chain.  And with the movement of data across borders to digital trade, the organisation of GVCs and trade 
facilitati on, policy -makers face new challenges in finding policy approaches that combine the need for privacy 
and security with the significant benefits of open markets . Critically, more needs to be done to ensure that 
countries at different stages of development a re able to fully benefit from the new opportunities from 
digitalisation.  
 
Measuring digital trade is also challenging. The flow of funds across a border may be classified differently from 
the service provided; for example, the flow of funds from a ride -sharing platform operating cross -border may 
appear as a financial or an intermediation service, while the service delivered is a transport service.  Other 
issues can arise for social media platforms which earn revenue through advertising services, based on d ata 
from consumers to whom they are providing a "free" service (i.e., the flows from their clients do not result in a 
monetary transaction but can support one). Progress has been made, and further efforts are underway to 
better identify which goods and ser vices transactions are digitally ordered, platform enabled or digitally 
delivered.  
_______________  
  1Lopez -Gonzalez, J and Jouanjean, MA. (2017) « Digital Trade : developing a framework for 
analysis” OECD Trade Policy Papers, OECD publishing, Paris  
Sourc e: OECD.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  4  POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE IN SERVICES  
4.1.  Several new measures affecting trade in services were introduced during the period covered 
by this report.  Most of the new measures are either horizontal in nature – relating to measures 
affecting the sup ply of services through commercial presence and the movement of natural 
persons – or pertain to financial services and the communication sector.  While the majority of the 
measures covered provide for additional liberalization or aim to strengthen or clari fy regulatory 
frameworks, certain other measures appear more trade restrictive.  Annex 4 provides additional 
information on all these measures, which concern 36 WTO Members.   
Measures affecting supply through commercial presence  
 
4.2.  Various governments have introduced changes to their investment policy that affect the 
supply of services through commercial presence.  For example, the governments of Egypt, 
Myanmar, and Tunisia each adopted new investment laws, generally aiming to improve the 
investment climate,  attract more foreign investment, and clarify and streamline procedures.  
Myanmar's Investment Law , for instance , effective since 1 April 2017, subject only selected 
investment proposals to government screening.  In Tunisia, the new investment law increase s the 
number of sectors open to foreign investment and makes it easier for investors to hire foreign 
managing personnel.  In Egypt, the new law will, among other things, reduce documentary 
requirements on investors and ease restrictions on the employment o f foreign employees in 
investment projects.  For these three countries, additional regulations will need to be issued to 
further specify important aspects in the application of the new investment regimes.   
4.3.  In addition,  Kenya repealed a provision that requ ired companies established in the country to 
have at least 30% of their shareholding held by Kenyan citizens.   Viet Nam amended its list of 
'conditional business lines' pursuant to its Law on Investment, removing a number of services from 
the list and addi ng a number of other activities.  Such conditional business lines are subject to 
additional investment conditions.   For its part, China adopted a number of distinct measures 
aiming to promote investment in several sectors and regions.  This includes the cr eation of new 
free trade zones providing for better treatment of foreign investment, as well as the adoption of 
revised rules with respect to priority industries for foreign investment in the Central and Western 
regions.  
4.4.  A number of other countries, for ex ample Brazil and Colombia, introduced amendments in 
relation to registration and other requirements related to foreign investments.  For its part, the 
Democratic Republic of Congo adopted a law that reserves sub -contracting by established 
multinational com panies to domestically -owned enterprises.   The same country removed 
restrictions that made it difficult for women to engage in commercial activities.   
Services supplied through the movement of natural persons  
 
4.5.  Various Members adopted new measures affecting  the supply of services through the 
movement of natural persons.  For example, Australia announced in April 2017 that its  "457 visa" 
for temporary work by skilled foreign workers would be abolished in March 2018 and replaced by a 
new Temporary Skill Shorta ge (TSS) visa.  Implementation of this reform is taking place in 
different stages.  From 19 April 2017, the occupation lists that underpin the 457 visa have been 
condensed from 651 to 435 occupations.  
4.6.  France has adopted new measures in relation to intra -corporate transferees, providing in 
particular for the creation of "ICT Mobile Permits", which allow foreign nationals holding an intra -
corporate transferee permit in one EU Member State to work temporarily in France without the 
need to obtain a new work per mit.  India introduced improvements to its visa schemes.  It 
expanded the number of countries eligible under its e -Visa programme, which allows entering the 
country for up to 60 days for business visits and other specific activities, and launched a new 
"intern visa" category.  For its part, the Republic of Korea issued new guidelines that limit the use 
of the Short Term Travellers Visa to non -profit activities.  All for -profit activities, including the 
supply of services pursuant to a contract, require an e mployment visa before entry.   
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  4.7.  Switzerland has increased by 1 ,000 its maximum number of work permits for highly qualified 
workers from non -EU and non -EFTA countries for 2017, compared to the previous year.  This 
brings the total of such work permits to 7 ,500.  Half of the additional work permits are for short 
stays (L permit) and the other half for long stays (B permits).  These 1 ,000 additional work 
permits are held as a federal reserve by the Confederation in order to meet, on request, further 
needs from  the cantons.  Kazakhstan introduced a number of modifications to existing laws 
relating to migration and foreign employment, including the removal a quota on intra -corporate 
transferees.   
Communication services  
 
4.8.   Several Members have adopted new measures  in relation to the communication sector or 
broader frameworks relating to electronic transactions and data.  For instance, Argentina 
established rules and standards with respect to the convergence between television, 
telecommunication, and information tec hnology services, the European Union adopted a new 
Directive on security of network and information systems, and the United States adopted a new 
measure easing the capacity of Internet Service Providers to commercialize user data.  Indonesia, 
for its part,  issued a new regulation on data protection, which, among other things, requires 
electronic system providers to have data centres located in Indonesia and sets out procedures for 
cross-border data transfers, which are subject to coordination with the respo nsible Ministry.        
4.9.  In China, a new Cybersecurity Law, effective since 1 June 2017, requires "personal 
information and important data" collected and generated in China to be stored domestically.  
Security assessments by authorities will be conducted in  relation to information and data 
transferred abroad because of business requirements.  China also adopted a new Film Industry 
Promotion Law that sets out new requirements and procedures in relation to the production, 
distribution, review, and exhibition o f feature films in China.  For instance, the law requires local 
theatre operators to ensure that the screening time for Chinese films is no less than two -thirds of 
the annual screening time of all films.   
4.10.   The Russian Federation adopted, on 1 May 2017, a l aw that limits foreign participation in 
certain audiovisual services.  The new measure applies to systems that distribute collections of 
audiovisual works online, provided they have more than 100 ,000 users per day in the Russian 
Federation and that they of fer content for a fee or conditional on viewing advertising targeted at 
residents of the Russian Federation.  The law provides that only a Russian legal entity or a Russian 
Federation citizen that does not hold the citizenship of another state can own such  systems.  
Foreign persons that own an information resource used for online distribution of collections of 
audiovisual works that has less than 50% of its users in the Russian Federation are not allowed to 
own more than 20% of the capital of such Russian l egal entities, unless permission is received 
from a government commission. The law will not apply to Internet search systems or information 
resources that primarily distribute content posted by individual Internet users.  
Financial services  
 
4.11.   Various policy changes took place in the financial services sector.  For instance, as regards 
insurance, Thailand liberalized foreign shareholding limits for life and non -life insurance 
companies. Foreign insurance companies in Thailand may be permitted, under certain co nditions, 
to hold more than 49% of the voting shares of a Thai insurance company and to have foreigners 
comprise more than half of its directors.  
4.12.   Argentina adopted a new resolution easing limits on the cross -border supply of reinsurance 
and retrocession se rvices.  Insurance companies will be allowed to place their risks directly with 
Admitted Reinsurers (cross -border reinsurers) according to the following scheme: up to 50% of 
their ceded premiums for contracts beginning 1 July 2017; up to 60% of their ceded  premiums for 
contracts beginning on 1 July 2018; up to 75% of ceded premiums for contracts beginning on 1 
July 2019.  Brazil also introduced new liberalization measures for the reinsurance market.   
Regulations increased to 70% the percentage of risks tha t can be ceded to foreign reinsurers. This 
figure will continue to increase each year until it reaches 85% in 2020. Previously, reinsurance 
allocation required preferential offers to the local market.  
4.13.   Indonesia announced that it will limit foreign ownershi p in insurance companies to 80%.  
The amended regulations will be applied to established companies with foreign ownership below WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 75 - 
  80% and to new insurance companies.  For existing insurance companies where foreign ownership 
currently exceeds 80%, adjustments  would not be required, except in the context of new capital 
injections.  Since 16 January 2017, e very insurer in India must comply with the order of 
preference for cessions by Indian insurers prescribed by Regulation 28(9) of the Branch Office 
Regulations . The order of preference contained in the regulation sets out the hierarchy between 
the various entities with which an Indian insurer can place its reinsurance business. The 
regulations specify that an Indian insurer is first required to approach India's official reinsurer GIC 
Re before reaching out to the branch operations of foreign reinsurers. After exhausting these two 
channels, insurers are allowed to approach reinsurers located in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), 
Indian primary insurers, and, lastly, r einsurers located outside the country.   In Kenya, since 1 
January 2017, marine cargo insurance (MCI) is reserved to local insurance companies.  
4.14.   With respect to banking and other financial services, China eased approval requirements for 
foreign -owned banks  to supply some investment banking services in the country and to invest in 
domestic banking institutions.  Approval from the China Banking Regulation Commission (CBRC) is 
no longer required for foreign -invested banks (which include foreign -invested legal entity banks 
and onshore branches of foreign banks) to provide the following services:  underwriting of treasury 
bonds, custodian services, and financial advisory and consultancy services (beyond that which is 
only related to traditional banking).  Instead , foreign -invested banks are now only required to 
report to CBRC within five days upon commencement of the relevant business, subject to the 
administrative approval of other regulatory authorities where applicable.  For its part, Indonesia 
imposes since 15  November 2016 a 20% limit on foreign ownership of enterprises that supply 
electronic payment processing services.  The limit applies to ( i) new enterprises in the electronic 
payment services sector, ( ii) existing enterprises that expand into this sector, and ( iii) enterprises 
already active in the sector that experience a change of ownership.  
Other Services Sectors  
 
4.15.   Only a few policy changes over the review period touched on sectors not mentioned above.  
These mostly concerned the transport sector, where, for example, Vanuatu, a LDC, adopted its 
new Maritime Sector Regulatory Act.  The new law establishes an independent regulator for the 
maritime transport sector, which will oversee the safety and security of Vanuatu's shipping and 
ports, and regulate to en sure fair and equitable access to Vanuatu's port services.   In addition, the 
Kingdom of Bahrain took new measures permitting up to 100% foreign ownership in domestic 
tourist transport services, and up to 49% foreign ownership in certain other transport ser vices.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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  Box 4.1 SMEs and the cost of services trade restrictions  
Smaller and less experienced exporters face a heavier cost burden in more restrictive regulatory environments.  
Fixed trade costs are difficult to  absorb for firms that export modest amounts, as such costs cannot be spread 
over a large volume of foreign sales.  Yet more and more often, small and young firms seek growth 
opportunities abroad in response to lower domestic demand and rising scale econom ies in the digital world.  
A common way of quantifying the impact of trade policies is to convert indicators such as the OECD’s Services 
Trade Restrictiveness Index (STRI) into ad valorem  trade cost equivalents. For cross -border exports, an 
average level o f services trade -restrictiveness represents larger trade costs for smaller firms - - up to an 
additional 14% relative to large firms with turnovers of €400 million and over (Figure  1a).  Establishing an 
affiliate abroad involves an even wider range of sunk and fixed costs.  For instance, for a medium -sized firm of 
€5 million in turnover selling specialised services through foreign affiliates, an average level of services trade -
restrictiveness is estimated to be equivalent to an additional 19% tariff compared to large firms (Figure  1b). 
Opening up services markets would primarily benefit SMEs, which are responsible for the greater part of new 
job creation.  Reducing the costs of market entry would therefore help improve the inclusiveness of services 
trade by allowing more SMEs to take up global opportunities.   
Figure 1. Additional trade cost of regulatory restrictions for SMEs  
Estimated additional tariff equivalent of an STRI of 0.2 compared to large firms of €400 million or more  
 
Notes:  The numbers indicate the ad valorem  tariff equivalent of an STRI score of 0.2 for s mall and medium -
sized enterprises on top of what is paid by firms of EUR 400  million and more in turnover. Specialised services 
correspond to an import demand elasticity of -1.5, and standardised services to an import demand elasticity of 
-5. 
Source:  OECD;  see OECD  (2017),  Services Trade Policies and the Global Economy , OECD Publishing, Paris. 
 http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264275232 -en and Rouzet, D., S. Benz and F. Spinelli (2017), 
 “Trading firms and trading costs in services”, OECD Trade Policy Papers , forthcoming.  
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  5  POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE AND INTELLE CTUAL PROPERTY  
5.1.  The period under review saw some important developments in the a rea of TRIPS.  
5.2.  The Amendment to the TRIPS Agreement entered into force on 23 January 2017, add ing 
Article  31bis, as well as an Annex and an Appendix to the text of the Agreement. This is a key 
milestone, marking the first amendment to a multilateral trade agreement, since the creation of 
the WTO in 1995. The Amendment follows the 2005 Decision60 to amend the TRIPS Agreement in 
order to address public health needs of developing and least -developed country Members by 
providing an additional legal pathway for t he export of low cost generic medicines under a 
compulsory licence tailored specifically for export. The amended TRIPS Agreement applies to all 
Members who have currently accepted the Amendment .61 Members who are yet to accept the 
Amendment  have until 31 De cember 2017 to do  so; in the meantime the Decision of 200362 
continues  to apply.   
5.3.  During the review period, the linkage between intellectual property (IP) and trade continued 
to consolidate , as evidenced by  the entry into force of laws clearly linked to tra de in goods and 
services  (see for example the "Swissness Legislation" in Box 5.1 ); as well as the implementation 
and further development of national policies aimed at streamlining IP into the economy. 
Technological innovation, new business models and the n eed to enforce intellectual property rights 
in the e -commerce ecosystem are consolidating the relation of IP with trade and economic 
development.  
Box 5.1 IP Policy Initiatives – Two Examples  
Swissness Legislatio n – Entry into Force1 
 
The "Swissness" legislation strengthens protection for the "Made in Switzerland" designation and the Swiss 
cross, domestically and with a view to law enforcement abroad. The core of the bill establishes precise rules in 
the Trade Mar k Protection Act concerning the conditions under which a product or service may be labelled as 
being Swiss. The possibility of registering non -agricultural geographical indications of source in a new register, 
on the basis of it being a geographical mark ( for example, ‘Genève’ for watches), allows interested industries 
to obtain an official IP right in Switzerland. The "Swissness" legislation was passed in September 2015 by the 
Swiss Federal Council and came into force on 1 January 2017.  
 
South Africa's IP National Policy – Recent Developments2 
 
South Africa is in the process of developing a National IP Policy with the objective of ensuring a coordinated 
and balanced approach to provide effective protection of intellectual property rights and, at the same ti me, 
responds to the country’s socio -economic dynamic s and developmental objectives.  
_______________  
 1 https://www.ige.ch/en/indications -of-source/swissness.html . 
2 Submission by So uth Africa to the WTO Trade Monitoring Report.  
Source:  WTO Secretariat.  
5.4.  The network of bilateral and regional trade agreements that contain  specific  IP provisions 
continues to expand. As of May 2017, the WTO RTA Database contains 151 RTAs that incorporate  
IP-related provisions63, including for example , on: enforcement measures applied at the border or 
covering the online environment; examination and administration of industrial property rights; the 
scope of rights accorded to IP holders; and the substantive  standards defining the eligibility for 
protection of certain forms of IP subject matter. Substantive provisions in RT As continue to evolve, 
as some recent agreements also cover e-commerce, exhaustion of IPRs and provide for 
competition policy measures tha t may have  implications for the IP system . 
TRIPS Council  
5.5.  Health -related issues took prominence in the meetings of the TRIPS Council in 
November  2016 and in January and March 2017. The January 2017 high -level meeting was 
                                                
60 WT/L/641  
61 See https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/amendment_e.htm . 
62 WT/L/540 and its Corr.1 . 
63 This total includes CETA, as it is already in the WTO RTA DB list of early announcements.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 78 - 
 
  dedicated to the entry into force of  the Amendment of the TRIPS Agreement. Members welcomed 
the entry into force and encouraged those Members that had not yet accepted the Amendment to 
do so as soon as possible.  
5.6.  At the November 2016 and March 2017 meetings, Members exchanged views on the Un ited 
Nations High Level Panel Report on Access to Medicines .64 Some Members referenced the 
recommendations in this Report, including making full use of TRIPS flexibilities, while others 
highlighted the need for a coherent and holistic approach recognizing t he role of intellectual 
property rights in the development of new medicines. Additionally, Members acknowledged the 
need to focus work on how to effectively implement the Amendment to the TRIPS Agreement.  
5.7.  Debate continued on the possibility of non-violatio n and situation complaints  under the TRIPS 
Agreement, as per the directions of the WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference65 and Article 63.3 of the 
Agreement itself. Members expressed their long -standing positions and also discussed the need to 
engage in factual  analysis and work towards a permanent solution.  
5.8.  Discussions on the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce continued , at the request of 
Canada;66 as well as Brazil and other co -sponsors .67 Members highlighted the importance of IP in 
e-commerce a nd its benefi ts for innovative technologies, ideas and business models, including its 
role in trade and development.  Some Members expressed support for focused e -commerce 
discussions on the protection of copyrights and related rights, trademarks and access to 
technolog y.  
5.9.  The TRIPS Council has always given importance to the work on t ransparency. During the 
review period , 13 Members68 notified legislative measures under Ar ticle 63.2. Some of these 
measures were briefly introduced during the meetings which provided insight s into recent 
legislative changes in several areas, including  copyrights  and related rights; trademarks; use of 
country brands; geographical indications; protection of specific agricultural, forestry and fishery 
products; industrial designs and models; pat ents; compulsory licences; trade secrets; integrated 
circuits; plant variety protection; anticompetitive practices; enforcement as well as procedural IP 
registration updates such as fees and electronic filing and accession to WIPO Treaties.  
5.10.   Additionally, t he TRIPS Council concluded its review of the implementing legislation 
submitted by St. Kitts and Nevis and the Seychelles and continued with the review of Kazakhstan. 
As part of the review of national implementing legislation, th e European Union and the 
United States presented their respective trade secret legislation, highlighting the vital role of trade 
secrets to foster innovation and to protect the exchange of knowledge between different economic 
actors.  El  Salvador and Switzerland shared information o n their system s for the protection of 
geographical indication, which  had led them to  prepare and update their respective checklists.  
5.11.   Members cont inued to share their experiences on regional innovation models; as well as on 
experience sharing between micro , small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other companies , 
including  academia and government entities , to foster inclusive innovation . Delegations  converged 
on the need for  better understanding the economic links between the IP regime and innovation; 
providing legal certainty for businesses and investors; cross border collaboration in research and 
development ; fostering academic -public -private partnerships; recognizing IP as a key element in 
support of collaborative innovation and cross -sectoral partnershi ps; and, the role of open trade 
and investment regimes in support of innovation and economic growth.  
TRIPS -Related Discussions in Trade Policy Reviews  
5.12.   During the review period, the Trade Policy Reviews of  11 Members69 included discussions on 
a wide range o f IP issues with bearing on trade policy . In particular , the discussion touched upon 
                                                
64 See a t http://www.unsgaccessmeds.org/final -report/  
65 WT/MIN/(15)/41 and WT/L/976.  
66 IP/C/W/613 /Add.1.  
67 JOB/IP/19 to JOB/IP/22.  
68 Bahrain , Kingdom of;  Brunei Darussalam ; Canada ; China; Croatia ; Ecuador; Greece; Japan; 
Madagascar ; Mexico ; Moldova, Rep. of;  Monte negro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.  
69 Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Salomon Islands, United States of America, 
Sierra Leone, Japan, Mexico, Belize, Mozambique and Switzerland/Liechtenstein.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 79 - 
  exhaustion  regimes ; copyright s and related rights; copyright protection in the digital environment;  
statutory licences; collective management of copyright trademarks ; geographical marks ; 
opposition procedures; implementation of standard essential patents ; patent quality;  compulsory 
licences; trade secrets; protection of plant varieties; anticompetitive practices; enforcement 
measures online and at the border; ex officio  border procedures; adjudication procedures;  judicial 
review of administrative decisions; national IP strategies; an d ratification of WIPO Treaties .WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 80 - 
 
  ANNEX 1  
MEASURES FACILITATING TRADE1 
(MID-OCTOBER 2016 to MID -MAY 2017)  
Confirmed information2 
Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Argentina  
Temporary reduction of import tariffs (to 2%) on disperse dyes 
and preparations based thereon (NCM 3204.11.00), under an 
import quota of 1,000 tonnes; and on paper and paperboard of 
the kind used for writing, printing or other graphi c purposes, of 
which more than 10% by weight of the total fibre content 
consists of fibres obtained by a mechanical or chemi -
mechanical process (NCM 4810.19.90), under an import quota 
of 2,500 tonnes  Permanent Delegation 
of Argentina to the 
WTO (21 April 2 017) Effective 
7 December 2016 
for 12 months  
Further extension of the deadlines (from 1,825 calendar days 
to 3,650 calendar days) for exporters to register foreign 
currency originating from export operations (all NCM Chapters) 
with the financial system  Permanent Delegation 
of Argentina to the 
WTO (30 May 2017); 
Resolución Secretaría 
de Comercio No. 
47-E/2017 Ministerio 
de Producción 
(19 January 2017); and 
WTO document 
WT/TPR/OV/19, 
21 November 2016  Effective  
19 January 2017  
Elimination of import tariffs on 72 informatics and 
telecommunication tariff lines (NCM 8443; 8471; 8473; 8517; 
8523; 8531; 8541; 8542; 8543; 8471)  Permanent Delegation 
of Argentina to the 
WTO (30 May 2017) 
and Decreto 
No. 117/2017 Comercio 
Exterior (17 February 
2017)    
Elimination of  export duties on hydrocarbons  Permanent Delegation 
of Argentina to the 
WTO (30 May 2017)  Effective  
7 January 2017  
Termination on 4 May 2017 of "reference values" for exports of 
natural honey (NCM 0409.00.00), to certain specified 
destinations (effectiv e 24 November 2015)  Permanent Delegation 
of Argentina to the 
WTO (21 April 2017) 
and Administración 
Federal de Ingresos 
Públicos - Resolución 
General No. 4038 -E  
(2 May 2017)  Effective  
4 May 2017  
Australia  
Reduction of import tariffs under the Expansion  of the 
Information Technology Agreement (ITA) (136 tariff lines at 
6-digit level, in HS Chapters 32; 35; 37; 39; 49; 59; 84; 85; 
88; 90; 95)  WTO document 
G/MA/W/117/Add.1 -24, 
26 January 2016  Effective  
1 January 2017, 
with all covered 
tariffs to be phased  
out by no later than 
1 July 2019  
                                                
1 The inclusion of any measure in this Annex implies no judgement by the WTO Secretariat on whether 
or not such me asure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature. Moreover, nothing in the Annex implies any 
judgement, either direct or indirect, on the consistency of any measure referred to with the provisions of any 
WTO agreement.  
2 This Section includes information which has either been provided by the Member concerned or has 
been confirmed at the request of the Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
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  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Brazil  
Temporary reduction (to 2%) of import tariffs  on 538 capital 
goods tariff lines (NCM Chapters 84; 85; 86; 87; 89; 90) and 
45 informatics and telecommunications goods tariff lines, 
through the "ex -out" regime (mech anism designed to 
temporarily reduce import tariffs on capital goods and 
informatics and telecommunications equipment not locally 
produced)  Camex Resolutions 
Nos. 107/2016, 
108/2016 (31 October 
2016) and 113/2016, 
114/2016 
(23 November 2016)  Effective as o f 
October 2016/ 
November 2016 
until 30 June 2018  
Temporary reduction (to 2%) of import tariffs on an aqueous 
solution (soda lye or liquid soda) (NCM 2815.12.00), under an 
import quota of 180,000 tonnes (effective 10 November 2016 
to 9 November 2017); cert ain printing ink (NCM 3215.19.00), 
under an import quota of 924 tonnes (effective 10 November 
2016 to 9 November 2017); polycarbonates (NCM 
3907.40.90), under an import quota of 35,040 tonnes 
(effective 10 November 2016 to 9 November 2017); 
poly(ethylene t erephthalate)  (NCM 3907.60.00), under an 
import quota of 20,000 tonnes (effective 10 November 2016 to 
9 November 2017);  other amino -resins (NCM 3909.30.20), 
under an import quota of 105,000 tonnes (effective 
10 November 2016 to 9 November 2017); other pl astics of 
poly(vinyl butyral) (NCM 3920.91.00), under an import quota 
of 11,130,250 kg (effective 10 November 2011 to 9 November 
2017); certain synthetic filament yarn (NCM 5402.47.10), 
under an import quota of 2,200 tonnes (effective 10 November 
2016 to 9  November 2017); acrylic or modacrylic synthetic 
filament yarn (NCM 5501.30.00), under an import quota of 
4,800 tonnes (effective 10 November 2016 to 9 November 
2017); malt, not roasted (NCM 1107.10.10), under an import 
quota of 156,531 tonnes (effective 2 8 November 2016 to 
27 November 2017); sardines (NCM 0303.53.00), under an 
import quota of 80,000 tonnes (effective 15 December 2016 to 
14 December 2017). Temporary elimination of import tariffs on 
antisera and other blood fractions ( soroalbumina humana ) 
(NCM 3002.10.37), under an import quota of 556,080 flasks of 
10 g (effective 10 November 2016 to 9 September 2017); 
vaccines for human medicine (NCM 3002.20.29), under an 
import quota of 2,250,000 doses (effective 10 November 2016 
to 8 May 2017)  Permanent De legation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017); Camex 
Resolutions Nos. 
109/2016, 110/2016 
(8 November 2016), 
123/2016 
(23 November 2016) 
and 138/2016 
(29 December 2016); 
and Secex Portarias 
Nos. 47/2016 
(11 November 2016) 
49/2016 and 50/2016 
(29 November 2016 ) Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 82 - 
 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Temporary reduction (to 2%) of import tariffs on isocyanates 
(NCM 2929.10.10), under an import quota of 23,000 tonnes 
(effective 11 January 2017 to 10 January 2018); hop cones, 
ground, powdered or in the form o f pellets, lupulin (NCM 
1210.20.10), under an import quota of 1,800 tonnes (effective 
23 January 2017 to 22 January 2018); methylamine, di or 
trimethylamine and their salts (NCM 2921.11.21), under an 
import quota of 12,000 tonnes (effective 23 January 2017  to 
22 January 2018); certain isocyanates (NCM 2929.10.30), 
under an import quota of 1,000 tonnes (effective 23 January 
2017 to 22 January 2018); disodium sulphate (NCM 
2833.11.10), under an import quota of 910,000 tonnes 
(effective 23 January 2017 to 22 J anuary 2018); black printing 
ink  (NCM 3215.11.00), under an import quota of 396 tonnes 
(effective 23 January 2017 to 22 January 2018); polyamide -6 
or 6,6 (NCM 3908.10.24), under an import quota of 5,400 
tonnes (effective 23 January 2017 to 22 January 2018 ); other 
yarn, single, of viscose rayon, untwisted or with a twist not 
exceeding 120 turns per metre (NCM 5403.31.00), under an 
import quota of 625 tonnes (effective 22 February 2017 to 
21 August 2017); unwrought nickel, not alloyed ( catodos ) 
(NCM 7502.10. 10), under an import quota of 3,600 tonnes 
(effective 23 January 2017 to 22 July 2017); rectangular 
(including square) plates, sheets and strip of a thickness 
exceeding 0.2 mm of aluminium alloys  (NCM 7606.12.90), 
under an import quota of 600 tonnes (effe ctive 23 January 
2017 to 22 July 2017); aluminium foil, not backed, rolled but 
not further worked (NCM 7607.11.90), under an import quota 
of 2,137 tonnes (effective 1 February 2017 to 31 January 
2018); certain rectangular plates, sheets and strip of a 
thickness exceeding 0.2 mm of aluminium alloys (NCM 
7606.12.90), under an import quota of 2,937 tonnes (effective 
1 February 2017 to 31 January 2018); coffee, not roasted and 
not decaffeinated ( variedade Conilon ) (NCM 0901.11.10), 
under an import quota of 60,0 00 tonnes. Temporary 
elimination of import tariffs on vaccines for human medicine 
(Hepatite A ) (NCM 3002.20.29), under an import quota of 
2,250,000 doses (effective 10 May 2017 to 9 November 2017); 
vaccines for human medicine ( Papilomavirus Humano ) (NCM 
3002.20.29), under an import quota of 3,000,000 doses 
(effective 22 February 2017 to 21 August 2017); vaccines for 
human medicine ( tetano ) (NCM 3002.20.27), under an import 
quota of 2,500,000 doses (effective 22 February 2017 to 
21 August 2017); cotton, not carded or combed (NCM 
5201.00.20), under an import quota of 75,000 tonnes 
(effective 21 February 2016 to 31 July 2017)  Permanent Delegation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017); Camex 
Resolutions Nos. 
123/2016 
(23 November 2016), 
1/2017  
(19 January 2017), 
14/2017 and 15/2017 
(17 February 2017); 
and Secex Portarias 
Nos. 2/2017  
(10 January 2017) 
5/2017, 6/2017, 
7/2017, 8/2017 
(24 January 2017) and 
11/2017  
(22 February 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Temporary reduction (to 2%) of import ta riffs on 1,022 capital 
goods tariff lines (NCM Chapters 84; 85; 86; 90; 94) and 66 
informatics and telecommunications goods tariff lines, and 
temporary elimination of import tariffs on 3 capital goods tariff 
lines, through the "ex -out" regime  Permanent Del egation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017), Camex 
Resolutions Nos. 
133/2016, 134/2016 
(22 December 2016), 
18/2017, 19/2017 
(17 February 2017) 
27/2017, 28/2017 
(29 March 2017) and 
37/2017, 38/2017 
(5 May 2017)  Effective as of 
December 2016/ 
February 2017/ 
March 2017 until 
31 December 2018  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 83 - 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Temporary reduction (to 2%) of import tariffs on artificial 
staple fibres of viscose rayon, not carded, combed or otherwise 
processed for spinning (NCM 5504.10.00), under an import 
quota of 40,000 tonnes (effective 9 March  2017 to 8 March 
2018); on titanium oxides (NCM 2823.00.10), under an import 
quota of 8,000 tonnes (effective 24 April 2017 to 23 April 
2018); on mono -acids, their salts and esters (NCM 
2915.40.10), under an import quota of 4,500 tonnes (effective 
24 April  2017 to 23 April 2018); on lignin sulphonates (NCM 
3804.00.20), under an import quota of 72,000 tonnes 
(effective 24 April 2017 to 23 April 2018); on other film of 
polymers of propylene (NCM 3920.20.19), under an import 
quota of 600 tonnes (effective 24 A pril 2017 to 23 April 2018)  Permanent Delegation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017), Camex 
Resolutions Nos. 
21/2017 (8 March 
2017) and 30/2017 
(20 April 2017), and 
Secex Portarias Nos. 
12/2017 (9 March 
2017) and 15/2017 
(24 April 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Establishment of the "International Logistic Operator" as a 
legal entity to facilitate activities related to customs clearance, 
cargo procedures, licensing requirements and storage of 
imported goods on behalf of SMEs  Permanent Dele gation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017)    
Establishment of the "International Logistic Operator" as a 
legal entity to facilitate activities related to customs clearance, 
cargo procedures, licensing requirements and storage of 
exported goods on behalf of  SMEs  Permanent Delegation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017)    
Temporary reduction (to 2%) of import tariffs on sardines 
(NCM 0303.53.00), under an import quota of 60,000 tonnes; 
on plastics of poly(vinyl butyral) (NCM 3920.91.00), under an 
import quota  of 11,130.25 tonnes; on acrylic or modacrylic 
(NCM 5501.30.00), under an import quota of 4,800 tonnes; 
and on other amino -resins (NCM 3909.31.00), under an import 
quota of 105,000 tonnes  Permanent Delegation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017), Camex 
Resol ution No. 34/2017 
(5 May 2017), and 
Secex Portaria No. 
16/2017 (8 May 2017)  Effective  
7 May 2017 to  
8 May 2018  
Temporary reduction of import tariffs (to 2%) on certain 
products, i.e. palm kernel (NCM 1513.29.10), under an import 
quota of 224,785 tonnes;  diphenylmethane diisocyanate  (NCM 
2929.10.10), under an import quota of 23,000 tonnes; 
amethrin   (NCM 2933.69.91), under an import quota of 7,500 
tonnes; certain enzymes  (NCM 3507.90.49), under an import 
quota of 4,000 tonnes; chemical preparations for ph otographic 
uses (NCM 3707.90.21), under an import quota of 1,700 
tonnes; polymers of vinyl chloride (NCM 3904.90.00), under an 
import quota of 3,794 tonnes; polyamide -6 or polyamide -6,6 
without load (NCM 3908.10.24), under an import quota of 
7,000 tonnes; high tenacity yarn of polyesters  (NCM 
5402.20.00), under an import quota of 7,000 tonnes; synthetic 
filament yarn (NCM 5402.46.00), under an import quota of 
33,000 tonnes; non -electrical articles of graphite or other 
carbon (NCM 6815.10.90), under an impor t quota of 200 
tonnes;  and certain electrical apparatus (NCM 8535.90.00), 
under an import quota of 500 units. Temporary elimination of 
import tariffs on antisera (NCM 3002.12.36), under an import 
quota of 556,080 doses of 10 g, and certain immunological 
products (NCM 3002.13.00), under an import quota of 500 g  Permanent Delegation 
of Brazil to the WTO 
(29 May 2017), Camex 
Resolution No.  39 
(10 May 2017) and 
Secex Portaria 
No. 19/2017  
(12 May 2017)  Effective  
11 May 2017 to  
10 May 2018  
Canada  
Elimination  of import tariffs on 200 products used as agro -food 
processing ingredients (HS Chapters 07; 08; 09; 10; 11; 12; 
15; 16; 18; 19; 21; 22; 33; 35; 99)  Permanent Delegation 
of Canada to the WTO 
(29 May 2017)  Effective  
16 January 2017  
China  
VAT rebate rates  increased (to 17%) on exports of certain 
products, e.g. cameras, video cameras, internal combustion 
engines, gasoline, aviation kerosene and diesel  Permanent Delegation 
of China to the WTO 
(29 May 2017)  Effective 
1 November 2016  
Measures to facilitate t rade through the implementation of the 
Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and 
Quarantine Single Window for international trade (import)  Permanent Delegation 
of China to the WTO 
(29 May 2017)  Effective  
20 March 2017  
Measures to facilitate tr ade through the implementation of the 
Administration of Quality Supervision Inspection and 
Quarantine Single Window for international trade (export)  Permanent Delegation 
of China to the WTO 
(29 May 2017)  Effective  
20 March 2017  
Colombia  
Implementation o f an import tariff of 15% on ground -nuts 
(maníes - cacahuetes ) (HS 1202.42.00) (removed from the 
Andean Price Band  System)  Permanent Delegation 
of Colombia to the 
WTO (21 April 2017)  Effective  
24 October 2016  
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 84 - 
 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Various measures to enhance customs procedu res and 
facilitate the flow of goods (import)  
 Permanent Delegation 
of Colombia to the 
WTO (21 April 2017)   
Various measures to enhance customs procedures and 
facilitate the flow of goods (export)  
 Permanent Delegation 
of Colombia to the 
WTO (21 April 201 7)  
Congo, Democratic Republic of  
Temporary elimination of VAT on imports of certain food 
products, e.g. meat and edible meat offal; fish, fresh or 
chilled; guts, bladders and stomachs of animals (other than 
fish); rice; soya -bean oil and its fractions; ground -nut oil and 
its fractions; palm oil and its fractions; palm kernel or babassu 
oil and fractions thereof  Permanent Delegation 
of the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo 
to the WTO  
(21 April 2017)  Effective 
30 November 2016 
to  
end-February 2017  
Measur es to facilitate trade through: (i) mandatory use of the 
Single Electronic  Window ( Plateform e Electronique du Guichet 
Unique ) for all foreign trade operations; and (ii) establishment 
of an electronic tracking system of cargo (import)  
 Permanent Delegation  
of the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo 
to the WTO  
(21 April 2017)  Effective  
January 2017  
Measures to facilitate trade through: (i) mandatory use of the 
Single Electronic  Window ( Plateforme Electronique du Guichet 
Unique)  for all foreign trade operati ons; and (ii) establishment 
of an electronic tracking system of cargo (export)  
 Permanent Delegation 
of the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo 
to the WTO  
(21 April 2017)  Effective  
January 2017  
Ecuador  
Reduction on 1 April 2017 of the import surcharge rate s by one 
third, from 35% to 23.3% and from 15% to 10%, with a view 
to restoring balance -of-payments (implemented on 
25 February 2015). On 1 May 2017, further reduction of the 
import surcharge rates from 23.3% to 11.7% and from 10% to 
5%  Permanent Delegati on 
of Ecuador to the WTO 
(1 June 2017) and 
WTO document  
WT/BOP/R/112, 
18 November 2016   
Guatemala  
Reduction of import tariffs under the Expansion of the 
Information Technology Agreement (ITA) (206 tariff lines at 
8-digit level in HS Chapters 32; 35; 37;  39; 49; 68; 84; 85; 
88; 90; 95)  WTO document 
G/MA/W/117/Add.8, 
28 January 2016  Effective  
1 January 2017, 
with all covered 
tariffs to be phased 
out by no later than 
1 July 2024  
India  
Elimination of import tariffs (from 10%) on wheat (HS 1001)  Permanent Delegation 
of India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of Revenue 
No. 60/2016 
(8 December 2016)  Effective 
8 December 2016  
Reduction of import tariffs (from 7.5% -10% to 5%) on all 
items of machinery, includ ing instruments, apparatus and 
appliances, transmission equipment and auxiliary equipment 
(including those required for testing and quality control) and 
components required for: (i) initial setting -up of fuel cell based 
system for generation of power or fo r demonstration purposes; 
or (ii) balance of systems  operating using bio -gas or 
bio-methane or hydrogen by -product  Permanent Delegation 
of India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of Revenue 
No. 5/2017 (2 Fe bruary 
2017)  Effective  
2 February 2017  
Reduction of import tariffs (from 5% to 2.5%) on liquified 
natural gas (LNG) (HS 2711. 11.00); (from 7.5% to 2.5%) on 
wattle extract and myrobalan fruit extract (HS 3201.20.00; 
3201.90.20); (from 15% to 5%) on catal ysts and resins for 
use in the manufacture of cast components of wind operated 
electricity generators (HS 3815.90.00; 3909.40.90). 
Elimination of import tariffs on toughened glass with low iron 
content and transmissivity of minimum 91%, for use in solar 
thermal collectors or heaters  (HS Chapter 70) (from 2.5%)  on 
nickel and articles thereof (HS Chapter 75) ; and (from 10%) 
on o-xylene (HS 2902.41.00)  Permanent Delegation 
of India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Depart ment of Revenue 
No. 6/2017  
(2 February 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 85 - 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Temporary reduction of import tariffs (from 30% to 10%) on 
sunflower seeds (HS 1206.00.90) for the purpose of extraction 
and refining of oil  Permanent Delegation 
of India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Notifi cation No. 
9/2017 -Customs 
(23 March 2017)  Effective  
1 April 2017 to  
30 September 2017  
Temporary elimination of import tariffs on raw sugar (HS 
1701) under an import quota of 5 lakh metric tonnes. The 
importer shall convert the raw sugar into white/refi ned sugar 
within a period not exceeding two months from the date of 
filing of bill of entry or the date of entry inwards, whichever is 
later Permanent Delegation 
of India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017), 
Notifications Nos. 
12/2017 -Customs 
(5 April 2017) and 
13/20 17-Customs 
(13 April 2017)  Effective  
5 April 2017 to  
1 July 2017  
Elimination of the minimum export price "MEP" on the export 
of potatoes (US$450/metric tonne FOB) (HS 0701.90.00) 
(originally implemented on 26 June 2014)  Permanent Delegation of 
India to  the WTO 
(30 May 2017)  Effective  
27 December 2016   
Further extension of the temporary minimum import price 
"MIP" (c.i.f. basis/metric tonne) for 66 iron and steel tariff lines 
(HS Chapter 72) (originally implemented on 1 February 2016, 
for 6 months)  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017)  Effective  
5 February 2017  
Elimination of import tariffs (from 7.5%) on palm stearin, 
whether crude, RBD or other, having free fatty acids (FFA) of 
20% or more for the manufacture of oleochemicals (HS 15 11) Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of Revenue 
No. 18/2017 (9 May 
2017)  Effective  
9 May 2017  
Reduction of import tariffs on natural rubber (HS 4001)  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(30 May 2017)    
Japan  
Elimination of import tariffs on p-nitrochlorobenzene, m-
aramid, synthetic filament tow, certain toys and sanitary 
articles (HS 2904.99; 3908.90; 5501.10; 9503.00; 9619.00)  Permanent Delegation of 
Japan to the WT O 
(30 May 2017)  Effective  
1 April 2017  
Korea, Rep. of  
Reduction of import tariffs under the Expansion of the 
Information Technology Agreement (ITA) (522 tariff lines at 
10-digit level in HS Chapters 32; 35; 37; 39; 59; 63; 84; 85; 
88; 90)  Permanent Del egation of 
the Republic of Korea to 
the WTO (30 May 2017) 
and WTO document 
G/MA/W/117/Add.13, 28 
January 2016  Effective  
1 December 2016, 
with all covered 
tariffs to be phased 
out by no later than 
1 July 2023  
Temporary reduction or elimination of import t ariffs on 132 
items, e.g. whey, modified whey (for feeding) (HS 0404.10) 
(under an import quota of 25,000 metric tonnes); manioc 
(cassava) (pellets for feeding) (HS 0714.10) (all imported); oil -
cake and other solid residues, whether or not ground or in the  
form of pellets, resulting from the extraction of soyabean oil 
(for feeding) (HS 2304.00) (under an import quota of 
2,451,000 metric tonnes); cotton seeds (for feeding) (HS 
1207.29); artificial graphite (for manufacturing secondary 
batteries) (HS 3801.10) ; machines and apparatus for the 
manufacture of flat panel displays (for manufacturing organic 
light emitting diodes (OLED)) (HS8486.30); microscopes other 
than optical microscopes; diffraction apparatus (focused ion 
beam system for OLED manufacturing) (HS 9012.10)  Permanent Delegation of 
the Republic of Korea to 
the WTO (20 April 2017)  Effective 1 January 
2017 to  
31 December 2017 
for 122 items. 
Effective  
4 January 2017 to 
30 June for 8 items 
(HS 0407.21; 
0407.90; 0408.11; 
0408.19; 0408.91; 
0408.99; 3502. 11; 
3502.19). Effective 
1 January 2017 to 
31 March 2017 for 2 
items  
Malaysia  
Implementation of the ASEAN Harmonized Tariff Nomenclature 
(AHTN) resulting in the reduction of import tariffs on certain 
products, e.g. fish, vegetables, bananas, pineapples, g uavas, 
mangoes, durians, raspberries, oil seeds, pig and poultry fat, 
animal fats and oils and their fractions, pasta, pastry, 
petroleum oils, alums, plastics and articles thereof, plywood, 
wallpaper and similar wall coverings, parts of footwear, 
remelted scrap ingots, tube or pipe fittings of copper alloys, 
fans, transformers, motor cars  (HS Chapters 03; 07; 08; 12; 
15; 19; 27; 28; 39; 44; 48; 64; 72; 74; 84; 85; 87)  Permanent Delegation 
of Malaysia to the WTO 
(7 June 2017)  Effective  
1 April 2017  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 86 - 
 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Mexic o 
Elimination of import tariffs on potatoes, tomatoes, onions and 
shallots, fresh and dried chili and apples, (HS 0701.90.99; 
0702.00.99; 0703.10.01; 0709.60.99; 0808.10.01; 
0904.21.01; 0904.21.99; 0904.22.01; 0904.22.99), under 
certain import quotas  Permanent Delegation 
of Mexico to the WTO 
(29 May 2017) and 
Diario Oficial de la 
Federación (Official 
Journal), 
20 January  2017    Effective  
21 January 2017  
Temporary elimination of import tariffs on beans ( frijol) (HS 
0713.33.02; 0713.33.03; 0713.33.99), u nder an import quota 
of 100,000 metric tonnes  Permanent Delegation of 
Mexico to the WTO 
(29 May 2017) and 
Diario Oficial de la 
Federación (Official 
Journal), 14 April 2017  Effective  
16 April 2017 to  
30 November 2017  
Moldova, Rep. of  
Reduction of import  tariffs (to their bound levels) on meat and 
edible meat offal, and butter (HS 0201; 0202; 0203; 0207; 
0405). Elimination of import tariffs (from 15%) on certain 
spark -ignition reciprocating or rotary internal combustion 
piston engines (HS 8407.31; 8407.32 ; 8407.33; 8407.34; 
8408.20)  Permanent Delegation 
of the Republic of 
Moldova to the WTO 
(18 May  2017)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Pakistan  
Implementation of the Budget 2016 -17 resulting in the 
decrease of import tariffs (from 5% to 2%) on certain 
products , e.g. dairy, livestock, poultry, machinery, harvesting, 
threshing and storage equipment, and fish or shrimp farming 
and sea food processing machinery. Elimination of import 
tariffs on cotton and man -made staple fibres  Permanent Delegation 
of Pakistan to the WTO 
(1 June 2017)   
Peru  
Various measures to enhance customs procedures and 
facilitate the flow of goods (import)  Permanent Delegation 
of Peru to the WTO 
(1 June 2017)   
Various measures to enhance customs procedures and 
facilitate the flow of goods ( export)  Permanent Delegation 
of Peru to the WTO 
(1 June 2017)   
Russian Federation (for Eurasian Economic Union)  
Temporary elimination of import tariffs on oranges, seed of 
anise, badian, coriander, cumin or caraway, juniper berries, 
precious metal ores a nd concentrates, silver, gold and platinum 
(effective 2 January 2017 to 31 December 2017); on waste 
and scrap of precious metals or of metals clad with precious 
metals, artificial staple fibres of viscose rayon (effective 
2 January 2017 to 31 December 2019 ); on organic surface -
active agents (effective 1 March 2017 to 28 February 2019); 
on apple purée including compotes (effective 2 January 2017 
to 31 December 2018); on halides and halide oxides of non -
metals, hydrides, nitrides, and other organo -inorganic 
compounds (effective 22 January 2017 to 31 December 2019); 
and on polyethylene (effective 1 January 2017 to 31 December 
2017). Reduction of import tariffs (to 5%) on paper and paper 
board (effective 3 March 2017)  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federati on 
to the WTO  
(30 May 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
South Africa (for Southern African Customs Union)  
Temporary elimination of import tariffs (from R 31.89 c/kg) on 
cane and beet sugar (originally implemented on 26 September 
2014) (HS  1701.12; 1701.13; 1701.14; 1701.91; 1701.99)  Permanent Delegation 
of South Africa to the 
WTO (25 April 2017) 
and Notice No. R. 116  
- International Trade 
Administration 
Commission - 
Government Gazette 
No. 40611   
(10 February 2017)  Effective  
10 February 2017 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 87 - 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Creation of new tariff lines "liquids and pastes" 
(HS 3907.61.10; 3907.69.10), resulting in an elimination of 
import tariffs (from 10%) (effective  17 March 2017). 
Elimination of import tar iffs (from 10%) on atrazine 
(HS 2933.69.30) (effective 31 Marc h 2017)  Permanent Delegation 
of South Africa to the 
WTO (25 April 2017) 
and International Trade 
Administration 
Commission Notices 
Nos. R. 236 -
Government Gazette 
No. 40692  
(17 March 2017) and 
R. 289  - Government 
Gazette No. 40734  
(31 March 2017  Effectiv e: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Temporary decrease of import tariffs (from R 159.14 c/kg to 
R 119.02 c/kg) on wheat (HS 1001.91; 1001.99), and (from 
R 238.71 c/kg to R 178.53 c/kg) on wheat flour 
(HS 1101.00.10; 1101.00.90)  Notice No. R. 295 
Internatio nal Trade 
Administration 
Commission - 
Government Gazette 
No. 40734  
(31 March 2017)   Effective  
31 March 2017  
Serbia  
Elimination in December 2016 of the temporary specific import 
levies (imposed on 1 July 2016) on 429 agriculture and food 
products tarif f lines (at 8 -digit level), e.g. live bovine animals, 
live sheep and goats, live poultry, meat and edible meat offal, 
live fish, dairy produce, eggs, edible vegetables and fruits, 
margarine, certain preparations of meat, sugar, miscellaneous 
edible prepara tions, undenatured ethyl alcohol, and 
unmanufactured tobacco (HS 0102; 0103; 0104; 0105; 0201; 
0202; 0203; 0204; 0207; 0209; 0210; 0301; 0401; 0402; 
0403; 0405; 0406; 0407; 0701; 0702; 0703; 0704; 0707; 
0708; 0709; 0710; 0711; 0806; 0807; 0808; 0809; 0904;  
1517; 1601; 1602; 1701; 1702; 2103; 2104: 2207; 2208; 
2401)  Permanent Delegation 
of Serbia to the United 
Nations (18  May 2017) 
and WTO document 
WT/TPR/OV/19, 
21 November 2016   
Switzerland  
Reduction of import tariffs under the Expansion of the 
Informatio n Technology Agreement (ITA) (178 tariff lines at 
8-digit level in HS Chapters 32; 35; 37; 39; 48; 49; 59; 84; 
85; 88; 90; 95)  WTO document 
G/MA/W/117/Add.21, 
28 January 2016  Effective  
1 January 2017, 
with all covered 
tariffs to be phased 
out by no later than 
1 July 2019  
Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu  
Measures to facilitate trade through the implementation of 
paperless import declarations and documents, and intelligent 
mobile cargo inspection services. Regarding paperless import 
C2 (document review) declarations, traders can transmit 
electronic files of the required documents, such as the invoice, 
the packing list, and other commercial documents, for selected 
C2 declarations to Customs via the Internet, in lieu of the 
traditional practice of submitting paper documents. As for the 
intelligent mobile cargo inspection services on import C3 
(document review and cargo inspection) declarations, customs 
inspection officers use 4G Internet and mobile devices to 
update the cargo insp ection information, so that classification 
and valuation officers can conduct the next customs 
procedures while the inspection officers stay at the inspection 
site. This measure will enable the trader to keep abreast of 
real-time inspection status  Permanen t Delegation 
of the Separate 
Customs Territory of 
Taiwan, Penghu, 
Kinmen and Matsu to 
the WTO  
(12 June 2017)  Effective  
December 2016  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 88 - 
 
  Measure  Source/D ate Status  
Measures to facilitate trade through the implementation of 
paperless export declarations and documents, and intelligent 
mobile cargo inspection services. Regarding paperless export 
C2 (document review) declarations, traders can transmit 
electronic files of the required documents, such as the invoice, 
the packing list, and other commercial documents, for selected 
C2 declarat ions to Customs via the Internet, in lieu of the 
traditional practice of submitting paper documents. As for the 
intelligent mobile cargo inspection services on import C3 
(document review and cargo inspection) declarations, customs 
inspection officers use 4 G Internet and mobile devices to 
update the cargo inspection information, so that classification 
and valuation officers can conduct the next customs 
procedures while the inspection officers stay at the inspection 
site. This measure will enable the trader t o keep abreast of 
real-time inspection status  Permanent Delegation 
of the Separate 
Customs Territory of 
Taiwan, Penghu, 
Kinmen and Matsu to 
the WTO  
(12 June 2017)  Effective  
December 2016  
Turkey  
Temporary reduction of import tariffs (from 60% to 10%) on  
bovine breeding animals (effective 1 January 2017); and (from 
75% to 15%) on red pepper (effective 11 May 2017 to 
31 August 2017); and on furniture (effective 8 March 2017). 
Temporary elimination of import tariffs (from 19.3%) on 
chickpeas (effective 8 Ma rch 2017 to 1 July 2017) (HS 
0102.29; 0713.20; 0904.21; 9401; 9402; 9403; 9404)  Permanent Delegation 
of Turkey to the WTO 
(May 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Measures to facilitate trade through the establishment of the 
"Trade Facilitat ion Board", co -chaired by the Ministry of 
Economy and the Ministry of Customs and Trade. The Ministry 
of Customs and Trade (Directorate General for EU and External 
Relations) serves as the Board’s Secretariat (import)  Permanent Delegation 
of Turkey to the WTO 
(May 2017)  Effective  
3 December 2016  
Measures to facilitate trade through the establishment of the 
"Trade Facilitation Board", co -chaired by the Ministry of 
Economy and the Ministry of Customs and Trade. The Ministry 
of Customs and Trade (Directorate  General for EU and External 
Relations) serves as the Board's Secretariat  (export)  Permanent Delegation 
of Turkey to the WTO  
(May 2017)  Effective  
3 December 2016  
United States of America  
Tariff reclassifications resulting in the elimination of import 
tariffs on certain hole saw kits for door lockset installations (HS 
8202.99.00), and in the decrease of import tariffs (to 4.2%) on 
five types of plastic sheeting (coverfab, safety pool fabric, DAF 
escape, double sided tape, and backlit polyester film) (HS 
3921.12.11; 3921.90.11)  US Customs and 
Border Protection 19 
CFR PART 177  - 
Customs Bulletin and 
Decisions, Vol. 50 
No. 48  
(30 November 2016)  Effective  
30 January 2017  
 
Recorded, but non -confirmed information3 
Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Algeria  
Speci al authorization ( contingents quantitatifs pour 
l’importation des produits et des marchandises au titre des 
licences d’importation pour l’année 2017 ) to import certain 
products (e.g. motor vehicles, iron and steel, wood and articles 
of wood, ceramic produc ts, meats, cheeses, fruits, barley and 
maize, garlic, residues and waste from the food industries, 
tomatoes prepared or preserved) under certain import quotas  Avis No. 1/2017 
Ministère du 
Commerce. Viewed at: 
http://www.commerce.
gov.dz/avis/avis -n-
deg-01-2017-portant -
ouverture -des-
contingents -
quantitatifs -pour-l-
importation -des-
produits -et-des-
marchandises -au-titre-
des-licences -d-
importation -pour-l-
annee -2017 Effective  
1 April 2017  
                                                
3 This Section includes information which has been obt ained from public sources but has not yet been 
confirmed by the delegation concerned.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 89 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Angola  
Extension of the temporary elimination on import tariffs on 
horse mackerel fish (HS 0302), under an import quota of 
90,000 tonnes (originally effective 1 January 2016 to 
31 December 2016)  Agência Angola Press 
and Noticiasaominuto 
(February 2017)  Effective  
6 March 2017  
Iceland  
Elimination of import tariffs on all indu strial products. Measure 
implemented in two phases, with tariffs eliminated on clothing 
and footwear products (HS Chapters 61; 62; 64) on 1 January 
2016, and on the remaining products on 1 January 2017  Iceland Monitor mbl.i 
(9 July 2015)   
All customs duti es on specified foods cancelled in two stages in 
2016 and 2017  Ministry of Finance and 
Economic Affairs - 
National Budget 
Proposal 2017. Viewed 
at: 
https://eng.fjarmalara
duneyti.is/news/nation
al-budget -proposal -
2017 (12 June 2016)   
Nigeria  
Temporary dec rease of import tariffs (below ECOWAS level) on 
89 products, (e.g. machinery and equipment, solid minerals, 
cement, textiles, cold -rolled steel, certain vehicles), through 
the import adjustment tax list  Africa News (5 January 
2017) and Deloitte 
Trade News letter  Effective 
17 October 2016  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 90 - 
 
  ANNEX 2 
TRADE  REMEDIES1 
(MID-OCTOBER 2016 to MID -MAY 2017)  
Confirmed information2 
Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Argentina  
Termination on 18 October  2016 (without measure) of 
anti-dumping investigation on imports of load ce lls 
(NCM  9031.80.60) from China (initiated on 11 March 2015)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 29 October 2016 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of  stainless steel knives with cutting blades, spoons 
and forks (NCM 8211.10 .00; 8211.91.00; 8215.20.00; 
8215.99.10) from Brazil and China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 8 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of household type dish washing machines 
(NCM  8422.11.00) from China and Tu rkey WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 8 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of plates, sheets, film, foil and strip of poly(methyl 
methacrylate), non -cellular and not reinforced, laminated, 
supported or similar ly com bined with other materials 
(NCM  3920.51.00; 3926.90.90) from Brazil and China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 8 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of metal protection grilles (NCM 8414.90.20) from 
China and Chinese Taipei  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 8 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of food grinders and mixers; and fruit or vegetable 
juice extractors (NCM 8509.40.50; 8509.40.20; 8509.40.10) 
from Chi na  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 8 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of steel pipes of the type used in oil and gas 
pipelines (NCM 7304.19.00; 7306.19.00) from China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ARG,  
8 Marc h 2017    
Initiation on 4 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of phthalic anhydride (NCM 2917.35.00) from Korea, 
Rep. of and Mexico  Permanent Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Resolución Secretaría de 
Comercio No. 258 -E/2017 
Ministerio de Producción 
(30 March 2017)    
Initiation on 4 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of dioctyl orthophthalates (NCM 2917.32.00) from 
Chile and Korea, Rep. of  Permanent Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Resolución Secretaría de 
Comercio No. 258 -E/2017 
Ministerio de Producción 
(30 March 2017)    
Termination on 10 May 2017 of anti -dumping duties on imports 
of steel spring lock washers (NCM 7318.21.00) from China 
(investigation initiated on 2 April 2016 and provisional duty 
imposed on 7 December 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Resolución No. 193 -E/2017 
Ministerio de Producción 
(10 May 2017)    
                                                
1 The inclusion of any measure in this Annex implies no judgement by the WTO Secretariat on whether 
or not such me asure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature. Moreov er, nothing in the Annex implies any 
judgement, either direct or indirect, on the consistency of any measure referred to with the provisions of any 
WTO agreement.  
2 This Section includes information which has either been provided by the Member concerned or  has 
been confirmed at the request of the Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 91 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Australia  
Termination on 17 October  2016 (without measure) of 
anti-dumping inv estigation on imports of certain crystalline 
silicon photovoltaic modules or panels (HS 8501.61.00; 
8501.62.00; 8501.63.00; 8501.64.00; 8541.40.00) from China 
(investigation initiated on 14 May 2014. Terminated on  
6 October 2015, but investigation resumed  on 8 January 2016)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/AUS, 
27 February 2017    
Termination on 19 October 2016 (without measure) of 
countervailing investigation on imports of steel reinforcing bar 
(HS 7214.20.00; 7228.30.90: 7213.10.00; 7227.90.10; 
7227.90.90; 7228. 30.10; 7228.60.10) from China (initiated on 
23 December 2015)  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/AUS, 
1 March  2017   
Termination on 19 October 2016 (without measure) of 
countervailing investigation on imports of rod in coils 
(HS 7213.91.00; 7227.90.90) from China ( initiated on  
17 February 2016)  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/AUS, 
1 March  2017   
Termination on 24 November 2016 (without measure) of anti -
dumping investigation on imports of quicklime  
(HS 2522.10.00) from Malaysia, Thailand and Viet Nam 
(initiated on 18 Apr il 2016)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/AUS, 
27 February 2017    
Initiation on 10 January 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of alloy round steel bars (HS 7228.20.10; 7228.20.90; 
7228.30.10; 7228.30.90; 7228.60.10; 7228.60.90) from China  Permanent Del egation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notice No. 2017/2  
(10 January 2017)    
Initiation on 23 January 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of cooling tower water treatment controllers 
(HS 9032.89.80) from t he United States  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notices Nos. 2017/5  
(23 January 2017) and 
2017/54 (18 April 2017)  Provisional duty 
imposed on  
19 April 2017  
Termination on 17 February 2017 of ant i-dumping 
investigation on imports of resealable can end closures (RTFs) 
(HS 8309.90.00) from India  (investigation initiated on  
18 May 2016 and provisional duty imposed on 5 October 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notice No. 2017/16  
(17 February 2017)    
Termination on 23 February  2017 (without measure) of 
anti-dumping investigation on imports of steel shelving units  
(HS 9403.10.00; 9403.20.00) from China (investigation 
initiated on 4 July 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notice No. 2017/19  
(23 February 2017)    
Termination on 23 February 2017 (without measure)  of 
countervailing investigation on imports of steel shelving units 
(HS 9403.10.00; 9403.20.00) from China (investigation 
initiated on 4 July 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notice No. 2017/19  
(23 February 2017)    
Anti-dumping investigation resumed on 15 Mar ch 2017 on 
imports of hollow structural sections "HSS" (HS 7306.30.00; 
7306.50.00; 7306.61.00; 7306.69.00; 7306.90.00) from India 
and United Arab Emirates (investigation initiated on  
22 December 2015 and provisional duty imposed on  
22 February 2016. Term inated on 25 July 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017),  Australia 
Customs Dumping Notices 
Nos. 2016/154, 2017/23 
(22 February 2017) and 
2017/25 (15 March 2017)    
Termination on 17 March 2017 (without measure) of 
countervailin g investigation on imports of A4 copy paper 
(HS 4802.56.10) from Indonesia (initiated on 12 April 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notice No. 2017/34  
(17 March 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 92 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Initiation on 26 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of certain wire rope (HS 7312.10.00) from South Africa  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Australia Customs Dumping 
Notice No. 2017/58  
(26 April 2017)    
Brazil  
Termination on 18 November  2016 (without measure) of 
anti-dumping investigation on imports of polyurethane (PU) 
synthetic leather (NCM 3921.13.90; 3921.90.19; 3921.90.90; 
5603.14.10; 5603.14.20; 5603.14.30; 5603.14.40; 
5603.14.90; 5603.94.10; 5603.94.20; 5603.94.30; 
5603.94 .90; 5903.20.00) from China (initiated on  
21 July 2016)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/BRA, 
24 February  2017   
Initiation on 21 November 2016 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of hot -rolled steel (NCM 7208.10.00; 7208.25.00; 
7208.26.10; 7208.26.90; 72 08.27.10; 7208.27.90; 
7208.36.10; 7208.36.90; 7208.37.00; 7208.38.10; 
7208.38.90; 7208.39.10; 7208.39.90; 7208.40.00; 
7208.53.00; 7208.54.00; 7208.90.00; 7225.30.00; 
7225.40.90) from China  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/BRA,  
28 February 2017    
Termination on 9  February 2017 (without measure) of anti -
dumping investigation on imports of analogical or digital 
panoramic x -ray systems for dental use (NCM 9022.12.00; 
9022.13.11) from Germany (initiated on 22 October 2015)  Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO  
(21 April 2017) and Secex 
Circular No. 9/2017  
(8 February 2017)    
Temporary suspension on 20 November 2016 of anti -dumping 
duties on imports of co ld polymerized emulsion 
styrene -butadiene rubber (E -SBR) (NCM 4002.19.11; 
4002.19.19) from the European Union (investigation initiated 
on 27 May 2014 and duty imposed on 20 November 2015)  Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and Camex 
Resolution No. 96/2016  
(10 October 2016)    
Initiation on 24 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
impor ts of steamed tubes of austenitic stainless steel  
(HS 7306.40.00; 7306.90.20) from Malaysia, Thailand and  
Viet Nam  Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO  
(29 May 2017)    
Canada  
Termination on 25 January  2017 (without measure) of 
anti-dumping invest igation on imports of certain fabricated 
industrial steel components (HS 7216.99.00; 7301.20.00; 
7308.40.00; 7308.90.00; 7326.90.90; 8421.99.90; 
8428.31.00; 8428.32.00; 8428.33.00; 8428.39.00) from 
United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom (initiated on  
12 September 2016)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/CAN,  
21 March 2017    
Initiation on 20 February 2017 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of certain silicon metals (HS 2804.69.00) from 
Brazil, Kazakhstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, 
Malaysia, Norwa y, Russian Federation and Thailand  Permanent Delegation of 
Canada to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and Canada 
Border Service Agency 
Notice SM2 2017 IN  
(20 February 2017)    
Initiation on 20 February 2017 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of certain sili con metals (HS 2804.69.00) from 
Brazil, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Norway and Thailand  Permanent Delegation of 
Canada to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and Canada 
Border Service Agency 
Notice SM2 2017 IN  
(20 February 2017)    
Chile  
Initiation on 31 January 2017 of an ti-dumping investigation on 
imports of certain bars and rods of other alloy steel, not further 
worked than hot -rolled, hot -drawn or extruded ( barras de 
acero para la fabricación de bolas convencionales para 
molienda de minerales ) (HS 7228.30.00) from China  Permanent Delegation of 
Chile to the WTO  
(May 2017) and Normas 
Generales CVE 1175889, 
Diario Oficial No. 41.672 
(31 January 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 93 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
China  
Initiation on 24 October 2016 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of polyformaldehyde copolymer (HS 3907.10.1 0) from 
Korea, Rep. of; Malaysia and Thailand  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/CHN,  
15 March 2017    
Termination on 22 March 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of photographic paper and paper board  
(HS 3703.10.10; 3703.20.10; 3703.90.10) from the European 
Union and the United States (investigation initiated on  
23 December 2010. Provisional and definitive duties imposed 
on 10 August 2011 and 23 March 2012)  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
MOFCOM Announcement 
No. 61/2016  
 (7 Novemb er 2016)    
Initiation on 13 February 2017 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of aniline derivatives and their salts  
(HS 2921.42.00) from India  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
MOFCOM Announcement 
No. 4/2017  
(15 February 2017)    
Initiation on 13 February 2017 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of aniline derivatives and their salts  
(HS 2921.42.00) from India  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
MOFCOM Announcement 
No. 5/2017  
(15 February 2 017)   
Initiation on 6 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of bisphenol A (HS 2907.23.00) from Thailand  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
MOFCOM Announcement 
No. 13/2017  
(7 March 2017)    
Initiation on 27 March 2 017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of 4 -methylpentan -2-one (methyl isobutyl ketone) (HS 
2914.13.00) from Japan; Korea, Rep. of and South Africa  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
MOFCOM Announcement 
No. 16/2017  
(30 March  2017)    
Egypt  
Initiation on 16 November 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of tableware and kitchenware of plastic (melamine) 
(HS 3924.10) from China and Malaysia  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EGY,  
7 February 2017    
Initiation on 16 November 201 6 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of trays made of urea (HS 3924.10) from China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EGY,  
7 February 2017    
Initiation on 16 November 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of polyvinyl chloride (HS 3904.10.00) from t he 
United States  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EGY,  
 7 February 2017    
Initiation on 22 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of  bars and rods of iron alloy or non -alloy steel 
rebar, hot -rolled in wound coil or bars or rods (steel rebar for 
construction) (HS 7213; 7214; 7227; 7228) from China, 
Turkey and Ukraine  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EGY,  
7 February 2017    
Initiation on 22 December 2016 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of  bars and rods of iron alloy or non -alloy steel 
rebar, h ot-rolled in wound coil or bars or rods (steel rebar for 
construction) (HS 7213; 7214; 7227; 7228) from China and 
Turkey  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/EGY,  
28 February 2017    WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 94 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
European Union  
Termination on 12 November 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of  saturated fatty alcohols with a carbon chain length 
of C8, C10, C12, C14, C16 or C18 (not including branched 
isomers) including single saturated fatty alcohols (also referred 
to as "single cuts") and blends predominantly containing a 
combination of carbon  chain lengths C6 -C8, C6 -C10, C8 -C10, 
C10-C12 (commonly categorized as C8 -C10), blends 
predominantly containing a combination of carbon chain 
lengths C12 -C14, C12 -C16, C12 -C18, C14 -C16 (commonly 
categorized as C12 -C14) and blends predominantly containing 
a combination of carbon chain lengths C16 -C18 (HS 
2905.16.85; 2905.17.00; 2905.19.00; 3823.70.00) from India, 
Indonesia and Malaysia (investigation initiated on 13 August 
2010, provisional and definitive duties imposed on 11 May and 
11 November 2011)  Commi ssion Notice 2016/C 
418/03  
(12 November 2016)    
Termination on 5 December 2016 (without measure) of 
anti-dumping investigation on imports of certain manganese 
oxides (HS 2602.00.00; 2820.90.90) from Brazil, Georgia, 
India and Mexico (initiated on 17 Dece mber 2015)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EU,  
11 April 2017    
Initiation on 9 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of certain corrosion resistant steels "CRS"  
(HS 7210.41.00; 7210.49.00; 7210.61.00; 7210.69.00; 
7212.30.00; 7212.50.61; 7212.5 0.69; 7225.92.00; 
7225.99.00; 7226.99.30; 7226.99.70) from China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EU,  
11 April 2017    
Initiation on 10 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of certain cast iron articles (HS 7325.10.00; 
7325.99.10) from China and  India WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/EU,  
11 April 2017    
Termination on 8 January 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of certain stainless steel fasteners and parts thereof  
(HS 7318.12.10; 7318.14.10; 7318.15.30; 7318.15.51; 
7318.15.61; 7318.15.70) from C hina and Chinese Taipei 
(imposed on 19  November  2005)  Commission Notice 2017/C 
5/02 (7 January 2017)    
Termination on 8 January 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of certain stainless steel fasteners and parts thereof  
(HS 7318.12.10; 7318.14.10; 731 8.15.30; 7318.15.51; 
7318.15.61; 7318.15.70) from Philippines (investigation 
initiated on 14 June 2012 and definitive duty imposed on  
12 March 2013)  Commission Notice 2017/C 
5/02 (7 January 2017)    
Termination on 7 February 2017 of anti -dumping duties o n 
imports of certain polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 
(HS 3907.60.20) from China (imposed on 19 August 2004)  Commission Decision 
2017/206  
(6 February 2017)    
Termination on 10 February 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of steel ropes and cables (st eel wire ropes)  
(HS 7312.10.81; 7312.10.83; 7312.10.85; 7312.10.89; 
7312.10.98) from the Republic of Moldova (imposed on  
24 April 2004) and Ukraine (imposed on 16 November 2005)  Commission Notice 2017/C 
41/05 (8 February 2017)    
India  
Termination on 2 4 November 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of flat products of stainless steel, hot -rolled 
(HS 7219.11; 7219.12; 7219.13; 7219.14; 7219.21; 7219.22; 
7219.23; 7219.24; 7220.11; 7220.12)  from the European 
Union; Korea, Rep. of; South Africa; Chinese Taipei and the 
United States (investigation initiated on 12 April 2010 and 
definitive duty imposed on 25 November 2011)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/IND, 
11 April 2017   
Termination on 16 December 2016 (without measure) of 
safeguard investigation on imports o f unwrought aluminium 
(aluminium, not alloyed, and aluminium alloys) (HS 7601) 
(investigation initiated on 19 April 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (30 May 
2017) and WTO document 
G/SG/N/8/IND/29/Suppl.1, 
20 December 2016    WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 95 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Initiation on 2 F ebruary 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of non -dyed polyester staple fibre "PSF" ranging from 
0.6 to 6 deniers (excluding recycled PSF and speciality fibres, 
namely cationic dyeable, fire/f lame retardant, low melt and 
bi-component fibres) (HS  5503.20.00) from China, Indonesia, 
Malaysia and Thailand  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/49/2016 -DGAD, 
Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry - Directorate 
General of Anti -Dumping 
and Allied Duties  
(2 February 2 017)   
Initiation on 9 February 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of methyl ethyl ketone "MEK" (HS 2914.12.00) from 
China, Japan, South Africa and Chinese Taipei  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/26/2016 -DGAD, 
Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry - Directorate 
General of Anti -Dumping 
and Allied Duties  
 (9 February 2017)    
Initiation on 17 February 2017 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of veneered engineered wooden flooring (HS 44) 
from China, the European Union, Indonesia and Malaysia  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/34/2016 -DGAD, 
Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry - Directorate 
General of Anti -Dumping 
and Allied Duties  
(17 February 2017)    
Initiation on 17 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of dimethylacetamide (HS 2924.19.00; 2902.11.00; 
2905.19.90; 2911.00.90; 2915.29.90; 2915.39.90; 
2921.11.10; 2921.11.90; 2921.29.90; 2922.50.90; 
2924.19.00; 2924.21.90; 2924.29.90; 2926.90.00;  
2042.00.90) from China and Turkey  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/41/2016 -DGAD, 
Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry - Directorate 
General of Anti -Dumping 
and Allied Duties  
(17 March 2017)    
Initiation on 17 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of phosphorus pentaoxide (HS 2809.10.00) from China  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification  
No. 14/47/2016 -DGAD, 
Ministry of Commerce and 
Industry - Directorate 
General of Anti -Dumping 
and Allied Duties  
(17 March 2017)    
Initiation on 28 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of glassware (HS 7013.29; 7013.37; 7013.39; 
7013.49; 7014.99) from China and Indonesia  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/45/2016 -DGAD, Case 
No. OI -20/2017 -  Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry 
- Directorate General of 
Anti-Dumping and Allied 
Duties (28 March 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 96 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Initiation on 30 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of play ing cards (HS 9504.40.00) from China  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/43/2016 -DGAD, Case 
No. OI -21/2017 -  Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry 
- Directorate General of 
Anti-Dumping and Allied 
Duties (30 March 20 17)   
Initiation on 31 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of fishing nets (HS 5608.11.10) from Bangladesh and 
China  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/44/2016 -DGAD, Case 
No. OI -23/2017 -  Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry 
- Directorate General of 
Anti-Dumping and Allied 
Duties (31 March 2017)    
Initiation on 19 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of acrylic fibre (HS 5501.30; 5503.30; 5506.30) from 
Belarus, China, the European U nion, Peru and Ukraine  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/50/2016 -DGAD, Case 
No. OI -22/2017 -  Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry 
- Directorate General of 
Anti-Dumping and Allied 
Duties (19 April 2017)    
Initiat ion on 19 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of ceramic rollers (HS 69) from China  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/47/2016 -DGAD, Case 
No. OI -26/2017 -  Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry 
- Directorate General of 
Anti-Dumping and Allied 
Duties (19 April 2017)    
Initiation on 24 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of saturated fatty alcohols (HS 3823.70.10; 
3823.70.20; 3823.70.40; 3823.70.90) from Indonesia, 
Malaysia, the Kingdo m of Saudi Arabia and Thailand  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification No. 
14/51/2016 -DGAD, Case 
No. OI -24/2017 -  Ministry 
of Commerce and Industry 
- Directorate General of 
Anti-Dumping and Allied 
Duties (24 April 2017)    
Indonesia  
Termination on 31 October 2016 (without measure) of anti -
dumping investigation on imports of cold -rolled stainless steel 
(HS 7219.32.00; 7219.33.00; 7219.34.00; 7219.35.00; 
7219.90.00; 7220.20.10; 7220.20.90; 7220.90.10; 
7220.90.90) from China;  Korea, Rep. of;  Malaysia; Singapore; 
Chinese Taipei and Thailand (initiated  22 December 2014)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/IDN, 
21 March  2017   
Initiation on 23 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of coloured steel, coated (HS 7210.70.10 ; 
7212.40.10; 7212.40.20) from China and Viet Nam  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/IDN, 
21 March  2017   
Japan  
Initiation on 31 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of carbon steel butt welding fittings (HS 7307.93) from 
China and Korea, Rep. of  Permanent Delegation of 
Japan to the WTO  
(30 May 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 97 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Korea, Rep. of  
Initiation on 7 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of ferro -silico-manganese (HS 7202.30) from India, 
Ukraine and Viet Nam  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/KOR,  
15 Februa ry 2017    
Termination on 19 December 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of  polyester filament draw textured yarn 
(HS 5402.33) from China, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei 
(imposed on 20 October 2006)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/KOR,  
15 February 2017    
Initiation on 17 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (HS 3920.62.00; 
3920.69.00) from Chinese Taipei, Thailand and United Arab 
Emirates  Permanent Delegation of 
the Republic of Korea to 
the WTO (20 April 2017)    
Malaysia  
Termination on 19 October 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (HS 3907.60.00) from 
Thailand (imposed on 23 October 2005)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/MYS, 
8 March  2017   
Mexico  
Initiation on 7 December 2016 of ant i-dumping investigation 
on imports of carbon and alloy steel tubing with longitudinal 
seams and a circular, square or rectangular cross -section  
(HS 7306.61.01; 7306.19.99; 7306.30.99; 7306.30.01) from 
China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/MEX,  
28 February 2017    
Initiation on 15 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of seamless carbon steel tubing (HS 7304.19.01; 
7304.19.02; 7304.19.99; 7304.39.05; 7304.39.06; 
7304.39.99) from India; Korea, Rep. of; Spain and Ukraine  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/ MEX,  
28 February 2017    
Termination on 15 December 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of multilayer paper sacks for lime and cement 
(HS 4819.30.01)  from Brazil (imposed on 26 January 2006)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/MEX,  
28 February 2017    
Terminati on on 3 April 2017 of anti -dumping duties on imports 
of mushrooms of the genus Agaricus (HS  2003.10.01)  from 
Chile (imposed on 18 May 2006)  Permanent Delegation of 
Mexico to the WTO (29 May 
2017) and Diario Oficial de 
la Federación (Official 
Journal), 3 April 2017      
New Zealand  
Initiation on 19 December 2016 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of  galvanized steel coil (HS 7210.49.31) from 
China  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/NZL,  
1 March 2017    
Termination on 23 February 2017 of anti -dumping dut ies on 
imports of peaches in preserving liquid, in containers up to and 
including 4 kg (HS 2008.70.09) from Spain (investigation 
initiated on 7 February 2011 and definitive duty imposed on  
4 August 2011)  Permanent Delegation of 
New Zealand to the WTO 
(26 April 2017)    
Pakistan  
Initiation on 26 November 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of deformed concrete reinforcing steel bars  
(HS 7214.20.10; 7214.20.90; 7214.30.10; 7214.30.90; 
7214.99.10; 7214.99.90; 7215.10.10; 7215.10.90; 
7215.50.10; 72 15.50.90; 7215.90.10; 7215.90.90; 
7228.20.90; 7228.30.90; 7228.10.00; 7228.40.00; 
7228.50.00; 7228.60.00) from China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/PAK, 
7 February 2017    
Initiation on 28 November 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of sulphonic acid (HS 3402.11.10) from China; 
India; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Rep. of; Korea, Rep. of and 
Chinese Taipei  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/PAK, 
7 February 2017    
Initiation on 29 November 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of polyvinyl chloride (suspensio n grade) (HS 
3904.10.90) from China; Korea, Rep. of;  Chinese Taipei and 
Thailand  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/PAK, 
7 February 2017    
Termination on 9 February 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of phthalic anhydride (PA) (HS 2917.35.00) from India 
(impos ed on 13 February 2006)  Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO  
(25 April 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 98 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Termination on 28 March 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of phthalic anhydride (PA) (HS 2917.35.00)  from 
Brazil; China; Indonesia; Korea, Rep. of and Chinese Tai pei 
(investigation initiated on 25 May 2009 and definitive duty 
imposed on 30 September 2010)  Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO  
(25 April 2017)    
Peru  
Initiation on 19 February 2017 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of zip fasteners and  parts thereof (HS 9607.11.00; 
9607.19.00; 9607.20.00) from China  Permanent Delegation of 
Peru to the WTO  
(1 June 2017)    
Initiation on 10 May 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of certain undenatured ethyl alcohol ( etanol )  
(HS  2207.10.00;  2207.20.00; 3826.00) from the United 
States  Permanent Delegation of 
Peru to the WTO  
(1 June 2017) and 
Resolución No. 107 -
2017/CDB -INDECOPI  
(25 April 2017)    
Russian Federation (for Eurasian Economic Union)  
Initiation on 16 January 2017 of anti -dumpin g investigation on 
imports of herbicides (HS 3808.93) from the European Union  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation to 
the WTO (30 May 2017)    
Turkey  
Termination on 28 October 2016 (without measure) of 
countervailing investigation on imports of seamless tubes, 
pipes and hollow profiles of iron (other than cast iron) or steel 
(HS 7304) from China (initiated on 15 May 2015)  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/TUR,  
8 March 2017    
Initiation on 30 October 2016 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of unbl eached kraftliner paper (HS 4804.11.11; 
4804.11.15; 4804.11.90) from Brazil, Finland, Poland and the 
Russian Federation  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/TUR,  
2 March 2017    
Termination on 30 October 2016 (without measure) of anti -
dumping investigation on imports  of cold -rolled stainless steel 
flats (HS 7219.31.00; 7219.32.10; 7219.32.90; 7219.33.10; 
7219.33.90; 7219.34.10; 7219.34.90; 7219.35.10; 
7219.35.90; 7220.20.21; 7220.20.29; 7220.20.41; 
7220.20.49; 7220.20.81; 7220.20.89)  from China and 
Chinese Taipei (in vestigation initiated on 22 August 2015)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/TUR,  
2 March 2017    
Initiation on 23 November 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of dioctyl terephthalate (HS 2917.39.95) from 
Korea, Rep. of  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/TUR,  
2 March 2017    
Termination on 29 November 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
dioctyl phthalate "DOP" (HS 2917.32.00) from Romania 
(investigation initiated on 19 February 2011 and definitive duty 
imposed on 29  November  2011)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/TUR,  
2 Marc h 2017    
Initiation on 21 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of heavy plate (HS 7208.51.20; 7208.90.80; 
7211.13.00; 7211.14.00; 7225.40.40; 7225.99.00) from China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/TUR,  
2 March 2017    
Termination on 31 Janua ry 2017 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of pre -finished engineered laminated flooring 
(HS 4411.13, 4411.14; 4411.92; 4411.93) from China and 
Indonesia (imposed on 8  July 2006)  Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO  
(May 2017)    
Initiation on 23 Febr uary 2017 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of terephthalic acid (HS 2917.36.00) from Belgium; 
Korea, Rep. of and Spain  Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO  
(May 2017)    
Initiation on 24 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of sodium percarbonates (HS 2836.99.90) from 
Germany and Sweden  Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO  
(May 2017)    
Initiation on 6 April 2017 of safeguard investigation on imports 
of pneumatic tyres (HS 4011.10; 4011.20; 4011.70; 4011.80; 
4011.90; 8708)   WTO document 
G/SG/N/6/TUR/22,  
12 April 2017    
Initiation on 22 April 2017 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of toothbrushes (HS 9603.21.00)  WTO document 
G/SG/N/6/TUR/23, 3 May 
2017   
Ukraine  
Initiation on 13 February 2017 of anti -dumping investi gation 
on imports of rebar and wire rod (HS 7213; 7214; 7227; 7228) 
from the Russian Federation  Permanent Delegation of 
Ukraine to the WTO  
(2 June 2017)    
Initiation on 13 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of urea -formaldehyde products (HS 3909.10.00) from 
the Russian Federation  Permanent Delegation of 
Ukraine to the WTO  
(2 June 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 99 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Temporary suspension from 13 February to 20 May 2017 of the 
anti-dumping duties on imports of certain nitrogen fertilizers 
(urea, UAN) (HS 3102.10; 310 2.80.00) from the Russian 
Federation (investigation initiated on 27 June 2015 and 
definitive duty imposed on 30 December 2016)  Permanent Delegation of 
Ukraine to the WTO  
(2 June 2017)    
United States of America  
Termination on 18 November 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of certain iron mechanical transfer drive components 
(HS 8483.30.80; 8483.50.60; 8483.50.90; 8483.90.30; 
8483.90.80; 7325.10.00; 7325.99.10; 7326.19.00; 
8431.31.00; 8431.39.00; 8483.50.40) from Canada and China 
(investigation initi ated on 25 November 2015 and provisional 
duty imposed on 8 June 2016)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/USA,  
9 March 2017    
Termination on 18 November 2016 of countervailing 
investigation on imports of certain iron mechanical transfer 
drive components (HS 8483.3 0.80; 8483.50.60; 8483.50.90; 
8483.90.30; 8483.90.80; 7325.10.00; 7325.99.10; 
7326.19.00; 8431.31.00; 8431.39.00; 8483.50.40) from China 
(investigation initiated on 25 November 2015 and provisional 
duty imposed on 11 April 2016)  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/US A,  
14 March 2017    
Termination on 18 November 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of circular welded carbon -quality steel pipe  
(HS 7306.19.10; 7306.19.51; 7306.30.10; 7306.30.50; 
7306.50.10; 7306.50.50) from Viet Nam (investigation 
initiated on 25 No vember 2015 and provisional duty imposed 
on 8 June 2016)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/USA,  
9 March 2017    
Termination on 18 November 2016 of countervailing duties on 
imports of circular welded carbon -quality steel pipe  
(HS 7306.19.10; 7306.19.51; 7306.30.1 0; 7306.30.50; 
7306.50.10; 7306.50.50) from Pakistan (investigation initiated 
on 25 November 2015 and provisional duty imposed on  
8 April 2016)  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/USA,  
14 March 2017    
Initiation on 16 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of certain hardwood plywood products (HS 4412) 
from China  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/USA,  
9 March 2017    
Initiation on 16 December 2016 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of certain hardwood plywood products (HS 4412) 
from China  WTO docum ent 
G/SCM/N/313/USA,  
14 March 2017    
Initiation on 22 December 2016 of anti -dumping investigation 
on imports of certain softwood lumber products (HS 
4407.10.01; 4409.10.05; 4409.10.10; 4409.10.20; 
4409.10.90; 4418.90.25; 4415.20.40; 4415.20.80; 
4418.90.4 6; 4421.90.70; 4421.90.94; 4421.90.97) from 
Canada  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/USA,  
9 March 2017; and 
Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -122-857,  
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 18421 (19 April 2017)  Provisional duty 
imposed on  
27 April 2017  
Initiation on 22 December 2016 of countervailing investigation 
on imports of certain softwood lumber products  
(HS 4407.10.01; 4409.10.05; 4409.10.10; 4409.10.20; 
4409.10.90; 4418.90.25; 4415.20.40; 4415.20.80; 
4418.90.46; 4421.90.70; 4421.9 0.94; 4421.90.97) from 
Canada  WTO document 
G/SCM/N/313/USA,  
14 March 2017; and 
Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -122-858,  
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 19657 (28 April 2017)  Provisional duty 
imposed on  
27 April 2017  
Termi nation on 30 December 2016 of anti -dumping duties on 
imports of solid urea (HS 3102.10) from Russian Federation 
and Ukraine (imposed on 14 July 1987)  WTO document 
G/ADP/N/294/USA,  
9 March 2017    
Initiation on 28 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of silicon metals (HS 2804.61.00; 2804.69.10; 
2804.69.50) from Australia, Brazil and Norway  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -602-810, 
A-351-850 and A -403-805 
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 16352 (4 April 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 100 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Initiation on 28 March 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of silicon metals (HS 2804.61.00; 2804.69.10; 
2804.69.50) from Australia, Brazil and Kazakhstan  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -351-851, 
C-602-811 and C -834-808 
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 16356 (4 April 2017)    
Initiation on 28 March 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of certain aluminium foil (HS 7607.11.30; 7607.11.60; 
7607.11.90; 7607.19.60; 7606.11.30; 7606.11.60; 
7606.12.30; 7606.12.60; 7 606.91.30; 7606.91.60; 
7606.92.30; 7606.92.60) from China  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -570-053, 
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 15691  
(30 March 2017)    
Initiation on 28 March 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
import s of certain aluminium foil (HS 7607.11.30; 7607.11.60; 
7607.11.90; 7607.19.60; 7606.11.30; 7606.11.60; 
7606.12.30; 7606.12.60; 7606.91.30; 7606.91.60; 
7606.92.30; 7606.92.60) from China  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -570-054, 
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 15688  
(30 March 2017)    
Initiation on 12 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod (HS 7213.91.30; 
7213.91.45; 7213.91.60; 7213.99.00; 7227.20.00; 
7227.90.60) from Belarus; It aly; Korea, Rep. of; Russian 
Federation; South Africa; Spain; Turkey; Ukraine; United Arab 
Emirates and the United Kingdom  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -822-806, 
A-475-836, A -580-891, A -
821-824, A -791-823, A -
469-816, A -489-831, A -
823-816, A -520-808 and 
A-412-826, Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 19207 (26 April 2017)    
Initiation on 12 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of biodiesel (HS 3826.00.30) from Argentina and 
Indonesia  Department of Commerce, 
Interna tional Trade 
Administration A -357-820 
and A -560-830 Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 18428 (19 April 2017)    
Initiation on 12 April 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of biodiesel (HS 3826.00.30) from Argentina and 
Indonesia  Department of Com merce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -357-821 
and C -560-831 Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 18423 (19 April 2017)    
Initiation on 17 April 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod (HS 7213.91.30; 
7213.91.45;  7213.91.60; 7213.99.00; 7227.20.00; 
7227.90.60) from Italy and Turkey  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -475-837 
and C -489-832, Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 19213 (26 April 2017)    
Initiation on 20 April 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of carton -closing staples (HS 8305.20.00) from China  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -570-055,  
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 19351 (27 April 2017)    
Initiation on 1 May 2017 of anti -dumping investig ation on 
imports of tool chests and cabinets (HS 9403.10.00; 
9403.20.00; 7326.90.86; 7326.90.35) from China and 
Viet Nam Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -570-056 
and A -552-821 Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 21523 (9 May 2017)    
Initiation on 1 May 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of tool chests and cabinets (HS 9403.10.00; 
9403.20.00; 7326.90.86; 7326.90.35) from China  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -570-057 
Federal Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 21516 (9 May 2017)    WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 101 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Initiation on 9 May 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on 
imports of certain cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and 
alloy steel (HS  7304.31.30; 7304.31.60; 7304.51.10; 
7304.51.50; 7306.30.50; 7306.50.50; 7306.30.10; 
7306.50 .10) from China; Germany; India; Italy; Korea, Rep. of 
and Switzerland  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration A -428-845, 
A-533-873, A -475-838, A -
580-892, A -570-058 and 
A-441-801 Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 22491 (16 May 2017)    
Initiation on 9 May 2017 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of certain cold -drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and 
alloy steel (HS 7304.31.30; 7304.31.60; 7304.51.10; 
7304.51.50; 7306.30.50; 7306.50.50; 7306.30.10; 
7306.50.10) from China and India  Department of Commerce, 
International Trade 
Administration C -533-874 
and C -570-059 Federal 
Register/Vol. 82 FR 
No. 22486 (16 May 2017)    
Viet Nam  
Initiation on 12 May 2017 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of mineral or chemical fertilizers (HS 3105.10. 90; 
3105.30.00; 3105.40.00; 3105.51.00; 3105.59.00; 
3105.90.00)  WTO document 
G/SG/N/6/VNM/6,  
18 May 2017    
 
Recorded, but non -confirmed information3 
Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Morocco  
Initiation in May 2017 of anti -dumping investigation on imports of 
excercise -books ( cahiers ) (HS 4820.20; 4901)  from Tunisia  L'Economiste  
(9 May 2017)    
 
 
                                                
3 This Section includes information which has been obtained from public sources but has not yet been 
confirmed by the delegation concerned.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 102 - 
 
  ANNEX 3 
OTHER TRADE AND TRADE -RELATED MEASURES1 
(MID-OCTOBER 2016 to MID -MAY 2017)  
Confirmed information2 
Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Argentina  
Inclusion of 74 new  tariff lines in the list of products requiring non -
automatic import licensing requirements (e.g. parts for 
motorcycles, percussion musical instruments, paper and 
paperboard, blades for saws, machinery and mechanical 
appliances, electrical machinery and eq uipment and parts thereof, 
optical fibres, sulphuric acid, organic chemicals, chemical 
products, plastics and articles thereof, conveyor or transmission 
belts of vulcanized rubber, glass and glassware, iron and steel, 
aluminium and articles thereof, beddin g, mattresses, lamps and 
lighting fittings) (NCM Chapters 28; 29; 38; 39; 40; 48; 70; 72; 
76; 79; 82; 84; 85; 87; 90; 91; 92; 94; 96)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017), 
Resolución No. 301 -
E/2016 Ministerio de 
Producción -
Secretaría  de 
Comercio   
(19 October 2016) 
and Resolución No. 
152-E/2017 -
Secretaría de 
Comercio  
(2 March 2017)  Elimination of 
certain items (27 
tariff lines) from 
the list of products 
requiring 
non-automatic 
import licensing 
requirements 
(NCM 7219.34.00; 
7408.19. 00; 
7604.29.19; 
8205.59.00; 
8207.30.00; 
8207.80.00; 
8207.90.00; 
8208.20.00; 
8424.30.10; 
8456.90.00; 
8457.10.00; 
8477.10.99; 
8501.20.00; 
8515.90.00; 
8546.90.00; 
9018.31.90; 
8471.30.12; 
8471.30.19; 
8471.30.90; 
8471.41.10; 
8471.49.00; 
8504.40.90; 
8528.41.10; 
8528.41.20; 
8528.51.10; 
8528.51.20; 
8544.42.00)  
Implementation of a Certificate of  Import of Used Capital Goods 
(Certificado de Importación de Bienes Usados "CIBU" ) (NCM 
Chapters 84; 85; 86; 87; 88; 89; 90)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Decreto No. 
1205/2016   
(29 November 16)  Effective  
30 November 
2016  
                                                
1 The inclusion of any measure in this Annex implies no judge ment by the WTO Secretariat on whether 
or not such me asure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature. Moreover, nothing in the Annex implies any 
judgement, either direct or indirect, on the consistency of any measure referred to with the provisions of any  
WTO agreement.  
2 This Section includes information which has either been provided by the Member concerned or has 
been confirmed at the request of the Secretariat.  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 103 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Updated list of "criterion values" ( valores criterio de carácter 
preventivo ) for imports of cotton toilet linen and kitchen linen, 
terry towelling or similar terry fabri cs (NCM 6302.60.00), from 
specific origins  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Administración 
Federal de Ingresos 
Públicos -  Resolución 
General No. 3992 -E 
(7 February 2017)  Effective  
9 February 2017  
Updated list of "criterion  values" ( valores criterio de carácter 
preventivo ) for imports of plastic tableware, kitchenware, other 
household articles and toilet articles (NCM 3924.10.00; 
3924.90.00), from specific origins  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) a nd 
Administración 
Federal de Ingresos 
Públicos -  Resolución 
General No. 3995 -E 
(22 February 2017)  Effective  
22 February 2017  
Updated list of "reference values" for exports of cranberries 
(NCM  0810.40.00), for certain specified destinations  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Administración 
Federal de Ingresos 
Públicos -  Resolución 
General No. 4001 -E 
(3 March 2017)  Effective  
3 March 2017  
Establishment of new requirements ( Registro de Operaciones de 
Importación de Petróleo Cru do y sus Derivados ) for the import of 
crude oil and its derivatives (NCM 2709; 2710): (i) registration of 
import operations; (ii) prior import authorization by the Ministry of 
Energy; and (iii) submission of an application by importers to the 
Ministry. Imp orts allowed only if insufficient: (i) supply of locally -
produced crude oil; (ii)  processing capacity in refineries; and 
(iii) supply of local derivatives  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Decreto No. 
192/2017 - Ministerio 
de Energía y Minería 
(20 March 2017)  Effective  
21 March 2017  
Updated list of "criterion values" ( valores criterio de carácter 
preventivo ) for imports of meat of swine and frozen meat of swine 
(NCM 0203.29.00; 0210.19.00), from specific origins  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Administración 
Federal de Ingresos 
Públicos -  Resolución 
General No. 4039 -E 
(2 May 2017)  Effective  
4 May 2017  
Extension of the import prohibition of worn clothing and other 
worn articles (NCM 6309.00.10 ; 6309.00.90)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Decreto 
No. 333/2017 
Ministerio de 
Producción  
(12 May 2017)  Effective 15 May 
2017 for 5 years  
Bolivia, (Plurinational State of)  
Temporary increase of import tariffs (up to 15%)  on certain 
machinery and mechanical appliances, television image and sound 
recorders and telephones (HS Chapters 84 and 85)  Decreto Supremo 
No.  3069  Effective  
February 2017  
Brazil  
Increase of import tariffs (to 18%) on certain LED lamps (NCM 
8539.50 .00) and (to 14%) on semi -bleached or bleached 
coniferous chemical wood pulp (NCM 4703.21.00)  Permanent 
Delegation of Brazil 
to the WTO  
(29 May 2017) and 
Camex Resolution 
No. 137/2016  
(28 December 2016)  Effective  
29 December 2016  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 104 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Temporary increase of import tariffs (from 10% to 35%) on 
coffee, not roasted and not decaffeinated ( variedade Conilon ) 
(NCM 0901.11.10)  Permanent 
Delegation of Brazil 
to the WTO  
(29 May 2017)  Effective  
21 February 2017 
to 31 May 2017  
Egypt  
Non-automatic import licensing re quirements on strategic 
agricultural commodities  Permanent 
Delegation of Egypt 
to the WTO  
(8 June  2016)  Effective  
13 November 
2016 
Temporary export taxes (LE 1,300/tonne) on iron scrap; (LE 
15,000/tonne) on copper ore and copper scrap; (LE 5,000/tonne) 
on aluminium scrap and residue of aluminium; (LE 3,000/tonne) 
on zinc ore and zinc scrap; (LE 6,000/tonne) on lead scrap and 
lead ore; (LE 2,800/tonne) on draft paper; (LE 125/tonne) on 
azotic fertilizers; (LE 8,000/tonne) on used or new rags, scrap 
twine,  cordage, rope and cables; and worn out articles of twine, 
cordage, rope or cables, of textile materials (effective 25 
December 2016 to 26 December 2017); (LE 100/tonne) on natural 
sands; (LE 400/tonne) on marble and raw granite; (LE 150/tonne) 
on quartz o re; (LE 900/tonne) on blocks of talc and crushed talc; 
(LE 500/tonne) on talc powder; (LE 400/tonne) on felspar ore 
(effective 7 February 2017 to 8 February 2018); (LE 3,000/tonne) 
on waste, parings and scraps of plastic except crushed plastic 
(pranged or granular) (effective 21 December 2016 to 13 
September 2017); (LE 600/tonne) on fodder components 
(effective 21 December 2016 to 22 December 2017); and (LE 
2,000/tonne) on sugar (effective 21 December 2016)  Permanent 
Delegation of Egypt 
to the WTO  
(8 June  2016)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
India  
Restoration of the "additional duty rate" (CVD) on gold coins 
having a gold content not below 99.5 and gold findings  Permanent 
Delegation of India to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs,  
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of 
Revenue No. 59/2016 
(1 December 2016)  Effective  
1 December 2016  
Reimposition of import tarif fs (7.5%) on technetium -99m 
(HS 2844) (originally eliminated on 3 October 2016)  Permanent 
Delegation of India to 
the WTO (30  May 
2017); Notification 
Customs, Ministry of 
Finance - Department 
of Revenue 
No. 61/2016 (27 
December 2016); 
and WTO document 
WT/TPR/OV/19,  
21 November 2016  Effective  
27 December 
2016  
Increase of import tariffs (from zero to 2%) on populated printed 
circuit boards (PCBs) for use in the manufacture of mobile phones 
(HS 8517.70)  Permanent 
Delegation of India to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of 
Revenue No. 4/2017 
(2 February 2017)  Effective  
2 February 2017 WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 105 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Increase of import tariffs (from 6% to 10%) on silver, in any form, 
other than medallions and silver coins having silver content not 
below 99.9%, or semi -manufactured forms of silver falling under 
sub-heading HS 7106.92; and medallions and silver coi ns having 
silver content not below 99.9% or semi -manufactured forms of 
silver falling under sub -heading HS 7106.92 (HS 71); (from zero 
to 10%) on hot -rolled coils for use in the manufacture of welded 
tubes and pipes falling under heading HS 7305 or 7306 (H S 
7208); and co -polymer coated MS tapes/stainless steel tapes for 
use in the manufacture of telecommunication grade optical fibres 
or optical fibre cables (HS 7212.40.00);  (from zero to 5%) on 
magnesium oxide (MgO) coated cold -rolled steel coils for use i n 
the manufacture of cold -rolled grain oriented steel (CRGO) falling 
under HS 7225.11.00) (HS 7225.19.90); (from 5% to 7.5%) on all 
goods other than reverse osmosis (RO) membrane elements for 
household type filters (HS 8421.99.00)  Permanent 
Delegation of I ndia to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of 
Revenue No. 6/2017 
(2 February 2017)    
Increase of export duties (from zero to 15%) on other aluminium 
ores including laterite (HS 2606.00.90)  Permanent 
Delegati on of India to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017) and 
Notification Customs, 
Ministry of Finance - 
Department of 
Revenue No. 3/2017 
(2 February 2017)  Effective  
 2 February 2017  
Increase of import tariffs (from zero to 10%) on wheat and tur 
(HS 0713.40.00; 0713.60.00)  Permanent 
Delegation of India to 
the WTO (30 May 
2017) and 
Notification No. 
10/2017 -Customs 
(23 March 2017)  Effective  
28 March 2017  
Further extension of the temporary minimum import price "MIP" 
(CIF basis/metric tonne) for 66 iron and steel tariff line s (HS 
Chapter 72) (originally implemented on 1 February 2016, for 6 
months)  Permanent 
Delegation of India to 
the WTO (30 May 
2017)  Effective 
December 2016 
for 2 months  
National Steel Policy 2017 providing preference to domestically 
manufactured iron and steel products in government procurement  Ministry of Steel  
(May 2017)  Effective  
May 2017  
Indonesia  
New requirement for imports of iron, steel and alloy steel and their 
derivative products (HS Chapter 72)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Minister of Trade 
Regulation No. 82/M -
DAG/PER/12/2016  
(9 December 2016)  Effective  
1 January 2017 to 
31 December 2019  
New requirement for exports of processed and refined mining 
products (HS Chapter 48) (effective 1 February 2017), animal s 
and animal products (effective 2 March 2017)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Minister of Trade 
Regulations Nos. 
01/M-
DAG/PER/1/2017  
(19 January 2017) 
and 13/M -
DAG/PER/2/2017  
(2 March 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 106 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Revised regulation on issuance of business trade licences and 
company registration certificates  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Minister of Trade 
Regulations Nos. 
07/M-
DAG/PER/2/2017 and 
08/M-
DAG/PER/2/2017  
(17 February 2017)  Effective  
22 February 2017  
New requirements for imports of animals and animal products  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Minister of Trade 
Regulation No. 13/M -
DAG/PER/2/2017  
(2 March 2017)  Effective  
2 March 2017 
New requirement for imports of tyres (HS 4011), establishing 
import restrictions and pre -shipment inspections and restricting 
entry points  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(30 May 2017) and 
Regulation No. 77/M -
DAG/PER/11/2016 
(11 Novembe r 2016)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Iraq, Rep. of  
Increase of import tariffs on certain products, e.g. (from 25% to 
75%) on cigarettes; (from 30% to 35%) on juices and televisions; 
(from 80% to 100%) on alcohols; (from 20% to 25%) on split air 
conditionin g; (from 15% to 25%) on certain vehicles (HS 2402; 
2009; 2203; 8415; 8703; 8528)  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
Republic of Iraq  
(5 June 2017)    
Temporary import ban on certain locally produced vegetables and 
fruits, e.g. potatoes, tomatoes, lettuces, carro ts, and melons (HS 
0701; 0702; 0705; 0706; 0807)  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
Republic of Iraq  
(5 June 2017)    
Mauritius  
Electronic payment mandatory for payment of customs duties, 
excise duties and VAT when amount per bill of entry is MUR 
50,000 or mor e Permanent 
Delegation of 
Mauritius to the WTO 
(5 May 2017)  Effective  
15 December 
2016 
Import levy (25%) on household washing machines and certain 
lamps (HS 8450; 8539)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Mauritius to the WTO 
(5 May 2017)  Effective  
1 February 2017  
Mexico  
Further extension of the temporary increase of import tariffs (from 
zero to 15%) on 97 iron and steel tariff lines (HS Chapter 72) 
(originally implemented on 7 October 2015 for 180 days and 
extended on 4 April 2016  for an additional period of 180  days)  Permanent 
Delegation of Mexico 
to the WTO  
(29 May 2017); 
Diario Oficial de la 
Federación (Official 
Journal),  
6 April 2017; and 
WTO document 
WT/TPR/OV/19,  
21 November 2016   Effective  
6 April 2017, for 
180 days  
Moldova , Rep. of  
Temporary export  ban on wood and certain articles of wood (HS 
4403; 4404.20; 4406; 4407.91; 4407.99)  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
Republic of Moldova 
to the WTO  
(18 May  2017)  Effective  
1 December 2016  WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 107 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Mongolia  
Increase of import tariffs (to 30%) on tobacco (HS Chapter  24) Permanent 
Delegation of 
Mongolia to the WTO 
(6 June 2017)  Effective  
1 May 2017  
Russian Federation  
Further extension of the temporary export ban on tanned leather 
(HS 4104.11; 4104.19) (originally effective from 18 July 2016 to 
18 January 2017)  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
Russian Federation to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017)  Effective  
1 February 2017 
to 1 August 2017  
Government Resolution of the Russian Federation No. 9 of 14 
January 2017, established limitations on government procurement 
of foreign produc ts and services for state security reasons  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
Russian Federation to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017)    
Addition of 62 new items manufactured in the Eurasian Economic 
Union to the list of medical devices receiving preferential 
treatment in g overnment procurement  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
Russian Federation to 
the WTO  
(30 May 2017)    
Russian Federation (for Eurasian Economic Union)  
Introduction of mandatory presentation of preliminary information 
for goods imported by air  Permanent 
Deleg ation of the 
Russian Federation to 
the WTO  
(14 October 2016)  Effective  
1 April 2017  
South Africa for the Southern African Customs Union  
Increase of import tariffs (from 20% to 30%) on plastic baths, 
shower -baths, sinks and wash -basins (HS 3922.10) (eff ective 2 
December 2016);  (from zero to 10%) on adhesive bandages (HS 
3005.10.10; 3005.10.90) (effective  9 December 2016). Imports 
from the European Union, EFTA, MERCOSUR and the Southern 
African Development Community (SADC) members exempted  Permanent 
Delegation of South 
Africa to the WTO  
(25 April 2017) and 
Notices Nos. R. 1466 
(2 December 2016), 
R 1537  
(9 December 2016) - 
International Trade 
Administration 
Commission - 
Government Gazettes 
Nos. 40460 and 
40481   Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measu re 
Increase of import tariffs (from zero to R 63.63 c/kg) on cane and 
beet sugar (originally implemented on 26 September 2014) 
(HS 1701.12; 1701.13; 1701.14; 1701.91; 1701.99)  Permanent 
Delegation of South 
Africa to the WTO (  
25 April 2017) and 
Notice No.  R. 264  - 
International Trade 
Administration 
Commission - 
Government Gazette 
No. 40713  
(24 March 2017)  Effective  
24 March 2017  
Increase of import tariffs (from zero to 5%) on certain flat -rolled 
products of stainless steel (HS 7219; 7220) (effective 3  March 
2017); and (to 10%/30%) on wire of iron or non -alloy steel (HS 
7217); screws, bolts, nuts, coach screws, screw hooks, rivets, 
cotters, cotter -pins, washers (including spring washers) and 
similar articles, of iron or steel (HS 7318)  (effective 31 Ma rch 
2017). Imports from the European Union, EFTA and the Southern 
African Development Community (SADC) members exempted  Permanent 
Delegation of South 
Africa to the WTO  
(25 April 2017) and 
International Trade 
Administration 
Commission Notices 
Nos. R. 199 - 
Government Gazette 
No. 40661 (3 March 
2017) and R. 291 
Government Gazette 
No. 40734  
(31 March 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 108 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Switzerland  
Increase of the import quota (by 1,500 tonnes to 4,000 tonnes) on 
potatoes for consumption (HS 0 701.10.10)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Switzerland to the 
WTO (8 June 2017)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Temporary increase of the import quotas (by 47,500 tonnes) on 
potatoes for consumption and potato seeds (effective 1 January 
2017 to 31 December 2017), and ( by 30,000 tonnes) on wheat 
and meslin, rye, grain sorghum and buckwheat (effective 1 March 
2017 to 31 December 2017) (HS 0701.10.10; 0701.90.10; 
1001.99.21; 1002.90.21; 1007.90.21; 1008.29.21; 1008.10.21; 
1008.60.31; 1008.40.21; 1008.50.21; 1008.90.23)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Switzerland to the 
WTO (8 June 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Reduction of the out -of-quota tariff rates on cut flowers (HS 
0603.11.10; 0603.12.10; 0603.13.10; 0603.14.10; 0603.15.10; 
0603.19.11; 0603.19.18) to the current in -quota tariff rate 
(Sw F 12.5-25/100 kg)  Permanent 
Delegation of 
Switzerland to the 
WTO (8 June 2017)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Turkey  
Increase of import tariffs on tableware, kitchenware and other 
household articles (effective 11 November 2016 ); on office 
materials (effective 11 November 2016); on carpets and other 
textile products (effective 8 December 2016); on leather apparel 
and other apparel (effective 31 December 2016); on kashmir 
(cashmere) apparel (effective  
31 December 2016)  Permanent  
Delegation of Turkey 
to the WTO  
(May 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Increase of import tariffs (from 25% to 40%) on bulk undenatured 
ethyl alcohol  and (from 30% to 50%) on packaged undenatured 
ethyl alcohol (effective 1 January 2017);  (from zero to 15%) on 
flat-rolled products of iron or non -alloy steel, plated or coated with 
aluminium -zinc alloys of a width  of 600 mm or more (effective 
1 January 2017); on cosmetic and cleaning preparations (effective 
11 January 2017); (from 5.8% to 30 %) on ductile pipes, internal 
combustion engines, electric motors and generators, generator 
sets, rotary electric converters, and tractors and gearboxes 
(effective 18 January 2017); (to 21%) on tractors, generators, 
accumulators and diesel motors (effectiv e  
18 January 2017)  Permanent 
Delegation of Turkey 
to the WTO  
(May 2017)  Effective: see 
individual dates in 
measure  
Ukraine  
Non-automatic import licensing requirements on certain products: 
(i) ozone -depleting substances, the export and import of which a re 
subject to licensing, (such as carbon tetrachloride, methyl 
bromide); and (ii) goods that can contain ozone -depleting 
substances, the export and import of which are subject to 
licensing (except goods transported in containers with private 
property), suc h as medical drugs, synthetic organic colorants, and 
paints and lacquers based on synthetic polymers  Permanent 
Delegation of Ukraine 
to the WTO  
(2 June 2017) and 
WTO documents 
G/LIC/N/1/UKR/6 
and 
G/LIC/N/2/UKR/6  
(28 February 2017)  Effective  
1 January 20 17 
Volumes of export quotas for certain commodities (e.g. silver, gold 
and waste or scrap of precious metals) (HS 7106; 7108; 7112) 
subject to licensing procedures set at zero g   Permanent 
Delegation of Ukraine 
to the WTO  
(20 April 2017)  Effective  
1 January 2017 to 
31 December 2017   WT/TPR/OV/W/ 11 
 
- 109 - 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
United States of America  
"Buy America" requirements included in the Water Infrastructure 
Improvements For the Nation Act (WIIN Act). The WIIN Act 
maintained existing requirements, during fiscal year 2017, by 
mandating tha t funds made available from a state loan fund may 
not be used for projects for the construction, alteration, or repair 
of a public water system unless all of the iron and steel products 
used in the project are produced in the United States. This 
provision could be waived if: (i) enforcing this requirement would 
be inconsistent with the public interest; (ii) iron and steel products 
are not produced in the United States in sufficient and reasonably 
available quantities and of satisfactory quality; and (iii) i nclusion 
of iron and steel products produced in the United States would 
increase the cost of the overall project by more than 25%. 
Provisions included in the WIIN Act shall be applied in a manner 
consistent with United States obligations under internationa l 
agreements  Permanent 
Delegation of the 
United States to the 
WTO (May 2017) and 
Water Infrastructure 
Improvements for 
the Nation Act S.612 
(December 2016)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Tariff reclassifications resulting in the increase of import tariffs on 
photomask pellicles (HS 3926.90.99), on cam fasteners and 
dowels made of zinc (HS 7907.00.60), and on reusable bags of 
woven polypropylene strips used for yard waste and recycling (HS 
6305.32.00)  US Customs and 
Border Protection 19 
CFR PART 177  - 
Customs B ulletin and 
Decisions, Vol. 50 
No. 48  
(30 November 2016)  Effective  
30 January 2017  
 
 
Recorded, but non -confirmed information3 
Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Bolivia, (Plurinational State of)  
Temporary import ban on grapes (HS 0806.10)  Comunicación 
Ministe rio de 
Desarollo Rural y 
Tierras  
(28 January 2017)  Effective  
27 January to 27 
April 2017  
El Salvador  
Increase of import tariffs on certain agricultural products  El Mundo  
(15 February 2016)    
India  
Imposition through the implementation of the Goods and Services 
Tax Regime (GST) of import duties (10%) on certain  telecom 
products, e.g. mobile phones, digital still video cameras and other 
electronic integrated circuits, classified as ITA -1 products   The Hindu - 
BusinnesLine  
(11 December 2016 
and 8 Ma y 2017) and 
India Times  
(26 April 2017)    
"Make in India" requirements for government procurement 
through the  new e -market platform GEM (Government e -Market)  Asit Ranjan Mishra 
(28 February 2017)    
Imports of apples (HS 0808) now permitted through sea p orts and 
airports in Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Cochin; through the land 
port and airport in Delhi; and through India's land borders  Minutes of the 
meeting of Council of 
Trade in Goods, 
forthcoming    
Temporary import ban on reptile leather, raw mink, fo x and 
chinchilla fur skins and tanned mink skins (HS 4114; 4101; 4102; 
4103; 4303)  Press reports 
referring to 
Notification 
No. 33/2015 -2020 
(January 2017)    
Indonesia  
Export ban on copper concentrates (HS 2603)  Press reports 
(January 2017)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Import permit requirements for certain locally produced 
horticulture products   Business World  
(27 March 2017)    
                                                
3 This Section includes information which has been obtained from public sources but has not yet been 
confirmed by the delegation concerned.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 110 - 
 
  Measure  Source/Date  Status  
Revised import requirements for milk (HS 0401; 0402), 
authorizing its import only if domestic production is not able to 
fulfil n ational demand  Press reports    
Nigeria  
Import ban on 23 products  Africa News  
(5 January 2017) and 
Deloitte Trade 
Newsletter  Effective  
17 October 2016  
Introduction of local content requirements on certain products and 
sectors, e.g. information and t elecommunication technology   Minutes of the 
meeting of Council of 
Trade in Goods, 
forthcoming    
Increase of import tariffs on certain products (e.g. tobacco, 
alcoholic products, raw materials, consumer goods) through the 
import adjustment tax list  Africa News  
(5 January 2017) and 
Deloitte Trade 
Newsletter  Effective  
17 October 2016  
Withdrawal of certain furniture and plastic sanitary wares from the 
import restricted list  Deloitte Trade 
Newsletter    
Russian Federation  
Amendments introduced to the list  of goods essential to the 
internal market, resulting in a temporary export ban  Press reports 
referring to 
Government Decree 
No. 19  
(18 January 2017)    
Establishment of a 15% price preference for Russian goods, 
works, or services purchased by state -owned  entities or by legal 
persons using state funding for certain investment projects  Press reports 
referring to Decree 
No. 925  
(16 September 2016)  Effective  
1 January 2017  
Ukraine  
Inclusion of pine wood in the export ban list on unprocessed 
timber (HS Cha pter 44) (originally implemented on 1 November 
2015 for three species)  Press reports and 
WTO document 
WT/TPR/OV/19,  
21 November 2016  Effective  
1 January 2017   
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 111 - ANNEX 4  
MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE IN SERVICES1 
(MID-OCTOBER 2016 to MID -MAY 2017)  
Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
MEASURES AFFECTING VARIOUS SECTORS  
Brazil  
On 24 November 2016, the Central Bank 
of Brazil amended the rules concerning 
the registration of foreign direct 
investment with the Central B ank. 
 
The new rules bring back the 
requirement that companies recipient of 
foreign direct investment register their 
financial economic statements with the 
Central Bank on a yearly basis.  This 
requirement is applied on a quarterly 
basis for companies with assets or net 
worth equal to or greater than R$250 
million.  
 
The rules also provide that the Brazilian 
company recipient of the foreign 
investment will be legally responsible for 
the registration of the foreign 
investment and that it may appoint 
representa tives to carry out the 
registrations on its behalf.  Mode 3  All sectors  Resolution No. 4,533 of the National Monetary 
Council, viewed at:  
https://www.bcb.gov.br/pre/normativos/busca/d
ownloadNormativo.asp?arquivo=/Lists/Normativo
s/Attachments/50287/Res_4533_v1_O.pdf  
 
 
 Effective  
30 January 2017  YES 
                                                
1 The inclusion of any measure in this Annex implies no judgement by the WTO Secretariat on whether or not such me asure, or its intent, is protectionist in 
nature. Moreover, nothing in the Annex implies any j udgement, either direct or indirect, on the consistency of any measure referred to with the provisions of any WTO 
agreement.   
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 112 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Canada  
The government, under the Investment 
Canada Act, issued guide lines concerning 
the national security review of foreign 
investments.  The guidelines provide 
further information on the review process 
and set out factors that the government 
may take into account when making a 
determination on  grounds of national 
securit y. Mode 3  All sectors  "Guidelines on the National Security Review of 
Investments", Innovation, Science and Economic 
Department Canada, 19 December 2016, viewed 
at: 
https://www.ic.gc. ca/eic/site/ica -
lic.nsf/eng/lk81190.html  
 Effective  
19 December 2016  YES 
China  
The State Council approved the creation of 
seven additional free trade zones in the 
provinces of Shanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, 
Henan, Zhejiang and Liaoning, as well as in 
the city of Chongqing.  Modes 3 
and 4  Various Sectors  Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China (Shanxi) 
pilot free trade zone  
(Guo Fa (2017) No.21);  Effective  
15 March 2017  YES 
The policy provides, among other things, 
for easier approval procedures.  Foreign 
investment is treated on a national 
treatment basis, except in specific areas 
set out in a negative list.  Such negative 
list provides for better treatment of foreign 
investment in China than what is provided 
in the Ca talogue for the Guidance of 
Foreign Investment Industries, which 
applies to other parts of China.    Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China (Sichuan) 
pilot free trade zone  
(Guo Fa (2017) No.20);  
Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China 
(Chongqing) pilot free trade zone  
(Guo Fa (2017) No.19);  
Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China (Hubei) 
pilot free trade zone (Guo Fa (2017) No.18);  
Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China (Henan) 
pilot free trade zone  
(Guo Fa (2017) No.17);  
Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China (Zhejiang) 
pilot free tra de zone  
(Guo Fa (2017) No.16);  
Circular of the State Council on Printing and 
Distributing the overall plan on China (Liaoning) 
pilot free trade zone  
(Guo Fa (2017) No.15).     
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 113 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
On 12 October 2016, China designated 10 
additional cities as "outsourcing 
demonst ration cities".  Such designation 
involves preferential tax treatment for 
advanced technology service enterprises.  
 
These 10 cities are: Shenyang, Changchun, 
Nantong, Zhenjiang, Fuzhou (inclusive of 
Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental 
Area), Nanning, Urumqi , Qingdao, Ningbo 
and Zhengzhou.  Mode 3  Various sectors  Circular of the Ministry of Finance, the State 
Administration of Taxation, the Ministry of 
Commerce, the Ministry of Science and 
Technology, and the National Development and 
Reform Commission on Appli cation of Income 
Tax Policies for Technology -Advanced Service 
Enterprises to Newly Added China Outsourcing 
Demonstration Cities  
(Cai Shui [2016] No.  108) Effective  
12 October 2016  YES 
The new rules provide preferential tax 
treatment for the recognized tec hnology -
advanced service enterprises in the 15 
Service Trade Innovation Development 
Pilot Areas.  The rate of income tax is 
reduced to 15%.  Regarding training 
expenses in these enterprises, expenses 
that do not exceed 8% of total salaries are 
allowed to b e deducted before taxation, 
and the excess portion is allowed to be 
carried over and deducted in the following 
taxable year.  Mode 3  Computer and 
information 
services, R&D and 
technology 
services, cultural 
technology services 
and medical 
services of 
traditi onal Chinese 
medicine  Circular on Promoting Preferential Income Tax 
Policies for Technology Advanced Service 
Enterprises in Service Trade Innovation 
Development Trial Areas  
(Cai Shui [2016] No. 122)  Effective  
10 November 2016  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
On 17 February 2017, the government 
issued a revision to the Catalogue of 
Priority Industr ies for Foreign Investment 
in Central and Western Regions.  
 
The measure expands the list of priority 
industries for foreign investment.  The 
2017 Catalogue lists 639 priority industrial 
items , among which 173 were added in this 
most recent revision.  34 items were 
deleted and 84 were modified.  
Modifications relate, for example, to 
tourism and leisure, engineering, and 
logistics services.  For projects falling 
within the scope of the revised C atalogue, 
foreign invested enterprises are eligible for 
favourable tax reductions and preferential 
access to land.  Mode 3  Various sectors  Order 33 of 2017 – Revision of Catalogue of 
Priority Industries for Foreign Investment in 
Central and Western Regions,  viewed at:  
http://hkmb.hktdc.com/en/1X0A94PZ/hktdc -
research/China -Revises -Catalogue -of-Priority-
Industries -for-Foreign -Investment -in-Central -
and-Western -Regions  
 Effective  
20 March 2017  YES 
On 7 November 2016, China adopted a 
Cybersecurity Law that introduced various 
new requirements in relation to the 
collection, use and protection of person al 
information, the protection of "critical 
information infrastructure", the 
responsibilities of network service 
providers, and the preservation of sensitive 
information.  
 
Among other things, the Law requires 
"personal information and important data" 
collected and generated in China to be 
stored domestically.  Security assessments 
by authorities will be conducted in relation 
to information and data transferred abroad 
pursuant to business requirements.  More 
detailed regulations will be issued to 
support imp lementation of these provisions 
of the Law.  Multiple 
modes  All sectors  Cybersecurity Law  Effective  
1 June 17    
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of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Colombia  
The Government of Colombia issued 
Decree 119, which updates the country's 
foreign investment regime.  One of the 
changes brought about by the decree is the 
elimination of registration deadlines and 
related sanctions in case of non -
compliance.  Mode 3  All sectors  Decree 119 of 26 January 2017, viewed at:  
http://es.presidencia.gov.co/normativa/normativ
a/DECRETO%20119%20DEL%2026%20ENERO%
20DE%202017.pdf  
 
http://www.minhacienda.gov.co/HomeMinhacien
da/ShowProperty;jsessionid=QXc5MPoduSqQcvD
B3yCAs6Nv9YFQqDhpS5aiTsJJrwyg9HuJ8hx7! -
89808455?nodeId=%2FOCS%2FP_MHCP_WCC -
063032%2F%2FidcPrimaryFile&revision=latestrel
eased  Issued on  
26 January 2017.  
Effective, at latest, 
six months after 
issuance of the 
decree.   
The government of Colombia, through 
Decree no. 1759, required Colombian 
companies to register their databases w ith 
the Superintendencia de Industria y 
Comercio  by 30 June 2017.  The purpose is 
to regulate the treatment of personal data.  Multiple 
modes  All sectors  Decree No. 1759, viewed at:  
http://www.sic.gov.co/registro -nacional -de-
bases -de-datos  8 November 2016   
Democratic Republic of the Congo  
This measure reserves sub -contracting by 
multinational enterprises to companies that 
are domestically owned.  
 Multiple 
modes  All sectors  Loi No . 17/001, viewed at:  
http://juriafrique.com/blog/2017/03/29/congo -k-
le-legislateur -regit-la-sous-traitance -dans-le-
secteur -prive/  8 February 2017   
This measure aims to give equal legal 
treatment to women in t he field of 
commerce.  In particular, the spouse's 
authorization is no longer required for 
women to engage in commercial activities.  Modes 3 
and 4  All sectors  Loi No . 16/008, viewed at:  
http://juriafrique.com/blog/2017/03/29/congo -k-
le-legislateur -regit-la-sous-traitance -dans-le-
secteur -prive/  15 July 20162  
                                                
2 This measure entered into force before the period of review .  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
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of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Egypt  
The President of Egypt signed on 31 May 
2017 a new Investment Law.  I t aims to 
streamline requirements and processes 
relating to investment authorizations.  For 
example, under the law, the General 
Authority for Investment (GAI) will 
introduce a new system allowing 
companies to register and incorporate 
electronically.  The l aw also sets deadlines 
for completion of tasks by the GAI, and 
reduces documentary requirements 
imposed on investors.  
 
Further, investment projects are allowed to 
employ up to 10% of foreign employees if 
local employees with necessary 
qualifications are un available. For some 
strategic projects, a higher percentage of 
foreign workers can be allowed, subject to 
a commitment to train local workers. The 
law sets out, in addi tion, various tax 
incentives.  Modes 3 
and 4  All sectors  Law No. 72 of 2017  Effective 1 J une 
2017 YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 117 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Kenya  
The Finance Act, adopted on 20 September 
2016, repealed the provision of the 
Companies Act of 2015 that required 
enterprises established in Kenya to have at 
least 30% of their shareholding held by 
Kenyan citizens by birth.  
 Mode 3  All sectors  Finance Act (Act No. 38 of 2016), viewed at:  
http://kenyalaw.org/kl/fileadmin/pdfdownloads/A
mendmentActs/2016/FinanceAct_No38of2016.pd
f 
 
http://www.oraro.co.ke/alert/karibu -kenya -
welcome -to-kenya -repeal -of-the-30-local-
shareho lding-requirement -for-foreign -
companies -in-the-companies -act-2015/  Effective  
1 January 2017   
Moldova  
Moldova has adopted a series of measures 
in relation to various services sectors.  In 
many cases, these new measures aim to 
transpose the requirements of European 
Union Directives into domestic law.  For 
example, the National Commission of 
Financial Markets (NCFM) adopted new 
measures to regulate capital markets and 
the supply of insurance services.  With 
respect to energy services, new regulations 
have been adopted in relation to cross -
border electricity distribution and natural 
gas transmission services, which aim, 
among other things, to promote greater 
integration into the European energy 
market. Moldova also adopted a number of 
measures in view of req uirements of 
European Union Directives relating to the 
development of the internal market and 
quality standards for postal services, as 
well as the access to and use of electronic 
communications networks.  
 
 
 
 Multiple 
modes  Financial services;  
energy servi ces; 
postal services;  
telecommunication 
services;  
audiovisual 
services  
 
 Regulation on market abuse (NCFM Decision No. 
14/15);  
Instruction regarding direct and indirect holdings 
(NCFM Decision no. 59/6);  
Regulation on training requirements and 
professional  competence in insurance (NCFM 
Decisions no. 49/5 and 59/14);  
The Law amending the Law 407/2006 on 
insurance;  
Regulation on access to the network for cross -
border exchanges in electricity and congestion 
management;  
Regulation on access to the natural gas 
transmission networks and congestion 
management;  
Rules regarding providing postal services 
(Decision no.1457);  
The quality standards regarding the universal 
postal services (Decision no. 1226);  
Mode and conditions of using of postal networks 
for necessity o f national security and protection 
in case of force major and exceptional situations 
(Decision no. 1453);  
Calculation methodology of maximum tariffs for 
the right of access on public properties and/or 
for shared use of physic infrastructure (Decision 
no.13 43); 
Decision no.52 modifying Decision no.240 "For 
approving Program regarding the transition from 
analog television to digital terrestrial".3 November 2016 -
March 2017   
                                                
3 Information provided by the government.   
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- 118 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Myanmar  
In October 2016, the government enacted 
Myanmar's new Investment Law.  While 
earlier legislation required all investment 
proposals to obtain permission of the 
Myanmar Investment Commission, the new 
law subjects only selected investment 
proposals to government screening and 
authorization.  
 
The law also includes a list of prohibited 
activities, as well as a list of activities 
where foreigners will be requested to set 
up joint -ventures with Myanmar citizens.  
 
 
In certain areas, such as market access, 
land lease and technical support, local 
businesses and SMEs would benefit from 
more fa vourable treatment compared to 
foreign investors.  Investment incentives in 
the form of corporate tax holidays will be 
granted to "promoted " sectors.  
 
Full d etails of the sectors that are 
"promoted ", subject to screening, and 
subject to joint venture requi rements will 
be set out in forthcoming implementation 
rules.  Mode 3  All sectors  Myanmar Investment Law, viewed at:  
http:// www.dica.gov.mm/sites/dica.gov.mm/files
/document -
files/myanmar_investment_law_official_translati
on_3-1-2017.pdf  Effective 1 April 2017   
The Ministry of Commerce has revoked the 
ceiling on the amount of funds that foreign -
domestic joint venture enterprise s can use 
in their operations.  Foreign investors 
engaged in joint venture businesses with 
Myanmar companies will no longer have 
their expenditure limited to the initial sum 
they declared to the Central Bank.  This 
removes the obligation to register any 
additional amounts of foreign currency 
required for investment purposes.  Mode 3  All sectors  Viewed at:  
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/ 2
4068-limits -lifted-on-joint-venture -trading -
firms.html  
 
http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/IPM/Meas
ureDetails?i d=3013&rgn=&grp=&t=&s=&pg=3&c
=&dt=&df=07%2F08%2F2008&isSearch=true  
 22 November 2016    
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- 119 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Qatar  
Qatar has adopted new legislation 
governing investment of non -Qatari capital 
in the economy.  The new law, replacing 
Law No. 13 from 2000, allows non -Qataris 
to invest up to 100% of project capital in 
all sectors of the economy, provided they 
have a Qatari agent.  
 
Subject to government approval, foreign 
investors may own 49% of the capital of 
companies listed on the Qatar Exchange.  
Foreign investors may own more than 49% 
of these companies if supported by 
Ministers.  
 
Citizens of countries of the Gulf 
Cooperation Council are treated as Qatari 
citizens with respect to ownership of Qatar 
stock exchange -listed companies.   Mode 3  All sectors  Viewed at:  
http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar -passes -
law-approving -100-foreign -investment -
649747.html  
 
 19 October 2016   
Thailand  
Thailand adopted new measures, including  
amendments to the Law for Facilitation of 
Business Operations, that aim to further 
improve the ease of doing business in the 
country.  For example, Thailand no longer 
requires from employers of more than 10 
employees that they submit a copy of Work 
Rules to the Director –General of the 
Department of Labour Protection and 
Welfare within seven  days from the date of 
the entry into force of the Rules.  Mode 3  All Sectors  Order of the Head of the National Council for 
Peace and Order No. 21/2560 (2017)  
Amendment t o the Laws for Facilitation of 
Business Operations (Royal Gazette Book No. 
134 Special Section 97D, page 49), viewed at:  
https://www.dlapip er.com/en/us/insights/publica
tions/2017/04/summary -of-the-order -of-ncpo-
no-21_2560/  
 Effective 4 April 2017   
Tunisia  
Tunisia's new Investment Law aims to 
facilitate foreign investment by reducing 
the need for government approvals, 
simplifying processes,  allowing higher 
percentages of foreign employees, and 
increasing the number of sectors that are 
open to foreign investment.  Modes 3 
and 4  All sectors  Investment Law (No. 71) of 20 November 2016, 
viewed at:  
https://www.utica.org.tn/Fr/telecharger.php?cod
e=250  
 Effective 1 April 2017    
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 120 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
The law allows investors to recruit foreign 
managing staff up to 30% of the entire 
managing staff during the first three years 
of activity, and up to 10% of the entire 
managing staff from the fourth year 
onward.  
 
The law also grants foreign investors the 
right to purchase non -agricultural 
properties as part of investment projects, 
and simplifies procedures in relation to the 
transfer of funds.  
 
A list of econo mic activities where 
investment will be subject to authorization 
shall be issued by the government within a 
year of the law's entry into force.  
       
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 121 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Viet Nam  
On 22 November 2016, Viet Nam amended 
the list of 'conditional business lines' in 
Annex 4 of th e Law on Investment.  
Companies operating in 'conditional 
business lines' must satisfy additional 
conditions, such as sub -licences or other 
requirements, as per the Investment Law. 
Business lines removed include:  
- company valuation services in relation to  
initial public offerings;  
- consultancy services in relation to 
assessment of investment projects;  
- management training services for 
investment and construction projects;  
- establishment and assessment services 
for investment and construction projects;  
- management and operation services for 
common infrastructure facilities;  
- insurance agency training services;  
- import of radio transmitters and 
transceivers;  
- organisation of festivals and conferences;  
- water drainage services;  
- printing carton and ot her packages;  
- art and photographic work dealings;  
- tender agency services;  
- consultancy services for land survey, 
assessment and planning;  
- services for preparation of environmental 
impact assessment and detailed 
environmental protection plan.  Mode 3  Various sectors  Law No. 03/2016/QH14 amending the list of 
conditional business lines in Annex 4 of the Law 
on Investment, viewed at:  
http://asemconnectvietnam.gov.vn/Law.as px?ZI
D1=10&ID1=2&MaVB_id=2535  Effective  
1 January 2017, 
except for specific 
business lines 
identified in the law 
(see first column).    
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 122 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
On the other hand, new business lines 
were added to the list:  
- manufacturing, repairing bottles of liquid 
petroleum ga s (LPG bottles);  
- energy auditing;  
- educational quality test services;  
- manufacturing, assembling and importing 
automobiles (effective only on 1 July 
2017);  
- training, coaching marine crew and 
organizing to recruit, and to supply marine 
crew;  
- trading  experiment services specializing 
in construction;  
- trading services of management, and 
operation of cremation establishment;  
- trading services of registration and 
remaining domain name “.vn”;  
- trading products and services of civil 
cryptography;  
- overseas study consultancy services, 
trading aquatic breeding;  Mode 3  Various sectors  Law No. 03/2016/QH14 amending the list of 
conditional business lines in Annex 4 of the Law 
on Investment, viewed at:  
http://asemconnectvietnam.gov.vn/Law.aspx?ZI
D1=10&ID1=2&MaVB_id=2535  Effective  
1 January 2017, 
except for specific 
business lines 
identified in the law 
(see first column).   
- trading services of meteorological 
forecasting and warning;  
- trading services of basic survey, 
consultancy of establishing emplacements;  
- projects and water resource reports;  
- trading camouflage equipment, software 
used for recording, video recording and 
positioning (effective only on 1 July 2017).  Mode  3 Various sectors  Law No. 03/2016/QH14 amending the list of 
conditional business lines in Annex 4 of the Law 
on Investment, viewed at:  
http://asemconnectvietnam.gov.vn/Law .aspx?ZI
D1=10&ID1=2&MaVB_id=2535  Effective  
1 January 2017, 
except for specific 
business lines 
identified in the law 
(see first column).   
FINANCIAL SERVICES  
Argentina  
The Resolution established that reinsurance 
and retrocession services may be supplied  
through local reinsurers and/or admitted 
reinsurers (cross -border reinsurers).  
 
Insurance companies will be allowed to 
place their risks directly with admitted 
reinsurers according to the following 
scheme: up to 50% of their ceded 
premiums for contracts b eginning 1 July 
2017; up to 60% of their ceded premiums 
for contracts beginning on 1 July 2018; up 
to 75% of ceded premiums for contracts 
beginning on 1 July 2019.  Before this Mode 1  Reinsurance and 
retrocession 
services  Resolución  SSN 
No. 40.422 -E/2017. Published in the Official 
Gazette on 4 May 17, viewed at:  
https://www.boletinoficial.gob.ar/#!DetalleNorm
a/163138/20170504  Effective  
13 May 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 123 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Resolution, insurance companies could only 
reinsure individual risk with Admitt ed 
Reinsures above US$50 million in their 
entirety.  
 
The Resolution also amended the intra -
group limitation whereby retrocession 
between a local reinsurer and a related 
company, which used to be 40% of the 
aggregate premiums in a given fiscal year, 
is incr eased to 75%.  Finally, the new 
measure eliminated the requirement that 
admitted reinsurers register as a 
representative office or branch, and 
introduced a more straightforward 
registration procedure.  
Australia  
The Australian Securities and Investments 
Commission exempts financial services 
providers regulated by the Luxembourg 
CSSF from compliance with parts of the 
Corporations Act in relation to the provision 
of particular financial services in respect  of 
specific financial products.  It enables 
certain foreign financial suppliers to 
operate in Australia with reduced 
regulatory requirements.  Mode 3  Financial services  ASIC Corporations (CSSF -Regulated Financial 
Services Providers) Instrument 2016/1109:, 
viewed at: 
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2016L01
757 
 Effective  
9 November 2016. 
Ceases to apply  
28 September 2018.  YES 
Brazil  
Brazil introduced new liberalization 
measures for t he reinsurance market.   
Regulations increased to 70% the 
percentage of risks that can be ceded to 
foreign reinsurers.  This figure will continue 
to increase each year until it reaches 85% 
in 2020.  Previously, reinsurance allocation 
required preferential offers to the local 
market.  Mode 1  Reinsurance 
services  Lei Complementar  No. 126 Effective  
1 January 2017  YES 
China  
The Circular eases approval requirements 
for foreign -owned banks to supply certain 
investment banking services in the country 
and to inves t in domestic banking 
institutions in China.  Mode 3  Banking and other 
financial services  Circular of the General Office of CBRC on Matters 
Concerning the Operation of Certain Businesses 
by Foreign -invested Banks  
 Effective from  
10 March 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 124 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Approval from the China Banking 
Regulation Commission (CBRC) is no longer 
required for foreign -invested banks (which 
include foreign -invested legal entity banks 
and onshore branches of foreign banks) to 
provide the following services:  
underwriting of treasury bond s, custodian 
services, and financial advisory and 
consultancy services (beyond that which is 
only related to traditional banking).  
 
Instead, foreign -invested banks are now 
only required to report to CBRC within five 
days upon commencement of the relevant 
business, subject to the administrative 
approval of other regulatory authorities 
where applicable.  In addition, the Circular 
expressly allows foreign -invested banks to 
make onshore investments in domestic 
banks, although it is unclear whether such 
investme nt is subject to shareholding 
restrictions and whether there are 
particular requirements on capital 
adequacy or otherwise in order to be 
approved for investment.       
India  
Every Indian insurer must comply with the 
order of preference for cessions by Ind ian 
insurers prescribed by Regulation 28(9) of 
the Branch Office Regulations. The order of 
preference contained in Regulation 28(9) 
sets out the hierarchy between the various 
entities with which an Indian insurer can 
place its reinsurance business.  The 
regulations specify that an Indian insurer 
first has to approach India's official 
reinsurer GIC Re before reaching out to the 
branch operations of foreign reinsurers to 
place any reinsurance deals.  After 
exhausting these two channels, the 
insurers are allow ed to approach reinsurers 
located in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), 
Indian primary insurers, and, lastly, the 
cross-border reinsurers located outside the 
country.  Mode 1  
 Reinsurance  IRDAI circular 
(IRDAI/NL/CIR/RIN/021/01/2017), viewed at:  
https://www.irda.gov.in/admincms/cms/whatsNe
w_Layout.aspx?page=PageNo3053&flag=1 . 
 
 Effective  
16 January 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 125 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Indonesia  
Indonesia announced that it will amend 
existing regulations in order to limit foreign 
ownership of insurance companies to 80%.  
 
The amendment will be applied to 
companies with foreign ownership below 
80% and to new insurance companies.  For 
existing insurance companies where foreign 
ownership exceeds 80 %, adjustments 
would not be required, except in the 
context of new capital injections.  
 
The initial regulation from 1992 capped 
foreign ownership at 80%.  In 1999, in the 
wake of the financial crisis, authorities 
allowed foreign i nvestors to exceed the 
ceiling. Mode 3  Insurance services  Viewed at: 
http://www.kemenkeu.go.id/en/Berita/minister -
finance -and-house -representat ives-discussed -
limits -foreign -ownership -insurance  
 Announced on  
18 April 2017  YES 
The Regulation imposes a 20% limit on 
foreign ownership of enterprises that offer 
electronic payment processing services.  
The new limit applies to ( i) new enterprises 
in the electronic payments services sector, 
(ii) existing enterprises that expand into 
this sector, and ( iii) enterprises already 
active in the sector that experience a 
change of ownership.  Mode 3  Electronic payment 
processing services  Bank of Indonesia Regula tion No. 
18/40/PBI/2016 on Payment Transaction 
Processing, issued on 14 November 2016, 
viewed at: 
http://www.bi.go.id/id/peraturan/sistem -
pembayaran/Pages/pbi_184016.as px 
 Effective  
15 November 2016  YES 
Kenya  
Since 1 January 2017, marine cargo 
insurance (MCI) is reserved to local 
insurance companies.  This requirement is 
implemented pursuant to the 2016/2017 
budget policy statement and the Insurance 
Act Cap 487 sectio n 20 (1).  Mode 1  Non-life insurance 
services  Insurance Act Cap 487 section 20, viewed at:  
http://www.treasury.go.ke/component/jdownloa
ds/send /7-budget -statement/2 -2016-budget -
statement.html  
 
http://kentrade.go.ke/FAQsonMCI.pdf  
 
http://allafrica.com/stories/201704140581.html  Effect ive 1 January 
2017  
Mongolia  
The new law establishes a legal framework 
for the Development Bank to operate 
independently from the government. 
According to the law, the Bank of Mongolia 
would conduct an audit of the bank each 
year, and the government woul d conduct 
an audit every three years.  Mode 3  Financial services  Law on Development Bank of Mongolia, viewed 
at: http://www.dbm.mn/the -law-on-
development -bank-of-mongolia -adopted -on-10-
february -2017/  Effective 1 April 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 126 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Myanmar  
Foreign insurance co mpanies setting up 
business in special economic zones must 
show at least US$1 billion in capital funding 
(prior, US$3 billion), and must have been 
in the business for at least 10 years.  Mode 3  Insurance services  Criteria for foreign insurance companies to do 
business in special economic zones, viewed at:  
http://www.elevenmyanmar.com/business/8463  
 Effective mid -March 
2017  
Philippines  
The Philippines adopted a series of new 
measures affecting bank ing and other 
financial services, which relate to such  
aspects as:  
- transparency of remittance charges;  
- safeguards against the financing of 
terrorism;  
- risk-focused supervision in the licensing 
process;  
- the regulation of virtual currency 
exchanges;  
- oversight of the operations of MSBs (i.e. 
remittance and transfer companies , money 
changers/ foreign exchange dealers);  
- guidelines for new bank service channels, 
such as convenience stores, pharmacies 
and other highly accessible retail outlets;  
- regula tion of activities of pawnshops;  
- allocation of liability in relation to 
fraudulent transactions arising from 
counterfeit cards;  
- the conversion of micro finance -oriented 
banking offices into regular banking offices;  
- fees on retail bank products and do rmant 
deposit accounts.  
 Mode 3  Banking and other 
financial services  Circular No. 952:  Disclosure of Domestic 
Remittance Charges by All BSP -Supervised 
Entities with Domestic Remittance Transactions;  
Circular No. 950: Amendments to Anti -Money 
Laundering (A ML) Regulations;  
Circular No. 947: Supervisory Policy on Granting 
of a Licence/Authority;  
Circular No. 944 - Guidelines for Virtual Currency 
Exchanges;  
Circular No. 942: Enhanced Oversight 
Framework for Money Service Businesses;  
Circular No. 940: Guidelines  on Deposit and Cash 
Servicing Outside of Bank Premises;  
Circular No 938: New Supervisory Framework for 
Pawnshops to Enhance Financial Inclusion and 
Consumer Protection, and Strengthen Licensing 
Process;  
Circular No. 937: Amendments to Foreign 
Exchange Reg ulations;  
Circular No. 936: Guidelines on the 
Implementation of Europay Mastercard and Visa 
Card Fraud Liability Shift Framework; Circular 
No. 929: Conversion of Microfinance -Oriented 
Thrift Banks/Rural Banks  Into Regular TBs/RBs;  
Circular No. 928: Amendm ents to the 
Regulations Governing Fees on Retail Bank 
Products/Services and Dormant Deposit 
Accounts.4 Implemented 
between October 
2016 and March 2017   
                                                
4 Information provided by the government.   
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 127 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
The amendments aim to provide banks 
with more flexibility to expand their 
branching network to strategi c locations, 
including in cities previously considered as 
restricted areas.  
 
The Circular removed the use of theoretical 
capital as well as the combined capital 
requirement tied to geographic location in 
evaluating branch applications.  Mode 3  Banking and o ther 
financial services  Circular No. 932: Amendments to Regulations for 
Banks on the Establishment 
/Relocation/Voluntary Closure/Sale of Branches  Effective 16 
December 2016  YES 
New measures were adopted to establish 
the minimum standards to regulate the u se 
of telemarketing platforms by insurance 
companies and insurance brokers.  Mode 3  Insurance services  Circular Letter 2016 -61: Amendments to 
Guidelines on Electronic Commerce of Insurance 
Products  Effective 16 
November 2016  YES 
The Philippines adopted a s eries of new 
measures in relation to insurance services, 
which regulate, inter alia : 
- Micro -insurance products;  
- Reporting requirements;  
- Reserve requirements;  
- Solvency requirements;  
- Demutualization of domestic mutual life 
insurance companies;  
- Safeguards against the financing of 
terrorism;  
- Combating money laundering;  
- The acquisition and ownership of stocks 
and shares of brokerage companies;  
- Health maintenance organizations.  
 Modes 1 
and 3  Insurance services  Circular Letter 2016 -63: Enhanced P erformance 
Indicators and Standards For Microinsurance;  
Circular Letter No. 2016 -64: Adoption and 
Implementation of Microinsurance Distribution 
Channels Regulatory Framework;  
Circular Letter No. 2016 -65: Financial Reporting 
Framework;  
Circular Letter Nos. 2016-66 and 2016 -67: 
Valuation Standards For Life and Non -Life 
Insurance Policy Reserves;  
Circular Letter No. 2016 -68: Amended Risk -
Based Capital (RBC2) Framework;  
Circular Letter No. 2016 -69 
Circular Letter No. 2017 -06: Rules And 
Regulations on Demutualiz ation of Domestic 
Mutual Life Insurance Companies Doing Business 
In The Philippines;  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -07; Implemented 
between December 
2016 and May 2017   
   Circular Letter No. 2017 -09: Guidelines Fixing 
the Documentary Requirements For Acquiring 
Ownership Of A Domestic Insurance Broker And 
Reinsurance Broker;  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -10; 
CL No. 2017 -11: Life Underwriting of Applicant 
with Actual, Perceived or Suspected to be with 
HIV; 
Circular Letter No. 2017 -14: Minimum Members’ 
Equity Requiremen ts for Mutual Companies;     
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 128 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
   Circular Letter No. 2017 -15: Regulatory 
Requirements and Actions for the New 
Regulatory Framework;  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -19: Guidelines on the 
Approval of HMO Products and Forms  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -20-Accreditation of  HMO 
Actuaries;    
 
   Circular Letter No. 2017 -23: Joint Certification 
And Undertaking For Health Maintenance 
Organizations (HMOs);  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -26: Guidelines on the 
Voluntary Cessation of Non -Life Insurance 
Business;  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -28; 
Circular Letter No. 2017 -29: Guidelines on 
Related Party Transactions for Insurance 
Commission's Covered Institutions;  
Circular Letter No. 2017 -30: Regulatory 
Requirements And Actions For The New 
Regulatory Framework.    
Thailand  
The measure liberali zes foreign 
shareholding limits for life and non -life 
insurance companies. According to the new 
measure, foreign insurance companies in 
Thailand may be permitted by the Finance 
Minister, pursuant to a recommendation 
from the Thai Insurance Commission (IC),  
to hold more than 49% of the voting 
shares in a Thai insurance company and to 
have foreigners comprise more than half of 
its directors, if the insurance company can 
show that it will strengthen and stabilize 
the insurance company and the insurance 
industr y. Mode 3  Insurance services  Ministry of Finance (MOF)'s notification published 
in the government gazette on 18 January 2017, 
viewed at: 
https://www.dlapiper.com/en/thailand/insights/p
ublications/2017/01/mof -foreign -insurance -
companies -thailand/  
 
 Effective 18 January 
2017  
Ukraine  
On 23 February 2017, the National Bank of 
Ukraine clarified its approach to the use of 
foreign bank ac counts by Ukrainian 
individuals. The new approach permits the 
placement of funds and holding assets by 
Ukrainian individuals in foreign banks and 
financial institutions, provided that such 
funds and assets have originated from 
overseas.  Mode 2  Banking serv ices Viewed at: 
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=
62ad28d3 -5bf7-471e-849e-3341ebb64617  
 Effective 23 February 
2017 YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 129 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Viet Nam  
Viet Nam adopte d a series of new 
measures affecting banking and other 
financial services, which relate to such as 
aspects as:  
- Lending transactions of credit institutions 
and/or foreign bank branches with 
customers;  
- Consumer lending by finance companies;  
- Overdraft a nd overnight lending in 
interbank electronic payment;  
- Scope of foreign exchange transactions;  
- Foreign currency loans by credit 
institutions and foreign bank branches to 
residents.  Mode 3  Banking and other 
financial services  Circular 19/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 43/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 29/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 30/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 32/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 28/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 31/2016/TT -NHNN  
Circular 40/2016/TT -NHNN5 
 Implemented 
between October and 
December 2016   
TELECOMMUNICATION/ICT/AUDIOVISUAL SERVICES  
Argentina  
On 2 January 2017, the government issued 
Decree 1340, which established rules and 
standards regarding the convergence 
between television, telecommunication, 
and information technology services.  
 
The decree allows licensees of such 
services to supply certain convergent 
services as of 1 January 2018 within 
specified territories. This includes, for 
example, the operation of telephone 
companies in the cable TV market, or the 
supply of telecommunication services by 
satellite TV companies.  T he decree allows 
satellite TV suppliers that already hold 
licenses for information technology services 
to continue providing such services, 
including broadband Internet access.  Multiple 
modes  
 Telecommunication 
and audiovisual 
services  Presidential Decree 1340, pursuant to 
Presidential Decree 267/2015 and Laws 27.078 
and 26.522, viewed at:  
http://servicios.infoleg.gob.ar/infolegInternet/an
exos/270000 -274999/ 270115/norma.htm  
 Effective  
2 January 2017 YES 
                                                
5 Information provided by the government.   
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 130 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Australia  
The government committed A$220 million 
to the Mobile Black Spot Program to 
improve mobile coverage in regional and 
remote Australia.  Rounds 1 and 2 of the 
program will deliver 765 new or upgraded  
mobile base stations across Australia.  The 
rollout of these base stations is expected to 
be completed by the end of 2018.  Further, 
the Government has allocated A$60 million 
to target 125 specific priority locations.  Mode 3  Mobile 
telecommuni -
cation serv ices Department of Communications and the Arts  
https://www.communications.gov.au/what -we-
do/phone/mobile -services -and-coverage/mobile -
black-spot-program  
 
 Ongoing.  Round 2 
was launched on  
1 December 2016.  
The rollout of rounds 
1 and 2 base stations 
is expected to be 
completed by the 
third quarter of 2018.  YES 
China  
The new Film Industry Promotion Law, 
adopted on 7 November 2016, sets  out 
new requirements and procedures in 
relation to production, distribution, review, 
and exhibition of feature films in China.  
The law requires local theatre operators to 
ensure that the screening time for Chinese 
films is no less than 2/3 of the annual 
screening time of all films.  
 
The law reiterates that coproductions are 
entitled to the treatment granted to films 
produced by domestic entities.  The law 
also aims to simplify the procedures for 
state approval of scripts.  Moreover, it 
prohibits work with  foreign organizations or 
individuals that have damaged the 
country's honour and interests, or 
threatened social stability.  The law also 
transfers to the provincial level a number 
of administrative responsibilities, such as 
examination and approval of mov ie 
production, release, and projection.  Multiple 
modes  Production, 
distribution and 
exhibition of 
motion pictures  Film Industry Promotion Law  Effective  
1 March 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 131 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Dominica; Grenada; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent & the Grenadines  
The Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications 
Authority (EcTel) approved new legislation 
aimed at boosting competition in the 
region. The new regulations, approved by 
the Co uncil of Ministers, address 
(i) consumer protection, which among 
other provisions, guar d against unfair 
restrictions on consumer choices in 
services; (ii) submarine cable regulations, 
which set out conditions for fair access to 
submarine cable capacity; (iii) access to 
network infrastructure and wholesale 
services regulations, which impose 
conditions on licensees holding significant 
market power to share their networks; and 
(iv) regulations and guidelines on the 
conduct of market analyses.  Multiple  
modes  Telecommunication 
services  Electronic Communications Bill, viewed at:  
https://www.ectel.int/  
 Approved on 21 
October 2016.  
The legislation will be 
published in the 
Official Gazette of 
each ECTEL 
Contracting State.   
European Union  
The Directive on security of network and 
information systems (the NIS Dir ective) 
was adopted by the European Parliament 
on 6 July 2016.  The Directive concerns 
measures to ensure a high common level of 
network and information security across 
the European Union.  Multiple 
modes  Telecommunication 
services  Directive (EU) 2016/1148 of the European 
Parliament and of the Council of  
6 July 16  The Directive entered 
into force on 8 August 
2016. Member States 
are given 21 months 
to transpose the 
Directive into national 
laws and six months 
more to identify 
operators of essential 
services.  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 132 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Indonesia  
The Ministry of Communications and 
Informatics issued a new regulation on 
data protection, pursuant to the Electronic 
Information and Transactions Law of 2008 
and Government Regulation 82 of 2012.  
The regulation requires electronic system 
providers (ESPs) to have data centres and 
disaster recovery centres located in 
Indonesia.  
 
The regulation also requires ESPs to get 
express written consent for the collection 
and utilisation of personal data, and to 
store personal data in encrypted form.  
Further, the regulation sets out procedures 
for cross -border data transfers, which are 
subject to coordination with the Ministry.  Modes 1 
through 3  Electronic system 
services  Ministry of Communication and Informatics 
(MOCI) Regulation 20 of 2016 on Personal  Data 
Protection in Electronic Systems  1 December 2016  YES 
Russian Federation  
On 1 May 2017, the President of the 
Russian Federation signed a Federal Law 
that limits foreign participation in certain 
audiovisual services.  
 
The new law applies to owners of  Internet 
websites, website pages, information 
systems, and computer software that are 
used for online distribution of collections of 
audiovisual works, access to which is 
provided for a fee or on the condition of 
viewing advertising targeted at users in t he 
Russian Federation, and which are 
accessed by more than 100,000 users per 
day in the Russian Federation.  Modes 1 & 
3 Online distribution 
of collections of 
audiovisual works  Federal Law No. 87 -FZ of 1 May 17 "On 
Amendments to the Federal Law on Informati on. 
Information Technologies and Information 
Protection" and Certain Legislative Acts of the 
Russian Federation.  Effective  
1 July 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 133 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
The measure provides that only a Russian 
legal entity or Russian Federation citizen 
that does not hold the citizensh ip of 
another state can own such websites and 
systems.  Unless stated otherwise in an 
international agreement of the Russian 
Federation, foreign persons6 that own an 
information resource used for online 
distribution of collections of audiovisual 
works that  has less than 50% of its users 
in the Russian Federation are not allowed 
to own more than 20% of the charter 
capital of such Russian legal entities, 
unless they receive permission from a 
government commission.  
 
The law will not apply to Internet search 
systems or information resources that 
primarily distribute content posted by 
individual Internet users.       
United States  of America  
The President of the United States signed a 
resolution that was recently passed by the 
Senate and House and which brings a n end 
to the Federal Communications 
Commission's earlier broadband privacy 
rules from the previous administration.  
Internet Service Providers are now legally 
allowed to commercialise user data without 
their explicit permission.  Multiple 
modes  Telecommuni  
cation services  SJ Res. 34  
 4 April 2017  
BUSINESS SERVICES  
Congo, Democratic Rep of  
The new measure liberalizes the profession 
of notary.  It sets out obligations, 
requirements and conditions in relation to 
the performance of such functions.  Only 
nationals of the Democratic Republic of the 
Congo, or nationals of a country granting 
reciprocity, may accede to the profession.  Mode 4  Legal Services  Loi No. 16/012, viewed at:  
http://juriafrique.com/blog/2016/08/17/congo -
k-la-profession -de-notaire -est-liberalisee/  15 July 20167  
                                                
6 A foreign state, an international organization, as well as an organization controlled by them, a foreign legal entity, a Russ ian legal entity with foreign participation in the charter capital of m ore than 20%, a foreign 
citizen, a person without citizenship, a citizen of the Russian Federation holding citizenship of another state, and their af filiates.  
7 This measure was adopted before the period under review.   
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 134 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
AIR TRANSPORT SERVICES  
China  
China has implemented additional 
measures concerning foreign investment in 
services relating to a ir transport:  
 
- Service suppliers from Hong Kong, China 
and Macao, China are allowed to invest in 
aircraft maintenance, airline catering, air 
cargo transportation and warehousing, 
parking lot and ground service items 
(excluding security -related services) on a 
wholly -owned basis.  
 
- The requirements that service suppliers 
from Hong Kong, China and Macao, China 
go through economic needs tests before 
obtaining a business licence for setting up 
joint venture computer reservation system 
(CRS) enterprises are ab olished.  
 
- The new measure provides for the 
following within the China (Shanghai) Pilot 
Free Trade Zone and other pilot free trade 
zones: foreign investors are allowed to 
establish and invest in wholly -owned air 
transportation sales agency enterprises;  
foreign investors are allowed to set up and 
invest in wholly -owned enterprises to 
undertake the business of air cargo 
transportation and warehousing, ground 
services, airline catering and parking lots;  
the requirement that the Chinese side shall 
hold contr olling shares in the general 
aircraft maintenance joint venture 
enterprise is relaxed, and foreign investors 
are allowed to invest in general aircraft 
maintenance projects in the form of equity 
or cooperative joint ventures; and, the 
requirement that forei gn investors that 
invest in aircraft maintenance business 
shall be under the obligations to contract 
business on the international maintenance 
market is abolished.  Mode 3  Air transport  Supplementary Requirements on Foreign 
Investment in China's Civil Aviat ion Industry  Effective  
1 May 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 135 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
MARITIME TRANSPORT SERVICES  
Vanuatu  
The government adopted a law that 
establishes an independent regulator for 
the maritime transport sector.  The Office 
of the Maritime Regulator (OMR) will 
oversee the safety and s ecurity of 
Vanuatu's shipping and ports.  It will also 
regulate to ensure fair and equitable access 
to Vanuatu's port services.  All modes  Maritime transport 
services  Maritime Sector Regulatory Act 2016, viewed at:  
https://parliament.gov.vu/images/Bills/2nd_ordi
nary_2016/English/Bill_for_the_Maritime_Sector
_Regulatory_Act_No._of_2016.pdf  
 Gazetted 19 April 
2017  
ROAD T RANSPORT SERVICES  
Bahrain, Kingdom of  
The Cabinet agreed to permit foreign 
ownership of certain transport activities.  
 
Foreign investors can have up to 100% 
ownership in internal tourism 
transportation activities, and up to 49% in 
other transport compani es if there is a 
Bahraini partner who owns 51%.  
 
Car rental activities are limited to 
Bahrainis.  Mode 3  Operation of land 
tours (domestic 
and international 
transport of 
tourists); Rental 
and leasing of 
motor vehicles; 
Motorcycle rental; 
Taxi and call taxi;  
Domestic and 
international road 
transport of goods; 
domestic and 
international land 
transport of 
passengers.  Government Announcement, viewed at:  
http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/759565  
 
 Effective 13  
December 2016  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 136 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
SERVICES SUPPLIED THROUGH THE MOVEMENT OF NATURAL PERSONS  
Australia  
On 18 April 2017, the government of 
Australia announced that the Temporary 
Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) 
will be abolished and replaced with a 
new Temporary  Skill Shortage (TSS) 
visa in March 2018.  Implementation of 
this reform is taking place in different 
stages.   As of 19 April 2017, the lists of 
occupations that underpin the 457 visa 
have been condensed from 651 to 435 
occupations, with 216 occupations 
removed and access to 59 other 
occupations restricted.  
 
The occupation lists under the 457 visa 
have been renamed.  First, the 
Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List 
(CSOL) is renamed the Short Term 
Skilled Occupations List (STSOL).  The 
list will be update d every six months.  
For occupations under this list, the 
maximum duration of stay is of two 
years.  
 
Second, the Skilled Occupations List 
(SOL) is renamed the Medium and Long 
Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL), 
which concerns occupations that are 
deemed t o be of high value to the 
Australian economy.  The maximum 
duration of stay for these occupations 
remains of four years.  Mode 4  All sectors  https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/457 -
abolition -replacement  
 Commenced on  
18 April 2017 and to 
be completed by 
March 2018  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 137 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Bahrain, Kingdom of  
Bahrain has launched a two -year pilot 
program me allowing foreign workers to live 
and work in the country without requiring 
local sponsorship.  H olders of Flexible 
Permits will be considered as self -
employed, and can have a renewable 
residency permit for two years, allowing 
them to work with any employer (company 
or individual).  Holders are allowed to work 
with multiple employers.  
 
During the pilo t phase, the Flexible Work 
Program is only available to foreigners that 
are already in Bahrain with an illegal status 
due to work permit cancellation or expiry.  
It is envisaged that the eligibility will be 
expanded after assessment of the 
performance of t he programme.  48 ,000 
Flexible Permits will be issued at the rate of 
2,000 per month during the pilot phase.  
Holders may not work in occupations 
requiring a specific licence (e.g. doctors, 
engineers) and in restaurants, hotels, and 
beauty salons.  Mode 4  All sectors  Viewed at:  
http://blog.lmra.bh/en/2016/09/20/flexi -work-
permit -plan/ 
 Effective April 2017  YES 
Canada  
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship 
Canada (IRCC) eliminated the four-year 
cumulative duration rule for temporary 
foreign workers in Canada.  This rule 
meant that certain foreign workers became 
ineligible to work in Canada for four years 
upon completion of four years of work in 
Canada.  Mode 4  All sectors  Viewed at: 
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/te
mp/work/cumulative.asp  
 Effective  
13 December 2016  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 138 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
France  
The new law creates a category of "ICT 
Mobile Permits", which a llows foreign 
nationals holding an intra -corporate 
transferee permit in one EU Member State 
to work temporarily in France without the 
need to obtain a new work permit.  It also 
includes an "ICT Trainee" permit that 
entitles foreign nationals to enter Franc e 
for training purposes in a company of the 
same corporate group for up to one year, 
as well as a corresponding "ICT Trainee 
Mobile" permit.  
 
Moreover, the law simplifies the application 
process for intra -company transferees 
holding specialist or senior ma nagement 
positions, and introduces a short term work 
permit exemption for assignment up to 90 
days in selected sectors and for specific 
types of assignments.  Mode 4  All sectors  Loi n° 2016 -274 du 7 mars 2016 relative au droit 
des étrangers en France, viewe d at: 
 
http://www.immigration.interieur.gouv.fr/Info -
ressources/Actualites/L -actu-immigration/La -loi-
du-7-mars-2016-relative -au-droit-des-etrangers  
 Effective  
1 November 2016  YES 
India  
India has further expanded its e -Visa 
programme.  As of 24 May 2017, nationals 
from a total of 162 countries are eligible 
under the programme, which enables 
internation al travellers whose sole 
objective in visiting India concerns 
recreation, sight -seeing, casual visit to 
meet friends or relatives, short duration 
medical treatment or casual business visit 
to enter the territory for a period of up to 
60 days.  The nomencla ture of the existing 
e-Tourist Visa has been changed to e -Visa, 
with three subcategories: e -Tourist Visa, e -
Business Visa, and e -Medical Visa.  Mode 4  All sectors  Viewed at: 
https://indianvisaonl ine.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html  Effective  
30 March 2017  YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 139 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
A new Intern Visa category was introduced 
for foreign nationals seeking to intern in 
Indian companies, educational institutions 
and NGOs.  It permits a stay of up to one 
year, provided that studies we re completed 
recently and that a minimum salary 
threshold is met.  A quota of 50 Intern 
Visas per year has been set for each Indian 
Mission, except for countries where the 
population of foreign nationals of Indian 
origin exceeds one million, where it has 
been set at 100 visas per year.  Mode 4  All sectors  Viewed at: 
https://www.fragomen.com/knowledge -
center/immigration -alerts/intern -visa-category -
introduced  
 Effective  
1 April 2017  YES 
Kazakhstan  
Kazakhstan has made a number of changes 
to its Laws "On Migration" (from 22 July 
2011) and "On Population Employment" 
(from 6 April 2016).  As a result, the quota 
annually established by the government is 
no longer applicable to intra -corporate 
transferees (ICTs).  
 
The new measures have also increased the 
maximum share of foreign managers and 
specialists in a services company to 50%.  
Executives are not subject to this 
limitation. Executives are also exempted 
from an economic needs test, which is 
instead applied to managers and 
specialists.  
 
ICTs will have the possibility of extending 
their 3 -year duration of stay by one 
additional year upon expiration of the initial 
3-year term, subject to an economic needs 
test. 
 
Further, work permits are now issued free 
of charge, and a new set of work permit 
rules stipulate that foreigners -to-nationals 
ratio requirements no longer apply to 
branches and representative offices that 
have no more than 30 employees.  Mode 4  All se ctors -The Order of the Acting Minister of Health and 
Social Development of the Republic of 
Kazakhstan No. 559 “On Approval of the Rules 
and Conditions for Issuance and Extending 
Permits on Attracting Foreign Labor Force to 
Employers as well as for Intra -corporate 
transfer” dated 27 June 2016;  
- Order No. 1069 issued on 15 December 2016, 
substantially amending Order No. 559;  and 
Resolution No. 802 adopted on 15 December 
2016, supplementing Order No. 559.  Effective 1 January 
2017 YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 140 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
Korea, Rep. of  
New gu idelines limit activities under the 
Short Term Travellers visa to non -profit 
activities (attending meetings, 
negotiations, finalizing contracts, etc.).  All 
for-profit activities, including the supply of 
services pursuant to a contract (e.g., 
installation and repair or imported 
machinery), now require an employment 
visa before entry.  Mode 4  All sectors  Viewed at:  
http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Kore
a_limits_permissible_business_visitor_activities/
$FILE/Korea%20 -%20Immigration%20 -
%20Business%20visitor%20activities.pdf  
 
https://www.v isa.go.kr/  
 Effective 8 March 
2017 YES 
Peru  
Peru exempts natural persons of India from 
the requirement of a temporary visa for the 
Tourist and Business Visitor categories.  Mode 4  All sectors  Decreto Supremo N o. 006-2017-RE, viewed at:  
http://busquedas.elperuano.com.pe/normaslegal
es/exoneran -del-requisito -de-visa-tempor al-en-
las-calidades -mig-decreto -supremo -n-006-2017-
re-1493143 -11/ 
 Effective 27 March 
2017 YES 
Switzerland  
The Decree on Admittance, Residence and 
Employment (RS 142.201) was partially 
amended.  
 
The yearly fixed ceilings of work permits 
for highly qualified workers from non -
EU/EFTA States have been increased by 
1,000 compared to the previous year, 
reaching a total of 7 ,500. Allocations are as 
follows:  
- Work permits for short stay (L permit) of 
persons from non -EU/EFTA States: an 
additional 500 permits to be allotted in 
2017, for a total of 4 ,500 permits.  
- Work permits for long stay (B permit) for 
persons from non -EU/EFTA States: an 
additional 500 work permits to be allotted 
in 2017, for a total of 3 ,000 permits.  Mode 4  All sectors  Decree on Admittance, Residence and 
Employmen t (RS 142.201).  
 
WTO document: S/C/N/873 , 3 February 2017  Effective 1 January 
2017 YES  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 1 
 
- 141 - Measure  Mode(s) 
of supply  Sectoral 
classification  Source  Date  Verified 
by 
Member  
The Swiss Confederation will hold the 
additional 1 ,000 work permits (500 B, 500 
L) as a federal reserve in order to meet, on 
request, further needs from the cantons.  
 
The situation for service suppliers from 
EU/EFTA States with a short stay will 
remain as in 2016:  
- Work permits for service suppliers from 
EU/EFTA States holding a short term 
permit (L permit): 2000 permits to be 
allotted in 2017;  
- Work permits for servic e suppliers from 
EU/EFTA States holding a long term permit 
(B permit): 250 permits to be allotted in 
2017.8      
United Kingdom  
The Tier 2 Intra -Company Transferee visa 
category has been reduced to two sub -
categories, namely Long Term Staff and 
Graduate Trainees.  The Short Term Staff 
sub-category has been eliminated.  
Another change that was introduced is to 
exempt intra -company transferees earning 
over GBP 73 ,900 from the requirement to 
have at least 12 months of employment 
experience.  Changes have also  been made 
to the Tier 2 (General) visa category, 
including an increase in the salary 
threshold above which no labour market 
test is applied.  Mode 4  All sectors  Viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/tier -2-
intracompany -transfer -worker -visa/overview  
 Effective  
6 April 2017  YES 
 
 
__________  
                                                
8 The situation for service suppliers from EU/EFTA States with a short stay will remain as in 2016: -work permits for service suppliers from EU/EFTA States 
holding a short term permit (L permit): 2 ,000 permits to be allotted in 2017; - work permits for servi ce suppliers from EU/EFTA States holding a long term permit (B 
permit): 250 permits to be allotted in 2017.