WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
10 February 2011 
 (11-0654) 
Trade Policy Review Body 
9 December 2010  
 
 
OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE 
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT 
 
Record of the Meeting  
 
Chairperson:  H.E. Mr. Bozkurt Aran (Turkey) 
 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
1. The purpose of this meeting is for the TPRB to carry out its annual overview of developments 
in the international trading environment, as manda ted by Paragraph G in Annex 3 of the Marrakesh 
Agreement establishing the WTO. 
2. The Annual Overview is to be assisted by a Report from the Director-General, which was 
circulated in document WT/TPR/OV/13 on 24 November 2010.  The regular monitoring of trade-related developments through the provision of accura te and update information has become a regular 
feature of the WTO under its transparency mandate a nd proved its value to the entire membership.  It 
greatly enhances the functioning of the multilateral trading system and provides us with a valuable 
tool to resist protectionist pressures at home. 
3. The Director General's Report provides reassuri ng news of an overall decline of new trade 
restrictive measures from last year's level.  This is  in the global context of strong, although uneven, 
recovery of world trade, and economic growth. Neve rtheless the tide has not yet fully turned, and as 
the Director General noted in his Report we must remain vigilant. 
4. I would like, once again to warmly welcome th e active participation in this exercise of 
acceding countries. 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL 
5. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to th e Trade Policy Review Body my Annual Report 
on Developments in the International Trading E nvironment.  This Report builds on the trade 
monitoring reports presented to Members at regular intervals.  The trade monitoring exercise has 
become a regular feature of the WTO activities, a nd one which I think is much appreciated by all 
Members.  The monitoring reports receive considerab le public attention at all levels.  The success of 
this initiative is also due to your active participati on through the provision of relevant information and 
the verification of recorded trade measures.   
6. The last time I addressed this same Body was on 8 July 2010.  At that time, I noted that 
economic growth was returning to many countries, but warned that the global recovery was uneven 
and fragile, and that unemployment remained at very high levels.  I am sure you all will agree that 
these uncertainties still remain and present a serio us challenge for the global economy and the 
multilateral trading system.   WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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7. World trade in 2010 recovered strongly followi ng its worst decline in many decades.  Our 
current forecast is for world trade to grow by 13.5%  and although we have w itnessed the deterioration 
of this growth in the second part of this year at this stage we do not change our forecast.  The Report 
illustrates that the world economy is still in a recovery phase from the global financial crisis.  
Although developing countries have performed relati vely well recently, output growth in developed 
countries has remained sluggish.  The economic recove ry has not been strong enough so far to impact 
significantly on high levels of unemployment. 
8. In addition, as illustrated in the Report, new ri sks have emerged more recently that call for 
prudence and also for collective responses particularly  in the areas of current account imbalances and 
of exchange rate and monetary pol icy developments.  We still have to  remain vigilant to make sure 
that our trade system continues to serve the entire membership as an insurance policy against 
protectionist tendencies, in particular during these difficult times. 
9. Let me now make a few more specific comments about some of the main points emerging 
from the Annual Report on the Overview of Developm ents in the International Trading Environment.  
It is not my intention to repeat all the issues addr essed in the Report, but to highlight those that I 
consider more important at this moment for the multilateral system. 
10. First, regarding the main observations coming out from the trade monitoring exercise, it is 
reassuring to note once again that governments have largely continued to resist protectionist pressures and to exercise some restraint over the imposition of new trade restrictions during the past year.   
11. Overall, new trade restrictions were imposed at a much slower pace than in previous periods.  
For example, the number of initiations of new trade remedy investigations has declined, contrary to 
what was predicted, and was predictable on the basis of the track record of data during the previous 
economic crisis. 
12. Let me draw your attention, however, to an increased use of export restrictions that our 
monitoring activities have picked up in 2010, and that I know is of concern to many of you.  These measures have mainly affected food products and some raw materials and minerals.  Maybe because 
WTO disciplines are weaker on the export side than on the import side, export restrictions have not 
been a regular or major issue for the management of the trading system in the past, but they have the 
potential to create serious obstacles to trade in our increasingly integrated world economy, with 
supply chains that in many cases extend widely acro ss countries and regions.  I suggest that they may 
require a closer look by Members from a systemic point of view, to ensure that they are properly covered by the core WTO principles of non-discrimination and transparency. 
13. On the other hand, we should congratulate  those governments that have taken trade 
facilitating measures, and indeed the number of ne w measures that facilitate trade has increased, as 
shown in the Report.   
14. Also, in the area of trade in services, countri es are maintaining their services trade policies 
and levels of market access, and some governments have introduced significant changes in order to 
allow broader presence of foreign suppliers in vari ous services sectors. Notwithstanding this relatively 
positive assessment, it is important to recognize that there is a need for increased vigilance by all 
WTO Members to three potential dangers: 
15. The first danger is related to an increase in protectionist pressures generated by stubbornly 
high levels of unemployment in many countries, persistent global imbala nces, and macroeconomic 
concerns such as perceived exchange rate misalignments. 
16. The second danger is the steady accumulation of measures that restrict or distort trade.  Since 
the end of 2008, trade restrictions have built up to  cover around 1.9% of total imports; this is too WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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much.  There is a need for governments to remove  those measures that were taken as a temporary 
response to the economic crisis. 
17. The third is the challenge of managing the trade impact of general economic stimulus 
measures taken in response to the crisis.  Although mo st of the measures were taken at the outset of 
the crisis, many are still in place and continue to ge nerate concerns for some of our Members.  The 
effects of these measures on trade and competition w ill be examined at a Special Session of the TPRB 
planned for early spring next year.   
18. The Annual Report also covers other important  trade-related areas.  The individual Trade 
Policy Reviews undertaken over the past year ha ve confirmed that although some Members have 
raised a few of their applied MFN tariffs, such in creases have been rare, and, overall, their trade 
regimes were not significantly changed by the global crisis.   
19. In the area of Regional Trade Agreements, these ag reements continue to be an important and 
growing feature of the international trading system.  Around 200 RTAs that are in force have been notified to the WTO, and about 100 more are in th e process of being negotiated.  All regions have 
become active in this field.  Given these developmen ts, the availability of relevant information is of 
utmost importance.  The Transparency Mechanism for RTAs, which can provide this transparency, 
has shown that while RTAs generally do open trad e, many of them have been unable to address 
problems of tariff peaks and sectoral protection, and that it remains difficult to overcome vested protectionist interests at regional level.  Here, we must say that the efficien cy of the Transparency 
Mechanism for RTAs depends to a large extent on the availability and the quality of relevant 
information to be provided by Members. More needs to be done by all in this area if the full potential 
of our work on RTAs is to be met. This is a task for each and every Member.   
20. In the area of Government Procurement, th ere has been significant progress in 2010 toward 
broadening the membership of the Agreement and advancing the negotiations  on the coverage of 
commitments.  Armenia's accession was gavelled last Tuesday.  The accession negotiations of two Members (China, and Jordan) have gained speed during the year.  
21. Important steps have been taken this year by all WTO Councils and Committees to improve 
the implementation of WTO notification requirements and stimulate a more up-to-date and comprehensive flow among Members of recent tr ade-related developments.  The record of 
compliance with notification requirements has impr oved considerably in the past two years. For 
example, more than 41% of Members are now in fu ll compliance with their agricultural notifications 
for the 1995-2004 implementation period, compared with 33% of Members at the same time last year.  
There has been significant improvement in the notif ication of Regional Trade Agreements since the 
adoption of the Transparency Mechanism.  And 62% of Members have now supp lied tariff data to the 
IDB and 69% have supplied import data, compared w ith 54% and 59%, respectively, this time last 
year.   We all should be happy with that but more needs to be done.   
22. The global financial and economic  crisis and the WTO's trade-monitoring exercise have 
shown the importance of increased transparency fo r the smooth functioning of the multilateral trading 
system.  Again, progress in this area depends on active participation by all Members. 
23. Indeed, the comprehensive, accurate and neutral nature of the monitoring exercise can be 
ensured only through an active participation of all delegations.  I would therefore like once again to 
urge you all to continue actively pa rticipating in the monitoring exercise through the timely provision 
of initial information and the subsequent  verification of individual measures. 
24. The trade monitoring exercise has revealed that there are impor tant gaps in the multilateral 
trading system where protectionist sentiments can ag itate and expand.  A successful conclusion of the WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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DDA can help reduce these gaps and provide more ce rtainty to all Members for their trading relations 
of the future. 
25. As we know now 2011 offers a window of opport unity to conclude the Doha Round. At the 
last TNC we put together a programme of work for the months ahead. It is now upon Members to enter into «give and takes» which can get you to  a deal that you can all take back home.   
26. Finally, I would like to inform delegations about the frequency of the monitoring reports for 
next year. There will be two WTO monitoring reports, one in June and one in November. We will also 
produce two reports for the G20 in 2011.    
STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 
EUROPEAN UNION 
27. In addition to thanking the DG for his Report and for the information and comments he has 
provided this morning, I would like to focus our comments primarily on two issues: exit and transparency.  This Report draws Members attenti on to three potential dangers and we agree with 
these recommendations.  
28. One issue in particular, the roll-back of ex isting measures is indeed unacceptably low and 
needs to be further accelerated, in our view notably  by G20 Members. New measures continue to be 
added to the existing stockpile of potential trade rest rictions despite the fact that many countries have 
now entered into a phase of economic recovery.  We very much welcome that the WTO Report 
acknowledges the risk this brings for the global trading system. 
29. In this regard, and after an in-depth assessment  of current conditions and risks ahead, the EU 
is proceeding progressively with the exit. The European Commission has presented on 1 December 
2010 the way forward to a gradual phasing out of  support programmes that will encourage the 
restructuring of banks and of firms with structural difficulties.  
30. The introduction of stricter conditions for those measures will facilitate a gradual return to our 
normal, very strict state aid control framework. This includes, inter alia, that, from now on, for large 
firms working capital loans are excluded from the a pplication of our Temporary Framework and that 
firms in difficulty can no longer benefit from the Framework.  
31. We invite other WTO Members, and in particul ar G20 Members, to present their strategies 
and to regularly inform the membership about remove d measures. In this regard, we also invite the 
Secretariat to closely monitor the removal of these measures across the board. 
32. Second, the EU continues to make efforts in terms of transparency, and basically we would 
like to call WTO Members to match these efforts. We noted that, not in this Report but in the last G20 
Report that was produced the Secretariat already confirmed a lack of cooperation in the reporting of 
measures by a number of important players. The G20 Report stated that only 13 out of the G20 Members had provided information on their own measures, and one G20 Member had only made counter-notifications.  
33. We think that this lack of transparency is regrettable. G20 Members have committed to report 
to the WTO about their own measures, and so h as WTO Membership as a whole. We believe that 
WTO Members, and notably those six G20 Members,  should explain the reasons for not cooperating 
with the WTO Secretariat in this specific respect.  
34. It is our common interest that the TPRB reports are indeed balanced and comprehensive.  And 
so far we have had reports obviously where there is  not a lot of information about EU measures, and WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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this is in part a reflection on our compliance wi th transparency obligations. The Secretariat has 
referred in the past to this fact and to difficulties in gathering information. We encourage all Members 
to further increase their efforts in this exercise in  this very straight forward and tangible way. 
35. Likewise, the Annual Report summarises devel opments in the Committees and Councils in 
order to improve the timeliness and completeness of notification obligations. The overall track record 
indeed has improved, but further work remains to be done. The EU actively will actively support 
these further efforts. 
36. Finally, we have taken note of the comments and advice of the DG over the increased use of 
export restrictions. We think these comments are important and we wish to see the Organisation 
monitor this issue closel y on a systemic basis. 
SWITZERLAND 
37. My delegation would like first to thank the Director General and the WTO Secretariat for 
having produced this new Annual Report on trad e-related developments which, presents a 
comprehensive and valuable picture of the situa tion, focused on problems and challenges we are 
currently facing in the area of international trade and trade policy. 
38. We welcome this continued monitoring of tr ade measures – positive and restrictive – which 
was initiated by the Director General at the beginning of 2009. It puts the WTO on the map in an area of its core business. This transparency exercise is very important. Indeed, even though the recovery of 
the world economy seems now well under way, the tensi ons linked to the public debt crisis in the euro 
zone and the volatility of exchange rates clearl y show that a monitoring of government actions 
continues more than ever to be required. I therefore strongly hope that this su rveillance effort of trade 
policies of WTO Members will be pursued in the y ears ahead and that this exercise of permanent 
transparency will not be stopped at some point under the pretext that the financial and economic crisis 
and its aftermath will by th en have been overcome. 
39. We concur with the Report that, despite the sev erity of the global financial crisis and its 
widespread impact on economies around the world,  governments largely resisted protectionist 
measures and exercised restraint over the imposition of new trade restrictions. The fact that new trade 
restrictive measures were imposed th is year at a somewhat slower ra te than in 2009 and that there has 
been an increase in the number of new measures aiming at facilitating trade represent encouraging 
developments. However, the fact that new restrictive measures are affecting an ever rising share of world imports is also quite worrying. 
40. Switzerland remains, in particular, seriously concerned about the protectionist measures of 
certain governments, also from the G20. As the Report clearly states, the causes of large trade 
imbalances, persistent high leve ls of unemployment and the present disorderly movements in 
currencies are macroeconomic in nature. Restric ting trade cannot correct those problems. On the 
contrary, it could easily provoke retaliation which would seriously threaten both jobs and growth 
worldwide. 
41. Despite the fact that the Leaders of the G20 reaffirmed on several occasions, and again in 
Seoul last month, that they would not only commit to a «standstill» on trade restrictive measures until the end of 2013 but also to roll back trade restric tive measures taken in the wake of the financial and 
economic crisis, the G20 has unfortunately not yet li ved up to this pledge. The fact that only about 
15% of the new restrictive trade measures have been  removed since the outbreak of the crisis is 
another cause for concern, and we are happy that the EU has given a similar signal this morning. WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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42. The Director General has put the emphasis on certain new challenges such as measures 
restricting exports. We certainly support his comm ents with regard to the need of focusing our 
attention in the WTO also on these issues, starting to  assemble factual information in future reports. 
43. We do emphasize the crucial importance of concluding the Doha Round with no further 
delay. An early conclusion of the Doha Round would indeed represent a global economic stimulus 
package that would generate good quality jobs wit hout having to be financed out of over-stretched 
public treasuries, a blessing for many countries in the current circumstances, not least for many 
developed economies. 
44. Switzerland remains for its part deeply committed  to an ambitious and balanced outcome of 
the Doha Round negotiations and is supportive of all the efforts made to get to meaningful results 
despite the Doha fatigue which we presently observe . We cannot walk away:  there is no alternative 
but to go on with the Doha Round and ultimately to succeed.  
AUSTRALIA 
45. This Report, and those like it produced over the last two years, have shed valuable light on 
measures taken by all Members in responding to the global economic downturn, and provided strong 
evidence of the ongoing commitment  to the multilateral trade di sciplines. The reports provide 
valuable transparency and have been important input s to discussions internationally, including in the 
G20. 
46. We are encouraged that fewer trade restric tive measures have been imposed this year 
compared to last, and even more en couraged by the fact that there has been an increase in the number 
of new measures taken to facilitate trade and invest ment – ongoing evidence at a time when it is most 
needed of the importance of domestic economic  policy reform to sustainable growth.  
47. Australia has been an active par ticipant in efforts to coordinate a global response to the crisis. 
The G20 has played an important role here, making a strong contribution to ensuring greater stability in financial markets, building towards more sustai nable global growth and fostering a commitment to 
resist protectionism. 
48. But clearly there is no room for complacency.  There remain countries where there are 
persistently high unemployment levels and sluggish growth.  And, as the Report rightly notes, there 
are still continuing instances where trade r estrictive measures are being put in place. 
49. In these circumstances we should maintain our  collective resistance to protectionism. But 
even more importantly, we need to strengthen and expand global markets.  G20 Leaders have rightly 
recognised the contribution that further liberalisation of trade can make to protecting against the 
effects of economic downturn, including through bols tering employment.  They have made clear that 
it is time in 2011 to enter the end game and conclude  the Doha Round.  It is encouraging that WTO 
Members are intensifying their engagement in all areas of the negotiations to try to get us to this goal 
– we must do all we can to get there and we have little time left to do it.  
50. Finally I want to say a few words on RTAs.  The Report notes the number of RTAs continues 
to rise rapidly as you re-affirmed in your remarks this  morning, particularly in East Asia.  In this 
context Australia has been a strong supporter of the transparency mechan ism on RTAs which is 
working well in providing us valuable inform ation about individual RTAs and should be made 
permanent. But it is also more than time that th e WTO Members looked more systematically at the 
RTA phenomenon and analysed its impact on the multilateral trading system.  
51. Many of us suggested this when we discussed the last Annual Report in January this year.  
Since then Australia, with 10 other co-sponsors, has been working to get agreement to a program of WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 7 
 
 
more systematic analytical work on RTAs.  We ha ve consulted widely, take n account of questions and 
concerns and as a result there is  widespread support for our proposal.  We are hopeful that those few 
Members who are yet to indicate support will work clo sely with us to get agreement and to allow this 
important work to proceed in 2011.  We also, of c ourse, welcome the focus the Secretariat is giving to 
RTAs in next year’s World Trade Report. 
JAPAN 
52. Japan welcomes the Director-Gener al's leadership and the dedicat ed work carried out by the 
Secretariat in this international trading environmen t monitoring exercise.  Thanks to such guidance, 
WTO Members have jointly resisted protectionist pr essures.  We have exercised restraint in imposing 
new trade restrictions;  some Members have introdu ced new measures to facilitate trade, while others 
have made changes to their domestic regim es in order to promote foreign investment. 
53. Despite this positive trend, we must remain vig ilant.  As the Director-General pointed out in 
his report, the international economic climate re mains uncertain and the steady accumulation of 
restrictive measures continues.  Current account im balances have become one of the most important 
issues for the G-20. 
54. We have also noted an increase in notifications  concerning restrictions on exports of products 
such as sugar, metals, flour and edible oil.  Japan would like to point out that such restrictions are 
inconsistent with the commitments made at the G-20 summit and therefore requests that the 
WTO analyse the trade effects of these measures, as in the case of government support measures. 
55. In conclusion, we must remain vigilant.  Japan  supports maintaining th e frequency of reports 
in 2011 and undertakes to cooperate actively with the Director-General and the Secretariat in future 
monitoring exercises. 
56. Japan also supports the Director-G eneral in his trade financing initiative.  This initiative and 
the DG's dedication have allowed for the creati on of TFLPs, which has helped to improve trade 
financing markets.  However, while liquidity pr oblems have disappeared, a counterparty risk has 
emerged.  Traders in low-income countries have been  sidelined and we hope that the Director-General 
will continue to show leadership in this area in collaboration with re gional development banks. 
57. Before I finish, I would like to enquire about th e Special Session on the effects of government 
economic support, scheduled for spring 2011, which will provide another impor tant opportunity to 
examine the removal of temporary measures.  Since it has been suggested that the 25th anniversary of 
the Trade Policy Review mechanism be organized at  the same time, Japan would like to know more 
details about the preparations for this Special Session. 
MEXICO 
 
58. We agree with other delegations on the importance of this periodic report.  It has become a 
vital WTO instrument for enhanc ing transparency and helps to ensure resistance against the 
protectionist temptations that unfortunately continue to pose a threat. 
59. It is just over a year since the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  On that occasion, the 
growing complexities of the global economy which follo wed on from the financial crisis were already 
giving rise to questions about whether the multilateral trading system would be able to resist such 
circumstances and continue performing a vital func tion in world economic growth.  Protectionism, the 
need to enhance transparency, and regionalism were identified as three of the main challenges facing 
the system. WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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60. Today, after having witnessed what was, in 2009, the worst year for world trade since the 
depression of the 1930s, we can only celebrate the fact that the Director-General's annual report 
forecasts world trade volume growth of 13.5 per cent for 2010. 
61. The multilateral trading system has therefore s hown extraordinary resistance to one of the 
worst global crises of modern times, together with great powers of recovery.  The report confirms that 
governments continued to resist protectionist pressur es in 2010, and yet, as other delegations before 
me have pointed out, new restrictive measures impl emented in 2010 cover 0.2 percentage points more 
of world imports than those implemented in 2009, which is a matter of some concern. 
62. It is, however, encouraging to see that despite the crisis a relatively large number of Members 
have taken trade liberalization or facilitation measures.  Such is th e case in Mexico, where the average 
applied tariff for industrial goods was reduced from 10.6 per cent in December 2008 to 8.3 per cent in 
2009 and to 5.3 per cent on 1 January 2010.  In terms of the World Economic Forum's market access 
sub-index, this measure has enabled Mexico to rise from 74
th place in 2008 to 22nd place in 2010. 
63. As noted in both the report under discussion toda y and the Director-General's report to the 
G-20 at the Leaders' meeting in Seoul, Mexico h as implemented a number of other trade facilitation 
measures in addition to its progressive tariff reduc tion programme.  Tariff re duction is in fact only 
one aspect of the trade facilitation programme esta blished by the Mexican Government;  the other 
areas of the programme focus on simplifying customs and administrative procedures and strengthening the Foreign Trade Commission. 
64. With regard to customs matters, 2010 has seen  considerable improvements in Mexico and 
progress has been made in respect of the project to implement a single foreign trade window.  As 
regards deregulation, Mexico has launched the "R egulación Base Cero" programme, which seeks not 
only to eliminate procedures and simplify and sta ndardize regulations in government administration, 
but to harmonize Mexican and official standards with international standards.  The effect of all this 
will be to eliminate unnecessary spending when comply ing with procedures and regulations, which is 
something that will benefit business ope rators, investors and consumers. 
65. At the last meeting of the Council for Trad e in Goods, my delegation provided detailed 
information on the aforementioned programme, launc hed by President Calderón in August 2010.  
Today I will limit myself to highlighting the main foreign trade affecting actions provided for under 
the programme, namely the simplification and reduction of export and import procedures, the 
simplification of procedures for receiving and regist ering foreign investment, the ensuring of Mexican 
technical regulations' equivalence with the technical regulations of several of our trading partners, and 
the simplification and automation of sanitary im port permits and procedures for issuing plant and 
animal health certificates. 
66. All these actions undertaken by Mexico, which we  understand cannot be reflected fully in the 
report, provide irrefutable proof of the Mexican Government's commitment to keeping markets open - 
a commitment that has been expressed at the highest le vel.  Such actions also reflect the belief that 
open markets complemented by appropriate regulat ory policies can contribute to growth and job 
creation. 
67. For this reason, despite welcoming the positive evaluation made in the Director-General's 
report as regards the WTO system's strength in resisting protectionism, we are concerned to see that some Members have imposed new trade-restricting measures in 2010, in the form of either trade 
investigations or remedies, tariff increases, non-tari ff measures or export restrictions.  Such measures 
affect a relatively wide range of pro ducts, as shown in Table 3 of the report. 
68. As far as export restrictions are concerned, I agree with delegations such as the European 
Union and Switzerland, in that these restrictions, esp ecially when applied to raw materials, minerals WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 9 
 
 
and food products, run a high risk of becoming seri ous barriers to trade.  We agree with the 
Director-General's suggestion that special attention be given systemically to this type of measure, 
one that is unfortunately used on an ever increasing b asis, and that ways be found to ensure that such 
measures are adequately covered by the fundame ntal principles of the WTO, in particular 
non-discrimination and transparency. 
69. As indicated in the report, the accumulation of measures that restrict or distort trade and 
investment, which currently cover almost 2 per cen t of world imports, means that there is still a 
considerable potential risk of falling subject to th is type of measure.  The elimination of such 
measures, including, in particular, sector-specific sup port, is a priority.  We therefore agree with the 
report's suggestion and urge the Members concerned to remove any existing measures as soon as they 
possibly can and to present this Body with a progra mme for doing so.  We support the suggestion that 
the EU delegation has made in this respect. 
70. We take comfort in the fact that the leaders of both the G-20 and APEC, at their recent 
respective meetings in Seoul and Yokohama, rea ffirmed not only the extension of their standstill 
commitments, but their commitment to resisting all forms of protectionist measure, including export 
restrictions, and to rectifying promptly any measure  which, even if considered consistent with 
WTO provisions, has a protectionist effect. 
71. Needless to say, we, like other delegations be fore us, hope that these promises will be kept 
and welcome the political signals of support and commi tment emitted by the G-20 and APEC leaders.  
Their signals encourage us to enter the final stage of the Doha Round and to make the most of the 
crucially important window of opportunity that 2011 represents to conclude the negotiations.  As the 
Director-General has repeatedly emphasized in his role as Chairman of the Trade Negotiations 
Committee, the successful conclusion of the Doha R ound is the best possible insurance policy against 
protectionism, and as the report points out, the cha llenge now is to translate this political will 
effectively into negotiations in Geneva. 
72. It is therefore imperative that the intensive pr ogramme of negotiations agreed on at the most 
recent meeting of the TNC be ac companied as soon as possible by a horizontal process and an 
adequate dose of flexibility and responsibility on th e part of all the delegations, as only then can we 
realistically complete the ambitious and balanced pa ckage entrusted to us and be ready to carve out a 
final agreement at the Eighth Ministerial Conference in December 2011. 
73. The Director-General's report is also positive about the considerable amount of progress made 
in the area of transparency during the period unde r review.  The various committees and councils have 
made praiseworthy efforts to improve notificatio n procedures.  Together with these efforts, the 
systemic monitoring exercise that began at the onset of the crisis in 2008 has undoubtedly contributed to building up the bulwark that serves to contain protectionist pressures.  We would like to see this 
monitoring exercise continue, as has been suggested by other delegations. 
74. Lastly, with regard to regionalism, the repor t indicates that the continual rise of this 
phenomenon and its growing complexity  in terms of coverage present a significant challenge for the 
multilateral system.  We agree with the report's sugg estion that more can and must be made of the 
Transparency Mechanism for RTAs in order to im prove the notification record and explore how the 
multilateral trading system can assimilate the gains ac hieved through RTAs.  I would also like to echo 
the Australian Ambassador in saying that we hope 2011 will provide an opportunity to work more 
intensively on the basis of the tabled pr oposal to which Mexico is also party. 
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF 
75. First, my delegation would like to join other de legations in extending its sincere appreciation 
to you and the Director-General for convening this ve ry important meeting. My thanks also go to the WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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Secretariat for its hard work in preparing the recent Report. In light of the utmost importance of 2011 
for the DDA negotiations, it is an opportune time for us to reflect on the past events, and review what 
needs to be done next year. 
76. In this context, my delegation welcomes th e findings of the Report by the Secretariat 
circulated last November. We are, like other Me mbers, encouraged to see that, during 2010, world 
trade has recovered from its worst decline in many  decades and that governments have continued to 
resist protectionist pressures and to exercise restraint over the imposition of new trade restrictions. 
77. However, as stated in the same Report a nd as underlined by the Director-General this 
morning, increasing protectionist pressures are generated by global trade imbalances, stubbornly high levels of unemployment in many countries and disorderly movements in currencies. 
78. It is clear that we are still walking on thin ice, and that the need for an efficient and effective 
monitoring mechanism to counter protectionist meas ures still remains paramount. In this regard, we 
would like to join others in requesting that the mon itoring exercise of the Secretariat continue with the 
closer cooperation of all Members. 
79. Without a doubt, the standstill commitment of the G-20 Leaders and the APEC Leaders, 
followed by the subsequent unilateral standstill pled ges of individual WTO Members, have ensured 
that the world economy would not fall into tit-for-tat trade wars. 
80. In this regard, my delegation would like to em phasize that it is vital for Members concerned 
to faithfully implement their standstill commitments extended until the end of 2013, as agreed at the 
G20 Toronto Summit and their commitments to ro llback any new protectionist measures that may 
have arisen, as agreed at the G20 Seoul Summit. Fu rthermore, it would be desirable if as many WTO 
Members as possible could make the same commitments. 
81. Turning to some more specific issues, my delegation notes that the Secretariat’s Report 
mentions the model cases of some Asian countri es such as India, Indonesia, and Korea where 
significant changes to their policies were introduced  in order to allow broader presence of foreign 
suppliers in several service sectors. My delegation w ould like to encourage the Secretariat to continue 
to include this kind of posi tive developments as "best practices" in future reports. 
82. On the other hand, compared with previous Reports, the recent report does not seem to offer 
more coverage and depth on the issue of implemen tation of the SPS and TBT notification obligations. 
My delegation would like to encourage the Secretariat to put more efforts in this regard for the next 
Reports. 
83. I would like to close my intervention today by  reminding Members that the Leaders at the 
Seoul and Yokohama Summits last month sent us a strong message to accelerate the DDA 
negotiations. This message is conc rete and sets a high level of ambition as it includes the time-frame 
of 2011 as a critical window of opportunity and calls for engaging in across-the-board negotiations to 
complete the end-game. As indicated in the Report, th e challenge now is to translate this political will 
into negotiations in Geneva.  We are committed to re-doubling our effort s to conclude the DDA 
negotiations by the end of next year for we are one of those who subscribe to the view that the DDA is 
the best global economic stimulus th at we can offer to our economies. 
UNITED STATES 
84. The United States would like to thank the Secretar iat for its continuing efforts to monitor the 
trade-related implications of individual economies’  responses to the economic crisis.  The value of 
this work remains clear.     WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 11 
 
 
85. Domestically, the U.S. recovery  from the recession is underway.  U.S. GDP has grown the 
last five  quarters at an annual rate of 2.9%.   Employment, though not as strong as we would like, is up nearly 951,000 between December 2009 and November 2010 (with private employment up by 1.2 million). U.S. exports of goods and services are up 16% over the last five quarters while imports 
of goods and services are up 22%. 
86. In terms of the Director-General’s Report,  we note its encouraging conclusion that 
governments "have continued this year to resist pr otectionist pressures and exercise restraint over the 
imposition of new trade measures".   We note, al so the "encouraging increase" in trade facilitating 
measures.    
87. This said, we agree that vigilance remains n ecessary.  In this regard, and for the monitoring 
process to be most effective, we would again lik e to encourage those Members and Observers who 
have unverified measures listed in  the Annexes of the Directo r-General’s Report to provide 
information via the next round of monitoring and reporting.    
88. The United States continues to be actively interest ed in work with our trading partners to use 
the relevant committees, working pa rties and councils to address some of the concerns highlighted in 
the reports to date.  We note that a number of issu es were raised in the re cent meeting of the Council 
on Trade in Goods.  This day-to-day work is fundamental to our efforts to contain protectionism. 
SINGAPORE 
89. The Annual Report presents both good news as well as mixed results; but for Singapore, the 
recommendations are clear:  more so than ever, heightened vigilance against trade-restrictive 
measures is necessary, and we all still have to keep  our eyes on the ball, especially through effective 
surveillance. 
90. In terms of the good news, the multilateral trad ing system seems to have emerged from the 
depths of the economic and financ ial crisis without major resort to protectionism and other trade-
restrictive measures; and in so me cases, it has also benefited from significant trade facilitative 
measures.  World trade has made a mixed recove ry across different regions.  Singapore, however, 
takes special note of the forecast that developi ng countries will continue to experience a stronger 
rebound, and that these developing countries have so far been the main drivers of our recovery.  It 
should not be lost that in the last Annual Report in 2009, it was noted that very few developing countries had, at that time "reacted to the crisis with  trade restrictions".  The links between open trade, 
recovery and future growth are clear. 
91. We would argue, however, that only half our battle  has been won.  Much more remains to be 
done, and many of us may still have to bite the bullet  in the fight against resort to trade-restrictive 
measures.  In this regard, we note with dismay th at according to the Report,  only 15% of the trade 
measures introduced since the crisis have been rem oved so far.  The surest sign of a full recovery 
must be the repeal of all trade-restrictive measure s instituted during the crisis.  Until then, the legacy 
of the crisis will always remain with us thro ugh an un-ending accumulati on of trade-restrictive 
measures. 
92. We are also not out of the woods as it relates to protectionist pressures that may linger and 
even become more acute.  Unempl oyment has been forecast to remain high in many economies, and 
macroeconomic as well as trade imbalances will pers ist.  In addressing these problems, Singapore 
calls on all WTO Members to resist resort to s hort-term trade-restrictive measures through necessary 
leadership and vision. 
93. The Report’s section on specific Trade and Trade- Related Policy Developments also provides 
a mixed picture.  For one, we certainly agree with the DG’s comments as they relate to export WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 12  
 
restrictions, particularly on food and raw material s. For countervailing duty investigations, we did 
unfortunately see an increase in investigations from 2008 to 2009.  Nonetheless, we are heartened that 
overall, there has been a marked d ecrease in 2010. In terms of trade remedies, we have the good news 
that the multilateral trading system witnessed fe wer initiations of anti-dumping measures in 2009 as 
compared to 2008.   Unfortunately, however the Repor t also notes a contrary trend in 2010 on the part 
of a few Members, who have increased their in itiation of anti-dumping inv estigations and whose 
recourse to anti-dumping measures has been frequent .  Singapore urges these Members to be mindful 
of the negative effects such actions have on global trade, and, encourages them  to keep in line with 
Members’ overall efforts by exercising maximum re straint against the use of such measures. 
94. Before I conclude, and as we look forward to the next Annual Report, it would be remiss if 
we did not draw attention to what could pote ntially be the most major development in the 
international trading environment in 2011.   The time for waiting for political signals in concluding 
the DDA has passed, and the time for creative phraseologi es has also passed.  The simple fact is that 
we must enter 2011 in full negotiating mode aimed at concluding the Round as soon as possible.  All 
those who need to, should therefore be expected to  show the necessary leadership going forward.  
Perhaps then, we can look forward to examining the trade facilitative effects of concluding the Round 
in future Annual Reports. 
95. To conclude, the Director-General and his te am have once again produced a laudable report. 
Nonetheless, as we have stressed on previous occasions , in the longer term, the value of this Report 
will continue to be contingent on the degree of support that we as Me mbers provide to the Secretariat 
in providing information on measures, and where ne cessary, in verifying these measures.  Singapore 
will continue to do so, and calls on all other Memb ers to do likewise.  We look forward to future 
Reports and their semi-annual iterations, and look fo rward as well to the Special Session of the TPRB 
that will be convened to examine the trade eff ects of various stimulus and bail-out packages 
implemented during the crisis. 
SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN, PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU 
96. On behalf of my delegation, I would first lik e to join previous speakers in expressing our 
great appreciation of the efforts of the Secretar iat in producing this Annual Report (WT/TPR/OV/13). 
I also want to thank the DG for his highlights of the Report. We share the view that this Report 
provides us not only with a comprehensive picture of what has been happening in the macroeconomic 
environment, but also with the trade policies and me asures adopted by Members, and their impact.  As 
Members are all aware, transparency is the primary aim of this exercise, and my delegation is therefore happy to reaffirm our continuing full suppor t in this regard.  We are looking forward to the 
event scheduled for early next spring on the examining the impact of measures on trade and 
competition.  
97. We are pleased to see the positive indicators in the Report, confirming that economic recovery 
is underway.  We are also impressed by the determin ation of most Members to resist the pressures of 
resorting to protectionism.  Nevert heless, there is always the risk that high levels of unemployment 
and fiscal deficits presently being experienced by some Members, and any new trade restrictive 
measures exercised in some sector s, may quickly lead to uncertainty and instability of the recovery.  
As the DG has rightly said on so many occasions, completion of the Doha package is the best stimulus 
package that the global economy could have. In this context, we would urge our colleagues to work 
together on our new work plan to conclude the DDA as soon as possible.  
98. My government has been one of those that have  been the subject of Trade Policy Review this 
year.  As we stated during our Review: "Our primar y trade policy objective is to continue with further 
liberalization under the multilateral trading system".  While confronting the same major challenges 
that most economies have had to face in the last  few years, we have s till managed to implement 
several important reforms and trade policies, such as acceding to the GPA, designed to further open-WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 13 
 
 
up and liberalize our trading regime. We are pleased  to see from the Report and from several of the 
interventions made today that there are like-minded Members moving in the same direction. Nevertheless, as the DG has pointed out in his Repor t earlier, the improvement of our exercise here as 
well as the world trading environment depends on active participation of the whole Membership. 
NORWAY 
99. Let me first thank the Director General and his TPR team for providing us with this 
comprehensive and very interesting Report.  Our reading of the Report leaves us conflicted as to 
whether to call the glass half full or half empty.  Clearly the glass is not empty.  In the period of the 
Report, world trade is seen to be on a recovery, and there remains an encouraging resistance overall to 
introducing protectionist measures.  Signs of an in crease in measures introduced to facilitate trade are 
warmly welcomed.  Strong signals from our political l eaders stress the essential role of open trade to 
safeguard further recovery and growth, and we ha ve renewed optimism for conclusion of the DDA. 
100. But despite of these positive signs, the glass cannot be  said to be anywhere near full.  We are 
witnessing a deeply worrying social and economic afte rmath of the financial crisis.  New restrictive 
measures are put in place, albeit at a slower rate th an in 2009.  We agree with your assessment in the 
Report that there is need for increased vigilance by WTO Members. 
101. We urge Members to resist unilateral answers to global imbalances and to continue to place 
their trust in a dialogue and in the multilateral sy stem to provide mutually acceptable and beneficial 
outcomes.  Pressures for resorting to antidumping measu res or other restrictive practices needs to be 
resisted. 
102. The DG pinpointed measures applied as response to the crisis.  We hope and trust that 2011 
will show that various introduced extraordinary and temporary support measures proved to be truly 
temporary in nature.  Continued monitoring throug h the TPRB and elsewhere performs an invaluable 
transparency function and deserves our attention, even in what we expect to be a busy year. 
103. Finally, we have identified 2011 as the window of  opportunity for concluding the DDA.  We 
hope to see that as the headline when we give "Ove rview on development in the international trading 
environment" in December 2011 will be the successful conclusion of the DDA.    
CANADA 
104. We entered 2010 with the world trading system being subject to many uncertainties. As the 
year comes to a close, we find ourselves in better circumstances. The economic crisis certainly tested 
the global trading system, but we can take comfort in  the fact that the system met that test. This 
reinforces what we all know, namely that the work  we are doing here is important and that this 
institution has a key role to play in promoting rec overy. We can continue playing this role by making 
tangible progress in the WTO Doha negotiations , and by maintaining our vigilance against 
protectionism. 
105. Canada is a strong supporter of the WTO mon itoring process and we encourage Members to 
continue showing their support by providing inform ation on their trade-rela ted measures. We found 
the content of this latest Report of the Director  General to be a comprehensive compilation of the 
measures taken over the past year and we are pleased that the record of compliance with notifications 
has improved considerably over the past two years. 
106. Overall, Canada is encouraged by the findings of  this latest Report. It shows that in 2010 new 
trade restrictive measures were imposed at a somewhat slower rate than in 2009, and that there is an increase in trade facilitating measures. In fact, almo st half of the measures reported in 2010 were trade 
facilitating, particularly through the reduction of im port tariffs or streamlining of customs procedures. WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 14  
 
A number of trade remedy actions were ended, and the initiation of trade remedy investigations has 
declined from 2009 levels for most Members. In large emerging econom ies, applied tariffs are coming 
down and the number of safeguard actions decreased in 2010. 
107. We now share the view that the global economic outlook is improving and many 
macroeconomic indicators are stabiliz ing. However, despite the positive signs, the global recovery is 
not yet assured. Canada concurs with the WTO’s asser tion that there is a danger in the incremental 
build-up of trade restrictions, and that planning an d activating exit strategies will be crucial in the 
coming months. The Annual Report stresses that gove rnments must not capitulate to protectionist 
pressures stemming from global imbalances but should ra ther continue to roll-back measures put in 
place during previous periods in order to optimize the trade and investment impacts of stimulus and 
bailout measures.  We look forward to the special session of the Trade Policy Review Body scheduled 
for spring of 2011 for further discussion of those topics. 
108. Canada continues to be heartened by the exte nt of measures taken by Members to cut "red 
tape" and facilitate trade. The list of WTO Me mbers and non-Members who have unilaterally 
introduced cuts in import duties, fees and surcha rges is impressive. Canada  took action in January 
2009 to eliminate tariffs on a range of machinery & equipment, liberalizing over 200 tariff lines.  In 
March 2010, Canada built upon this fi rst measure by eliminating all remaining tariffs on machinery & 
equipment and industrial inputs – more than 1,50 0 tariffs are being permanently eliminated. This 
historic measure will make Canada the firs t G-20 country to be tariff-free for industrial 
manufacturing. 
109. The Report also makes mention of Canada's re vised offer in the Government Procurement 
Agreement negotiations regardi ng coverage and the significant expansion of market access 
opportunities this offer will provide to other GPA pa rties. In fact, Canada has recently enhanced 
further its offer in the GPA negotiations through the addition of another territory to its list meaning 
that all 10 Canadian provinces and all three territories are now included.  
110. As well, Canada ha s conditionally removed all of the country  specific exclusions in its market 
access offer. Exclusions of this type are, in Cana da's view, counterproductive and contrary to the spirit 
of the Agreement. These additional improvements are indicative of the seriousness of Canada’s 
commitment to the goal of achieving the greatest  possible market access coverage and to the 
importance of bringing closure to the GPA negotiations. 
111. In support of Aid for Trade, Canada has rece ntly allocated an additional $40 million to a 
multilateral Aid-for-Trade initiative for 2009-2014 to increase jobs and economic opportunities 
through enhanced participation in the global econom y. This multilateral Aid for Trade funding is in 
addition to existing commitments of $19.2 million to the Enhanced Integrated Framework and a 
yearly contribution of $950,000 to the International Trade Centre. 
112. Canada remains committed to the multilateral pr ocess of the WTO and continues to seek an 
ambitious and balanced Doha Round outcome. To this end, we were pleased that at the G-20 Summit 
in Seoul and the APEC Summit in Yokohama, Leaders directed negotiators to engage in across-the-
board negotiations with the aim of bringi ng the Doha Round to a successful, ambitious, 
comprehensive and balanced conclu sion consistent with its mandate. Leaders also reaffirmed the 
extension of their standstill commitments until the end of 2013 as agreed in Toronto this summer. 
113. Officials have set out a demanding framework of  negotiations for the next several months 
with a view to completing the Doha Round by the Ministerial meeting scheduled to take place in 
Geneva in December 2011. 
114. 
Concluding the Round remains the best way to contribute to economic recovery, to reinforce 
the benefits of the multilateral trading system and to  provide further insuran ce against the threat of WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 15 
 
 
protectionism. To that end, Canada will continue to work constructively with other Members as we 
embark on the intensified work plan in January. 
115. This meeting presents a good opportunity to refl ect on the year that has gone by and to think 
about the way forward. We continue to believe th at the Director General’s Reports – by affording 
greater transparency and understanding of the trade policies and practices of Members – will 
contribute positively to our efforts to respond to th e global economic crisis. We will only see a return 
to strong, sustained global growth if we work toge ther to preserve free flowing trade and investment.  
We encourage the WTO to continue this high level of  monitoring and information sharing.  In closing, 
we made great strides in 2010 thanks to the commitm ent and adaptability of all Members. There is no 
doubt that 2011 will be a busy year and we have  hard work ahead of us on our journey.  
TURKEY 
116. First of all, we thank the Secretariat for the 2010 Report on International Trading 
Environment. It is comprehensive and very rich in  content. It provides a good account of the year, and 
serves as a reference for the future. We would also like to express our thanks to the Director General 
for his statement. 
117. My remarks will be in the three segments. Firs t one is about trade flows and protectionism.  
The Report shows that trade flows have now returned to its pre-crisis level. In general, this is true for 
Turkey, as well. While our exports level is behind its  pre crisis level with an increase of 13%, our 
imports have risen by about 35%.  
118. The Report points out three challenges: possibility of increase in protectionism, global 
imbalances, and impact of stimulus packages. We cannot agree more on identification of these issues. 
These constitute the major topics of the short term future trade agenda.  
119. In fact, despite very positive developments in  the trade arena, we are still far way from 
restoring the employment levels of 2007. This poses quite substantial risk for many economies and 
put enormous pressure on the countries to take concre te policy actions. So, the temptation to revert to 
protectionist measures still exists.  
120. It is proved that through coordinated action, we are able to avoid widespread protectionist 
measures. But, we have to continue to show the same vigilance against protectionism in the future, 
particularly given the fact the accumulative effect of the temporary measures.  The substantial fall in the number of trade remedies is quite encouraging. This shows that at least, accumulation has slowed 
down. But, we must stay alert against such risks.  
121. In this respect, we are also looking forward to the envisaged dedica ted session within the TPR 
Body to look at the impact of the stimulus packages  as well. The Secretariat has done an initial job of 
looking at impact of the stimulus packages on diffe rent sectors. We are eager to have the opportunity 
to examine such packages in a multilateral setting.  
122. This year’s Report raised our concerns about the export restrictions. Increasingly, we observe 
that such exceptional measures which are only allowed under the strict conditions by the WTO rules 
have now been applied to certain products that have significant share in the world trade. We believe 
that it is worth looking more closely at their im pact on competitiveness and trade flows. The issue 
deserves focused attention. 
123. Secondly, let me move to the segment which deals with global imbalances and value added 
component of the world trade. The issue is getting crit ical, particularly in light of the recent debate on 
exchange rate and linkage betw een the unemployment and trade. Turkey’s own figures also support 
the increasing concern about these structural problems.  WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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124. We agree with the Report’s assessment that global imbalances are merely indicators of the 
macroeconomic policies other than  trade, and trade alone cannot provide solutions. We have to 
underline this assessment. It is very difficult to  analyze global imbalances in isolation from 
developments in trade.  In this respect, we also welcome that Asian countries are looking at domestic 
factors as sources of growth. Some form of such a structural adjustment may be unavoidable at some 
point in time.  
125. We are also very pleased to read at this year’s  Report that the Secretariat is looking at the 
value added component in the world trade. We encour age the Secretariat to continue in this avenue. 
The very initial data of this approach as provided in  the Report is quite revealing. We hope that the 
Secretariat will soon share the final study with the Members. This new instru ment may become useful 
for policy making in the future. Value added methodol ogy will help to define the problem in a more 
concrete way, but we are not sure if it alone will solve the equation.  
126. The third issue is the regional trade agreement.  This year’s Report also indicates once again 
the increasing role of the regional trade agreements . The WTO database on the RTAs is a step in the 
right direction. But, we need more than a database to improve transparency in this area. We hope that 
intensified DDA work will be able to address the wa ys to strengthen transparency in the RTAs.  
127. The Report also provides evidence of importance of certain Doha negotiating areas. The 
Report notes that the TPRB meetings of African countries in 2010 point strongly towards the significance and interest for trade facilitation fro m these countries. This area, it seems, is a major 
component of the development aspect of the DDA. 
MALAYSIA 
128. We welcome the timeliness of this Report which is being presented on a backdrop of a 
recovering global economy where the IMF has forecast ed the world output growth to remain positive 
throughout 2010, with a 4.8% increase in world GDP .  This augurs well for global trade and as we 
have heard from the Director General earlier, the WTO forecasted a 13.5% growth for world 
merchandise trade in 2010 in volume terms remains unchanged. 
129. Considering that we are still in the midst of  a recovery path, the projection of a positive 
outlook is heartening.  We welcome and are encour aged to note that Governments have strived to 
resist protectionist measures and exercised restrain t over imposition of new trade restrictions thorough 
out 2010.  This collective responsibility demons trated by Governments of not resorting to 
protectionism will eventually pave the wa y towards a sustained economic recovery. 
130. We note from the Report that a number of developing countries have continued to 
demonstrate a downward trend in applied MFN rates.  This is indeed a very positive development and 
for many developing countries, including Malaysia , the crisis has provided a catalyst for further 
liberalisation, which is increasingly aimed at removing barriers to trade. 
131. On the other hand, we are concerned that new restrictive measures introduced during the 
review period had increased compared to the prev ious period.  We hope that these measures are 
temporary in nature and we urge Governments to be vigilant and to demonstrate responsibility and 
commitment in this continuing such negative trends  which will not be well for global trade, and will 
in fact slow down economic recovery. 
132. As a trading nation, Malaysia welcomes initia tives by Members to introduce measures that 
facilitate trade.  For Malaysia, th e Government has continued in its efforts to enhance and strengthen 
Malaysia as an attractive place to do business and invest .  It is in this light that the liberalisation 
measures have been formulated and advocated.  We  believe that a facilitative business and regulatory WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 17 
 
 
environment would help steer the nation out of the crisis and place the country on a sustainable trajectory of higher growth. 
133. Malaysia would like to emphasize the importance of this monitoring exercise to ensure that 
we are continuously kept abreast on the trade and economic policies of Members and also in assessing 
and keeping protectionist tendencies at bay.  Ma laysia believes that the new impetus and renewed 
commitment to conclude the Doha Round in 2011 as announced by Leaders recently would provide 
the necessary drive to address the restrictiv e measures that may still be in place. 
134. We encourage this transparency exercise to be  continued and that Members continue to work 
with the Secretariat in providing the necessary updat es and verification of information to ensure this 
exercise is indeed meaningful and beneficial to all Members.    
CHINA 
135. On behalf of the Chinese Delegation, I would li ke to express appreciations to the Director-
General and the Secretariat for the Annual Overview  Report of Developments in the International 
Trading Environment.  
136. For most people of the outside world, the WTO is mainly known for the Doha Round. This is 
understandable, given much of our energy has been devoted to the Round over the past nine years. No 
wonder there is somewhat a waning of confidence in the multilateral trading system as people are 
puzzled why the Round is still not finished after such  a long time. In this respect, it is encouraging 
that Leaders at the G20 and the APEC Summits sent strong signals of political resolve to conclude the 
DDA and that Members have been responding to the L eaders’ political will by making concrete plans 
in order to grab the narrow window of opportunity in 2011. 
137. That being said, people in this house are fully aware that the WTO actually is more than the 
Doha Round. Our routine work, by way of notifi cations, regular committee meetings and dispute 
settlement, has contributed significantly to the tran sparency and predictab ility of the rule-based 
multilateral trading system and thus the smooth fl ow of goods and services around the world. It is 
particularly worth noting that since the outbreak of the financial crisis, the trade monitoring exercise 
by the Trade Policy Review Body has played a vita l role in staving off protectionism and helping 
prevent the crisis from getting aggravated. China is  glad to learn from the Overview Report that 
Governments have continued to resist protecti onist pressures and world trade will grow 13.5% 
in 2010. 
138. But as the Report has noted, there is need for increased vigilance to three potential dangers 
which to me also justify the need to keep monito ring global trade and trade-related measures. The first 
is the increase in protectionist pressures genera ted by global imbalances and high levels of 
unemployment. The second is the accumulation effect of trade restricting measures. The third is 
related to the impacts of stimulus and bailout measure s in response to the financial crisis. To alleviate 
the accumulation concerns, Governments have been en couraged to remove new trade restrictions as 
soon as possible. As to the impacts of stimulus p ackages, we will have another opportunity to engage 
in more detailed discussions. So here I would li ke to limit myself to some comments on the global 
economic situation a nd trade imbalances. 
139. The Overview Report refers to the projected in creases of 4.8% and 4.2% in world GDP for 
2010 and 2011 respectively. Although the fears of a “double dip recession” could be soothed, the 
recovery of the world economy is still unstable. On top of concerns over job creation, the debates on 
global imbalances and exchange rate policies have picked up heat recently. China fully agrees with 
the Report that the causes of trade imbalances are m acroeconomic in nature, thereby they should be 
redressed first and foremost through macroeconomi c policies and not through trade measures alone. 
Furthermore, it is worth stressing that adjustment of economic structures does not take place over WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 18  
 
night and adjustment should be made by surplu s countries and deficit countries alike. China is 
opposed to imposition of trade restri ctions, in particular the abuse of trade remedies, in pursuit of 
reduction of trade deficit. 
140. In addition, the big imbalances currently r ecorded between certain countries are largely 
accounted for by the trade statistical method. As the Report has rightly pointed out, trade is calculated 
universally in gross terms. That is to say, the full  value of an imported product is attributed to the 
export country, even if it contributes only a small por tion of the added value of the product. This does 
not reflect the real picture of the international division of labor. Instead, it has increasingly given rise to misleading signals to trade policymakers. The ex ample given in the Report is most illustrative. The 
iPad was reported as adding US$287 to the U.S.-Chi na trade deficit for each item shipped, when in 
fact only 12 dollars’ value is a dded to each unit assembled in China. The Report also shows that 
recalculating the bilateral trade balance between the US and China using value-added data results in a 
reduction of the deficit by more than 40%. Ch ina commends the WTO Secretariat for taking the 
initiative to explore ways that may better evaluate  global trade. China is ready to make positive 
contributions to this process and hopes that a more  scientific trade statistical system could be 
established on the basis of equitability,  impartiality, fairness and justness. 
141. Last but not least, I am instructed by my Capital to register a reservation and concern 
regarding the Overview Report as contained in document WT/TPR/OV/13.  
142. I need not repeat the significance and weight this Report bears and the importance my 
Government attaches to the monitoring exercise. Duri ng the crisis, there have been various monitoring 
reports by different institutions. What has distingui shed the WTO’s trade monitoring is primarily the 
assurance of its accuracy through the process of  notifications and verifications. However, my 
Delegation found with disappointment that the recent Report has mistaken "the initiation by China of a countervailing duty investigati on on imports of wireless wide -area networking modems" in 
paragraph 43 on page 19, a measure that  is supposed to be one of the most trade restricting. As far as 
the said product is concerned, China is, on the contrary, a victim of not only anti-dumping and 
countervailing but also safeguard investigations by a major WTO Member. These measures can be 
found on page 78 and 80 in the Annex part of the Re port. Given the international influence of this 
Report and the adverse impact already made, China re quests the Secretariat to do what is necessary to 
repair the damage, including by making a headlin e announcement on the WTO public website to this 
effect. China hopes this kind of mistake could be avoi ded in the future for the benefit of the credibility 
of this monitoring exercise. China will keep play ing a constructive role in the future monitoring 
process.  
143. Now briefly in response to the EU’s statement,  the Delegation of China did not receive the 
DG’s request for providing notifications. That answers the EU’s question as far as China is concerned. 
But we did provide verifications after we receive d the relevant information from the Secretariat. 
HONG KONG, CHINA 
144. We note from the Report that whilst governments have continued to resist protectionist 
pressures and exercise restraint over the imposition of new trade restrictions, the percentage of world 
imports covered by these new restrictive measures did not decrease, but increase by 0.2%, as 
compared with that in the previous 12-month period.   In this light, we would like to join the urge 
calling all the Members to remain vigilant and exercise restraint.   
145. The Report also highlighted the challenge of managing the trade and i nvestment impacts of 
stimulus and bail-out measures taken in response to the economic crisis.  We are pleased to note that 
this Body will convene a Special Session in early sp ring next year to examine the effects of these 
measures.  We thank the Chair for gauging consensu s among Members on this issue.  We trust that WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
Page 19 
 
 
the meeting will help facilitate sharing of e xperience, and promote further understanding among 
Members on this important subject. 
146. On RTAs, the Transparency Mechanism continu es to demonstrate its strength in furthering 
Members’ understanding of the growing number of RT As.  We see an imminent need to make the 
provisional Transparency Mechanism permanent.  We however also think that more focused work is 
needed for us to reflect on how RTAs could conve rge towards the multilateral trading framework and 
become truly «building blocks» of the system.  In this regard, HKC fully supports the proposal from 
Australia on examination of cross-cutting issues of RTAs.  We believe that such constructive study 
would enable us to leverage on RTAs to promote further liberalization on the multilateral front.   
147. We are pleased to note from the Report that th e number of trade facilitating measures taken in 
2010 has been increasing.  However, Members are still concerned about the restrictive impact on their 
exports brought by unnecessarily cumbersome customs procedures and bureaucratic delays in some of 
their trading partners.  Being an export-oriented economy, HKC shares the same concern.  We have 
been advocating reduction and limitation of forma lities and documentation requirements in the Trade 
Facilitation negotiations.  We will continue to work with Members on this front.   
148. We cannot agree more with the statements made  by many others that a speedy conclusion of 
the Doha Round negotiation is the best policy to st imulate economic recovery, and the best insurance 
policy against protectionist pressure.  HKC is ready to work strenuously with Members, in accordance 
with the agreed work plan for the coming months, to  grasp the narrow window of opportunity in 2011 
for a successful conclusion of the Round. 
149. Finally we thank the Director General’s inform ation that we would expect two monitoring 
Reports on trade and trade-related measures to come in  2011.  The success of this monitoring exercise 
depends on active participation by all Members.  We believe that this mechanism has contributed 
considerably to improved transparency and better ri sk management in the multilateral trading system.  
HKC has been, and will continue givi ng full support to the exercise.   
CHILE 
150. We have been successful in containing protectionist pressures.  Part of this success is 
undoubtedly based on the broad consensus that exists  in the WTO on the negative effects that would 
be caused by yielding to such pressures.  The pr esent exercise has also helped in this respect. 
151. We would like to highlight Section VII of  the report which focuses on transparency and 
notifications, as we appreciate the consistency of the work taking place in the thematic committees 
and the exercise we are conducting today.  We we lcome the improvement in notifications and the 
work that has been carried out in the various committees to improve the timeliness and quality of 
notifications.  Continuing this beneficial work is one of the challenges we will have to face in 2011. 
152. Chile has been fairly active in respect of regi onal trade agreements and we believe that such 
agreements should contribute to the multilateral openi ng up of trade.  For this reason, we have been 
active users of the transparency me chanism.  We are also co-sponsors of the proposal mentioned by 
Australia and stand ready to continue working with the rest of the Membership on the basis of that 
proposal in order to improve the understanding  and scope of regional trade agreements. 
153. We share the Secretariat's views on the potential dangers that continue to exist in the trade 
environment.  We must remain vigilant of protec tionist pressures.  Countries must also work towards 
removing the protectionist measures that are alrea dy in place.  In this respect, we welcome the 
information provided by the European Union on its plans to remove existing measures. WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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154. Our delegation will continue working to ensure the prompt conclusion of the Doha Round, as 
we are firmly convinced that it will provide an insu rance policy against protectionist pressures.  Next 
year we will also continue to participate actively in  the present exercise, one which we consider to be 
an extremely important part of the WTO's work. 
BRAZIL 
155. It is with great satisfaction that we gather ag ain for this Annual Overview of Developments in 
the International Trading Environment. We wish to thank the DG’s comprehensive and informative 
report that provides a wealth of in formation and analysis to guide th is morning’s debate. This Report 
is quite timely, given the recent consensus in this  house to intensify work for the conclusion of the 
DDA. It provides the background against which our  technical and political endeavors must be 
assessed. 
156. In reviewing current conditions, it is evident that, although considerably improved in relation 
to 2009 and 2008, the current international scenario is not devoid of difficulties and disturbances that 
cast a long shadow ahead of us. We continue to vi ew the DDA as the least distortive and the most 
sustainable contribution to the global economic recovery. 
157. We are glad to see that data presented in th e DG’s Report support the notion that we are 
experiencing a sound recovery of world trade with significant increases in flows worldwide. Developed countries have reached a year-on-year growth in expor ts of 11.5% while developing 
countries have displayed a robust growth of 16.5%. We also noted the important distinction made by 
the Report that the rebound of trade flows has been strongest among Asian developing countries. Likewise, world GDP growth has been robust (4.8%), although unevenly distributed among 
developed (2.2%) and developing countries (6.4%). 
158. A major source of concern is the fact that this recent economic recovery did not have a 
significant impact on job creation, particularly in de veloped countries. This has clearly affected the 
way some of the developed countries have been approaching trade negotiations. We must avoid, 
however, simplistic evaluations that disregard the complexities and linkages that dictate terms of 
trade, job creation, and economic growth. 
159. The tone of the Secretariat Report is appropria tely sober when observing that Members have 
displayed resilience in resisting protectionist pressu res and have shown a measure of restraint in the 
imposition of new measures. Nevertheless, some slippa ge has been taking place and, compared to the 
previous period (2008-2009), a slightly larger shar e of world trade (1.2%) is now covered by such 
measures. 
160. It is to be noted that the sectors affected the most are the "usual suspects". They are: 
agriculture, base metals and products, machinery and mechanical appliances and transport equipment. 
Not surprisingly, these are the sectors subject to the hi ghest levels of tariff protection in the countries 
applying the measures. 
161. We are heartened, nevertheless, by the fact that the much needed political signals for a 
meaningful reengagement in the Doha Round negot iations have finally come from the G-20 Summit 
in Seoul and also from other relevant high leve l political fora. Now, as the Report points out, our 
challenge is to translate those expressions of interest  into concrete action in Geneva.  The only way to 
achieve this is to enter a process where, to furthe r raise the level of ambition, those who ask for more, 
give more, especially in areas of interest to developing countries.  
162. Allow me now to focus on certain perceptions concerning the role that developing countries 
have played or should play in the economic recove ry process - domestically, regionally or globally.  
Headlines that portray developing countries as th e engines of the global economic recovery may WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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prompt hasty and ill-considered conclusions. First a nd foremost is the notion that it is up to the 
developing countries to lead or to shoulder a large share of the efforts to bring the world economy to 
pre-crisis dynamism. This clearly puts the cart before the horses. 
163. Data in the report plainly indicates that this  view based on carefully selected aggregated 
averages does not tell the entire story. In fact, one of the main characteristics of the recovery is that it 
is uneven among countries, regions and sectors. Not all developing countries have performed as well 
and likewise, if we exclude the automotive sector , the average exporting performance of developed 
countries would be much closer to that of developing countries. 
164. Some developing countries emerged from the crisis in better shape than developed 
economies. This is not because they are powerhouses that fixed all their social and developmental 
deficits overnight. They survived the crisis beca use they were better prepared, because they put in 
place conservative policies and regulations that sacrificed  faster growth in previous years. It would be 
disingenuous to now ask that, on top of those costly  policies, developing countries now also pay the 
costs of the excesses allowed by lax policies in the developed world. Furtherm ore, not all developing 
economies are today surplus economies in terms of tr ade, neither circumstantially nor structurally. 
165. In general, developing economies do not print hard currencies or currencies that are a 
reference for world trade. Therefore, for developi ng countries, currency reserves are a critical and 
crucial element of macroeconomic policies. Trade, consequently, also plays a key part of economic 
policy. This is not only about jobs, this is about the very sustainability of social development and 
stability. Let me illustrate this with some information regarding Brazil. 
166. Accumulation of trade surpluses in the past has been a strong and central pillar of our 
economic stability over the years. Solid foreign cu rrency reserves were the only way to survive the 
repeated attacks on our currency since the late 90’s.  This is one of the reasons why Brazil has been 
placed second in the ranking of developing countri es more resilient to recession in accordance with 
the HSBC policy flexibility index. It is no coincidence that the HSBC index attributes a weight of 30% to the ratio between imports  and international reserves. 
167. As we are often reminded, we now live differe nt times and different circumstances. Before 
the crisis in 2006, Brazil’s overall trade surplus r eached US$46.5 billion. Since then, our currency has 
been steadily appreciating by virtue of a combina tion of monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate policies 
adopted not only in Brazil but in foreign countries as well. As a direct consequence of this, our overall 
trade surplus has declined to US$14.5 billion in first ten months of 2010. This will surely be a decline 
of more than 60% for the whole year. 
168. Disaggregated data provide even more illustra tive information. As we all know, Brazil is one 
of the world's top exporter of commodities, both in volume and in level of competitiveness. Commodity prices are at record high levels and, as a result, our agricultural surplus has expanded 
markedly since 2006. It grew from US$32 billion to US$50 billion in the first ten months of 2010 alone. However, the scenario in non-agricultural goods  is strikingly different. Our trade surplus in 
those goods plunged from a surplus of US$14.5 billion in 2006 to a deficit of US$35.3 billion, a 
staggering change of almost US$50 billion in just four years. 
169. Let's take a look, for example, at the trade situ ation with one of our main partners, the United 
States. Brazil's agricultural surplu s with the U.S. has varied little  from 2006 to 2010, staying around 
US$2.6 to 2.7 billion, a clear indication that we are not making any strides in improving access to that particular market. This is to be remarked given the fact that our exports in agricultural goods are 
expanding everywhere else. On the other hand, our non-agricultural exports declined by 40% in the 
same period. Imports from the U.S., however, increased  by 51%.  As a result, in our non-agricultural 
bilateral trade, Brazil has moved from a surplus of  US$7 billion, to a deficit of US$9 billion in the 
first ten months of 2010 alone. This is remarkable  for Brazil is now one of the world's largest WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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contributors to the reduction of the U.S. defic it. We are therefore puzzled when additional 
contributions are required from us. 
170. This poorer performance is, in no small part, due  to economic policies abroad that have a 
direct impact on the exchange rate of the Real . The conditions we approach the Doha Round end-
game are significantly different from those prevailing when key trade-offs were made. It is no figure 
of speech when I say that currency appreciation of the last few years has effectively and completely 
wiped out the protection afforded by our tariffs at  the time those trade-offs were made. To request 
further unilateral disarmament in tariffs  is unreasonable, illogical, and unrealistic. 
URUGUAY 
171. Uruguay is glad that despite the severity of th e global financial crisis and its widespread 
impact on economies around the world, most countries have by and large resisted resorting to trade 
barriers.  This said, some worrying examples of restrictions have been adopted in 2010.  On the 
whole, we feel that the multilateral trade rules estab lished over the past 60 years continue to provide a 
strong defence against the introduction of restrictions and we must ensure that they are implemented.  
For this reason we feel that the monitoring, since 2009, of the trade policies adopted by Members in 
response to the economic and financia l crisis has helped significantly to prevent widespread resort to 
protectionist measures in trade. 
172. Given the current economic climate and the ri sks that lie ahead, governments should remain 
vigilant to preserve the level of trade openness a nd act to remove the most restrictive measures 
introduced in the past.  In this sense, the WTO has shown itself to be  an effective and attentive forum 
and we welcome the efforts made by the Directo r-General and the Secretariat in this regard. 
173. Uruguay feels it is important that all governments continue to participate actively in the trade 
monitoring exercise, which is of general systemic value to the credibility of the multilateral trading 
system. 
174. Lastly, I call upon all Members to assume their r esponsibilities so as to ensure that next year 
we will be able to conclude a Development Round true to its name , one we can feel proud of having 
brought to a successful conclusion. 
FINAL REMARKS BY THE DIRECTOR GENERAL 
175. I would like to thank the delegations that have  taken the floor, for the comments which on the 
whole are positive and also for their encouragem ent.  These are very important signs for the 
Secretariat that has given so much in terms of producing this collective check up that you now 
become accustomed to receive.   
176. I would like to make four short comments on the s ubstance.  First of all, I note with great 
satisfaction the announcement made by the European Union on the decision taken in Brussels to end 
the provisional measures on state aid put in place during the crisis.  If I understood correctly it was a parenthesis that now it has been closed. It was opene d as a result of the crisis and its closing can be 
only good news as far as I am concerned. 
177. Secondly, I have noted from the statement of th e Chinese delegation of the interest that China 
has on the value-added concept for measuring internati onal trade.  That is a very important signal to 
us as well.  This is an issue that  has been discussed for some time now, and we have got a very clear 
and welcome response now, and we could apply that same reasoning to the figures given by 
Ambassador Roberto Azevêdo of the evolution of Br azil’s external trade particularly with developed 
countries. WT/TPR/OV/M/8 
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178. Third comment, the Chinese delegation noted an erro r in paragraph 43.  It is indeed an error 
which will be corrected since we were dealing with  a measure adopted by the European Union with 
respect to China and not a Chinese measure taken vis-à-vis  the European Union, so the error will be 
rectified. 
179. The last comment is with respect to the quality of this transparency exercise.  We know for 
quite a while in the WTO that transparency is a very effective governance tool. I believe that the 
monitoring that we have had in place since 2008 confirms the truth of that.  It has been understood that the effectiveness of this transparency tool is  a direct function of the quality of the information 
system we use, and the information system we use is in your hands.  The Secr etariat has made efforts 
in order to better use, analyze and summarize the in formation in the notifications made by Members.  
In the Secretariat we are in the midst of a collec tive effort to modernize our data processing systems, 
and we will continue to do so, but we do not create the information.  You create the information, you 
have the information and no matte r what debate we may have among ourselves with respect to 
counter notifications, we know that counter notificati on is only a second best in terms of information.  
To summarize, the quality of this transparency lies with you, it is a collective wealth that you can 
continue to increase, each bit of information that  you individually put into the system improves the 
overall system. This is the best example of a win-win system and I must encourage you to continue that.  I know that it is not in your habits for delega tes in Geneva to go to y our capitals and bother them 
again and again saying we want more information, and we know that capitals are what make careers. 
But the result of what has been done is there.  And I think the effort is worth the result.  
CONCLUDING REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON 
180. Before closing the meeting, I would like to give you some information.  Firstly the TPRB 
conducted 19 reviews in 2010, including 6 LD Cs, and another 19 are programmed for 2011.  
I sincerely hope that all delegations will put the sa me interest, and devote the same efforts and energy 
to make the 2011 reviews no less successful than this year. 
181. Secondly on monitoring reports, next year, the TP RB will also consider two trade monitoring 
reports by the Director-General.  The first one is planned for June and the second for November.  The 
Director-General will of course present additional re ports if the global situation makes it necessary. 
182. Thirdly, regarding the Symposium on the «Financial and Economic Crisis and the role of the 
WTO» to be held next year as a Special Session of the TPRB, I would like to report to you that I have been consulting with delegations on the basis of the communication of the General Council Chair, and 
have found widespread support for holding this even t in early Spring 2011.  This will have to be 
coordinated with the intensive work of the TNC on the DDA negotiations.  The exact date and agenda 
of the Symposium will be communicated to you in early 2011. 
183. This concludes the meeting of the TPRB.  Let me  thank all for your active participation in the 
debate, and the Director-General for his valuable  contribution.  I would also like to thank the 
interpreters for their usual excellent work.   
 
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