WT/TPR/OV/M/12
3 February 2015
(15-0742)  Page: 1/20
Trade Policy Review Body  
 
  OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE  
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT 
MINUTES OF THE MEETING 
8 December 2014 
Chairperson: H.E. Mrs Mariam MD Salleh (Malaysia) 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
1. I would like to welcome you to this meeting of the TPRB, which was convened by Airgram 
WTO/AIR/4396 on 24 November 2014. The purpose of  this meeting is for Members and Observers 
to undertake their annual overview of developments in the international trading environment which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system in accordance with Paragraph G of 
Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement. As mentioned in the Airgram, today's discussion is assisted 
by the Director-General's Overview of Developm ents in the International Trading Environment, 
including trade monitoring, which was circulated in document WT/TPR/OV/17 on 24 November in 
English.
1 In accordance with the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the TPRB, the 
Director-General's Report was issued as an unrestricted document.  
2. At the outset, let me briefly recall that th e purpose of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism 
according to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreemen t is to achieve greater transparency in, and 
understanding of, Members' trade and trade-related policies and measures. The TPRM is not intended to serve as a basis for the enforcem ent of obligations under WTO Agreements, for 
dispute-settlement purposes or to impose new policy commitments on Members. These 
fundamental principles also apply fully to the annual overview of developments in the international 
trading environment. 
3. Secondly, I would like to recall the Decision by Ministers at the 8th Ministerial Conference 
which called on the TPRB to continue and stre ngthen the monitoring exercise. In particular, 
Ministers expressed their commitment to comply with existing transparency obligations and reporting requirements needed for the preparation of the report, and to continue to support and 
cooperate with the Secretariat in a constructive fashion. It was recognised that this regular 
monitoring of trade-related developments enhanc es the relevance of the multilateral trading 
system. Specifically, the periodic reports by the Director-General provide Members with very useful information to keep track of developments and to analyse emerging trends in the area of 
trade policy. The creation of the Trade Moni toring Database in 2013 also provides added 
transparency on the implementation of trade measures. 
4. With all of this in mind, I would like to draw your attention to the relatively poor response 
rate provided by Members to the Secretariat in  preparation for this report. The process of 
providing and verifying information is crucial to guaranteeing and preserving the high quality and accuracy of the monitoring reports.  
                                               
1 Following the meeting, a Corrigendum to the report was issued on 19 December 2014 in document 
WT/TPR/OV/17/Corr.1. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  5. This afternoon we will proceed as follows: I shal l first give the floor to the Director-General 
to introduce his report and launch our debate. Unfortunately, due to an important change to the Director-General's schedule for this afternoon, he is  not able to be present for the entire duration 
of this meeting and will have to leave immediately after delivering his statement.  
6. Following the statement of the Director-General, I shall open the floor for comments from 
delegations, and at the end of the discussions, th e Secretariat may wish to comment on the points 
made and issues raised by delegations.  
7. As usual for our meetings in this body, in the interest of brevity and to give all delegations 
the opportunity to speak, I will seek to ensure that interventions do not exceed seven minutes. If 
any delegation has a longer written statement and wi shes to have it incorporated into the minutes 
of this meeting, please send them electronically to the Secretariat. That way we can also use the 
limited time available to us for a more free-flowing substantive discussion. 
8. I would now like to invite the Director-General to make his introductory remarks. 
Director-General, you have the floor. 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL 
9. Thank you Madam Chairperson, Ambassador Salleh. Good afternoon, I am very happy to be 
here with you. I really do apologize in advance for not being able to stay for the whole session. We 
have a General Council coming up and there are a fe w loose ends that we need to tie up. We don't 
have much time but I will try to make a very clear and straightforward presentation about what is in the report. And, as usual, as you know, we like to have balance at the WTO – in all things we do. In fact, some would say we have a balance in life: for every positive there is a negative 
somewhere. 
10. So while we, at the General Council meeting of the 27
th o f  N o v e m b e r ,  w e r e  a b l e  t o  d o  
progress and had news that put us back on track, inevitably there is something going on which is 
not so good somewhere else.  
11. The annual report shows a bit of that on the developments in the international trading 
environment, which was circulated on the 24th of No vember. This report brings news of some real 
challenges in the international trading environment – challenges which require clearly our 
attention, and the attention of policymakers around the world. The report provides information on trade-restrictive, as well as trade-facilitating measures taken by WTO Members in the field of trade in goods and services. It covers the period running from mid-November 2013 to 
mid-October 2014. 
12. It also covers other relevant trade policy developments, including: 
• the trade policy reviews conducted in 2014; 
• regional trade agreements; 
• the Government Procurement Agreement;  
• the operation of transparency provisions contained in the various WTO agreements,  
• trade finance; and  
• dispute settlement.  
13. This meeting gives us the opportunity to look back at all these issues that have emerged 
over the course of the year and to consider how Members might wish to respond. 
14. I will set out some of the key findings of the report in a moment, but first I would like to say 
a few words on the process of preparing the document.  
Preparation of the report 
15. The information on country-specific measures identified in the section dealing with trade in 
services and in the four annexes is based on in puts submitted by Members and other official and 
public sources. Members concerned have had an opportunity to verify the accuracy of this 
information.  WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  16. I would like to thank the delegations who have participated in this exercise by providing 
relevant information on time and by ensuring subsequent verification of the reported measures. These inputs not only help expand the coverage of the report, they are also crucial in ensuring the 
accuracy of the information contained in the report. At the same time, it is unfortunate that, as in 
previous years, many Members continue to fail to participate actively in this process. Just 37% of 
Members responded to the request to submit info rmation on their new trade measures. This is 
slightly up from 35% in 2013 – but of course it is still far too low. It is also a matter of concern 
that even when Members participate in this in formation-gathering process, they often do not 
provide information on certain types of measures – especially on the so-called behind-the-border 
measures, including general economic support.  
17. There are, of course, other organizations that monitor developments in the application of 
trade measures – and the findings in their reports sometimes differ from ours. We have carefully 
studied the methodologies used in those reports bu t remain confident that our work here provides 
a sound and realistic picture of current trade policy developments around the world.   
18. Finally, let me stress that this report is a constantly evolving product. As you will have 
noticed, we have made certain changes in order to present the main findings of the report in a clearer and more accessible way. We have also provided data on how the number of 
trade-restrictive and trade-facilitating measures has evolved since the onset of the global financial 
crisis in 2008.   
Restrictive measures and the economic context 19. Let me now turn to the substance of the report. Rather than simply listing the findings of the 
report, I would like to draw out what I consider to be the significant policy issues affecting the 
trading system that have emerged in the current reporting period.  
20. In a climate of global economic uncertainty the continued accumulation of trade-restrictive 
measures pose a clear risk. Current prospects for world output and trade are far from favourable. 
During the course of the year, lower-than-expected GDP growth has led our economists to downgrade their forecasts for world trade growth to 3.1% in 2014 and 4% in 2015. Those 
numbers reflect significantly estimates of GDP growth which are conducted mostly by other 
organizations who have been revising the GDP grow th number. The moment that they revise their 
numbers we, of course, have to reflect that revi sion in our own trade expansion analysis. These 
rates are higher than in 2012 and 2013. But they are still significantly lower than the average 
growth rate in the twenty years prior to the glob al financial crisis of 2008. Some argue that this 
slower growth of world trade is now a permanent feature of the global economy.  
21. Against this backdrop, which is inevitable, recent trends in trade policy actions of Members 
are a cause for concern. The report points out that the stock of trade restrictions introduced by 
WTO Members since 2008 continues to rise. Of the 2,146 trade-restrictive measures introduced since 2008, only 508 have been removed – that 's about 24% of them. The total number of 
trade-restrictive measures still in place now stands at 1,638. The report also notes that the 
number of new trade-restrictive measures introduced  during the period under review is quite high, 
at 168. The average number of new trade-restrictive measures per month is higher in this period than in any other period since October 2008. While we have also witnessed a substantial increase 
in the number of trade-liberalizing measures, this should not detract from the overall picture.  
22. In addition, there is some evidence that, more  recently, the application of trade-restrictive 
measures is leading to heightened friction between Members on trade issues. Aside from the 
increase in the number of dispute settlement panels, Members have increasingly voiced concerns 
regarding specific measures taken by other Members in WTO subsidiary bodies, such as the Council for Trade in Goods. In this context, Member s should strive to show greater restraint in the 
imposition of new trade-restrictive measures, eliminate existing trade restrictions, and contribute 
to enhancing transparency on behind-the-border measures. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  RTAs 
23. A second very important policy issue identified in this report is the relationship between 
regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system. This is, of course, not a new issue but the report makes some interesting observations based on recent research.  
24. As of mid-October 2014, the WTO has been notified of 253 regional trade agreements. 
However, there are also 63 regional trade agreements in force that have not yet been notified to the WTO. And, of course, negotiations on new RTAs are under way. In some cases these 
negotiations are between parties that account for very substantial shares of world trade and GDP.  
25. Given the growth in the number and the changi ng scope and coverage of RTAs, there is 
clearly a need for a better understanding of the relationship between these agreements and the multilateral trading system.  
26. Building on recent research undertaken by the WTO Secretariat, the report provides an 
analysis of the extent to which provisions in RTAs actually go beyond the multilateral rules contained in the WTO Agreements. You may recall that this was also the subject of a seminar held 
here at the WTO in September on Cross-Cutting Issues in RTAs.  
27. As I have said before, bilateral and regional trade liberalization initiatives are welcome as 
long as they do not impose additional barriers to trade, and they also constitute building blocks 
towards trade liberalization.  
28. However, we cannot expect them to substitute the multilateral trading system. There are 
many subjects that by their very nature require a multilateral approach to be dealt with efficiently 
– such as trade facilitation, agricultural and fisheries subsidies, disciplines on trade remedies, 
regulation of financial and telecommunications services, and so on. It is a long list. 
29. Also, these initiatives mostly exclude the smallest and most vulnerable countries and do not 
fully address the gains from trade that can be obtained through global value chains. Therefore, 
while we welcome the RTAs, we cannot ignore their obvious limitations or the need to avoid 
harmful effects to third parties.  
30. Another issue to be mindful of is the potential complexity that may result from the existence 
of different sets of rules and regulations developed in these RTAs, which may be burdensome for 
traders and businesses. 
31. We must continue to deepen our understanding in this area to ensure that RTAs and the 
multilateral system can move forward together, complementing each other, and in the most 
effective way possible. 
32. Therefore, I think we should welcome the initial steps that we have taken in this report and 
commit to taking this work further in 2015.   
Compliance with transparency mechanisms 
33. Moving on, the third policy issue is that, alth ough improvements were made in some areas 
of our work in the WTO, compliance with various transparency mechanisms remains 
unsatisfactory. Again, this is not a new issue. 
34. Section 4 of the report contains a detailed overview of how Members have been complying 
with the various notification requirements contained in the WTO Agreement.  
35. Let me just cite a few examples which illustrate the seriousness of the problem that we face 
in this area of our work. With respect to the Agreement on Agriculture, the report notes that 
compliance with notification obligations in the areas of domestic support and export subsidies generally remains below 50%. In the case of th e SCM Agreement, the report notes that the 
percentage of Members that do not submit notifications on subsidies has risen from 27% in 1995 
to 44% in 2013. That is really something we should avoid. Regarding state-trading enterprises, the WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  percentage of Members that do not make any notification has increased from 37% in 1995 to 66% 
in 2012. 
36. In light of this, I think there is an urgent n eed to improve compliance with the transparency 
provisions in the WTO Agreements. These transpar ency provisions are essential to ensure that 
Members have the necessary information to understand each other's trade policies and to ensure 
that WTO Agreements are properly implemented,  and to avoid unnecessary trade disputes.  
Conclusion 
37. So these are some key points which I think we should take away from this report. I hope 
you will have the time and patience to go through the report. 
38. And, in closing, I would just like to leave yo u with three thoughts as we look towards our 
work in 2015.  
39. First, I think we would all agree that one of the key reasons why we value the multilateral 
trading system is because it is a proven bulwark against protectionism. We saw this in the response to the financial crisis where the mistakes of the past were not repeated. But preserving 
the system takes effort and commitment. And ther efore I think we must ensure that the policy 
issues raised in this report receive the fu ll and urgent attention that they deserve. 
40. Second, we must deliver on the commitments we made at the Special General Council on 
27 November to implement all of the Bali decisions and to develop a work programme on the 
remaining DDA issues. If we see this work through we could definitely provide a much-needed boost to economic growth and productivity across the globe and at the same time as immeasurably strengthening the multilateral trading system.  
41. Third, we must also recognize that our experience in 2014 has made it clear that we need to 
find ways to work more efficiently. We have shown that we can deliver and we did that in Bali. Now we need to figure out how to deliver more and how to deliver faster.  
42. So, thank you Madam Chairperson; this concludes my statement about the report. 
43. But, before I leave, I would like to thank delegations once again for their contributions to 
this report, and of course the Secretariat for their work in preparing it. I would like also to thank 
delegations in advance for their contributions and ideas this afternoon. We will take careful note of 
all your comments and will take them into account as we prepare the monitoring work for next year. 
44. Finally, I want to inform delegations that I will be sending out the usual request for 
information for the next monitoring reports in the first half of March. I would also like to encourage 
you all to participate in the monitoring exercise  and cooperate with the Secretariat as much as 
possible. 
45. I think we should aim to deliver a higher level of transparency and accuracy of information 
in 2015. The Secretariat is going to prepare a briefing for me on the comments that you make today. I will, together with the Secretariat, take all of your comments on board as seriously as I 
hope you will take my comments today. I hope you will have a very produc tive session. Thank you 
Madam Chair. 
STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS MEXICO 
46. The delegation of Mexico thanks the Director General and his team for this report, which is, 
as always, comprehensive and unbiased. 
47. The conclusion of the report under discussion to day, like that of the analyses conducted by 
other institutions monitoring trade measures around the world, is that protectionism cannot solve WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  the economic problems we are experiencing gl obally, despite appearing to be a short term 
solution. 
48. It is very worrying to see that the application of trade restrictive measures has continued to 
increase in the five months covered by this report , and it is of even greater concern to see these 
measures accumulating, as very few measures alread y in place were eliminated during that period. 
49. Time and time again in this forum, attention has been drawn to the G-20 countries' failure to 
honour their highest level political commitment, which involves not repeating past mistakes and 
resisting protectionism. Since 2009, this commitme nt has been reaffirmed year after year within 
the G-20, and yet the report notes the applicatio n of a total of 168 new restrictive measures by 
WTO Members in the last 12 months, most of which are the responsibility of G-20 countries. 
50. To make matters worse, 1,638 restrictive measures have accumulated since 2008. These 
measures have in no way been offset by trad e liberalization measures, despite a commendable 
increase in liberalization measures during the period covered by the report (mid-May to mid-October 2014) in comparison to the previous period (mid November 2013 to mid-May 2014). 
51. Emphasis must be placed on the need and commitment to reverse existing measures. It is 
also necessary to assess in greater depth the econ omic impact, e.g. in terms of employment and 
investment, of the trade restrictive and trade distorting measures recorded, beyond the 
percentage of imports affected by such measures. 
52. One of the report's key messages is that greater transparency is needed from Members in 
order to improve the functioning and effects of no n-tariff barriers to trade, including regulatory 
measures and subsidies. In this respect, we must  start by complying fully with the notification 
obligations established in the WTO Agreements. 
53. Another key message is that despite the continuing increase in the number of trade 
restrictive measures stockpiled since 2008, the reaction to the 2008 global economic and financial 
crisis has been more muted than expected based on previous crises. Despite agreeing with this 
and with the conclusion that the multilateral trading system has acted as an effective backstop against protectionism, we believe that there is no room at all for complacency. 
54. All WTO Members, and in particular the G-20 countries, are urged not only to step up their 
efforts to fight protectionism, but to ensure the swift implementation of all the Bali Decisions and to complete the work programme on outstanding Doha Round issues, with a view to setting the stage for further multilateral trade liberalization. 
55. Before concluding, I would like to highlight the structural reforms currently being 
implemented by the Government of Mexico, which include constitutional amendments that will have an important impact on the modernization and opening up of the telecommunications, 
broadcasting and energy sectors. These measures are described on pages 59 to 61 of the English 
version of the report. 
56. I conclude my statement by once again thanking the Director General and the Secretariat 
for their excellent report. 
EUROPEAN
 UNION 
57. The EU thanks the Director-General and the WTO Secretariat for the comprehensive report 
that has been produced and which forms a valuable basis for our discussions today.  
58. The EU notes with concern that the stock of restrictive barriers to trade continues to 
increase and that the pace of removal is not suffici ent. This echoes many of the interventions that 
the EU made in the Council for Trade in Goods and in its Sub-Committees.  
59. Furthermore, it confirms the conclusions of th e 11th report on potentially trade-restrictive 
measures recently published by the EU that emerging economies, (in particular Russia, China, India and Indonesia) still apply the bulk of new potentially-trade-restrictive measures, even if 
they're bound by G-20 commitments in that respect. In particular border measures, but also WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  discriminatory domestic provisions on taxation or forced localisation have been the instrument of 
choice of these countries. 
60. Also, in the period assessed by the EU, the applic ation of export restrictions gained in pace. 
This is alarming, as we have fewer instruments in the WTO to fight such provisions, and they can 
significantly hinder global value chains and di stort the functioning of commodity markets.  
61. We also need to point out that, as indicated in the above-mentioned EU report, Russia has 
taken, in the reference period, June 2013–June 20 14, by far the largest number of general steps 
of a protectionist nature, in a wide range of areas, through many trade policy tools. In particular, 
we would also like to stress the fact that most of the EU's and other WTO Members' agricultural products are banned from entering Russia since 7 August 2014, allegedly due to SPS concerns.  
62. Regarding transparency, the EU shares the Secretariat's concerns that " adequate 
information on behind the border measures includ ing regulatory measures and subsidies is still 
lacking ." It also shares the analysis that "in addition to measures reported in the specialized 
Committees, as well as in the CTG and general bodies, those measures have become more 
prominent in recent years, compared to conventi onal border measures, and therefore the need to 
increase the quality of the information available is paramount ." The EU supports the Secretariat's 
call for more efforts to improve the situation. 
63. Regarding RTAs, the EU welcomes the active monitoring of the situation by the Secretariat, 
which has led to recent notifications of RTAs that were in force but had not been the subject of proper notifications. The EU is glad to read in the Secretariat's report (page 96 paragraph 4.26) that "the notifications have continued to improve" and shares the Secretariat's hopes " that the still 
outstanding notifications will be submitted soon to the Secretariat". It is of the utmost importance 
to continue the ongoing work on transparency of FTAs. The EU generally supports actions promoting the transparency mechanism. In this re spect, the EU has actively worked, jointly with 
Chile, on the preparation of the first implementing  report submitted in accordance with Article 15 
of the Transparency Mechanism Decision.  
64. The EU strongly agrees that the multilateral system can and should do more to drive 
economic growth and development. This is precisely why the EU has supported the Trade 
Facilitation Agreement and the implementation of the rest of the Bali package. In this regard, allow me to welcome once again the recent decisions taken by the General Council, which put the post-Bali process back on track. This was however just a first step. What we need now is to ratify and 
implement the Trade Facilitation Agreement. We n eed to move forward on the other Bali issues 
including those of concern to LDCs. And we need to advance on the post-Bali work-programme so 
that we are put on a credible and realistic path towards the DDA's conclusion. By taking these 
steps, as well as making progress on other issues such as the expansion of the ITA, the 
multilateral system will truly be strengthened and will genuinely contribute to global growth. 
AUSTRALIA 
65. Australia would like to thank the Director-General and the Secretariat for this report, and for 
your important contribution to increased transparency and improved monitoring of trade and trade-related measures 
66. There are three key challenges outlined by the Director-General’s Report: 
• an uncertain outlook for trade and economic growth; 
• the continued threat posed by trade protectionism; and  
• the emergence of a new body of trade norm s emerging through the proliferation of 
RTAs/FTAs which offers both opportunities and challenges for the multilateral trading 
system. 
67. The Overview Report is important because it asks us to focus on how the WTO can best 
address these challenges. The answer must be to move forward with the WTO’s negotiating 
agenda and produce trade-liberalizing outcomes. Outcomes that will allow trade reform and WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  competition to be the powerful drivers of economic growth, job creation and higher living 
standards than they can be. 
68. Expanding the ITA will be one important thing we can do, as will moving ahead with the 
efforts to liberalise trade in environmental goods. But finalising and implementing a post-Bali work 
plan will be the biggest test that we face over the coming twelve months. Can we find a way 
forward which makes a real contribution to growing our economies and creating jobs for our populations? 
69. Finally, let me join the Director-General in urging all Members to improve our efforts to meet 
our WTO transparency and trade-monitoring obligations 
70. The Director-General’s overview makes clear the benefits that will flow if we do. 
BRAZIL 
71. Brazil thanks the Director-General and the Secretariat team for this new report on the 
international trading environment, a document and an  exercise that Brazil has been following with 
interest. 
72. The Report notes that the stock of trade-restrictive measures introduced by WTO Members 
since 2008 continues to grow, despite the “containment” role of the multilateral trading system against a bigger surge in protectionism. In this context, it is important that we strive to unlock the 
potential for expanding trade flows. 
73. The Decisions taken by the General Council on 27 November allow us to get back to work, 
implementing the full Bali Package and preparin g the Post-Bali Work Programme by July 2015. 
74. Brazil reiterates its commitment to the Multilateral Trade System, and expects Members to 
engage in a constructive conversation that should lead up to the relaunch and, hopefully, 
conclusion of the DDA, aiming at concrete results in Agriculture, NAMA and Services. 
75. This process shall produce concrete, balanced and relevant results for all of our countries, 
with central attention to the needs of development and the resulting priority for all three pillars on 
agriculture, which have been left lagging behind for much too long. 
76. Turning back to the report, it is worth noting that Brazil continues to rank among the 
countries with the highest number of trade-facilitating measures, including tariff reductions for 
more than 3,100 products, such as capital goods, IT equipment, chemicals and foodstuffs. 
77. Let me reiterate, as Brazil has stated since we started the monitoring exercise, in our view, 
trade defence measures or the initiation of investigations are not intended in any way to restrict 
trade. Their application should not be viewed as  trade-restrictive but as a means of remedying 
non-compatible measures taken by trade partners, as provided in the Anti-dumping Agreement, the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and the Safeguards Agreement. 
78. As stressed in previous TPRB meetings, we re new once again our call for the Annual Report 
to become even more comprehensive, precise and useful, by including further information on behind-the-border measures. 
79. Likewise, support measures in the agricultural sector – always a matter of major systemic 
concern, particularly for developing countries – must receive even closer scrutiny. The report could be enriched through more detailed analytical data in this realm. 
80. Brazil stands ready to contribute towards transparency and the improvement of the trade 
monitoring function in the WTO and is open to a productive debate. 
HONG
 KONG,  CHINA 
81. Hong Kong, China thanks the Director-General and the Trade Policy Review Division for 
providing us with this useful report.   WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  82. We note from the report the encouraging sign that the pace of introducing new 
trade-restrictive measures has slowed down compared to the last reporting period. The number of trade-facilitating measures has also recorded a rather significant 65% increase. 
83. However, if we adopt a longer-term perspective, the stock of restrictive measures taken by 
Members since 2008 is still on the rise. The average number of trade-restrictive measures taken 
per month is also higher than any other period since 2008. We would appeal to all Members to exercise restraint in introducing new restrictive measures and take positive actions to reduce 
existing ones.  
84. In some specific areas, however, the signals are more positive. A range of measures 
affecting trade in services were introduced by a number of Members during the reporting period. Most of them represent efforts to open up the services sectors for greater foreign participation and 
streamlining of regulatory frameworks that facilitate foreign investment and temporary movement 
of natural persons. The fact that these liberalization measures are taking place in countries spanning across different continents was particularly encouraging. In light of the growing 
importance of trade in services as final or intermediate components of global trade flow, we would 
encourage Members to continue to integrate liberalization measures into their services trade.  
85. On the use of trade-remedy measures, we note that anti-dumping (AD) actions remained 
the vast majority (267), followed by countervailing duty (CVD) actions (36) and safeguard (SG) 
actions (34). When comparing the figures for the current reporting with those in the previous 12 months, we are glad to see the slight decrease by 5% in the initiation of AD investigations and SG investigations, but the 30% jump in the CVD ac tivities is even harder to miss. We certainly 
want to keep track of such developments in su bsequent reports so as to better understand their 
implication. For those remedy measures which ar e already in place, we encourage Members to 
thoroughly review if such measures are still warranted. Dismantling unwarranted trade remedy 
measures is indeed a positive action to check the growth of protectionism. 
86. Our delegation also notes with interest the observations about RTAs and their impact on the 
multilateral trading system. The report indicates th at the total number of RTAs notified to the WTO 
and to the GATT amounted to 253 as of mid-Octobe r 2014. It also predicts that the number of 
RTAs will continue to grow. 
87. More importantly, the report observed that common provisions covered in RTAs nowadays 
include issues such as trade remedy measures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical 
barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, dispute settlement, as well as issues for which there 
are no WTO provisions such as competition policy , government procurement, electronic commerce, 
environment and labour. However, some issues such  as subsidies, with the exception of export 
subsidies, are notably absent from RTA texts.  Wh ile a number of RTAs explicitly forbid the parties 
from using export subsidies, they are silent on tackling the issue of subsidies or domestic support. 
88. On the level and range of commitments, the report states that research by the WTO 
Secretariat and the OECD shows a strong prefer ence for RTAs reaffirming the WTO rights and 
obligations of the RTA parties, though some issues for which there are no equivalent WTO rules are increasingly being included in RTAs. The report also mentions institutional matters regarding the WTO Transparency Mechanism for RTAs which has provided for a better understanding of the 
contents of the RTAs. However, the report remarks that the information on RTAs' implementation 
remains limited.  
89. We welcome the report's observations and consid er that there is a continued need for work 
by Members concerning the systemic implications of RTAs on the multilateral trading system. We 
would also continue to be constructive in contributing to the transparency of RTAs. 
90. This brings me naturally to the broader issue of the compliance of notification obligations, 
which is one of the key sources of information that the Secretariat could draw data from. The 
response rate to Director-General’s request for information for compilation of this report accounts for 37% of the total membership of the WTO, and information on regulatory measures and 
subsidies provided by Members is still limited. The percentage of membership providing timely 
replies to the Trade Policy Review Division has even suffered a slight drop (43% vs 47%). WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  91. Enhanced transparency is a core value of the WTO, and it should remain our focus to 
encourage better compliance. Let me conclude by thanking the Director-General again for this 
useful report. We see great value in this exercise and look forward to its continuation. 
UNITED  STATES 
92. The United States would like to thank the Director-General and the Secretariat for 
continuing their efforts to monitor trade and trade-related measures and for producing this extensive and informative end-of-year report.     
93. In focusing in part on the trade-facilitative measures Members have taken over the six 
months, the report underscores for us that the first order of business at the WTO must be to finish what we started by staying true to the results at Bali, implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement and completing negotiations on a post-Bali work programme. The report also rightly 
notes that the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement would also have a positive 
economic effect. Success in each of these areas will bring about enhancements in the overall global environment for trade, wh ich benefits all Members.   
94. The only other point we would like to make today is to note our appreciation to those 
Members who actively participated in the monitoring exercise for the first time. This exercise is a unique one, and we hope additional Members will choose to contribute to it in 2015.    
INDIA 
95. M y  d e l e g a t i o n  w o u l d  l i k e  t o  j o i n  o t h e r s  i n  t h a n k i n g  t h e  D i r e c t o r - G e n e r a l  f o r  h i s  A n n u a l  
Report (WT/TPR/OV/17) on the overview of develo pments in the international trading environment 
and his statement this afternoon. 
96. The analysis of trade trends, particularly the fact that world trade grew more slowly than 
expected and continued instability prompting downgrades in economic forecasts, including by the WTO Secretariat, underscores the continued need for Members to desist from new protectionist 
measures to respond to the uncertain economic environment. 
97. The report brings out that the average number of trade-restrictive measures, including trade 
remedy actions, which cannot be termed as trade-restrictive, taken per month in the current 
reporting period (30.8 per month) and in the preceding year (31.3 per month) is higher than any 
other review periods since October 2008. This, along with the fact that the stock of restrictive trade measures introduced by Members since 2008 has continued to increase, is some cause for concern for the global trading environment. 
98. On a positive note, however, the number of trade-liberalizing measures has significantly 
increased in the current reporting period. But the relatively positive trend in the area of trade liberalizing measures should not distract us from the overall picture of increase in the stock of 
trade restrictions in recent years. 
99. While the report attempts to broadly cover the three main sectors - goods, services and 
agriculture - the analysis is more concentrated on the goods side. It would be important to cover 
in greater detail measures affecting trade in services and agriculture, which certainly impact on 
developing countries' trade. For example, measures affecting movement of natural persons since 2008 would certainly merit a clear and meaningful analysis. 
100.  The section on the TBT and SPS measures essentially lists the number of notifications made 
by Members and a statistical analysis of such measures. This section also does not bring out a 
picture in terms of the impact of such measures on trade. In our view, a detailed analysis of the impact of SPS and TBT measures on international trade would be an important area for further 
work. 
101.  Besides definitional and methodological issues re lating to the categorization of measures, in 
the overall, mere statistical analysis of trade-restrictive measures may give a misleading 
impression unless it is accompanied by a meaningful exercise to assess the real trade impact of WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  such measures, which in particular have the potential to affect adversely developing country 
exports. 
102.  Beyond statistical data and factual analysis of trade and trade-related policy developments 
based on information shared by Members, which is informative, it would be useful to have an 
expanded treatment in the future reports on the overall global economic outlook, seen from the 
trade perspective, and its impact on the international trading environment. Such an analysis could also highlight significant policy issues that ar e affecting the trading system, as envisaged in 
Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement. 
CHINA 103.  China appreciates Director-General's comprehensive introduction.  
104.  First of all, we would like to commend the Secretariat for preparing the report, which draws 
a clear picture of the international trading environment in the period under review. This report, as 
well as the trade monitoring mechanism, has played an important role in restraining protectionism since the onset of the crisis. We would like to continue providing our full support to the WTO 
Secretariat for carrying on this work and encourage more Members to contribute to this 
mechanism by providing necessary information as requested.  
105.  A salient feature pointed out by this report is that most of the trade-restriction measures are 
still not withdrawn by major WTO Members. Although the pace of introduction of new 
protectionism measures is not accelerating, the number of overall restrictive measures is still picking up at a notable speed. We should also be vi gilant to the fact that if trade remedy actions 
are also taken into account, the average number of trade-restrictive measures per month in this 
review period is higher than in any other period since October 2008.  
106.  Unfortunately, China remains the biggest victim of protectionism and trade-restrictive 
measures. We are still the most affected Member for both anti-dumping and countervailing 
measures. In this regard, we urge Members to refrain from taking any new trade-restrictive 
measures, and rapidly withdraw those already in place.  
107.  On our side, the new leadership of China has demonstrated strong determination on 
domestic reform and further market liberation. This has been reflected by some important 
measures taken by China recently to facilitate imports and promote outward investment.  
108.  Finally, this report reminds us that the prospect of a strong global growth and world trade 
recovery is still bleak. At this critical juncture, together with other Members, we believe that full 
implementation of the Bali package, early de velopment of the Post Bali Work Program and 
conclusion of the DDA would be the most im portant instrument to avoid protectionism. 
ARGENTINA 
109.  Thank you Madam Chair and thank you Director General for presenting this report. Thanks 
also to the Secretariat for its ongoing efforts to prepare such documents. This report is a valuable tool that allows us to gauge trade policy developments and trends in world trade. 
110.  We remain concerned about the slow growth of the global economy and its subsequent 
impact on trade flows, reasons for which various international organizations have lowered their initial forecasts. In this context, and as exporters of primary agricultural products, we are particularly concerned about the fall in the prices of many commodities over the last few months, 
which, as noted in the report, has led to a cut in export revenues in various countries, in particular 
Africa and Latin America. 
111.  In these circumstances, making progress on the outstanding Doha Round issues acquires 
even greater relevance, most notably in the agricultural sector, where it is increasingly necessary 
to eliminate the remaining distortion that prevents agro exporting developing countries from maintaining economic growth and the living standards of their populations. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  112.  The other issue we would like to highlight, as on previous occasions, is how difficult it 
continues to be, according to the report, to obtain  "confirmed" information on non-tariff barriers, 
i.e. "behind the border measures". These measures  have been acquiring ever greater significance, 
and, as noted in the report, greater transparency is needed in this respect. Members' input is 
therefore vital for learning about the sc ope and magnitude of such instruments. 
113.  We wish to make clear that we are referring, in  particular, to "confirmed measures". As we 
have also said before, we believe it is important to exclude from this document any information 
that governments have not confirmed which, in many cases, concerns measures not approved, not 
in effect or deriving from newspaper reports. For th is transparency exercise, it is vital not only to 
have Members' input, but to improve the way in which the information received is processed. 
114.  I n  t h i s  r e s p e c t ,  w e  f e e l  i t  w o u l d  a l s o  b e  u s eful to gather together all the information on 
measures deriving from the WTO's own committees or councils and not only information on some 
of these measures. Argentina, for instance, raised an issue at the meeting of the Council for Trade 
in Goods last April which does not appear here in this document. 
115.  These reports are valuable and contribute to transparency, but their usefulness, and indeed 
transparency itself, would be improved through greater input from Members, the use of only confirmed information, and any input that might come from the WTO bodies themselves. 
REPUBLIC
 OF KOREA 
116.  I would like to join the previous speakers  in extending our sincere appreciation to 
Director-General Azevêdo and the Secretariat for their hard work in preparing this Report.   
117.  We are of the view that the Director-General’s report and presentation captures very well 
the overview of developments within the contex t of international trading environments. Recent 
breakthroughs to implement the outcomes agreed at the MC-9 have created a new momentum to reinvigorate the multilateral trading system. Building on this momentum, we also need reflection 
on the function of the WTO, focusing on how the WTO can regain its relevance among the 
changing realities of our complex world.  
118.  It is quite good to see that the total number of trade-liberalizing measures increased to 350 
from 251 during the period under review. The moni toring report, however, draws our attention to 
the fact that the number of trade-restrictive measures still remains high at 339, which affects about 1.4% of world merchandise imports. These trade-restrictive measures fall short of an outbreak of protectionism, but we should vigila ntly monitor any developments to ensure that 
favourable trends are maintained. 
119.  We also believe that the proliferation of mega-RTAs has posed ramifications for the 
multilateral trading system and we should monitor these in order to keep them both 
complementary and mutually supportive.  
120.  In addition, we would like to make two specific points.  
121.  First, from November 2013 to October 2014, as in the previous period, the number of 
anti-dumping investigation initiations remains at more than 200 cases. While we certainly 
recognize that trade remedy measures are legi timate rights of WTO Members under the WTO 
Agreement, we cannot disregard the protectionist dimensions or the chilling effect on international t r a d e .  I n  t h i s  r e g a r d ,  w e  w o u l d  l i k e  t o  u r g e  M e m b e r s  t o  t a k e  m o r e  c a u t i o u s  a n d  p r u d e n t  
approaches to trade remedy measures. 
122.  Secondly, only 59 Members responded to the request to provide information on their new 
trade measures, even though the number of resp onding Members has slightly increased when 
compared to the previous report. In particular, there are concerns with regard to behind-the-
border measures such as general economic support measures. To address this issue, it could be helpful to clarify what constitutes “general economic support measures.” The absence of such 
clarification may have compounded Members’ insufficient reporting, making any assessment 
potentially partial and possibly inaccurate. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  123.  In closing, as the Director-General pointed ou t, protectionist pressures are bound to remain 
during a sluggish and uneven economic recovery with persistent high levels of unemployment. 
During times such as this, it is important to reinforce the monitoring mechanisms of the multilateral trading system by ensuring transp arency, one of the key functions of the WTO. 
Believing that a vibrant multilateral trading system is the best insurance policy to overcome 
protectionism, Korea will continue to work closely and constructively with other Members in this endeavour to further strengthen the monitoring and surveillance mechanism of the multilateral 
trading system.  
THE
 SEPARATE  CUSTOMS  TERRITORY  OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN  AND  MATSU 
124.  My delegation joins previous speakers in than king the Director-General and his team for the 
comprehensive annual report and the Director-General’s briefing today. This report provides us 
with a clear picture of what has been happening, not only in the macroeconomic environment, but 
also in terms of Members’ trade policies and measures, and their impact on the multilateral trading system. 
125.  The report draws our attention to certain aspects that we find to be of  particular interest. 
126.  On the positive side, we are pleased to see that fewer trade-restrictive measures have been 
imposed during this review period compared to the previous one, while the number of new 
trade-facilitating measures has risen. Moreover, the report suggests that the trade policy reaction 
to the 2008 global crisis has been more muted than might have been expected, based on the experience of previous crises. 
127.  We notice, however, that the stock of restrictive measures has continued to increase since 
2008. In fact, the number almost quadrupled from mid-October 2010 to mid-October 2014. The 
negative cumulative effect of this on global trade is of concern to us. My delegation echoes that Members should be striving to resist protectionist pressures and to exercise restraint on the 
imposition of new trade restrictions, as well as to remove existing measures wherever possible. 
Even more importantly, we should be working collectively on strengthening and expanding markets rather than closing them, particularly at a time when there is a slowdown in world trade 
and the global economy remains so uncertain. 
128.  With regard to regionalism, we note that its continuing rise and its growing complexity in 
terms of coverage represents a significant cha llenge to the multilateral system. We agree that 
Members need to keep working to ensure that regional trade agreements are operating 
harmoniously with WTO rules, and are complementary rather than a challenge to the multilateral 
trading system. 
129.  My Government has been one of those to have benefited from having its trade policy 
reviewed this year. As we stated during our review, we stand firmly behind the multilateral trading 
system and strongly support trade liberalization. We  also believe that the successful completion of 
the Doha Round negotiations is the best possible insurance against protectionism. The latest 
developments and the call for Members to get back on track and move forward in all areas are 
ve ry e nc ourag ing . W e  mus t make  e very e ffort to fina l ize  the  p os t-Bali work  p rog ramme in d ue time. My delegation remains committed to working closely with all other Members towards completing this task. 
130.  And last, but not least, I just want to add that we attach great importance to this monitoring 
exercise, which we are convinced does help to im prove transparency in the multilateral trading 
system. There is no doubt however, that for this exer cise to be of real and lasting value, fuller and 
broader participation across the Membership is needed. We call for more Members and Observers 
to respond to the Director-General’s request for information, and we would urge those that still have unverified measures listed in the annexes to the report to provide the information during the 
next round of monitoring. 
PAKISTAN 131.  First of all, I express a profound appreciation to the Secretariat’s for compiling developments 
in the international trading environment in a timely and objective manner.  WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  132.  The report reflects a mixed trend of concerns about continuation of trade-restrictive 
measures, and at the same time a measure of relie f about increasing trade-liberalizing measures 
during the period under review. The most disconcerting fact is that the stock of trade restrictions introduced since 2008 continues to rise, which underlines the need for showing restraint in the 
imposition of new measures and to effectively eliminate existing ones. The report reveals that of 
the trade-restrictive measures introduced since October 2008, only 24% have been removed while 76% are still in place.  
133.  However, the report’s conclusion that the over all trade policy response to the 2008 crisis has 
been significantly more muted, and that the MT S has acted as an effective backstop against 
protectionism – provides a basis for optimism. It is really comforting that trade-liberalizing measures significantly increased from 107 in the previous reporting period to 177 in the current 
reporting period, with a value of US$1183.4 billion.  
134.  Concerns about increasing protectionism were also reverberated in the European 
Commission's annual report on protectionism published on 17 November as the EU Trade 
Commissioner said that protectionism damages global value chains; that trade openness is what 
we need if we are to keep the recovery going, especially in times of global economic and political instability.   
135.  Although there is encouraging news of a bright outlook for recovery in the U.S., economic 
performance in several other countries and regions continues to dampen optimism. Related to the IMF’s World Economic Outlook released in October, MD Christine Lagarde showed concern over the disconnect between the markets and the real economy as well as divergent monetary policies 
between the U.S. and Europe, which appeared to perpetuate a growth gap on both sides of the 
Atlantic.  
136.  Among other developments to note is a salutary effect of the discovery of shale oil and gas 
that has helped to reduce oil prices. This has the potential of improving trade balances by reducing 
the import oil bills. There has been an inexorable  link between oil prices and food prices that has 
been driving up food prices and hence overall inflation.  
137.  As usual, the frequency and quantum of trade-remedy measures has been dominated by 
anti-dumping actions, and more initiations were recorded than terminations. These measures are 
also attributed to have the possibility of tit-for-tat retaliations which can have an unwholesome impact on the trade sentiment. 
138.  Over the long run, forecasts for world growth and trade have been revised downward, and 
economists are predicting that we may have en tered a new phase of mediocre growth due to a 
continued hangover from the 2008 crisis. Accordingl y, this document rightly urges the Members to 
show restraint in introducing new measures and to reduce the stock of existing ones, as well as 
enhancing transparency of behind-the-border measures. 
139.  Reporting by non-participating Members will help significantly in improving the coverage and 
quality of this exercise. 
ECUADOR 140.  Ecuador wishes to thank the Director General for his report and make a very brief general 
statement to emphasize not only the importance of  the objectives of the Trade Policy Review Body 
mandate within the framework of a Member dr iven rules based system, but the positive 
contribution made by these reports, and the ne ed to perfect them so as to provide factual 
information that supplements the information submitted, discussed and analysed in the respective 
WTO Committees. 
141.  Ecuador also considers it fundamental to include information on compliance with the 
recommendations of the Dispute Settlement Body. 
142.  The report presented by the Director General challenges Members to comply with the rules 
that will strengthen the multilateral trading syst em a system fully supported by Ecuador, in which 
transparency is vital for the proper functioning of WTO. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  143.  Most of the issues mentioned in the report in document WT/TPR/OV/17, in relation to my 
country, relate to adopted technical regulations. 
144.  These regulations have been raised as trade concerns in the Committee on Technical 
Barriers to Trade. My delegation therefore requests that consideration be given to the replies 
provided by Ecuador in that Committee, which should be recorded in the minutes of the respective 
meetings. 
145.  Lastly, we thank the Secretariat for all the hard work that went into the preparation of this 
report. 
SWITZERLAND 146.  My delegation would like first to thank the Di rector-General for his presentation and the 
WTO Secretariat for having produced this latest annual report on trade-related developments. 
Once again, it offers a thorough picture of the situation, problems and challenges we are facing in 
the area of international trade and trade policy.  
147.  Despite the importance attributed by Ministers to the TPRB work on monitoring trade and 
trade-related measures, we note with disappoi ntment that still no more than 37% of the 
Membership (counting the EU and its Member States separately) have replied to the Director-General's request for information. The fact  that a large majority of Members continue to 
withhold information on their measures undermi nes the objective of reaching a comprehensive 
overview of relevant developments.  
148.  More discipline in this respect is clearly required for the results to become truly 
representative and meaningful. In this context, we  welcome the fact that the Secretariat continues 
to publish the details of the degree of cooperat ion by Members and Observers, and we hope that, 
going forward, substantially more Members will engage in this exercise.  
149.  On the substance of the report, Switzerland notes with concern that growth of merchandise 
trade has continued to slow down and is expected to remain well below its long term average both 
in 2014 and 2015.  
150.  This development lends further weight to the Secretariat’s call to Members to show restraint 
in the imposition of new trade-restrictive measures and to effectively eliminate existing ones. 
Indeed, the continued accumulation of trade-restri ctive measures, especially by G-20 members, is 
quite worrisome. Repeated commitments by the G-20 to a standstill on new restrictive measures and to a rollback of existing ones should be fo llowed by action. Representing about 85% of world 
GDP and 80% of world trade, these countries have a particular responsibility in this regard. 
151.  The monitoring of measures which are potentially detrimental to trade makes a significant 
contribution towards containing protectionist pressures. A further strengthening of the WTO’s role 
in this respect should therefore be in the collective interest of all Members.  
152.  This being said, Switzerland strongly believes that trade growth is also hampered by the 
extensive use of trade remedies, notably anti-dumping measures. As indicated in the past, we see 
with concern that a number of Members, particularly among the G-20, continue to resort on a 
l a r g e  s c a l e  t o  a n t i - d u m p i n g  m e a s u r e s  a s  a n  i n s t r u m e n t  o f  t r a d e  p o l i c y .  E v e n  i f  s o m e  o f  t h e s e  measures may comply with WTO obligations, their widespread use has a chilling effect on world 
trade, is hampering structural adjustment, is detrimental to global value chains, weakens 
competition policy, and tends to trigger tit-for-tat reactions from trading partners.  
153.  As the Secretariat’s report recalls, the multilateral trading system can do more to drive 
economic growth, recovery and development through liberalization and the strengthening of rules. 
With the Bali package, we managed for the first time since the creation of the WTO to reach a 
consensus on some important issues of the Doha Development Agenda, and after the 27 November decisions we are back on track. Let us build on this success and now rapidly tackle 
the remaining work under this agenda, starting with the Post-Bali Work Programme. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  THE RUSSIAN  FEDERATION 
154.  Russia welcomes the WTO Annual Report overviewing developments in the international 
trade environment and thanks the Director-General for his personal guidance as well as the Secretariat for its continuous work on monitoring and summing up of the current trends in the 
multilateral trading system.  
155.  For Russia this exercise has always been of crucial importance as it contributes to 
transparency and predictability of global trade. Our active participation in the WTO monitoring 
practices started long before Russia acceded to this Organization and will be further continued in 
due and timely course.  
156.  We share key findings of the report and we recognize the concerns of gradual accumulation 
of trade-restrictive measures by the WTO economies since 2008. The current state of global 
economy abounding with many uncertainties still does not suggest immediate positive prospects 
for trade. That adds additional value to our self-restraint and rollback initiatives against protectionism. In this context, international and regional fora such as G-20 and APEC set good 
examples to follow.   
157.  We also regret to note that this year shows the rise of "economically unmotivated" 
restrictive measures in bilateral trade relations, which Russia has always opposed but was forced 
to respond to in a retaliatory manner.  
158.  At the same time we are encouraged by indications in the report on some positive trends 
such as the growing number of trade-liberalization measures registered this year. We also concur with the general conclusion that trade-restrictive reaction to the 2008 crisis has been more muted 
than might have been expected based on the experience with previous crises. The central role 
behind this good news belongs to the multilateral trading system which stands today as the sole universal mechanism for securing free trade standards and fighting protectionism globally. 
CHILE 
159.  We thank the Director General for his introductory statement and we value the Secretariat's 
excellent work in preparing this report, which has become a reference for assessing the world 
trade situation and global trade trends both within and outside this organization. 
160.  The report covers the international trading environment as a whole. The decline in 
dynamism undoubtedly has systemic and multiple causes, ranging from the slower growth of the 
large economies, the casualization of employment and the reduced share of labour in output, to 
the problems that the new Trade Facilitation Agreement seeks to resolve. It is clear, however, that 
restrictive measures are a cause effect that also negatively impacts the dynamism of trade. 
161.  In this respect, I would like to comment on a number of aspects of the report. With regard 
to trade restrictions, for instance, it is worrying to see the continuing trend towards the use of this 
type of measure. This, together with customar y recourse to anti-dumping measures, adds an 
element of insecurity to the system. 
162.  On a brighter note, the increase in trade fac ilitation measures during the same period will 
hopefully lessen and reverse the impact of distortion on international trade. 
163.  In this connection, the prompt implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement will help 
to support our organization's efforts to ensure a broader and more in depth trade liberalization 
process. 
164.  We note from point 5.4 that 2014 was the most active year in the area of dispute 
settlement. This demonstrates Members' confidence in this pillar. The ever more frequent use of 
this instrument may, however, indicate a trend towards non-compliance with the commitments 
undertaken by WTO Members, which should be examined. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  165.  This body's greatest value lies in its efforts to increase the transparency and monitoring of 
trade policies. We are therefore concerned to see that only around 30% of Members have 
responded to the Director General's call to submit information for the preparation of this report. 
166.  It is vital that Members value the usefulness of these exercises and the quality of this 
analysis as a reference for their own efforts in th e application of the trade related public policies 
deriving from their multilateral commitments. 
DOMINICAN  REPUBLIC 
167.  First of all, we wish to thank the Director General and the Secretariat for preparing this 
report, which is very thorough and reflects an economic situation that still gives cause for concern. The report shows that economic recovery is not yet completely stable and that global economic growth was irregular and unequal in various major countries. US economic growth resumed, 
despite remaining very limited. It fell by 2.1% in the first quarter of this year, growing again by 
4.6% in the second quarter and 3.5% in the third quarter, to achieve an average growth of 2% in 
the first nine months of the year. The unemployment rate fell to 5.8% in October, despite still 
remaining high. In the meantime, output stagnated in the euro area and fell sharply in Japan in 
the latest period. Economic activity strengthen ed in China while Brazil's recession deepened. 
168.  The report states that with global output growth unsteady in the first half of 2014, trade 
growth has been equally tentative, particularly in developing economies. The WTO Secretariat 
estimated that world trade would grow 3.1% in 2014 and 4% in 2015, figures that had to be revised downwards. In their latest World Economic  Outlook, the International Monetary Fund also 
reduced its forecast for real world GDP growth at  purchasing power parity to 3.3% in 2014 (2.6% 
at market exchange rates) and to 3.8% in 2015 (3.2% at market rates). 
169.  A growth slowdown in developing economies and a simultaneous (uneven) recovery in 
developed countries have produced a notable change in global import demand. Since the fourth 
quarter of 2013, the contribution of developed ec onomies to nominal growth in world merchandise 
imports has been greater than that of developing countries for the first time since 2011. On the export side, the contribution of developing econ omies turned from negative (0.4%) in the first 
quarter to positive (+1%) in the second quarter,  while that of developed countries shrank. This 
suggests that rising import demand in developed countries fell, which in turn suggests that this demand is increasingly being satisfied by exports from developing countries. 
170.  It is, however, of concern to see that the stock of trade restrictions introduced by WTO 
Members since 2008 continues to rise. Of the 2,146 trade restrictive measures introduced by 
Members since October 2008, only 508 (24% of the total) have been removed. The total number of restrictive measures still in place now stands at 1,638 (76% of the total). 
171.  Members applied 168 new trade restrictive measures during the period between 
mid-November 2013 and mid October 2014. This equates to over 15 new measures per month. We believe that the continuing rise in these measures increases the uncertainty that remains in the 
world economy and it is important that the most central players in the global economy exercise 
due moderation in applying this type of measure. 
172.  We believe that Members should pay attention to  the cumulative effects of new and existing 
trade restrictive measures, and that the G-20 members, who undertook from the outset of the 
crisis not to apply measures restricting trade flows, have a greater responsibility to honour this 
commitment, in order to generate confidence in the multilateral system, and to take trade liberalizing initiatives, even as a means of tackling the world economic crisis that is still plaguing 
hundreds of millions of people. 
173.  Lastly, structural changes in growth boosting sectors in China indicate a new trend in growth 
performance compared to total world output and total world trade, due to greater stimulus in 
China's domestic consumption, which appears to require fewer inputs of foreign goods and 
services. This situation should be taken into consideration in future analyses so as to establish the impact on the global trade projection. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  SINGAPORE 
174.  Singapore thanks the Director-General and the Secretariat for the annual report on 
Developments in the International Trading Environment. It is an important complement to the ongoing country-specific trade policy reviews. Trade monitoring is a key means of providing 
transparency in the WTO. It is an important part of the WTO’s regular work which we must 
continue to advance.   
175.  Even though the trade policy reaction to the 2008 global economic and financial crisis has 
been more muted compared with previous ones, the stock of trade restrictions introduced since 
then continues to rise. This is of particular concern in view of the continued global economic uncertainty and sluggish trade growth. We urge the WTO Members concerned to remove these restrictions and refrain from adding new ones.  
176.  Despite the best efforts of the Director-Gener al and the Secretariat at garnering Members’ 
inputs for this report, the level of response remains at only about one-third of Members. This is disappointing, especially since it is clear that such exercises contribute towards a greater 
understanding of international trade trends, whic h all Members benefit from. We strongly urge 
Members to improve on our collective participation in future trade monitoring exercises. Where relevant, we should also proactively provide information on non-tariff measures, such as 
behind-the-border measures, which seem to have become more prominent in recent years.   
177.  Finally, it is incumbent on WTO Members to make the multilateral trading system responsive 
and relevant to global trade developments, including in the areas of trade liberalisation, rule-making, and trade monitoring. It is therefore critical that WTO Members deliver on the 
General Council decisions adopted on 27 November 2014 with regard to the Bali decisions, to help 
restore the WTO’s credibility as the paramount organization on international trade. 
JAPAN 
178.  First of all, Japan appreciates the Director-General’s and his team’s hard work for this 
annual report. It helps us to understand the current situation regarding trade and trade-related measures and provides us with a variety of important views on our fight against protectionism. 
179.  In my remarks, I would like to touch upon the following two points: the current trend of 
trade and trade-related measures and the improvement of monitoring. 
180.  Firstly, I would like to comment on the current trend of trade and trade-related measures. 
According to the Secretariat, world trade grew slower than expected in the current reporting 
period and the trade in goods in 2014 and 2015 will be lower than the average of the last 
20 years. These severe economic circumstances may cause an increase of protectionism. The total 
number of restrictive measures introduced since 2008 and still in place has reached its highest 
level. It is necessary for all of us to make our position crystal-clear to fight against protectionism, 
exercising the maximum restraint to the introduction of new protectionist measures and making the utmost effort to eliminate the existing ones. 
181.  Among those measures introduced in the current reporting period, trade remedy measures 
account for almost half of the total number. In particular, in addition to the anti-dumping measures, countervailing measures have been on an increasing trend since 2012. The abuse of trade remedy measures can cause a negative impact  on world trade; therefore the implementation 
of these measures should be strictly in conformity with the relevant WTO agreement. 
182.  On the other hand, the number of trade-liberalizing measures significantly increased from 
107 in the previous reporting period to 177 in the current period. This is a positive sign as long as 
they are consistent with the WTO agreement. We w ill have to maintain and strengthen this trend 
in order to enhance trade liberalization and further expand world trade, under the multilateral trading system. 
183.  Secondly, regarding the improvement of monito ring, we reiterate the importance of TPRB 
monitoring in order to tackle protectionism. Japan strongly supports this regime and will continue our cooperation for the monitoring. WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  184.  In the process for the preparation of the cu rrent report, more Members responded to the 
request for verification from the Secretariat. That is good news. But, as mentioned by the Director-General, still only 37% of the Members provided information before the verification step. As we stated in the TPRB meeting in July, Japa n is concerned that there has been very little 
improvement in providing information for several years. All the Members should actively take part 
in this process in order to enhance the transparency of our trade policies and to make this report comprehensive and more credible. 
COLOMBIA 
185.  I would like to thank the Secretariat for preparing this document and the Director General 
for presenting it. 
186.  Being the last to take the floor, we would like to be brief and endorse the specific comments 
on this document that have been made  by most of the previous speakers. 
187.  This overview constitutes an important tool for assessing not only the international trading 
environment, but our role, as Members, in the development of trade policies in this context. 
188.  We agree with previous comments made concerning the importance of maintaining 
transparency in this organization through the information provided by Members, and of complying with the notification commitments resulting from WTO Agreements. 
189.  The report's findings on this issue show that we are still below 50% of the total Membership. 
190.  We also emphasize the role that this organization has played from the very start in providing 
Members with a forum to discuss how trade measures should best comply with WTO commitments and in guaranteeing the benefits of trade for national populations. 
191.  As we have said on previous occasions, we are fully committed to the multilateral system 
and the Doha Development Round. We therefore hope to see the full implementation of the Bali package and the development of a work plan with a view to concluding the Doha Development 
Agenda. This is the main contribution that we can all make in order to achieve a less distorted and 
more inclusive international economic environment. 
SECRETARIAT 
192.  Thank you for your comments and active participation in this meeting. As the 
Director-General indicated, we will report to him fully your points of view and suggestions. In particular, from the Trade Policy Review Division, I would like to thank you for the comments and 
suggestions that you have made regarding the trade monitoring exercise.  
193.  Of course, we recognize that the trade monitoring can be improved, in particular in the area 
of coverage of the measures and the verificati on of the reported actions. One of the unique 
features of this trade monitoring exercise is that it is the result of a joint work. We, the 
Secretariat, and most importantly you, the Members. And that is why we are pleased that all the 
participants that took the floor today called on the entire membership to enhance the participation in this exercise. 
194.  We have heard the suggestions on how we can improve the methodology, in particular 
trying to make more analys is of certain types of measures like TBT or SPS. Also, in particular, calling the Secretariat to enhance the co verage of behind-t he-border measures. 
195.  But to do that we really need your help, your active participation. If we are to embark on an 
analytical exercise, we need to ha ve more information. We cannot ba se our analysis only on partial 
information that is provided by part of the membership. In that sense, your call for all Members to participate more actively is really in the direction where we want to move. 
196.  There have been also some suggestions that we will certainly take on board. Some of you 
mentioned that probably a list of illustrative meas ures that have to be notified under the section 
on general economic support can facilitate the reporting of such measures. We will be working WT/TPR/OV/M/12 
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  together with the trade monitoring team with a view to have some sort of illustrative list that we 
can provide to you. 
197.  There were also a couple of other suggestions and comments, in particular from Argentina 
regarding the inclusion or rather non-inclusion of certain measures that were referred to in other 
WTO Bodies. These will be discussed bilaterally with  one of my colleagues to explain why this was 
not done. 
198.  To summarize, the Director-General provides you a background paper on which you base 
your discussions and your exchange of views. Certainly in our trade monitoring we may have 
missed some of the measures but this sort of meet ing is the opportunity for you, all Members, to 
bring those measures that may not have been included in the report, or measures that we may probably not have been able to include in the report, and to raise them in this meeting. This is the 
good forum for you to exchange your views and comments regarding these measures so as to 
complement what the Director-General provides you in terms of background note that should serve as a basis for your discussions. 
CHAIRMAN'S CLOSING REMARKS 
199.  I would like to conclude the meeting by than king the Director-General and the delegations 
for their contributions to the exch ange of views. I believe that our discussion today has reaffirmed 
the importance of the trade monitoring exercise in providing enhanced transparency of Members' 
trade and trade-related policies and measures. 
200.  The comments and issues raised by Members will be, as the Director said, duly transmitted 
to the Director-General. 
201.  I also take note of, and I think we should be greatly encouraged by the general commitment 
among Members to continue to improve their contribution to and participation in the monitoring exercise. 
202.  Thank you to all delegations for taking part in  this meeting, DDG, the Secretariat and the 
interpreters.  
 
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