WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
10 February  2017 
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Trade Policy Review Body   
 
  OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE  
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT  
MINUTES  OF THE MEETING  
9 December 2016  
Chairperson: Ms. Irene Young (Hong Kong, China ) 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE CHAIRPERSON  
1. Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of the TPRB, which was convened by Airgram 
on 16 November.  
2. The purpose of this meeting is for Members and Observers of the Trade Policy Review Body 
to undertake their annual overview of developments in the international trading environment 
which are having an impact on the m ultilateral trading system, as provided for in Paragraph G of 
Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement.  
3. As mentioned in the Airgram, today 's discussion is assisted by the Director -General 's Annual 
Report which sets out the major activities of the WTO and highli ghts significant policy issues and 
developments in the trading system over the past 12 months. This report was circulated in 
document WT/TPR/OV/19 on 21 November in English. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure 
for meetings of the TPRB, the Report was  issued as an unrestricted document.  
4. At the outset, let me briefly recall that the purpose of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism, 
according to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement, is to achieve greater transparency in, and 
understanding of, Members ' trade a nd trade -related policies and measures. The TPRM is not 
intended to serve as a basis for the enforcement of obligations under WTO Agreements, for 
dispute -settlement purposes or to impose new policy commitments on Members. These 
fundamental principles also fully apply to the annual overview of developments in the international 
trading environment.  
5. Furthermore, I would like to recall the Decision by Ministers at the 8th Ministerial Conference 
which called on the TPRB to continue and strengthen the trade monit oring exercise. In particular, 
Ministers expressed their commitment to comply with existing transparency obligations and 
reporting requirements needed for the preparation of the trade monitoring reports, and to continue 
to support and cooperate with the Se cretariat in a constructive manner. It was recognised that the 
regular monitoring of trade -related developments enhanced the relevance of the multilateral 
trading system.  
6. Specifically, the periodic reports by the Director -General - such as his Report on t he Annual 
Overview presented today - provide Members with very useful information to keep up with the 
latest developments on a wide range of topics in international trade, including trends with respect 
to new trade policy measures implemented by the WTO me mbership in the past 12 months.  
7. Preparation of these reports depends on Members complying with the notification 
requirements under the various WTO Agreements and providing timely input to the trade 
monitoring exercise. On the Secretariat 's part, it is doi ng its best to streamline the information 
gathering process and ensure that delegations receive the latest information and analysis WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  available. In the Sixth Appraisal of the TPRM, I am encouraged to hear that Members are 
committed to transparency and they a lso see va lue in trade monitoring work.  I hope to see 
continuous improvements in these regards.  
8. Now, coming to the Report today, let me highlight a few main themes before inviting the 
Director General to elaborate.  
9. In my view, the Report is, above all, a timely and sobering reminder of the challenges faced 
by the international economy and their consequences for world trade. It warns us that the world is 
likely to see the slowest pace of trade and output growth since 20 09; that the stockpile of 
trade -restrictive measures introduced by WTO Members keeps rising; and that many of the 
measures that were supposed to be temporary and in response to the financial crisis instead linger 
on for years.  
10. It is good to know that Members still continue to adopt trade -liberalizing measures. Those 
providing for tariff reductions and facilitation of customs procedures account for 76% of the 
measures introduced during the review period. Implementation of the expanded  Information 
Technology Agreement  (ITA) and preparation for th e coming into force of the Trade Facilitation 
Agreement (TFA) , have certainly played a role. The first deliverables of these agreements are 
therefore , in my view,  of great systemic value.  
11. The Report also provides some interesting reading when it comes to t he number and nature 
of the Specific Trade Concerns raised in the SPS and TBT bodies, as well as the increase in trade 
concerns registered in other WTO bodies. Again, from a systemic point of view, I believe these are 
important developments which demonstra te the confidence that Members have in the work of 
regular bodies and their genuine desire to resolve disputes through constructive dialogue before 
resorting to a formal settlement.  
12. Moving on to the discussions  let me first give the floor to the Director -General to introduce 
his Report, after which I shall open the floor for comments from delegations.  
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS  BY THE DIRECTOR -GENERAL   
13. Good afternoon. I am very pleased to join you today, as we take stock of the major 
developments in the internati onal trading system over the past 12 months.  
14. A key pillar of our work here at the WTO is to help provide transparency and predictability to 
the trading system. I think that this Annual Overview is an important component of this. It allows 
us to take stock  of what has happened in the trading landscape, and of course, to reflect on the 
steps ahead.  
15. The report before you today looks at the implementation of trade -related measures across 
the WTO membership between mid -October 2015 and mid -October 2016. It was circulated to 
Members on 21 November, under my own responsibility.  
16. The report outlines a number of important trade -related developments, as well as an overall 
assessment of the main trends observed in trade measures recorded over this  one year  period. 
And it presents a comprehensive look at all these issues. It includes a wide range of perspectives, 
including developments on recent trade policy reviews, on the Trade Facilitation Agreement, and 
the ITA expansion – to name just a few.  
17. In fact, for the first time, this report includes a separate chapter on recent discussions on 
intellectual property. In addition to that, the report provides a snapshot of the trade concerns 
raised in WTO bodies over the past 12 months, including developments in trade re medies, SPS, 
TBT and services.  
18. As you can see, the report is quite comprehensive and tries to offer you a fairly horizontal 
view of developments in the trade landscape. Of course, these developments may have positive, 
negative or neutral impacts on global trade gr owth.  However, the report does not aim to 
characterize the measures or actions listed therein with any type of subjective analysis, and this is 
very important   WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  19. Therefore, any measure or action mentioned in the report must not be deemed to be 
protectionist (or not), WTO consistent (or inconsistent), legitimate (or illegitimate), necessary (or 
not), arbitrary (or not), and so on. There is no subjective inference regarding any of the measures 
or actions listed in the report. It is an objective and factual repo rt; and nothing more.  
20. In a moment, I will outline the key findings of the report. But first, as usual, I would like to 
give you  a brief background on the process of preparing the  document.  
Preparation of this report  
21. Information for this report was collected from inputs submitted by Members and O bservers, 
as well as from other official and public sources.  
22. I would like to thank the delegations that have participated in this exercise by providing 
relevant information on time, and by ensuring the subsequent v erification of this information.   
23. For this Annual Overview, 84 Members and 4 O bservers replied to my request for 
information. Thi s is a record number of replies.  But of course, there is always room for 
improvement. Transparency requires constant commitmen t and  engagement. I encourage other 
Members to take part as well.  
24. Of course, the Secretariat  is available to help increase M embers ' understanding of this 
exercise and to help facilitate their participation.  
Economic context  
25. Before I turn to the substance of the report, I would like to say a few words abo ut the 
broader economic context in which we are.  
26. In September , the WTO downgraded its forecasts for trade growth in 2016 from 2.8 % to 
1.7%. If realized, this would mark the slowest pace of trade growth sinc e the financial crisis. This 
is of course largely due to the lackluster performance of the global economy – and not the other 
way around.   
27. To help monitor the situation, the WTO launched a new World Trade Outlook Indicator in 
July (WTOI) . It was designed t o provide real time, immediate information, indicating if trade is 
likely to slow or accelerate in the near future.  
28. The last update of the WTOI was issued just last month. The indicator rose slightly, 
signalling  a modest acceleration of trade into the four th quarter. This is broadly consistent with the 
WTO's most recent forecast. The S ecretariat will continuously evaluate the indicator and  make 
adjustments as necessary.  The next update of the WTOI is planned for Februar y 2017.  
29. Looking ahead, we need to keep  up the hard work to help facilitate trade. And of course, this 
includes avoiding measures which can hamper and restrict trade flows.  
30. This brings me to the key findings of the report that is before you today.  
Key findings   
31. The document shows that 182 new trade-restrictive measures, excluding trade remedy 
measures, were put in place in the reporting period. This amount s to an average of just over 
15 new measures per month.  
32. This represents a reduction in the monthly average compared to 2015, when we saw an 
average of 20 new measures per month – that was the highest level since 2011. However , this 
does not mean that we are  necessarily  on a downward trend. Rather, it seems to be more like a 
return to the somewhat steady levels that we have witnessed since 2009 .  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  33. Of course, the numerical counting of measures does not give an indication of their real trade 
impact. But it does serve to illustrate the overall trend. And that is what we are trying to do.  
34. An important parameter to bear in mind is that, out of the 2,9 78 measures  (including trade 
remedies) recorded by this exercise since it has started, only 740 have been removed.  
35. Evidently, the last thing the global economy needs today is trade restrictive measures. They 
can have a further chilling effect on trade flo ws, with knock -on effects for economic growth and job 
creation.  
36. During the review period, WTO Members also applied 216 new measures aimed at 
facilitating trade.  
37. These include the first measures implemented in the context of the expanded Information 
Techn ology Agreement – so this is good news.  
38. The total figure represents an average of 18 new trade -facilitating measures per month. This 
represents a slight decrease over the previous report, but nevertheless, it remains above the 
2009-2015 average.   
39. Looking  at other findings of the report, the monthly average of trade -remedy investigations 
was the highest since 2009. In contrast, the monthly average of trade remedy terminations was 
the lowest since the beginning of the monitoring exercise. I think we have a higher number of 
trade remedy investigations. We are not judging here whether or not these are appropriate, 
whether they are responding to unfair trade or anything of that kind. It is just numbers.  
40. I should again stress, particularly in the case of trade r emedies, that we are not questioning 
the consistency of those measures regarding WTO disciplines.  
41. The report also indicates a decline in the number of general economic support measures 
implemented by WTO Members. But, w e are  very cautious about over inter preting this 
development as we face considerable challenges in getting Members to report on such measures. 
Also here, like in all other sections, the report does not prejudge WTO -consistency nor necessity or 
legitimacy of the listed economic support measur es. 
42. In the area of trade in services, recent developments show that the sector is seeing further 
liberalization, especially through the strengthening and clarification of regulatory requirements.  
43. I also want to highlight the section of the report dedicated  to providing M embers with an 
overview of the issues raised in individual Trade Policy Reviews over the past year. The high 
number of TPRs can place a significant burden of work on delegations, especially the smaller ones. 
Therefore, I am particularly plea sed to note the increasing active participation of LDCs.  
44. This report also draws attention to the changing technological landscape and to the 
increasing significance of intellectual property in economic developm ent. It shows that several 
WTO M embers have a dopted new national and regional policies related to IP and the digital 
economy.  
45. Finally, I wish to underli ne the continued commitment of M embers to notifying SPS and TBT 
measures for transparency purposes. And we have made important progress here.  
46. SPS a nd TBT notifications are now accessible through the online alert system ePing. This 
allows users to receive email alerts on products and markets of interest to them.  
47. Each year , the WTO receives more than 3,500 TBT and SPS notifications proposing new 
measur es that may affect international trade. By improving access to this information, ePing will 
help avoid unnecessary disruptions caused by these measures.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  Conclusion  
48. These are some of the principal findings that I wanted to share with you today. I hope it ca n 
provide food for thought and some input for your discussions.  
49. So let me conclude by thanking again everyone who has taken part in this important work. I 
urge others to get involved, and help strengthen this exercise.  
50. I should also stress that I am fully aware of your discussions on ways to improve this trade 
monitoring exercise and to re -energize our  discussions of these reports.  
51. I think this shows your continued commitment and interest in ensuring that transparency 
remains a cornerstone of our work.  
52. In the context of a challenging economic scenario, I think we should keep in mind the role of 
the multilateral trading system in providing a stable, predictable and transparent trading 
environment.  
53. So, as we look towards MC11 in Buenos Aires, we should seek t o make decisive progress in 
eliminating the remaining trade -restrictive measures, while also delivering new negotiated 
outcomes.  
54. Thank you  all for listening. I hope the report offers you good food for thought and I wish  you 
a very productive meeting.  
STATE MENTS BY MEMBERS  
SINGAPORE  
55. I would like to thank the Secretariat for putting together this report and the D irector General  
for his introduction. These are difficult times for global trade. Anti -trade rhetoric is increasingly 
prevalent, and Governments are pressured to look inwards and erect protectionist barriers.  
56. In this context, the WTO 's trade monitoring role as a bulwark against protectionism cannot 
be overemphasised. The best safeguard we have against protectionism is a strong, 
well-functioning and inc lusive multilateral trading system.  
57. We note with serious concern the growing stockpile of trade restrictive measures, which has 
increased by almost 17% compared to the last annual overview. The slow removal rate of existing 
trade restrictive measures, desp ite the exhortations by our Leaders to standstill and rollback on 
these measures, is extremely worrying. We call on Members to exercise the utmost restraint in the 
imposition of new trade restrictive measures, and also to swiftly remove existing ones.  
58. We note also that the monthly average of new trade remedy investigations recorded in this 
report was the highest since 2009. While initiating such investigations is well within each Member 's 
rights, the chilling effect it has on t rade is well -known. We call on  Members to be more discerning 
in whether or not to initiate inves tigations, and urge the M embership to work on rules that will aid 
transparency and ensure due process is adhered to in trade remedy actions.  
59. Finally, we are disappointed  that despite attempt s by some M embers to table proposals in 
the 6th Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism on revitalizing the biannual monitoring 
meetings, consensus co uld not be found. We hope that M embers will nonetheless continue to work 
together and brainstorm on  how to improve these meetings, and Singapore stands prepared to 
actively contribute and participate in such efforts.  
60. We thank the Secretariat nonetheless, for their untiring efforts in upholding the monitoring 
and transparency function of the WTO. In part icular, we welcome the OECD 's contribution of two 
topical boxes in this report, which we found informative, and added value to the overall report.  
61. The TPRM monitoring reports and meetings are important and precious resources and 
platforms to have a frank d iscussion on the state of global trade, the problems that we collectively WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  face, and find solutions on how to make trade work for our people and the system. We are 
encouraged that for the first time, more than half of the Membership participated in this rep ort 
(51%). Nevertheless, further outreach will be needed to ensure greater participation, and to 
maximize the utility of such reports for the collective Membership.  
HONG  KONG,  CHINA  
62. First, I would like to thank the Director General for presenting to us the  overview of 
developments in the international trading environment in the past year. This is a very useful 
report. We thank the Director General  and his team for the hard work they have put into this 
exercise.  
63. It is encouraging to see that the response rat e to Director General 's request for information 
on measures taken during the period for compilation of this report accounts for 51% of the total 
Membership. It is the first time that participation exceeds half the WTO Membership. Active 
participation in th is exercise is essential to maintaining the transparency of trade policy 
developments. We appeal to Members to continue to support Director General 's monitoring work.  
64. The findings revealed in the report, however, are less positive. During the period under 
review, WTO Members applied 182 new trade -restrictive measures and the overall stockpile of 
restrictive measures continued to grow, up by 17% compared to the last annual report. Of the 
restrictive measures recorded since 2008, only 740 have been removed. T he rollback of 
trade -restrictive measures remains slow, leaving 75% of all the restrictive measures still in place.  
65. The period also recorded the highest monthly average of trade -remedy initiations of 
investigations since 2009 and the lowest monthly average  of trade -remedy terminations.  
66. I think it is accurate to say there has been growing trade protectionism around the world. 
Many delegations have spoken  on this in the last week or so  on different occasions. In this 
challenging time, we would encourage all W TO Members to exercise the greatest restraint possible 
in introducing new restrictive measures and to step up actions to terminate existing ones. We 
firmly believe a more liberal, predictable and transparent trading environment would benefit us all.  
67. As a s eparate note, Hong Kong, China has been supporting discussion of electronic 
commerce in the WTO. We are glad to see in the report that there are projects and initiatives by 
various organizations, including UNCTAD, the WTO and the European Centre for Intern ational 
Political Economy (ECIPE), concerning the measures affecting electronic commerce and digital 
trade. We believe these work would provide a good basis for further discussion on electronic 
commerce among WTO Members.  
UNITED  STATES  
68. Thank you to the Sec retariat for the considerable time and effort that goes into the 
compilation of this report, which always provides helpful summary of work over the course of our 
year. We appreciate always the Director General being with us to introduce the report and th anks 
Deputy Director General Yi  for also being with us.  
69. To begin on a relatively positive note, and while we certainly acknowledge  slower global 
trade growth, in the United States we are benefitting from our longest streak of total job growth 
on record. Medi an household income is up and other indicators, including on poverty and the costs 
of health care, also show good progress. So we are heartened to be ending the year in our own 
economy on this positive note and we look forward to exploring these issues in our upcoming 
Trade Policy Review.  
70. To dive straight into the report, my Government would like to make two observations today. 
The first  related  to notifications and the second related  to trade remedies.  
71. As the United States noted in the recent HODs meeting,  the across -the-board effort at 
updating our understanding of global trade as it stands today goes hand in hand with our everyday 
efforts at transparency to which we must all give more dedicated  attention.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  72. From our standpoint, everyday efforts at transpare ncy include the extensive notification 
requirements  with which we all must contend as Members of this Organization.  
73. The section on notifications in the report for today 's meeting gives us a good snapshot of 
where the Membership stands and it seems clear th at we are not altogether on solid ground. Low 
levels of compliance in notification requirements in the areas o f customs valuation, STEs, 
semi-annual dumping and countervailing duty reports, subsidies including fisheries subsidies and 
in force RTAs are part icularly troubling from our perspective and affect our ability to assess the 
system as a whole.  
74. Here again, we would like to note that we see a difference between those Members that may 
be overdue on their notifications by a few months due to technical or data issues, and those that 
have simply chosen not to notify for many years, despite repeated requests.  
75. We therefore continue to encourage all of the Members who have yet to make their 
respective notifications to review their individual  situation  and submi t full notifications in a timely 
manner. As we enter into a Ministerial Conference year, the updated information included in 
notifications will be urgently needed in order for Members to consider potential positive outcomes.   
76. Turning from notifications to trade remedies, as the report notes, the monthly average of 
trade remedy investigations by Members recorded for this exercise was found to be the highest 
since 2009. However, we are concerned that there is no link made between trade remedy 
measures, which are WTO compliant, and underlying market -distorting measures that can lead to 
their increase.  
77. For example, the problem of significant global excess capacity is at the crux of the range of 
commercial challenges facing industrial sectors such as steel and al uminum. It is also evident that 
many Governments have provided subsidies and other support to expand  exports , without giving 
adequate consideration to market considerations or adverse trade effects.  
78. One remedy for industries which may be injured as a resul t of subsidized or dumped imports 
is to seek relief from their Governments in line with international trade rules. The availability and 
appropriate use of measures to address unfair trade practices plays an important role in 
maintaining support for open ma rkets and increased trade. The pro per use of WTO -sanctio ned 
remedies also provides a WTO Member -agreed means of remedying injury caused by unfair trade.  
79. With these comments , Chair , I would like again to thank the Secretariat for its work on the 
report. In closing, we also  note that we have appreciated the ability in our soon to conclude 
Appraisal of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism to exchange views on the utility of this exercise. 
This monitoring exercise which we continue to consider extremely important.  We continue to 
encourage all Members to participate actively both by providing the Secretariat with information 
and participating actively in meetings such as this one. We appreciate that coming out of the 
Appraisal we are likely to have at least a couple  of conclusions that are relevant to this exercise 
and we thank you for your leadership in leading us to that point.  
MEXICO 
80. Mexico thanks the Director -General and his team for their report, which is, as always, of 
excellent quality. This monitoring exerci se is of particular relevance in this "new era" in which, 
unfortunately, protectionist currents could continue to gain strength.  
81. Mexico is again concerned that the stock of trade -restrictive measures monitored since 2008 
continues to grow, having increased  by 17 % since the period covered by the previous annual 
review.  
82. In the period covered by the report (October  2015 to October  2016), 182 trade -restrictive 
measures were introduced – an average of 15 measures per month (mostly import tariffs, customs 
procedu res and quantitative restrictions on imports and exports).  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  83. Fortunately, the period also saw some trade facilitation measures implemented by certain 
Members, which bring some balance to the analysis, at least from a quantitative point of view.1 
84. We are pleas ed that economic support measures decreased during the period; the financial 
sector continues to be the main beneficiary of such support , along with the agricultural, 
construction, medical and pharmaceutical sectors.  
85. We also note that the majority of measu res affecting trade in services are liberalizing, with 
very few exceptions. Several Members have improved their market access conditions for foreign 
investors2, while others have implemented new trade facilitation measures in distribution, financial 
servic es, maritime services, communications, and services supplied through the movement of 
natural persons.  
86. Notwithstanding this, and despite the fact that a proportion of the trade -restrictive measures 
monitored since 2008 have been eliminated (740, i.e. only 2 5%), the majority have become 
permanent in nature . In mid -October  2010, there were only 464 restrictive measures; currently, 
2,238 measures are in force, meaning that the number of measures has increased nearly fivefold 
in just six years.  
87. This is truly unf ortunate and regrettable, especially considering that most of the Members 
maintaining such measures are also members of the G20, where there is a roll -back commitment 
that has evidently not been honoured.  
88. Growth projections for world trade in 2016 have onc e again been revised downward (in the 
case of trade in goods, from 2.8 % to 1.7 %), while world GDP growth for 2016 is estimated at just 
2.2%. 
89. If confirmed, these figures would reflect the slower growth in global trade and the world 
economy since the financi al crisis of 2009. Even more alarmingly, they would make 2016 the 
first year since the crisis that world trade has grown at a slower rate than the world economy.  
90. It is worth emphasizing that the current complex and uncertain international climate means 
that WTO Members must, now more than ever, remain vigilant and ready to do whatever we can 
to keep our markets open, eliminate existing restrictive measures, and refrain from applying new 
ones.  
91. In this regard, we would like to thank the Director -General for c larifying just now that his 
report is "neutral" and does not prejudge whether or not the monitored measures recorded therein 
are protectionist, or whether or not they are WTO -consistent. This is extremely important for 
Mexico because we would be highly con cerned if measures such as trade remedies – particularly 
countervailing and anti -dumping actions – came to be considered as protectionist when, in reality, 
other measures and practices, such as dumping and subsidies, could be defined as such and yet 
are pr obably not covered optimally in this report.  
92. Madam Chair, the new international economic and political landscape poses considerable 
challenges for this Organization. The prevailing economic uncertainty to which we have referred, 
together with financial vol atility, growing anti -trade rhetoric, and rising populism in some countries 
which are key players in international trade, makes it vital that we collectively redirect our efforts 
and resist protectionism.  
93. Of course, we must take care to maintain and promot e an even stronger and more 
predictable, transparent and inclusive multilateral trading system, as well as doing everything 
within our power to ensure, as the report recommends, that the benefits of trade spread more 
widely and are better understood . 
                                                
1 216 trade facilitation  measures were recorded, most of them tariff reductions and measures relating to 
customs procedures. None were applied in the context of ITA expansion.  
2 Australia, Kingdom of Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia and Ukraine.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  94. We fu lly support the Director -General's call to work together to this end, and the proposals 
put forward by Singapore (and the United States) aimed at strengthening the work of Members in 
this monitoring exercise. We also welcome the inclusion of this matter in  the 2017 G20 Agenda.  
EUROPEAN  UNION  
95. The EU would like to thank the D irector General  and the WTO Secretariat for its report – this 
comprehensive piece is the result of real and good work.  
96. The analysis of the work carried out in the WTO - through its vario us bodies - is very useful. 
It provides a comprehensive view of the different types of barriers to trade and investment that 
operators face on the ground, and it goes beyond the listing of measures adopted by the Members 
during the review period.  
97. The EU w ould wish to underline some interesting elements in the report under four key 
headings.  
Inclusiveness  
98. First, the last paragraph of the key findings of the report states that "WTO Members must 
work together to ensure that the benefits of trade are spread m ore widely and are better 
understood. A failure to make the case for inclusive trade could pave the way to increased 
protectionism in the future ". The EU cannot agree more.  
99. Over the last years, we have witnessed an unprecedented debate about trade, with g rowing 
concerns on the impact of trade and globaliz ation and a perception that trade agreements have 
negative effects on  - for example - consumer and labour rights.  
100.  To address such concerns – Members need to recognize that globaliz ation has to be 
embedde d in a broader economic policy strategy. We need to exploit the growth potential of open 
markets while at the same time addressing inequalities, and protecting those who lose out from 
international competition and technological change.  
101.  This is what the EU  tries to do with a number of initiatives that are on -going. The objectives 
of the Communication "Trade for All " are that trade policy: (1) delivers economic results to 
everyone (citizens, SMEs); (2) is elaborated in a more tr ansparent way;  and (3) takes i nto account 
the EU values by expanding measures to support sustainable development, fair trade and human 
rights.  
Protectionism  
102.  Secondly, the report addresses protectionism; we note that the stock of trade barriers has 
continued to grow, which is worrying.  The pace of removal of these barriers continues to be far 
from sufficient.  
103.  We would like to seize this opportunity to call in particular the G -20 members to abide by 
their renewed pledge - made this year in Shanghai and until end of 2018 – on both stands till and 
rollback of protectionist measures.  
104.  Let me be a bit more specific on some protectionist measures: notably on the growing trend 
to make use of domestic preference in public procurement.  
105.  Non-discrimination and equal treatment are at the very core of the WTO and GPA. The GPA 
is an important instrument for promoting trade and good governance in government procurement 
markets and to contribute to the elimination of measures such as local content requirements.  
106.  Imposing new restrictions or expanding th e scope or level of existing "buy national " or "buy 
local" rules would therefore be contrary to the aim and spirit of the GPA. We therefore encourage 
WTO Members to refrain from the introduction or continuation of such domestic preference 
policies.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  Trade f acilitation  
107.  Thirdly, let me turn now to the measures that facilitate trade. We note the important 
potential impact of ITA. A first estimation is that ITA tariff reductions would cover about 2.5% of 
total imports. We will monitor the implementation and the  impact of the expanded ITA.  
108.  We also have strong expectations regarding the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which will 
enter into force hopefully very soon. In this regard, notification of Category B and especially 
Category C commitments will now be crucial  to unlock the important amounts of technical 
assistance that Members – including the EU – have earmarked for TF.  
109.  As you know, the EU committed over 400 million euros to this exercise. We commend the 
work of the Trade Facilitation Facility. The EU provide d 600.000 euros to help ensure that 
developing countries receive proper assistance and eventual matchmaking in their efforts to 
ensure Technical assistance.  
Transparency  
110.  Finally, transparency that - as the DG noted - requires constant commitment and 
engage ment. We are happy to note that over half of WTO Members have now contributed to this 
report and that 28 of those are EU Member States.  
111.  We support the recent initiative taken by New Zealand to use this avenue and the CTG to 
monitor closely the degree of co mpliance of Members regarding their notification obligations.  
112.  We note another finding of the WTO Secretariat stating that "Europe has a prominent share 
of all RTAs (21%) ". We consider that this figure should be put in context as a large number of 
RTAs con tinue not to be notified (83) if I trust the WTO Secretariat figures.  
113.  The EU would like to invite Members to make all efforts to improve their notification records 
in this regard and not only in the sectors where the WTO Secretariat stresses particular 
deficiencies (such as, for example, export subsidies and domestic support for agriculture, STEs, 
general support measures).  
114.  In conclusion, the EU would also like to express appreciation for your leadership, Chair, in 
the discussions on how to improve the mon itoring function of the TPRM that took place in a 
constructive and positive environment over the last few months. We think that we have got a good 
result.  The EU would have liked a little bit more but we are decently unsatisfied, which is a good 
thing in d iscussions. Thank you again a lot for your guidance and leadership on that and to the 
Secretariat for the good work.    
SWITZERLAND  
115.  First, let me join others in thanking the Director General and the WTO Secretariat for having 
produced yet another report on trade -related developments. Once more, the document before us 
offers a comprehensive snapshot of the global trading environment we are currently operating in.  
116.  We want to commend the Secretariat for a consistent effort which year after year puts 
together a series of invaluable insights and analyses which on many occasions serve us as a 
reference point as we develop our respective trade policies both in capital and here in Geneva. The 
reason why we believe that it is important to continue this type of exercis e is also based on the 
persistent quality of the work done by the staff of the Secretariat.  
117.  We are not sure that, we, as Members, match the Secretariat 's commitment. Yes, it is true: 
as has been pointed out by the report, Member participation in the prepar ation of the report for 
the first time has risen just above one half of WTO Membership. This is a positive development, 
but we can all do better than that.  
118.  We appreciate indeed the publication in the annex of the table spelling out Members ' 
contributions. This table will encourage Members to cooperate more fully n subsequent reports.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  119.  Now turning to the substance of the report, we note with some concern that expectations 
with respect to growth in world trade and output have been dampened. More worryingly, wo rld 
trade is now growing more slowly than world GDP. It goes without saying that if this negative 
relationship continues, it will behove the WTO to take a closer look at this insipient collapse of a 
hitherto comforting assumption, namely that if an economy  generates growth, trade will expand 
even more in its wake.  
120.  Many interlinking forces may be at work here. And it is nearly impossible to discern a single, 
all determining factor for this development at this point. Maybe one starting point would be to 
have a closer look at the changing face of global value chains. This year 's annual report by the 
Secretary General has in some way done this already by focusing on one particular aspect of 
GVCs, that is to say their employment creation. But more work in this fi eld needs to be 
undertaken.  
121.  One thing seems certain, though. No matter how legitimate trade remedies may be, the 
ever growing stock of trade -restrictive measures does little to imbue sluggish trade growth with a 
bit more dynamism. On reading the Secretaria t's report, one gets the impression that these 
measures seem to concentrate in a specific product sector. In some instances, they seem to 
concentrate on the same product originating from several sources. Moreover, it seems that trade 
remedies were mostly r esorted to by G20 countries.  
122.  Like in the past, we would like to recall the repeated commitment by the G20 to resist 
protectionism. It would also appear that a rollback of the stock of trade -restrictive measures 
should be feasible on account of the fact tha t these measures do not span the entire product 
spectrum of international trade but in many instances focus on one specific product group. The 
problem can be isolated.  
123.  On a positive note, the report records an above -average increase in trade -facilitating 
measures. This is an encouraging sign. It is also a reminder of the importance Members attach to 
the multilateral trading system, of which the WTO remains the bedrock. A further strengthening of 
the WTO both as a monitoring and negotiation body for trade li beralization is in the interest of all 
Members.  
RUSSIAN  FEDERATION  
124.  The Russian delegation thanks the Director General and the WTO Secretariat for the Annual 
Report on Developments in the International Trading Environment. We appreciate the hard work 
done, as usual, professionally and in depth. This monitoring exercise for us remains of utmost 
importance as it contributes greatly to transparency of the M ultilateral Trading System (MTS) . 
125.  This time we are pleased to note the growing number of the WTO economies  involved in the 
Overview preparation process, which for the first time overcame the figure of 51% of the total 
WTO Membership. But u nfortunately, this seems to be the only positive news up to now.  
126.  We share the key findings of the Report adding the reasons  for mounting concerns against 
the backdrop of ongoing accumulation of trade -restrictive measures, lagging pace of trade 
facilitating practices, worsening world trade forecasts, the rise in trade -remedy investigations.  
127.  In such an environment, the initiativ es to counter or  refrain from protectionism beca me 
more and more pressing. The anti-protectionist  efforts by international fora such as G20 and the 
APEC are very much important and Russia is proud to be a part of them. However, we understand 
that this camp aign is still plurilateral by nature while to fight trade distortion globally a multilateral 
approach is needed.  
128.  We recognize the central role here of the multilateral trading system which stands today as 
the only universal mechanism for securing free trad e standards. Russia will continue to contribute 
further on to the multilateralism in trade as well as to the enhancement of the MTS as the main 
stronghold on the way of creeping protectionism.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  REPUBLIC  OF KOREA  
129.  I would like to join the previous speakers i n extending our sincere appreciation to the 
Director General and the Secretariat for their hard work in preparing this guiding Report.  
130.  The DG 's Report and presentation  today  well captures the overview of developments in the 
international trading environmen ts. It is indeed quite good to see that WTO Members adopted less 
trade -restrictive measures, in a monthly basis, during the review period, compared to in the last 
review period from mid -October 2014 and mid -October 2015.  
131.  However, the Report also draws our attention to the fact that the overall stock of restrictive 
measures is continuing to increase due to the addition of new restrictive measures combined with 
a slow  removal rate. Considering the anti -trade sentiment, which is on the rise throughout the 
world and which may lead to the increase in the number of newly introduced protectionist 
measures in coming years, we should vigilantly monitor any changes of trade policies taken by 
Governments to ensure that favourable environments are maintained.  
132.  Last but n ot least, we are seriously concerned by the fact that the number of initiations of 
trade remedy investigations was the highest since 2009 while the number of termination of trade 
remedy measures was the lowest. In particular, as the DG 's Report pointed out , the concern 
among WTO Members regarding the use of safeguard measures, particularly in the steel sector is 
growing. While we certainly recognize that trade remedy measures are legitimate rights of WTO 
Members under the WTO Agreement, we cannot disregard the trade restrictive dimensions or the 
chilling effect on international trade. In this regard, we would like to urge Members to take more 
cautious and prudent approaches to trade remedy measures.  
133.  In closing, we share the view that it is important to reinf orce the monitoring mechanisms of 
the multilateral trading system by ensuring transparency, one of the key functions of the WTO. As 
Member countries discussed the ways of strengthening further the monitoring mechanisms in the 
recent 6th TPRM Appraisal, although, as many previous speakers already said, we failed to reach 
any substantial conclusion, we must continue not only refraining from intro ducing new 
trade -restrictive measures but also continue seeking the better ways to reinforcing the monitoring 
mecha nisms. 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 surveil lance mechanism of 
the multilateral trading system.  
JAPAN  
134.  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.  
135.  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.  
136.  Firstly, I would  like to comment on the current trend of trade and trade -related measures. 
According to the Secretariat, 182 trade restrictive measures were introduced in this reporting 
period. The average number of trade restrictive measures introduced per month decrease d from 
20 in the previous reporting period to 15 in the current period. This is good news.  
137.  However, on the other hand, only 740 trade restrictive measures have been eliminated since 
2008, which resulted in an increase in the total number of restrictive mea sures. Japan feels it 
necessary to emphasize the difficulty in eliminating once -adopted restrictive measures. We 
encourage all Members to recognize this difficulty and carefully consider the implications of 
adopting restrictive measures.  
138.  Let me make some c omments on trade remedy measures. The average number of 
investigations initiated per month has reached its highest since 2009. Although investigations do 
not necessarily lead to the actual imposition of measures, they can be leading indicators to foresee 
future trends. The abuse of trade remedy measures can have a negative impact on world trade; WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  therefore, these measures should be implemented with transparency and in accordance with the 
relevant WTO agreement.  
139.  On the other hand, 216 trade -liberalizing measu res were introduced in the reporting period. 
Japan believes the ITA expansion commitments are reflected in this number. Although this number 
is a little lower than that in the previous period, it is higher than the average from 2009 to 2010, 
which Japan po sitively evaluates. We will have to maintain and strengthen this trend in order to 
enhance trade liberalization and further expand world trade.  
140.  With regard to the preparation of the current report, Japan positively evaluates that more 
than half of the Memb ers responded to the request for verification from the Secretariat. However, 
one thing we should mention about contributions from the Members is that there is a region  where 
the response rate is relatively  low. We hope that more Members will be involved in  the process of 
making annual reports in order to make this report more comprehensive and credible. We believe 
those efforts will eventually enhance the transparency of our trade policies.  
141.  Before concluding, let me touch upon the issue of improvement of th is TPRB monitoring 
mechanism. Given the importance of this mechanism, we should strive for its improvement. In this 
sense, Japan welcomes the vigorous discussions we have had on revitalization of the monitoring 
meeting through the Sixth Appraisal. To be ho nest, same as the EU, Japan needed more and we 
are not fully satisfied with it but I am glad that we have almost finished the Sixth Appraisal thanks 
to the splendid leadership and guidance of the Chair. So, from next year, we should pay close 
attention to the implementation of the conclusions including those about monitoring meetings.  
CHINA  
142.  China would like to thank the DG and the Secretariat for the compilation of this very 
comprehensive report.  
143.  As the report has pointed out, the world merchandise trade vo lume growth in 2016 is 
predicted to be merely 1.7%, which will be much slower than the 2.5% growth rate this year, and 
would mark the slowest pace of trade growth since the financial crisis.  
144.  History has taught us repeatedly the same lesson that when global  economy is experiencing 
a tough period, protectionism will start wriggling.  
145.  Bearing this in mind, the G20 leaders announced their commitments to refrain from taking 
new protectionist measures and roll back existing ones since the outset of the global fina ncial 
crisis. During the G20 Summit in Hangzhou this September, G20 leaders reiterated their opposition 
to protectionism on trade and investment in all its forms.  
146.  Yet China is concerned that the number of new trade -restrictive measures being introduced 
still remains worryingly high. During this monitoring period, the number of new trade -restrictive 
measures introduced by WTO Members is about 15 per month, which remained above the average 
level since 2009. The large number of new trade -restrictive measures s hows a clear sign of the 
relapse of trade protectionism.  
147.  China is also concerned about the growing number of trade remedy measures. As the report 
has pointed out, the number of trade remedy measures initia ted by WTO Members reached 
18.5 per month during th is monitoring period, which was the highest record since 2009.  
148.  The abuse of trade remedies measures, in terms of both quantities of cases and 
investigation methodologies, could constitute a nother  form of trade protectionism. We should bear 
in mind that the  abuse and the  use of trade remedies measures would harm the interests of not 
only the exporters or exporting Members, but also all other parties in the upper and lower streams 
of the global value chain.  
149.  Another important lesson history has taught us is th at protectionism will lead us to nowhere, 
but undermining our joint efforts to reinvigorate the global economy.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  150.  China will stick to our commitments in this process of fighting against trade protectionism , 
and urge other Members, especially large developed Members to do the same.  
NORWAY  
151.  In a time with strong anti -trade sentiments, threats of protectionism and pessimism about 
the development of global trade – this detailed overview of the trade environment is more 
important than usual. Still, only half of the  Membership provided input to it. We can be happy that 
it is more than ever or disappointed but w e should all seek to provide timely information to the 
Secretariat so that they can prepare the best possible report.  
152.  One of the "key findings " in the report i s related to the growing anti -trade rhetoric: "WTO 
Members must also work together to ensure that the benefits of trade are spread more widely and 
are better understood. A failure to make the case for inclusive  trade could pave the way to 
increased protect ionism in the future ". 
153.  This is certainly true, and this "finding " seems to be a response to the anger over lost jobs 
and growing income inequality. The point should be made that national policies must respond to 
the challenges of globalization. Rather than  blaming trade for income inequality, Members should 
make sure that Governments re -distribute the income trade generates and provide the social 
safety -nets and assistance to workers that need to qualify for new jobs.  
154.  There is also the claim from some that trade agreements can be biased, non -transparent  in 
their development, favouring private interests at the cost of the public interests such as health and 
environmental standards, etc. The WTO and its Members must provide a response to that, too.  
155.  The report shows a continued increase in the stock of trade -restrictive measures, and 
anti-dumping measures in particular have increased. This is worrying, even if there is a relatively 
small group of Members that represent the vast majority of cases – whether as ini tiator or affected 
party.  
156.  The report refers to a downward revision of global merchandise trade growth, from 2.8% to 
1.7%. With the share of services growing steadily, both in the economy as such and in trade, why 
do we still focus on merchandise? Is it a q uestion of data quality?  I noted that there is an 
upcoming meeting on trade and services statistics next week.  
157.  Positive developments are also reflected in the report:  
 ITA Expansion Agreement,  growing Membership, implementation of tariff cuts on track, 10%  
of merchandise trade . 
 E-commerce continues to grow strongly, new proposals and initiatives brought forward . 
 The Trade Facilitation Agreement, 85% of the instruments required for the agreement to 
enter into force now registered . 
 Aid for Trade, disbursement  up but commitments down . 
 The Government Procurement Agreement continues to help improve governance in that 
market . 
158.  In conclusion, global trade relations as described in the report shows that our work in the 
WTO is more important than ever, and that we sho uld strive to deliver progress at MC11.  
COLOMBIA  
159.  We would like to thank the Secretariat for preparing this document and the Director -General 
for his presentation, which allows us to examine twice yearly the international trading environment 
and the rate of  development of our trade policies in the multilateral trading system.  
160.  Transparency is an essential element of multilateral work and this report makes a significant 
contribution in this regard. We encourage Members, especially those from the developing wor ld, to 
strengthen these exercises, as only by so doing can we guarantee inclusivity and share out the 
benefits of trade. Although we have increased the number of Members that respond to the 
Director -General's call for information, we can make this report e ven better.  WT/TPR/OV/M/ 14 
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  161.  To avoid repetition, we align ourselves with the specific comments on the document made 
by most of the delegations that have already taken the floor.  
162.  In a global world economic environment in which trade and output growth are lower than 
forecas t, due in part to the low prices of primary commodities, Brexit, the slow recovery of trade in 
goods, and growing anti -trade rhetoric have had a clear impact on the measures applied by 
Members during the period under review.  
163.  We emphasize that although trad e facilitation measures are being adopted, the overall stock 
of trade -restrictive measures remains high, at 2,978, with only 740 having been eliminated in this 
period. This is particularly worrying given the continuing global economic uncertainty and the 
WTO's recent downward revision of its trade forecasts.  
164.  With regard to trade facilitation measures, we draw special attention to the tariff reductions 
resulting from ITA expansion, some of which have been applied by Colombia, and we hope to see 
them fully im plemented and reported on for this exercise at the beginning of next year. We also 
underline the increase in facilitation measures related to customs procedures which, as shown in 
the 26 trade policy reviews carried out between October  2015 and October  2016, have achieved 
good progress and benefited from Government action, especially in developing countries.  
165.  Nearly three  quarters of the 347 remedy measures are anti -dumping actions. The trend seen 
in previous reports continued insofar as more initiations tha n terminations were recorded in the 
application of anti -dumping, safeguard and countervailing measures. Although these instruments 
have their place in the multilateral system, we are concerned about their impact on the 
predictability of trade flows, econom ic growth and job creation.  
166.  We would like to draw attention to the work carried out in the different WTO Committees, 
where the review of notifications and the question and response process facilitate dialogue and 
understanding of the specific policies and measures presented by Members. The obligation to 
submit notifications prior to the adoption of sanitary and phytosanitary measures and technical 
barriers to trade has enabled transparent participation in decision -making processes to ensure that 
they are in  line with multilateral commitments and not more restrictive than necessary. We 
welcome the reduction in the number of economic support measures in agriculture, forestry, 
construction and the medical and pharmaceutical sectors, as well as the increase in l iberalizing 
measures for trade in services.  
167.  This report is clearly a call to continue working at a multilateral level to counteract the 
negative effects of anti -globalization in the hope that the benefits of trade will be spread more 
widely, leading to tra de that is less distortive and more inclusive. This monitoring exercise clearly 
shows the need for the multilateral system to address, through negotiations, the main problems of 
world trade in goods and services by increasingly adapting the rules of the ga me to the trade 
reality we face.  
CHAIRPERSON 'S CLOSING REMARKS  
168.  With no further interventions I would now like to conclude the meeting. Thank you very 
much for your participation, thank you for sharing with us your views.  
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