WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
20 April 2009 
 
 (09-1860) 
Trade Policy Review Body  
  
REPORT TO THE TPRB FROM THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL  
ON THE FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS AND  
TRADE-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS
1 
 
 1. Since the last report to the Trade Policy Review Body
2, the economic situation has continued 
to worsen for all WTO Members.  The volume of worl d trade is projected now to contract sharply in 
2009 by as much as -9 per cent, driven lower by th e collapse in global demand and by shortages of 
trade finance that have created supply-side cons traints to export growth in many developing 
countries.3  No one can foresee clearly how deep this recession may be, nor how long it might last, but 
there can be no doubt about the fragility of the world economy.   
2. In such circumstances, a large premium must be  attached to avoiding policies that restrict 
international trade.  There is no indication of an imminent descent into high intensity protectionism, 
involving widespread resort to trade restriction a nd retaliation.  The multilateral trade rules built over 
the past 60 years continue to provide a strong defen ce against that happening.  The danger today is of 
an incremental build-up of restrictions that could slowly strangle international trade and undercut the 
effectiveness of policies to boost aggregate de mand and restore sustained growth globally. 
3. Many WTO Members are facing increased pressure to take protectionist actions.  At the start 
of this year, most WTO Members appeared to ha ve successfully kept these pressures under control.  
There was only limited evidence of increases in tariffs and non-tariff barriers, or of increased resort to 
trade-remedy actions.4  Since then, there has been significant slippage.  There have been increases in 
tariffs, new non-tariff measures, and more resort to trade defence measures such as anti-dumping 
actions.  The financial and fiscal stimulus packages that have been introduced  to tackle the crises 
clearly favour the restoration of trade growth globall y and they are to be welcomed, but some of them 
contain elements – such as state aids, other subsid ies and "buy/lend/invest/hire local" conditions – that 
favour domestic goods and services at the expense of imports.  
4. One factor helping to contain protectionist pressures so far in this recession has been greater 
public scrutiny of trade policies.   Press reports of  national policy debates indicate that the need to 
avoid adverse trade effects and to respect WTO obligations is being taken into account by many 
governments when managing their response to the cr isis.  In some countries, proposals to introduce 
new trade restrictions have been amended or reje cted after public and political scrutiny highlighted 
the disadvantages these could present for the domestic and global economy.  Some governments have gone further and introduced measures to liberalize and facilitate trade, both imports and exports.   
                                                     
 
1 This is intended to be a purely factual report and is issued under the sole responsibility of the 
Director-General.  It has no legal effect on the rights and obligations of Members, nor does it have any legal implication with respect to the confor mity of any measure noted in the re port with any WTO Agreement or any 
provision thereof.  This report is w ithout prejudice to Members' negotiating positions in the Doha Round.  It is a 
preparatory contribution to the report by the Director-G eneral that is called for in Paragraph G of the TPRM 
mandate and that aims to assist the TPRB to undertake an annual overview of developments in the international 
trading environment which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system. 
2 Job(09)/2. 
3 WTO:  PRESS/554, 23 March 2009. 
4 Job(09)/2, paragraph 4. WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 2  
 
  5. The incidence of new trade measures taken in res ponse to the current crisis is not out of line 
so far with what happened during previous downtur ns in economic activity.  However, trade policy 
risks are still increasing.   
6. The main risk is that governments will con tinue to cede ground to protectionist pressures, 
even if only gradually, as long as the global economic s ituation continues to deteriorate.  In that case, 
the negative impact on trade will mount as the number of new measures accumulates.
5  This will 
worsen the contraction of world trade and undermine confidence in an early and sustained recovery in 
global economic activity.  A collective decision by WTO Members to bring the Doha Round to a rapid conclusion would send an unambiguous signal th at protectionist measures are not the solution to 
this crisis, and substantially narrow th e scope for further trade restriction. 
7. The second risk is that measures taken "temporarily " to try to protect jobs and business profits 
now from the effects of the crisis will create a legacy of uncompetitive industries and sectoral over-
capacity that will continue to generate protectioni st pressures even after economic activity picks up 
again.  The failure of trade restrictions and subs idies to provide effective industrial support in the 
1970s and 1980s, and the long-term costs imposed on world trade until they were unwound during the 
Uruguay Round, need to be recalled.  The same mistakes must not be made again.  
8. Governments should also reflect on the contradicti on of using measures that restrict or distort 
trade, and therefore that tax production and incomes, at  the same time as the main thrust of policies to 
overcome the economic crisis is g eared to expanding aggregate demand .  "Best practice" trade policy 
in current circumstances, to accompany financial and fiscal stimulus, is to reduce trade restrictions so 
as to cut costs and prices worldwide.  Where subsid ies can be afforded, their full value as a stimulus 
for economic activity will come from targeting them at consumption, not produ ction, with consumers 
free to choose internationally the goods and services that they buy.  The market access package on 
industrial and agricultural goods that is on the table in  the Doha Round is equivalent to a new stimulus 
package for consumers of over US$150 billion.  Ot her elements of the Round, such as the very 
important services sector and a new Trade Facilitation agreement, could more than double that.  In 
current circumstances, opportunities to inject an econom ic stimulus of this magnitude into the global 
economy must not be discarded lightly.       
9. Pending the conclusion of the Doha Round, the " do no harm" principle points to the value of a 
strong commitment by WTO Members and Observer gove rnments not to use new trade restrictions 
and trade-distorting subsidies.  Where the task of managing domestic politics in current circumstances makes it impossible to live up to that standard, the commitment should extend to ensuring that any 
trade measure taken is fully transparent, non-discrim inatory and temporary in nature, and agreeing to 
consult multilaterally in the WTO with trading partne rs to manage the risks and find the least trade-
restricting or distorting way forward.  This commitment should be extended in particular to 
developing countries, whose economies are genera lly more trade dependent and therefore more 
vulnerable to the impact of new trade barriers. 
1. Introduction  
10. This report provides Members and Observers w ith background information on trade-related 
developments that have occurre d since September 2008 as a result of, or in the context of, the 
financial and economic crises and their impact on the global economy.  The report highlights 
significant policy issues affecting the trading system.   
                                                     
 
5 An indication of how far things could deteriorate in this way, whilst still keeping within formal WTO 
limits, is the estimate that the average global rate of duty would double  and the value of trade would be cut by 
almost 8 per cent if Members were to raise their applie d tariff rates to the levels of their WTO bindings.  
Antoine Bouet and David Laborde, International Food Policy Research Institute, Issue Brief 56, 
Washington D.C 2008.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 3 
 
 
  11. At the Informal TPRB meeting on 9 February 2 009, many Members welcomed this exercise 
and pledged their support for it.  In order to improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the 
information covered by the reports, the Director-Gen eral invited Members to provide information on 
trade and trade-related measures they had taken since September 2008.  24 Members (including 
EU 27) responded to this invitation, of which 13 are members of the G20.  The WTO Secretariat has 
drawn upon these replies, as well as on a variety of ot her public and official sources in preparing this 
report and it has received good cooperation from dele gations in verifying the accuracy of the 
information on trade measures and financial and fiscal programmes that are contained in Annexes I to III.  Where it has not been possible yet to verify the information, this is noted in the annexes.  
12. The inclusion of any measure in this report or  its annexes implies no judgement by the WTO 
Secretariat on whether or not such measure, or its in tent, is protectionist in nature.  Moreover, nothing 
in this report implies any judgement, either direct or indirect, as to the consistency of any measure 
referred to in the report with the provisions of an y WTO Agreement or such measure's relationship to 
the global financial or economic crises. 
13. The Chairman of the General Council wrote to the Chairs of all WTO councils and 
committees on 26 February asking them to consu lt on how best to improve the timeliness and 
completeness of notifications and other flow s of information on trade measures among WTO 
Members, and to inform the Chairman of the TPRB of the results.  Information received so far from 
the Services Council, the Council for Trade in G oods, the Committee on Agriculture, and the TRIMs 
Committee  indicate that these consultations have begun and are proceeding constructively.  Other 
committees have plans to undertake cons ultations in the next few weeks. 
14. In response to requests from several delegations at the informal TPRB meeting on 9 February, 
the Secretariat has included in this report (Sect ion 7) cross-references and weblinks to reports 
produced by other intergovernmental organisations on the effects of the financial and economic crises 
in their respective fields of expertise and res ponsibility, and to related government communiqués. 
2. Economic and trade trends  
15. The global economic situation has deteriorated si gnificantly since the last report was issued in 
January, with the latest data showing economies slowing worldwide and trade flows contracting 
sharply.  Developed economies have been most aff ected by the downturn so far.  The industrialized 
countries recorded a -1.5 per cent decline in real GDP  from the third to the fourth quarter of 2008, the 
largest such drop since the OECD began keeping reco rds in 1960.  Japan saw the biggest reduction in 
output, with GDP falling -3.3 per cent, while the European Union and the United States were down  
-1.5 per cent and -1.0 per cent, respectively.  Re vised IMF forecasts are that the global economy will 
contract by between -0.5 and -1 per cent in 2009, the first such fall in 60 years.
6  Output is forecast to 
fall by -3 to -3.5 per cent in developed countries, and to grow by 1.5 to 2.5 per cent in emerging 
markets and developing economies. 
16. World trade (average of exports and imports) in  real terms declined sharply towards the end 
of 2008 and into 2009 (Chart 1).  According to one set of monthly estimates7, the volume of world 
trade fell -7 per cent in December 2008 (seasonally adjusted, month-on-month) after dropping by -5 
per cent in November.  January 2009 saw a further monthly decline of -7 per cent month-on-month and -17 per cent year-on-year. 
 
 
                                                     
 
6 Note by IMF Staff to the G20 Meeting of Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors,  
13-14 March 2009. 
7 Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 4  
 
  50100150200250300
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008Chart 1
Volume of monthly exports and imports, January 1998 - January 2009
Source :  CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.50100150200250300
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
a      IFS concept (OECD minus Turkey, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Mexico and Republic of Korea).(Indices, 1998 = 100)
Exports
Imports
World Industrial countriesa
United States European Union (15) JapanOther countries
 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 5 
 
 
  0510152025
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09050100150200250
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09020406080100
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09
050100150200250
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-0904080120160
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09
01020304050
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09
051015202530
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09Chart 2
Monthly merchandise exports and imports of selected economies, January 2006 - February 2009
United StatesJapan(US$ billion)
European Union (27) extra -trade China
Republic of KoreaBrazil
India
01020304050
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09
024681012
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09Russian Federation
South Africa
Source :  IMF, International Financial Statistics;
               Global Trade Information Services 
               GTA database; national statistics.Exports Imports
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 6  
 
  17. In value (current dollar) terms, trade fell sharply for most countries towards the end of 2008 
and into 2009, although the extent of the declin es may have been magnified by falling commodity 
prices and the appreciation of the US dollar agains t a number of currencies as the financial crisis 
intensified.  Quarterly year-on-year trade growth  remained positive and in  double digits for most 
major economies during the first three quarters of 2008,  before turning negative in the fourth quarter 
(Chart 2).  The average year-on-year decline in Q4 for available countries was around -12 per cent on 
both the export and import sides.  Exports of the Eu ropean Union (27), including intra-EU trade, fell 
-16 per cent while extra-exports dropped by -11 per cen t.  Much of the Q4 decline in total EU exports 
was due to a huge drop in intra-exports, which were  down -18 per cent from the previous year.  While 
most of this was due to falling demand, it can be explained partly by the depreciation of European 
currencies against the dollar.  From July 2008 to February 2009, the Euro depreciated by 19 per cent 
from 1.58 $/€ to 1.28 $/€.   
18. Monthly trade developments between Septembe r 2008 and February of 2009 have been even 
more negative, with many countries showing year-on- year declines of -20 to -30 per cent or more.  
China's imports for January were down -43 per cent over last year, or -29 per cent month-on-month, 
and processing with imported materials declined even  faster, -48 per cent year-on-year and -36 per 
cent month-on-month.  February exports were al so significantly lower, down -26 per cent year-on-
year and -28 per cent month-on-month.  However,  after falling every month since last September, 
China's imports registered an increase of 17 per cen t in February.  Growth in imports of Singapore, 
South Africa, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam were also  positive in February.  No conclusions can be 
drawn from such limited data, but they may provide a suggestion that the drop in world trade may be 
slowing.   
19. One result of these developments is that the la rge trade and current account imbalances of the 
past few years are unwinding.  Revised figures indicate that the U.S. trade deficit shrank from 
US$181.3 billion in Q3 2008 to US$132.8bn in Q4, a nd the deficit is reported to have narrowed by a 
further 9.7 per cent in January 2009 to its lowest level since October 2002.  Meanwhile, Japan 
recorded its first current account deficit in 13 y ears, and China's trade surplus is contracting. 
20. Available data for trade in services show that in Q3 2008 the value of exports and imports of 
services in OECD countries, measured in current US  dollars, fell by a seasonally-adjusted -1.5 per 
cent and -2.2 per cent respectively compared with th e previous quarter. These were the first declines 
since the third quarter of 2006.  Year-on-year, gr owth in the value of services exports in OECD 
countries slowed sharply to 11.8 per cent, while import growth fell to 10.6 per cent.
8  Apart from the 
financial services industry, which clearly has contract ed, other global industries affected include air 
transport, maritime transport, and tourism.  A ccording to information from the International Air 
Transport Association (IATA), the contraction in  freight traffic in December 2008 (-22.6 per cent 
compared to December 2007) worsened in January 2009 for the eighth consecutive month.  International passenger demand fell year-on-year by -5.6 per cent in January 2009, marking the fifth 
consecutive month of contraction.  Tourism demand slowed significantly in the second half of 2008, a 
trend which is expected to continue in 2009.  
21. Even if trade begins to show signs of recove ry in February and March, the outlook for the 
whole of 2009 remains bleak.  The size of the c ontraction means that trade will be starting from a 
much lower level in early 2009, requiring significantly ab ove-average growth to return to its pre-crisis 
level.  This is usually the case after a sharp drop  in trade, but weak demand in developed countries 
will likely prevent a truly robust recovery as unemplo yment rates are expected to rise in the coming 
months.  Composite leading indictors for all majo r economies are sharply down through January 2009 
and quarterly GDP was falling sharply at the end of  2008 (Chart 3).  The WTO expects the volume of 
world merchandise exports to fall by -9 per cent in 2009, the largest such decline in over 60 years.  The contraction in developed countries will be particularly severe with exports falling 
                                                     
 
8 OECD International trade statistics: trends  in third quarter 2008, 27 January 2009.   WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 7 
 
 
  9899100101102103104105106
Jan-01
Jan-02
Jan-03
Jan-04
Jan-05
Jan-06
Jan-07
Jan-08
Jan-09859095100105110Chart 3
GDP and Composite Leading Indicators for selected economies, 2001-2008
9899100101102103104
Jan-01
Jan-02
Jan-03
Jan-04
Jan-05
Jan-06
Jan-07Jan-08Jan-099092949698100102104United States Euro Area
Japan China(Indices, yoy)
Note:      GDP data are quarterly through Q4 2008.  Same period in previous year = 100.
Source :  OECD, Main Economic Indicators and Quarterly National Accounts, except for China's quarterly GDP
                figures, which are Secretariat estimates based on national statistics.9596979899100101102103104105
Jan-01
Jan-02
Jan-03
Jan-04
Jan-05Jan-06
Jan-07
Jan-08
Jan-099092949698100102104
105106107108109110111112113114115
Jan-01
Jan-02
Jan-03
Jan-04
Jan-05Jan-06
Jan-07
Jan-08
Jan-0980859095100105
GDP (left scale) CLI (right scale)
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 8  
 
  by -10 per cent.  In developing countries, which ar e far more dependent on trade for growth, exports 
will shrink by -2 to-3 per cent. 
3. Trade and trade-related policy developments  
22. There has been a marked incr ease in protectionist pressures globally since September 2008, 
driven by demands to protect domestic jobs and bu sinesses.  Coverage by the press of the threat of 
protectionism has drawn attention to how these pr essures are being dealt with in national trade 
policymaking processes.   
23. In a number of cases, proposals for potentially protectionist legislation have been successfully 
resisted or amended before being executed.  On e example was the decision by President Lula of 
Brazil in January to quickly reverse a ministerial decision to expand Brazil's import licensing requirements.  A second example was action by Preside nt Obama of the U.S. in February to ensure 
that "Buy American" provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment  Act 2009 are consistent 
with U.S. international trade obligations.   
24. In some other cases, however, governments have moved to relax legal, institutional or policy 
limitations on the extent to which potentially trade-r estricting or distorting measures can be taken.   
The economic crisis has also called attention to standi ng legislation in the area of trade in agriculture  
that automatically or semi-automatically increase s support to farmers whenever agricultural prices 
fall.  This results in effects that are pre-programme d to reinforce the current contraction of trade.  
Examples of such measures are countercyclical paymen ts and loan deficiency payments in the United 
States, and the recent reintroduction of export subsid ies and the resumption of intervention purchases 
for dairy products by the European Communities. 
(i) Trade liberalization and facilitation 
 
25. Some governments have taken trade liberaliza tion and facilitation measures in the past six 
months, involving the reduction or elimination of im port tariffs and export taxes and the expansion of 
trade finance facilities (Box 1).  The purpose of these measures is no doubt various, but each one 
presents an example of trade policies contributing po sitively to help reverse the contraction of global 
trade and to stimulate aggregate demand by reducing consumer prices and producer costs.  More trade policy initiatives of this kind, particularly if they were to be taken collectively by the major trading 
countries, would make an impact on a global scale.  
Box 1:  Illustrative list of measures to facilitate trade 
Country/  
Member State Measure 
Argentina Elimination of export taxes on 35 dairy products. 
Brazil Increase the number of exporting companie s with access to government's export financing 
programme (Proex).  
Canada Elimination of import tariffs on 214 tariff lines (machinery and equipment). 
 Amendments to the Investment Canada Act to: lower obstacles to foreign investments; 
improve transparency in the administration of the Act; and authorize the Government to review investments that threaten to impair national security. 
Amendments to the Canada Transportation Act to: allow an increase in the limit of foreign 
ownership of voting interest in Canadian airlines. 
 Box 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 9 
 
 
  Country/  
Member State Measure 
Increase in VAT rebate rates on exports of a number of products. 
Elimination of export duties on 102 pr oducts including certain steel plates. China 
Reduction of export duties on 23 products, including for example yellow phosphorous. 
EC Temporary changes in the set of Commission Sate Aid guidelines increasing flexibility on 
short-term export credits. 
 Various measures to increase access to trade finance for European exporters have also 
taken place at the national level. 
Ecuador Import tariff reductions on 3,267 tariff lines covering products not locally produced. 
Hong Kong, China Establishment of the State owned "Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation 
(ECIC)" to encourage trade by providing exporters with insurance protection against non-
payment risk. 
India Elimination of import duties for naphtha for use in the power sector.  Elimination of export 
duties on iron ore fines; and reduction of export duties on lumps. 
 Trade facilitation measures such as: enlargemen t of the list of entities authorized to import 
directly precious metals; removal of import restrictions on worked corals; and 
simplification of export licensing requirements for blood samples. 
Indonesia Reduction of import tariffs on 18 tariff lines.  
Kazakhstan Reduction of import tariffs on equipment an d raw materials that are not locally produced.  
Malaysia Elimination of import duty on cement. 
 Liberalization of imports of iron and steel products. 
 Elimination of import licences for the construction and manufacturing sector. 
Mexico Tariff reductions on 97 per cent of ma nufactured goods.  This reduction would take place 
in five annual phases, ending in 2013.   
New Zealand Temporary change in the mandate of the Ne w Zealand Export Credit Office (NZECO), in 
order to provide short-term trade credit insurance at market rates, on a temporary basis. 
Philippines Temporary tariff reduction on wheat; meslin; cement; and cement clinker. 
Reduction of import tariffs on: civil aircraft; ferrous scrap; motors and major components of motor vehicles; cement and cem ent articles; and natural rubber. 
Export duties on certain wood products, which were  scheduled to rise to 80 per cent, to be 
maintained at the original level of 25 per cent until the end of 2009. 
Elimination of export duties on nickel and copper. Russian Federation 
Reduction of export duties on oil. 
 
(ii) Trade restriction and distortion 
26. The WTO Secretariat has collected information for this report on new import and export 
restrictions, trade-related subsidies and trade remedy actions that have been taken since 
September 2008.  Many of these measures have been imposed only recently or are still in the process 
of being implemented, so that their trade effects ar e not yet clear.  As a general rule, measures that are 
transparent and non-discriminatory and that provide fo r procedural fairness are likely to be less costly 
for trade.   
27. WTO rules act as a check on the degree to which these measures can restrict trade flows, but 
the current crisis is highlighting the extent to which those rules and the individual market access 
schedules of WTO Members provide substantial room for trade restriction and distortion to increase 
and will continue to do so at least until the Doha Round is completed.   WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 10  
 
  28. Some governments have reacted to the crisis by imposing new trade-restricting and distorting 
measures (Annex I).  So far, there is not a general tr end in that direction, but a pattern is beginning to 
emerge of increases in import licensing, import tari ffs and surcharges and trade remedies to support 
industries that have faced difficulties early on in this crisis (Box 2).   
Box 2:  Illustrative list of measures in the footwear sector 
Country/  
Member State Measure 
Argentina Initiation of anti-dumping investigation on imports from China. 
Brazil Initiation of anti-dumping investigation on imports from China. 
Canada Initiation of anti-dumping investigati on on waterproof footwear from China. 
Initiation of anti-dumping investigation on plastic footwear from Vietnam. 
Ecuador Increase of tariff duties (US$10/pair). 
EC Imposition of anti-dumping duties on imports of leather footwear from China and 
Vietnam. 
Turkey Imposition of safeguard meas ures; in place until November 2009. 
Ukraine Increase of tariff duties for all footwear products. Implemented in March 2009, for a 
period of six months. 
Source: Business sector information. 
29. Reports of various kinds of non-tariff measure s affecting trade, such as standards and 
technical regulations (including SPS measures), are al so rising.  It would appear for the time being 
that this is due less to an increase in the number of  new measures than to chan ges in the way in which 
existing measures are being applied and administered.  For example, the 2009 Omnibus 
Appropriations Act of the United States prohibits th e use of funds made available in the Act to 
establish or implement a rule allowing poultry produc ts to be imported into the United States from 
China.  Separately, the Act prohibits the U.S. Department of Transportation from allocating funds 
necessary to maintain an inspection programme on cross-border trucking services from Mexico, 
which has prompted Mexico to temporarily suspen d the preferential tariff treatment accorded to 89 
tariff lines of imports from the United States under the NAFTA provisions. 
30. There has been an increase in state aids and potentially trade-distorting subsidies in some 
countries to support manufacturing industries, notably the steel and automobile industries, including direct funding, special loans and guarantees (Boxes 3 and 4).  Similar measures have been used by some countries to provide support to their financial services industries (see Section 4).  Using public 
finance in this way provides the governments that ca n afford it with an alternative to using border 
trade restrictions to protect their economies against foreign competition, but is not an option open to 
the vast majority of developing country Members of the WTO whose fiscal situation is being placed 
under even more stress than usual by the economic crisis.  
31. These measures can prolong the operations of unc ompetitive or insolvent firms, which denies 
market share to more efficient producers including fo reign suppliers.  In some cases, the provision of 
state aids and subsidies is subject to specific conditi ons that can restrict or distort trade, such as 
conditions on a firm or industry's investment (e.g. to avoid de-investing domestically), or its policies 
or practices for sourcing parts or labour.  In some cases, governments are taking a direct management role in firms in exchange for financial participati on by the State.  Since conditions such as these are 
often attached informally, and are of a political rather  than contractual nature, it is very hard to know 
of their existence and how they are being implemented.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
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Box 3:  Illustrative list of meas ures in the automobile sector 
Country/  
Member 
State Measure 
Argentina Introduction of reference price covering around 1,000 imported products considered sensitive 
(among them auto parts).  
Australia Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as a financing trust to provide liquidity to car dealer 
financiers. The SPV is intended to be a 12 m onths transitional funding. Until 12 March 2009, 
it has not yet been necessary for the SPV to raise capital and lend funds. 
Brazil Government credits (US$1.7 billion) for carmakers ; and temporary reduction of the industrial 
products tax on car sales (until April 2009).  
Canada Offer to loan up to C$4 billion (US$3 billion) to GM and Chrysler (as of 19 March 2009 no 
disbursement of loans has been made). 
China Reduction of sales tax for cars. 
India Introduction of licensing requirements for imports of auto parts.  Some of these requirements 
were removed between December 2008 and January 2009.  
"Régime temporaire de prêts bonifiés pour les entreprises fabriquant des produits verts".  This measure provides reduced-inter est loans to business investing in the production of green 
products. France 
Credit lines for the car industry of €6 billion (US$7.7 billion). 
Korea, Rep. 
of Reduction on the consumption tax on automobiles (local and imported).  The measure is 
effective for the period 19 December 2008 to 30 June 2009. 
Temporary increase of import tariffs (for nine months) on cars, trucks, and buses. 
Reduction of import tariffs on: motors and major components of motor vehicles. Russian Federation 
Direct help (rubles 83 billion) (US$2.4 billion) to domestic car makers, including assemblers 
of foreign-branded cars. 
Turkey Temporary (three months) reduction of domestic taxes (VAT and special consumption taxes) 
for cars. 
United 
Kingdom Temporary measures to grant loan guarantees and interest rate subsidies.  Businesses 
producing green products will benefit.  
Loans to General Motors and Chrysler.  Under this programme, US Treasury agreed to loan 
General Motors (GM) US$13.4 billion (delivered in three instalments) and to loan Chrysler 
US$4 billion.   
On 29 December 2008, US Treas ury announced that it would pur chase US$5 billion in senior 
preferred equity with an 8 per cent dividend from GMAC LLC as part of a broader 
programme to assist the domestic automotive industry in becoming financially viable.  
Additionally, the US Treasury agreed to lend up to US$1 billion to General Motors so that GM could participate in a rights offering at GMAC in support of GMAC’s reorganization as a 
bank holding company.  On 16 January 2008,  US Treasury announced a US$1.5 billion five-
year loan to a special purpose entity created by Chrysler Financial to finance retail automotive purchases.   United States 
On 20 March 2009, creation of a US$5 billion fund to support troubled parts suppliers. 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
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  Box 4:  Illustrative list of measures in the steel sector  
Country/  
Member 
State Measure 
Argentina Introduction of non-automatic import licensing requirements, covering steel and metallurgical 
products, among others. 
Anti-dumping duties on imports of certain iron or steel fasteners from China. EC 
Provisional antidumping duties on imports of bars and rods, hot rolled, in irregularly wound coils, 
of iron, non-alloy steel or alloy steel other than  of stainless steel, originating in China and 
Moldova. 
Egypt Anti-dumping or safeguard duties on imports of cold rolled flat tin sheets. 
Introduction of licensing requirements for imports of certain steel products.  Some of these requirements were removed between December 2008 and January 2009. 
New mandatory product quality certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards for 17 steel imported products.  The Government deferred implementation of this regulation by one year on 10 
February 2009. India 
Increase in import duties on a range of iron and steel products from 0 per cent to 5 per cent. 
Introduction of mandatory standards for steel products (hot-rolled steel sheets and coils and zinc-
aluminium alloy coated steel sheets and coils), to protect consumer safety, increase product quality, and establish a fair trade competition. 
Increase of import tariffs on some steel products. Indonesia 
 
 
 
Malaysia New technical regulations for 57 steel products, requiring certificates of approval for conformity 
with Malaysian Standards. 
New “Mineral Ore Export Permit” for the transport/shipment of mineral ores. Philippines 
Provisional safeguard on steel angle bars. 
Russian 
Federation Temporary increase of import tariffs (for nine mont hs) on certain types of flat metals, and ferrous 
metal pipes. 
Turkey Import tariff increase on a number of products such as: iron-steel – hot rolled flat products; iron-
steel cold rolled flat products; iron-steel- coated flat products. 
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) requires the use of US-produced steel, iron and manufactured goods in public works funded by the ARRA, subject to certain exceptions (public interest, non-availability or unreasonable cost).  The ARRA requires that this 
provision be applied in a manner consistent with US obligations under international agreements.  Further, Congress has indicated that the "buy Am erican" provision for iron, steel and manufactured 
goods is not intended to apply to LDCs.  United States 
Imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on welded stainless steel pressure pipes from 
China. 
Vietnam  Increase import tariffs on semi-finished product s of iron or non-alloy steel, and bars and rods of 
iron or non-alloy steel. 
 
 32. At national and supra -national levels, many governments apply competition policies and laws 
in order to ensure that the provision of public fina ncial support of this kind does not distort markets or 
create conditions of unfair competition domestically.  For example, the European Commission has conducted reviews of the financial support provided by its member Stat es to their banks and financial 
institutions with that objective in mind, and it is conducting a similar review of current proposals for 
their support to the automobile industry.  No equivale nt rules or authority exis t for the time being at 
the international level so that, except in the case of  certain subsidies that are prohibited under the 
WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures,  there is less discipline over the extent to 
which state aid and subsidy measures can affect c onditions of competition on international markets.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 13 
 
 
  33. It is important to recall the experience of th e 1970s and early 1980s when governments, faced 
with very difficult global economic conditions, resorted  heavily to trade restrictions and subsidies to 
support ailing industries and sectors such as te xtiles and clothing, shipbuilding and steel.9  T h i s  
slowed down structural adjustment and the correc tion of problems of global over-capacity.  It led 
subsequently to the introduction of new and chroni c forms of protectionist measures to manage trade 
flows, some of them beyond the reach of GATT trade rules, so as to support strategic sectors and 
national champions that were no longer competitive in ternationally but in which too much had been 
invested to allow them to be abandoned easily.   
34. In industries that today are globally integrat ed such as automobil es, where production and 
sourcing take place internationally and mergers a nd acquisitions have diluted the meaning of many 
"national" brands, it has become more difficult and mo re costly to try to target national problems of 
over-capacity or inefficiency by using trade restric tions or subsidies.  So me governments are choosing 
instead to give assistance to the automobile indus try by channelling tax incentives or subsidies to 
consumers rather than to producers.  An example is programmes by several EU member states to 
provide cash grants or interest-free loans to cons umers who "scrap" their old vehicles in 2009.  As 
long as this kind of support is provided without r estricting consumers' choice to buy domestic or 
foreign cars, these measures can result in both domestic  production and imports of automobiles rising.   
This illustrates the general point that there is ofte n more than one kind of economic policy that can be 
used to achieve a given objective.  By consideri ng the alternatives, governments can take account of, 
and often reduce, the adverse impact on trade while still achieving their primary objective.     
 Trade remedies    
35. The downward trend in anti-dumping investigations  registered since 2001 has come to an end, 
and an upward trend, which could accelerate rapidl y, has started.  The number of investigations 
increased by 27 per cent in 2008 compared to 2007.  However, the total of 207 new initiations in 2008 
is still well short of the peak of 366 in 200 1.  The increase in initiations of anti-dumping 
investigations looks set to continue in 2009;  a preliminary search through available sources gives an 
estimate of 29 new initiations up until 25 March 2009.   
36. Between 1 July and 31 December 2008, the main users of anti-dumping, measured by 
investigations initiated, were India, Brazil, Argen tina, China, Turkey, and the European Communities, 
while the main targets of anti-dumping investigati ons were China, the European Communities and the 
United States. 
Anti-dumping initiations: 1 July – 31 December 2008 
Country Initiation of new Anti-Dumping Investigations 
Argentina 11 
Brazil 16 
Canada 1 
China 11 
Colombia 2 
EC 9 
India 42 
Indonesia 6 
Korea 1 
Mexico 1 
Pakistan 3 
Turkey 10 
Ukraine 4 
United States 3 
TOTAL 120 
                                                      
9 IMF, "Trade Policy Developments in Industrial  Countries", Occasional Paper 5, July 1981. WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 14  
 
  Chart 4
AD Initiations of new investigations, 1 July - 31 December 2008
Base metals, 43
Chemicals, 22 Machinery, electrical 
equipment, 7Other, 15Textiles, 19
Plastics, 14
 
37. There was an increase of 16 per cent in the initia tion of anti-dumping i nvestigations in the 
second half of 2008 (120) compared to the same period in 2007 (103). 
58
0933
010
624
1116
11
942
6
110
3
051015202530354045Chart 5
Comparison of A.D. initiations (major users) in second half of 2007 to second half of 2008
(Number)
Sourc e:    WTO Secretariat.
Argentin a
China
EC
India
Indonesia
Korea, Rep. o f
Turke y
Unite StatesBrazilJuly-December 2007
July-December 2008
 
38. There is no significant trend discernible for countervailing duty actions  in 2008, although 
there have already been three initiations of new in vestigations between Janua ry and 25 March 2009 
(compared with six initiations for the six-month period 1 July -31 December 2008). 
39. There is an inevitable delay between devel opments in economic conditions and new trade 
remedy investigations.  Normally, it takes time  for companies to gather information covering a  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 15 
 
 
  sufficient period of time to support an application to  government to initiate an investigation.  More 
recently, it is being increasingly reported in the me dia that companies are preparing themselves to 
request investigating authorities to initiate trade re medy actions.  On the other hand, some are of the 
view that the conditions have deteriorated so ra pidly since September 2008 that many companies find 
themselves in such a fierce battle for survival that they simply do not have the resources to engage in 
the anti-dumping process, which can  be costly and lengthy. 
40. An argument for not being anxious about these tren ds is that trade remedy instruments were 
designed to be used by Members precisely when th eir domestic industry is su ffering injury.  However, 
the ability of the restrictions to alleviate injury is curtailed when many Members are resorting to 
similar measures.  Whatever relief is obtained from temporarily halting imports in one domestic 
industry can be offset by the pain of restricted foreign demand for goods produced in others.   Since 
trade remedies deliberately aim to restrict trade, th e threat of retaliation is likely to be significant. 
41. Safeguard actions  appear also to be increasing, although not in as pronounced a way as anti-
dumping actions.  The total number of safeguard in itiations in 2008 was 11, up from eight in 2007, 
but lower than 13 in 2006 and far away from the peak of 34 initiations in 2002.10  There have been 
six initiations already in 2009 (until 25 March), i ndicating a likelihood of increased use of safeguard 
measures.  Historical data shows that an increase in  safeguard actions usually occurs only about a year 
after a major shock affects an industry or economy .  Safeguard action may therefore increase in the 
latter half of 2009. 
4. Fiscal stimulus and financial support programmes 
42. Fiscal stimulus and financial support programmes are evidently to be welcomed in current 
circumstances from a trade perspective.  Both are aimed at reversing the fall in global aggregate 
demand, which holds the key to reversing the contrac tion of international trade in goods and services.  
Restoring credit markets to good health is also v ital to correct serious problems that have been 
experienced in the past twelve months by some tr aders, particularly in developing countries, in 
accessing trade finance at affordable rates.    
43. Although the key objectives of these programmes remain paramount – to prevent systemic 
failure of global financial markets and to counter  global recession by boosting aggregate demand – it 
is not trivial to consider their potential trade effects.11  For the sake of the effectiveness of the 
programmes themselves, openness to trade can play an important role in providing value-for-money 
and, as long as GDP remains significantly below its potential and resources are unemployed on a large scale, the inefficiency in resource allocation created  by restricting trade is all the more counter-
productive.  Trade restrictions act as a tax on in comes and production and th erefore contradict the 
main objective of these programmes which is to boos t real aggregate demand.  Given their size, many 
of the programmes have the potential to impact seriously and negatively on foreign producers who 
specialize in activities that are the ta rget of government support in othe r countries.  Given also that the 
infrastructure components of the programmes will be in place for many years to come, they have the 
potential to create deep and long-lasting distortions to global markets if they are poorly designed from 
the start. 
                                                     
 
10 India, with 19 initiations since 1995, remains the mo st frequent user of safeguard measures.  In early 
2009, India initiated 3 safeguard investigations, all on chemical products. 
11 An aphorism attributed to James Tobin is that it ta kes a heap of Harberger triangles to fill an Okun 
gap.  The idea is that  the microeconomic costs caused by trade restriction or distortion pale in comparison to the 
cost of unemployed resources due to insufficient aggregate demand.  The discussion here is not intended to question this larger truth.  It is written in the spirit of  pointing out that these Harberger "efficiency" triangles 
exist and urging policymak ers not to ignore them. WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 16  
 
  44. The details of many of these programmes are still unclear.  Some elements of those that have 
been announced have already raised concerns a bout their potential trade-restricting or distorting 
effects.  Whatever those effects may be, the willingness of the governments concerned to provide detailed information on the implementation of the pr ogrammes in a transparent way to their trading 
partners is to be welcomed.  D oubts will continue to exist about th e trade-damaging nature of other 
programmes where little is known publicly about their sc ope or how they are to be implemented.   
 Fiscal stimulus programmes 
 
45. Most G20 countries and some other WTO Members and Observer governments have 
announced substantial fiscal stimulus programme s with the aim of boosting domestic demand 
(Annex 2).  The IMF has recommended a global fiscal stimulus target of 2 per cent of aggregate GDP 
each year for 2009-2010, but according to the IMF that target has not yet been met by the G20 
countries for 2009 and under current conditions there will be a withdrawal of discretionary fiscal 
stimulus in 2010.  Several countries have impl emented supplementary programmes of financial 
support for individual sectors or industries.   
46. International trade can be harnessed by these fiscal stimulus programmes to deliver a bigger 
boost to aggregate demand globally than will be the case if steps are taken to restrict the effects of the 
stimulus inside national borders.  Government s nonetheless often face strong pressure to introduce a 
domestic-bias into the design of their programmes an d prevent the stimulus funded by domestic taxes 
from "leaking out" as spending on foreign goods and services.  This concern can be lessened to the extent that different national programmes are coordina ted in terms of size and timing.  Leakage into 
higher imports will then be compensated for, at least  partially, by increased exports generated by the 
stimulus programmes of other countries.   
47. Some of the stimulus programmes announced to da te include conditions on how funding is to 
be spent that aim to reduce the leakage into impor ts and concentrate the stimulus effects on domestic 
firms and job creation.  These conditions act in the same way as traditional import restrictions and 
produce the same effects:  higher prices and lowe r choice of goods and services purchased through the 
stimulus programme (lower value-for-money), along with the less efficient allocation of resources and 
ultimately reduced competitiveness of the domestic economy.  In short, restricting imports by attaching conditions to stimulus programmes taxe s producers and income and reduces the net impact 
of each programme on domestic a nd global aggregate demand.   
48. One condition of this kind is "B uy National" requirements.  These raise concerns for trade and 
the trading system because they threaten to cut foreign suppliers off from markets that they could 
otherwise hope to compete in, either by reserving the market completely for domestic suppliers or by 
introducing new administrative complexities that make procurement practices less transparent and 
accessible for foreign suppliers.  They can also provoke retaliation by other countries. 
49. The recent action of the U.S. Congress, prompted by President Obama, in making clear that 
the "Buy American" provisions of the U.S. Amer ican Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 will be 
administered "in a manner consistent with United States' obligations under in ternational agreements" 
was important in limiting the potential market-restri cting effects of the legislation and reducing the 
likelihood of retaliatory action by U.S. trade partners. 
50. Public expenditure by federal and state gove rnments makes up the bulk of most stimulus 
programmes that have been announced recently.  Th is spending is covered by the WTO's plurilateral 
Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) which is  designed to draw the large share (15 to 20 
per cent) of global expenditure that is accounted fo r today by public spending closer to competitive 
market conditions.  The GPA has 13 Parties (coveri ng 40 WTO Members) and its disciplines apply to 
procurement activities and government entities that th e Parties have scheduled.  Important progress  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 17 
 
 
  has been made in recent years in opening up mark ets for government procurement of goods, services 
and construction.  The introduction by major countries during the current crisis of new conditions that 
generate a domestic bias in their procuremen t activities will complicate ongoing negotiations to 
broaden and deepen the coverage of the GPA further.   
Box 5:  The Buy American provisions of the Am erican Recovery and Rein vestment Act 2009   
 
 Two provisions of the US stimulus legislation (H.R. 1) introduce new Buy American requirements.   
First, section 1604 provides that "None of the funds appropriated or otherwise made available by this 
Act may be used for a project for the construction, alteration, maintenance or repair of a public building or 
public work unless all of the iron, steel, and manufactured goods used in the project are produced in the United 
States".  
 Additionally, section 604 of the legislation provides that "Except as otherwise provided ..., funds 
appropriated or otherwise available to the Department of Homeland Security may not be used for the 
procurement of [specified items of clothing or equipment] if the item is not grown, reprocessed, reused, or 
produced in the United States". 
 In both cases, the legislation addresses the poten tial conflict with the WTO Agreement on Government 
Procurement (GPA) and other US international trade commitments by including a further provision that "This 
section shall be applied in a manner consistent with Un ited States obligations under international agreements" 
(see section 604(k) and section 1605(d) of the legislation).  This "saving clause" was inserted in the legislation 
following protests from some WTO Members and President Obama's consequent direction that the legislation be 
framed in a way that would not trigger a “trade war”. 
A similar approach has been used by the US in the past to avoid conflicts between the GPA and other 
trade agreements on the one hand, and Buy American provisions on the other.  For example, general preferences 
for domestic products in U.S. federal procurement were es tablished as early as the Bu y American Act of 1933.  
However, the U.S. Trade Agreements Act of 1979, Chapter 13, provides broad authority for the President to 
waive such requirements in respect of procurements covered by the GPA and U.S. Preferential Trade 
Agreements ("General authority to modify discriminatory purchasing requirements").  Historically, this has been 
the tool through which U.S. procurement preferences have been reconciled with the GPA and other trade 
commitments. 
The legislative commentary ("Conf erence Report") accompanying the new U.S. legislation states that  
"The conferees [legislators] anticipate that the Admini stration will rely on [such Presidential authority] to the 
extent necessary to comply with US obligations under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement and 
under US free trade agreements".  A similar waiver authority is provided for suppliers from least-developed 
countries, which are exempt from existing Buy American provisions by legislation. 
 Financial support programmes 
 
51. Governments at the centre of the financial cr isis have provided unprecedented injections of 
financing to their banking and financial services sector s (Annex 3).  Their priority has been to guard 
against the systemic risk posed to the economy by the failure of large financial institutions and to 
revive the role that banks must play in transf orming savings into investments and allocating capital 
and credit to where they will be most productively us ed.  Broadly speaking, five types of government 
intervention have been used.   
• cleaning "bad assets" from banks' balance sheet s so as to allow them to start lending 
again under normal circumstances.  A common "asset side" policy has been the purchase for cash of troubled mortgage assets from banks and other lenders.
12 
                                                      
12 The Canadian, Swiss, and US (TARP) programmes ar e clear examples of this type of policy. In the 
case of Switzerland, on 16 October 2008, the Swiss Na tional Bank (SNB) announced the transfer of UBS' 
illiquid securities and other troubled assets to a special  purpose vehicle (SPV), in the amount of US$60 billion 
(US$54 billion provided by the SNB and US$6 billion by UBS itself). WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 18  
 
  • governments have encouraged takeovers of some failing banks by better capitalized 
banks, and provided government  support in some cases.
13 
 
• recapitalisation of troubled financial instituti ons by injecting public funds as equity or 
debt financing.14 
 
• partial or total nationalization of financia l institutions, usually after other measures 
have failed. 
 
• expanded government guarantees for differe nt forms of banks' liabilities, usually 
through increases in the threshold of sav ings eligible for deposit insurance and 
provision of loan guarantees either on inte r-bank loans or on banks' issues of debt.15  
 
52. Government intervention on this scale to support a sector or industry, whether it be 
automobiles or financial services, raises a number of trade-related issues.   
53. One is that uncompetitive or even insolvent fina ncial institutions may be kept in operation at 
the expense of their foreign competitors, thereby distorting the market for, and reducing the volume 
of, trade in financial services.  Under current circ umstances, this may be viewed as secondary to the 
objective of reducing systemic risk, but as that risk recedes it is important that financial markets return 
to competitive conditions (albeit under stricter regulat ion than in the past) in which sound institutions 
can prosper without facing unfair competition.   
54. A second area of concern is the extent to wh ich banks and other fina ncial institutions that 
have received public support will no longer take lending or financing decisions that are based on 
purely commercial considerations, particularly wher e governments have taken on a management role.  
It has been suggested, for example, that the banks concerned may be directed or advised by 
governments, formally or informally, to fa vour national businesses over foreign businesses when 
conducting their future financial operations.  This w ould reduce trade in financial services.  It also 
raises concerns about the extent to which the national businesses that benefit from such a close 
relationship with national banks ar e receiving more favourable financ ial terms than market conditions 
would dictate, so that the risk of trade restriction or distortion passes through to other industries and 
sectors of the economy.  One such channel is thro ugh the provision of trade finance on beneficial 
terms to national exporters.  
5. Trade Finance 
55. The drying up of global liquidity combined with a general re-assessment of risks by 
commercial banks led in the second-half of 2008 to a ri se in the cost of trade finance instruments such 
as letters of credit, and in some cases, to serious gaps between demand and supply.16  Survey-based 
                                                      
13 On 9 January 2009, the German government a nnounced a capital injectio n of €10 billion into 
Commerzbank (in addition to €8.2 billion previously), and the take up of 25 per cent equity stake to allow it to complete the takeover of Dresdner Bank from insu rance giant Allianz. On 22 October 2008, the Brazilian 
Government authorized the two largest State-owned banks, Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal 
(CEF), to buy equity stakes in other troubled banks. 
14 In December 2008, the World Bank set up a US $3 billion Bank Recapitalization Fund, to be 
managed by the IFC, aimed at helping recapitalize banks in small emerging market economies.  It will offer 
capital to banks currently lacking alternative financing, and provide advisory services aimed at strengthening 
private sector development and improving economic and financial performance. 
15 At the same time, central banks, in their roles as ‘lenders of last resort’ continued to be a source of 
liquidity support to financial institutions, most often in the form of loans extended against collateral. 
16 IMF survey data suggest spreads above LIBOR have increased by some 25 to 300 basis points per 
annum, and in some cases as much as 600 basis poin ts.(http://www.imf.org/externa l/pp/longres.aspx?id=4318)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 19 
 
 
  data point to a market gap in developing countri es – that is unmet demand for trade financing – of 
between US$100 billion and US$300 billion on an annual and roll-over basis according to trade-
finance experts who met in the WTO on 18 March.  In some countries foreign exchange has also 
become scarce, which has led central banks of em erging economies with sufficient net international 
reserves to supply foreign exchange to trade banke rs and importers.  The situation which was not 
expected to improve much in the fi rst quarter of 2009 has in fact continued to deteriorate, mainly for 
north-south and south-south trade.  
56. In cooperation with other multila teral and regional organizations , the WTO has been helping 
to mobilize various actors to shoulder some of the risk from the private sect or and to encourage co-
financing between the providers of trade finance.  A two-track approach is being followed to: (i) find 
collective short-term solutions, notably by mob ilizing government-backed export credit agencies and 
international financial instituti ons, through their private sector branches, operating mostly on 
commercial terms; and (ii) develop technical measur es allowing for better inte raction between private 
and public sector players in the short and medium-term,  all of which aim at removing  the obstacles to 
risk co-sharing and co-financing by various institutions.  
57. Since the end of 2008, the response of public-back ed institutions has been positive.  Efforts 
have focussed in three areas:  
(i) All regional development banks and the IF C have roughly doubled the capacity limits under 
their trade finance facilitation programme s, from around US$4 billion to US$8 billion, 
thereby financing potentially some US$30 billion of trade involving small countries and small 
transactions (of US$250,000 on average).  The African Development Bank is investigating 
the possibility of launching a similar trad e finance facilitation programme for Africa. 
(ii) Export credit agencies (ECAs) also steppe d in with programmes for increased guarantees, 
short-term lending of working capital and credit guarantees aimed at small and medium-scale enterprises. A few ECAs have also opened liquidity windows. For certain countries, the 
commitment is very large for local firms.  In  other cases, cooperation is  developing to support 
regional trade, in particular chain-supply opera tions.  To that effect, the recent APEC Summit 
announced the establishment of an Asia-Pacific Tr ade Insurance Network to facilitate intra- 
and extra-regional flows and investment thro ugh reinsurance cooperation among export credit 
agencies in the region.  Japan's NEXI is estab lishing itself as the leader and main underwriter 
of this collective re-insurance system. The United States and China agreed that their 
respective import-export banks would make an additional US$20 billion available for bilateral 
trade, and the United States and Korea made a similar commitment for US$3 billion.  
 (iii) Central banks in countries with large forei gn exchange reserves – and/or which for one reason 
or another are facing a shortage of liquidity in  dollars (due to falls in remittances, export 
receipts, and the depreciation of the local currency against the dollar) – have been supplying 
dollars to local banks and importers through re purchase agreements or auctions of borrowed 
dollars.  Since October 2008, Brazil’s central bank has provided more than US$10 billion to 
the market. Korea's central bank has pledged US $10 billion of its fore ign exchange reserves 
to do likewise, and the central banks of South Africa, India, Indonesia, and Argentina are engaged in similar operations. However, su ch facilities are unavailable to developing 
countries with lower foreign exchange reserves,  unless they are able to arrange to swap 
foreign exchange against local currenc y with their main trading partners. 
 58. The trade finance market is expected to continue  to experience difficult times in 2009.  This is 
why the WTO is supporting the efforts of the World Bank Group to create a new instrument to address both the liquidity issue and the trade credit in surance issue from a multilateral perspective.  A 
well targeted, global liquidity pool run by th e World Bank/IFC could help global banks support 
developing countries' trade on commercial terms. The pool would be made of funds in trust by the WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 20  
 
  IFC (40 per cent of the total) and by commercial banks (60 per cent).  Ideas are also being considered 
in the same framework to have  the IFC support ECAs of developing countries.  In general, 
commercial banks are expressing satisfaction with the growing sense of private-public partnership 
(most such operations are carried out on commercial te rms).  They also share th e view that the market 
situation would have been worse without the relativ ely quick intervention of international financial 
institutions and export credit agencies.  At the in stitutional level, the Director-General wrote in 
February 2009 to the Chairman of the Financial St ability Forum requesting, on behalf of the trade and 
trade finance community, that consideration be give n to the appropriateness of the treatment of trade 
finance under the Basle II regulatory framework. 
59. In the context of preparations for the next G 20 Summit meeting, it is reported that the United 
States and the United Kingdom are proposing a global  plan to augment the resources available for 
trade-finance operations, in additi on to steps described above aimed at providing enhanced means of 
trade facilitation by IFIs through risk mitigation ( guarantees) or funding (direct lending).  About half 
of the financing would be used to increase the f unding of G20 export credit agencies, the other half 
would be channelled through the IMF, the World Bank and the Regional Development Banks to help 
finance exports from the world's poorest countries.   
6. Impact on developing countries  
60. Since the end of 2008, developing countries have begun feeling the full effects of the 
financial and economic crises.   
61. Banks and other financial institutions of most developing countries seemed initially to have 
been shielded from the financial crisis due to their limited exposure to the markets and financial 
instruments that lay at its core.  Since then it h as become clear that their domestic capital markets and 
their access to international capital markets are being a ffected directly and significantly.  Investors in 
developed countries have pulled resources back from emerging markets and other developing 
countries, in part because of the de-leveraging pro cess of their financial institutions.  This showed up 
quickly in the market for trade finance, on which ex porters in many developing countries rely, but it is 
affecting other parts of their capital market too.  It  showed up also in the decline of net private capital 
flows, including foreign direct investment, to  developing countries in the second half of 2008.
17  
There has been an outflow of domestic savings as investors from developing countries are attracted to 
transfer their money to lower risk, newly govern ment-guaranteed, financia l markets in developed 
countries.  It is expected also that developing co untries will find it more difficult to raise capital in 
developed countries where they will be competi ng for resources with the governments of those 
countries as they seek to finance their financial and fiscal stimulus programmes.  Finally, there is 
concern that official aid flows will fall, sin ce donors express these budgets as a share of their 
(shrinking) GDP, and will become more volatile  in some cases as donors scale down their ODA 
budgets.   
62. In sum, the World Bank estimates that developi ng countries are facing a financing shortfall of 
between US$270 billion and US$700 billion in 2009, at  the same time that the external financing 
needs of these countries is likely to increase because of falling export earnings.18  That, coupled with 
the need of many developing countries to finance existi ng private external debt, is projected to lead to 
a sharp deterioration in the external payments situat ion, particularly of emerging market economies, in 
                                                      
17 Net capital flows to emerging economies are estim ated to have declined to US$467billion in 2008, 
half of their 2007 level.  It is projected that they could decline in 2009 down to US$165billion, less than one-fifth of their 2007 level.  Institute for Internationa l Finance, Capital Flows to Emerging Market Economies, 
27 January 2009. 
18 World Bank "Swimming against the Tide:  How Developing Countries are Coping with the Global 
Crisis", report prepared for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, 13-14 March 2009, and 
World Bank News Release No. 2009/245/EXC.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 21 
 
 
  the second half of 2009.  Low-income developing co untries are in a particularly vulnerable position, 
because many of them had already weak balance of payments positions as a result of the 2007-08 
spike in global fuel and food prices.19   
• Global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows are estimated to have declined by more than 
20 per cent in 2008 marking the end of a four-year growth cycle.  FDI between developed countries was the most affected.  In deve loping countries and transition economies, 
preliminary estimates by UNCTAD suggest that FDI inflows grew by 4 per cent in 2008, substantially lower than in 2007, but that there was a sharp decline in Q4 and that prospects 
for 2009 are likely to be far more negative.
20  The World Association of Investment 
Promotion Agencies expects a contraction of FD I of 12-15 per cent in  2009, and recent IMF 
projections show FDI in 2009 falling by almost 20 per cent from its 2008 level.  
63. Average annual output growth in the period 2000 to 2008 was 5.6 per cent for all developing 
countries and 6.3 per cent for the sub-set of LDCs.  The weakening of their performance in 2009 will 
be sharp and substantial, and it will have serious negative effects on their economic and social 
development programmes and on their poverty re duction programmes.  Very few developing 
countries have the domestic resources needed to im plement significant stimulus packages to revive 
growth in their economies.  The World Bank estimates that only one-quarter of the most vulnerable developing countries have the resources to prevent a rise in poverty.  Exports from developing countries are projected to contract by between -2 and -3 per cent in volume terms in 2009 due to the 
deep recession in developed countries.  This will play a significant role in reducing their real 
economic growth, which the IMF is projecting will fa ll to between 1.5 to 2.5 per cent this year as a 
result of weak external demand, financing constrai nts, and lower commodity prices.  The situation 
will be more difficult still for developing countries that  rely heavily on inflows of worker remittances 
and exports of tourism, both of which are projected to fall.   
GDP and merchandise trade by region, 2006-2008 
Annual  per cent change at constant prices 
  GDP   Exports   Imports 
  2006 2007 2008   2006 2007 2008   2006 2007 2008
World 3.7 3.5 1.7  8.5 6.0 2.0  8.0 6.0 2.0 
North America 2.9 2.1 1.1  8.5 5.0 1.5  6.0 2.0 -2.5 
United States 2.8 2.0 1.1  10.5 7.0 5.5  5.5 1.0 -4.0 
South and Central America a 6.1 6.6 5.3  4.0 3.0 1.5  15.5 17.5 15.5 
Europe 3.1 2.8 1.0  7.5 4.0 0.5  7.5 4.0 -1.0 
European Union (27) 3.0 2.8 1.0  7.5 3.5 0.0  7.0 3.5 -1.0 
Commonwealth of 
 Independent States (CIS) 7.5 8.4 5.5  6.0 7.5 6.0  20.5 20.0 15.0 
Africa 5.7 5.8 5.0  1.5 4.5 3.0  10.0 14.0 13.0 
Middle East 5.2 5.5 5.7  3.0 4.0 3.0  5.5 14.0 10.0 
Asia 4.6 4.9 2.0  13.5 11.5 4.5  8.5 8.0 4.0 
China 11.6 11.9 9.0  22.0 19.5 8.5  16.5 13.5 4.0 
Japan 2.0 2.4 -0.7  10.0 9.5 2.5  2.0 1.5 -1.0 
India 9.8 9.3 7.9  11.0 13.0 7.0  8.0 16.0 12.5 
Newly industrialized 
 economies (4) b 5.6 5.6 1.7  13.0 9.0 3.5  8.0 6.0 3.5 
a  Includes the Caribbean. 
b Hong Kong, China; Republic of Korea; Singapore and Chinese Taipei. 
Source:   WTO Secretariat. 
                                                      
19 IMF, "The Implications of the Global Financial Crisis for Low-Income Countries", March 2009. 
20 UNCTAD Investment Brief, Number 1, 2009. WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 22  
 
  • After years of rapid growth, remittance inflows to developing countries are estimated 
to have reached US$283 billion in 2008, bu t with a deceleration apparent in the 
second half of the year.  World Bank projections suggest that remittances to developing countries will fall in 2009 by between -1 and -6 per cent.
21  The negative 
impact is particularly problematic for tho se countries for which remittances are large 
relative to GDP, including many smaller economies such as Moldova (38 per cent), 
Tonga (35 per cent), Lesotho (29 per cent), Honduras (25 per cent), Guyana (23.5 per cent) and Jamaica (19.4 per cent).  
• The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported a sharp drop in the growth of 
international tourism  worldwide in 2008.
22  After a 5 per cent increase in the first half 
of the year, growth in international tourist arrivals turned negative (-1 per cent) in the 
second half and annual growth was an est imated 2 per cent, down from 7 per cent 
in 2007.  UNWTO expects international touris m to stagnate or even decline slightly  
(-1 per cent to -2 per cent) throughout 2009. 
• Many developing countries generate a la rge share of export earnings, government 
revenue and GDP from commod ity production and exports.23  Commodity prices  were 
very volatile in 2008, surging in most cases in the first half of the year but then 
reversing sharply as the financial and econom ic crises set in.  In the second half of 
2008, non-energy commodity prices declined  by -38 per cent, with substantial 
declines in food, agricultural raw materi als and metals and minerals.  Petroleum 
prices fell by -69 per cent between July and December 2008.  The IMF reports that commodity prices are unlikely to recover in the short run.
24   
0100200300400500600700
Jan-02 Jan-03 Jan-04 Jan-05 Jan-06 Jan-07 Jan-08 Jan-09Chart 6
Prices of selected primar y products, Januar y 1998 - Januar y 2009
Source: IMF, International Financial Statistics.(Index, January 2002=100)
Energy
FoodMetals
 
 
                                                      
21 World Bank, "Migration and Development Brief 8", 11 November 2008.  The Inter American 
Development Bank (IADB) reported that remittances to Latin America and th e Caribbean countries are expected 
to decrease in 2009;  data for January 2009 shows that remittance flows fell by between 11 per cent and 13 per cent (SELA Servicio Informativo, 16 March 2009 and BBC Mundo.com of 17 March 2009). 
22 UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, Vol. 7, No.1, Ja nuary 2009.  Figures reflect international tourist 
arrivals only (excluding domestic tourism), for which comprehensive data is available. 
23 In Africa, petroleum generates more than one-half of government revenue for Congo, Equatorial 
Guinea, Gabon and Nigeria, and cocoa generates one-fifth of government revenue in Côte d'Ivoire.  Commodity 
revenues account for 22 per cent of GDP in Trinidad and Tobago and 12 per cent in Bolivia. 
24 International Monetary Fund, The Implications of the Global Financial Crisis for Low-Income 
Countries, March 2009.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 23 
 
 
   Aid for trade 
64. Total Aid for Trade grew by US$4.4 billion in r eal terms, as measured against the baseline, to 
reach US$25.4 billion in 2007.25  Most of the increase (approximately 60 per cent) went to support 
infrastructure programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa.26  Assistance for trade-related infrastructure 
continues to attract the highest volume of commit ments at 53.7 per cent of total Aid for Trade.  
Commitments to build productive cap acity experienced a marginally hi gher growth of 21.4 per cent to 
reach 43 per cent of total flows.  In contrast, assi stance for trade policy regulation grew 3.8 per cent 
(falling back in 2007 after a 58 per cent surge in 2006).  In 2008, donors were invited to report on the new CRS category trade-related adjustment support, but few provided data for 2007. 
Aid for trade commitments  
(Constant 2006 US$ million)27 
 2002-2005 baseline 2006 2007 Increase vis-à-vis baseline 
(Per cent) 
Trade related infrastructure 11,307 12,523 13,666 20.9 
Building productive capacity 9,135 9,957 11,053 21.0 
Trade policy and regulations 659 1,046 685 3.8 
Trade-related adjustment - - 17.7 - 
Aid for Trade total 21,101 23,526 25,422 20.5 
Source: OECD Creditor Reporting System. 
65. The United States and Japan remain the largest single providers of bilateral Aid for Trade, 
with US$4.6 billion and US$4.4 billion in 2007, respec tively. They, together with the EC, are well on 
their way to meet their 2005 aid for trade pledges.  Other important bilateral donors include France,  Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the Unite d Kingdom.  In total, bilateral donors accounted 
for 62 per cent of total Aid for Trade in 2007 -  down 2.3 per cent on 2006. 
                                                     
 
25 An essential element of monitoring the operationa lization of Aid for Trade is tracking by OECD and 
WTO of global aid-for-trade flows reported to the OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS).  At the First Global 
Review of Aid for Trade, a baseline was established fo r the period 2002-2005 in CRS categories which most 
closely relate to aid for trade as defined by the WTO Task Force.  The OECD and WTO will present an updated 
publication, Aid for Trade at a Glan ce 2009, at the Second Global Review of Aid for Trade to be held on 
6-7 July 2009.  Some preliminary results are presented here. 
26 Due to time needed for in-depth reporting on aid flows, the OECD CRS database cannot capture any 
impact which the current financial crisis may have had on Aid for Trade flows in 2008 or 2009.   
27 Commitments are firm obligations to provide development assistance to a partner country or 
multilateral organisation. Commitments measure donors’ in tentions and permit monitoring of the targeting of 
resources for specific purposes  in recipient countries.   
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 24 Aid for Trade by key Bilateral and Multilateral Donors and by Category – Commitments         
US$ million (2006 constant)         
                   
 Trade Policy & Regulations Economic Infrastructure Building Productive Capacity Trade Related 
Adjustment Total AfT  
    
 2002-05 
ave. 2006 2007 2002-05 
ave. 2006 2007 2002-05 
ave. 2006 2007 2007 2002-05 
ave. 2006 2007   per 
cent 
Change 
2006-
2007 Share 
in Total 
AfT 
2007 Donor's 
Total 
Sector 
Allocable 
ODA 2007 Share in 
Donor's Total 
Sector 
Allocable 
ODA 
Canada 17.8 17.2 18.8 41.8 47.1 53.4 254.7 184.1 247.3 0.3 314.3 248.4 319.7  28.7 1.3 1,938.7 16.5 
France 4.0 0.5 4.0 341.1 517.4 506.8 335.1 416.4 737.9 0.0 680.2 828.2 1,248.7  50.8 4.9 4,603.9 27.1 
Germany 13.5 18.0 37.9 529.1 796.7 501.5 616.9 1,062.3 956.5 0.0 1,159.5 1,877.0 1,495.9  -20.3 5.9 5,382.8 27.8 
Japan 47.6 50.4 45.7 3,520.1 3,417.2 2,968.0 903.9 1,101.8 1,383.8 0.0 4,471.6 4,569.4 4,397.5  -3.8 17.3 8,975.6 49.0 
Netherlands 17.0 63.0 44.3 134.5 134.4 86.0 377.1 663.6 508.2 0.0 528.7 861.0 638.4  -25.9 2.5 2,582.8 24.7 
Norway 8.7 21.4 20.8 90.3 103.7 142.1 152.9 198.8 188.6 0.0 251.9 323.9 351.4  8.5 1.4 1,783.2 19.7 
Spain 1.3 0.8 6.7 225.4 592.4 296.9 143.5 111.1 264.2 0.0 370.2 704.3 567.8  -19.4 2.2 2,425.1 23.4 
Sweden 15.4 25.7 33.6 97.1 87.5 70.1 101.1 212.1 236.4 0.0 213.6 325.2 340.2  4.6 1.3 1,161.7 29.3 
United 
Kingdom 27.9 80.7 26.2 309.5 107.9 110.1 417.1 442.3 337.1 0.0 754.5 630.9 473.3  -25.0 1.9 4,090.1 11.6 
United 
States 227.3 316.4 182.7 1,660.0 2,307.0 2,481.9 1,706.5 1,896.6 1,967.5 0.0 3,593.9 4,520.0 4,632.1  2.5 18.2 18,145.1 25.5 
                             
Total 
Bilateral 426.1 632.2 434.2 7,511.9 8,648.5 7,748.7 5,855.0 7,026.9 7,638.8 0.3 13,793.0 16,201.5 15,821.7  -2.3 62.2     
                             
AfDB 22.1 0.0 0.0 245.8 282.1 830.7 297.4 243.5 231.4 0.0 565.2 525.6 1,062.1  102.1 4.2 1,681.7 63.2 
AsDF 7.9 0.0 4.9 337.7 165.9 340.5 358.7 216.3 257.2 0.0 704.3 382.2 602.6  57.7 2.4 1,713.0 35.2 
EC 176.4 411.3 243.4 1,300.3 1,647.2 1,352.2 1,002.1 1,161.2 1,133.1 17.4 2,478.8 3,219.7 2,728.7  -15.2 10.7 8,690.1 31.4 
World Bank 24.9 0.0 0.0 1,789.6 1,724.2 3,232.7 1,351.9 1,117.6 1,430.6 0.0 3,166.4 2,841.8 4,663.4  64.1 18.3 9,124.8 51.1 
IADB 0.0 0.0 0.0 115.1 49.5 155.5 113.1 10.0 24.6 0.0 228.2 59.5 180.1  202.7 0.7 381.0 47.3 
IFAD 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.9 0.0 0.0 149.5 167.5 325.3 0.0 153.4 167.5 325.3  94.2 1.3 490.8 66.3 
                             
Total 
Multilateral 232.7 413.7 251.1 3,794.3 3,874.5 5,917.5 3,280.4 2,930.6 3,414.3 17.4 7,307.5 7,218.9 9,600.3  33.0 37.8     
                             
Overall 
Total 658.9 1,046.0 685.3 11,306.2 12,523.0 13,666.2 9,135.4 9,957.5 11,053.1 17.7 21,100.5 23,526.5 25,422.3  8.1 100.0     
 
Source:  OECD Creditor Reporting System.  
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 25 
 
 
  66. In 2006 and 2007, multilateral a nd regional donors significantly expanded their Aid for Trade 
programmes.  Their commitments increased by 31.3  per cent compared to the baseline to reach 
US$9.6 billion in 2007.  The World Bank, through the International Development Association (IDA), 
was the largest multilateral provider of concessional Aid for Trade in 2007 providing 18.3 per cent of 
the total.  The EC, not including member states, provided 10.7 per cent of Aid for Trade in 2007.  The 
Asian Development Bank and the African Developmen t Bank (AfDB) are also important providers of 
Aid for Trade in their respective regions – the latter al locating more than 60 per cent of its total sector 
allocable ODA to Aid for Trade.   
67. Overall, Aid for Trade accounted for approximately 31.8 per cent of total sector allocable 
ODA in 2007, below the average 33.5 per cent regist ered during the 2002-2005 baseline period.  This 
drop, despite an overall increase of US$4.35 billion,  reflects even higher levels of donor support for 
social sectors, such as education and health. C onsequently, the increase in the volume of Aid for 
Trade is provided additionally and not to th e detriment of spending on social sectors. 
68. India, Iraq, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Indonesia were the top five recipients of Aid for Trade 
in 2007, accounting for almost 28 per cent of the total.  Asian countries received approximately 
38.5 per cent of all Aid for Trade (US$9.8 billion in 2007).28 Africa follows with 37.3 per cent 
(US$9.5 billion in 2007).  Furthermore, as the figur e above demonstrates, Africa's share of global Aid 
for Trade is rising, in particular when measured on a per capita basis.  Aid for Trade flows to the 
Americas and Oceania are also increasing.  
 
Top 20 recipients of Aid for Trade 
(2006-2007 average) 
 Commitments, US$ million (2006 constant) 
 2002-2005 average 2006-2007 
average Share of Total 
AfT Share of AfT in Total 
Sector Allocable ODA ODA/GNI 
(2007) 
India 1,352.3 1,743.2 7.1 35.9 0.11 
Iraq 1,979.2 1,586.4 6.5 37.8 .. 
Viet Nam 1,371.9 1,414.0 5.8 56.0 3.58 
Afghanistan 665.0 1,254.7 5.1 40.4 33.86 
Indonesia 986.9 793.5 3.2 34.4 0.19 
Ethiopia 485.1 734.5 3.0 32.1 12.48 
Egypt 518.5 585.6 2.4 49.2 0.84 
Bangladesh 642.1 557.8 2.3 29.7 2.06 
Kenya 300.0 514.5 2.1 31.3 4.31 
China 695.4 438.2 1.8 17.7 0.04 
Ghana 235.6 437.1 1.8 40.2 7.59 
Uganda 221.2 373.1 1.5 34.4 15.72 
Mali 159.5 366.5 1.5 45.6 15.43 
Pakistan 345.8 365.3 1.5 24.6 1.51 
Morocco 280.6 349.2 1.4 30.0 1.51 
Mozambique 284.2 341.1 1.4 29.1 26.33 
Tanzania 324.2 305.6 1.2 23.4 17.43 
Sri Lanka 410.9 283.4 1.2 46.9 1.84 
Serbia 372.4 242.0 1.0 27.8 2.04 
Turkey 404.7 214.5 0.9 22.8 0.12 
TOTAL 12,035.50 12,900.20 52.7   
 
                                                      
28 In the OECD CRS database, Asia includes Middle East Asia, South and Central Asia, and Far East 
Asia.  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 26  
 
  69. An increasing amount of Aid for Trade resources is going to regional and global programmes.  
The share of direct assistance to countries fell from 90 per cent in 2002-2005 to 81 per cent in 2007.  
At the same time, regional and global programmes grew to 12 per cent and 7 per cent of the total. 
7. Statements by governments and reports by intergovernmental organizations  
 Statements 
 
70. Political leaders have being meeting in va rious formats around the world to discuss the 
aggravation of the economic and fina ncial crisis and its repercussions.   In addition to recognizing the 
seriousness of the global crisis and the need to ta ke collective measures to address the most urgent 
problems causing it, leaders have made strong calls to resist trade protectionism in their domestic 
policy responses to the crisis, which could only ex acerbate the downturn, and reiterated their strong 
support for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round.   The following is a non-exhaustive list of such 
declarations and communiqués: 
- Communiqué of the 10
th Annual Meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank 
Governors, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 8-9 November 2008; 
- Communiqué of the Meeting of African Minist ers of Finance and Planning and Governors of 
Central Banks, Tunis, Tunisia, 12 November 2008; 
- Communiqué of the Meeting of the Committee of  African Ministers of Finance and Planning 
and Governors of Central Banks, Cape Town, South Africa, 16 January 2009; 
- Statement of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, Rome, Italy, 
14 February 2009; 
- Statement by APEC Senior Officials followi ng their meeting in Singapore, 15-16 February 
2009; 
- Outcome of the Berlin Summit in preparation of the G20 Summit in London, Berlin, 
Germany, 22 February 2009; 
- G20 Finance Ministers' and Central Bank Governors' Communiqué, London, United 
Kingdom, 14 March 2009; 
- Report from the Committee of African Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors 
(established to monitor the crisis) on the im pact of the crisis on African economies, 
17 March 2009. 
 
 Reports 
 
71. The repercussions of the global financial and economic crisis are being felt in many areas 
outside the economic arena.  One of the most imme diate concern for policy makers is the impact of 
the crisis on poverty reduction efforts around the world.  For example, the World Bank reports that the economic crisis may increase poverty by aroun d 46 million people in 2009, through negative 
employment and wage effects as well as declining remittances flows.  The ILO recent forecasts 
suggest that global job losses could reach 51 milli on, and up to 30 million workers could become 
unemployed.   
72. There are a number of other areas, in additio n to poverty and employment, which are of 
concern to a many Intergovernmental Organizations .  Some of them have prepared specific studies 
and reports on the impact of the economic crisis in their respective fields.  The following is a non-
exhaustive list of those studies which may be of interest to delegations: 
- United Nations, "Preliminary Recommendations by the Commission of Experts of the 
President of the General Assembly on reforms of the International Monetary and Financial 
System", (Stiglitz Commission) 19 March 2009 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 27 
 
 
  - International Monetary Fund (IMF), "The Imp lications of the Global Financial Crisis for 
Low-Income Countries", March 2009. (www.imf. org/external/np/exr/key/finstab.htm) 
 - UNCTAD, "Assessing the Impact of the Curre nt Financial and Econom ic Crisis on Global 
FDI Flows", January 2009. (www.unt acd.org/en/docs/webdiaeia20091_en.pdf) 
 
- UNCTAD, "The Global Economic Crisis:  Sy stemic Failures and Mu ltilateral Remedies", 
19 March 2009. 
 - World Bank, "Swimming Against the Tide.  Ho w Developing Countries are Coping with the 
Global Crisis", March 2009. (http://site resources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Resources/ 
swimmingagaintsthetide-march2009.pdf). 
 - International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Confronting the Crisis:  Its Impact on the 
ICT Industry", February 2009.  (www.itu.in t/osg/csd/emerging_trends/crisis/18.html). 
 
- World Health Organization (WHO), "The Financ ial Crisis and Global Health", Report of a 
High-Level consultation on 19 January 2009 .  (www.who.int/topics/financial_crisis/ 
en/index.html). 
 - International Labour Organization (ILO), "The  Financial and Economic Crisis:  A Decent 
Work Response?", 24 March 2009.  (www.ilo.org). 
 - OECD, Tackling the Financial and Economic Cris is, various publications such as "Financial 
Crisis: Past Lessons and Policy Implicati ons", February 2009.  (www.oecd.org). 
 
- Human Rights Council, "The Impact of th e Global Economic and Fi nancial Crisis on the 
Universal Realization and Effective Enjoyment of Human Rights", 23 February 2009. (www2.ohchr.org/English/bodies/hrcouncil/specialsession/10/index.htm). 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 28  
 
   
ANNEX 1 
 
Trade and trade-related measures29 
(September 2008  - March 2009) 
 
VERIFIED INFORMATION 
Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Argentina Introduction of non-automatic import licensing 
requirements, covering products such as: textiles, steel, metallurgical products, and tyres.  Various dates 
starting on 4 November 2008 to 
4 March 2009 Resolución No. 343/07 "Certificado 
de Importación de Productos Textiles (CIPT)"; Resolución No. 
588/08 " Certificado de Importación 
de Productos Metalurgicos (CIPM)"; Resolución No. 444/04 
"Certificado de Importación de 
Productos para el Hogar (CIAH)"; Resolución MP No. 6/09 "Licencias No Automaticas: ruedas" – 
Ministerio de Producción, of 22 
January 2009, and Resolución MP No. 61/09 "Licencias No 
Automaticas: Modificaciones – 
Productos Varios (CIPV)" – Ministerio de Producción, of 4 
March 2009. (BO 5/03/09). 
Argentina Introduction of reference price covering around 1,000 
imported products considered sensitive (i.e. auto parts, textiles, TV, toys, shoes, and leather goods) . 18 February 2009 Actuación No. 13707-3-2009 and 
Resolución General AFIP No. 1907, and Notas Externas de la Dirección 
General de Aduanas Nos. 1/2009; 
2/2009; 4/2009; 5/2009; 6/2009; 8/2009; 14/2009; and 20/2009 "Publicación de valores de criterio 
de caracter preventivo". 
Argentina Initiation of anti-dumpi ng investigation on road wheels 
for trailers and semi-trailers (NCM: 8708.70.90 and 
8716.90.90) imported from China. 2 March 2009 Resolución SICPME No. 46/09 
"Ref. Dumping – Ruedas de acero, 
de diametro nominal o superior o 
igual a 444,5 mm 17,5" pero inferior o igual a 622,3 mm 24,5" y 
ancho nominal superior o igual a 
152,4 mm 6", de los tipos utilizados en autobuses, camions, remolques y 
semirremolques de China", of 
2/3/09 (BO 9/3/09). 
Argentina Imposition of price reference for exports (HS 7401) 
"Copper". 5 March 2009 Nota DGA No. 21/09 "Ref. valores 
Referenciales de Exportación – 
Caracter Precautorio – Listado" (B0 9/3/09). 
Argentina Elimination of export taxes (set at 5% in August 2006) for 
35 HS tariff lines (Codes 0401; 0402; 0403; 0404; 0405; 0406; and 1901.90.90) "dairy products", as from 
1 January 2009. 6 March 2009 Resolución No. 672/06 and No. 
61/07, amended by Resolución MP No. 62/09 and Resolución MEFP 
No. 79/09 "Derechos de 
exportación – Incremento transitorio – Modificaciones – 
Programa de Estabilización de 
Precios de Productos del Sector lacteo – Modificaciones", of 6 March 2009 (BO 9/03/09). 
Annex 1 (cont'd) 
                                                      
29 The inclusion of any measure in this table implies no judgement by the WTO Secretariat on whether 
or not such measure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature. Moreover, nothing in the table implies any judgement, either direct or indirect , on the consistency of any measure referred to in this table with the 
provisions of any WTO agreement or such measure's impact on, or relationship with, the global financial crisis.   WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 29 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Brazil Definitive anti-dumping du ties on: phenol (EC, US); 
glassine papers (Finland, US); and ammonium nitrate 
(Russia, Ukraine). Various dates WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/180/BRA/Corr.1 of 17 March 2009. 
Brazil Decision to increase the number of exporting companies 
(allowing larger firms, with annual revenue up to R$600 
million (US$235 million)) with access to the 
government's export financing programme (Proex). There was no increase in the programme's budget. 23 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Brazil to 
the WTO. 
Canada Imposition of final an ti-dumping and countervailing 
duties on thermoelectric containers from China (11 December 2008). 
 
Initiation of anti-dumping i nvestigation on waterproof 
footwear from China (27 February 2009). 
 
Imposition of final anti-du mping and countervailing 
duties on aluminium extrusions from China (17 March 
2009). Various dates Permanent De legation of Canada to 
the WTO. 
Canada Elimination of impo rt tariffs on 214 tariff lines 
(machinery and equipment), w ith duty rates ranging from 
2.5% to 11% (2008). 28 January 2009 Permanent De legation of Canada to 
the WTO. 
Canada Amendments to the Investment Canada Act to: lower 
obstacles to foreign investme nt by focussing net benefit 
reviews on larger transactions ; improve transparency in 
the administration of the Act; and authorize the Government to review investments that threaten to impair 
national security.  
 Amendments to the Canada Transportation Act to: allow an increase in the limit of foreign ownership of voting 
interest in Canadian airlines from 25% to 49%. 6 February 2009 Permanent De legation of Canada to 
the WTO. 
China Export support measure: increase in VAT rebate rates on 
exports of a number of products such as: textiles and 
clothing; ceramic; plastic; furniture; pharmaceutical, 
household appliances; books; rubber; moulds, dies; glassware; suitcases; bags; footwear; watches; chemicals; 
machinery; and electrical products. Various dates from 
1 November 2008 to 
1 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Elimination of export duties on 102 products including 
certain steel plates. 
Reduction of export duties on 23 products, including for 
example yellow phosphorous. 1 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Export duties on five pr oducts (including apatite and 
silicon) raised from 10% to 15%, or from 20% to 35%. 1 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Import ban on Irish pork.  December 2008 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Elimination of lower Interim Import Tariffs Rates on 
soybean oil-cake, pork, and neem oil, and resumption of normal MFN rates.  1 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Cancellation of export licensing administration on silk 
warm cocoon, and certain silk products. 1 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Anti-dumping investigati on on terephthalic acid from 
Thailand and Republic of Korea. 12 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Restrictions on the export of certain highly energy-
consuming, highly-polluting, and exhaustible resource products.  24 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 30  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
EC Reintroduction of customs duties on imports of certain 
cereals (CN Codes: 1001 90 99; 1001 10; 1002 00 00; 1003 00; 1005 90 00; 1007 00 90; 1008 10 00; 1008 20 
00) for the 2008/09 marketing year.  Since January 2008, 
tariffs for cereals were suspended (Commission Regulation No. 608/2008 of 26 June 2008). 22 October 2008 Commission Regulations No. 
1039/2008 of 22 October 2008, reintroducing customs duties on 
imports of certain cereals for the 
2008/09 marketing year (OJ L 280/5), and No. 197/2009 of 13 
March 2009, fixing the import 
duties in the cereal sector applicable from 16 March 2009 (OJ L 70/3). 
EC Temporary changes in the set of Commission Sate Aid 
guidelines increasing flexib ility on short-term export 
credits. 
Various measures to increase access to trade finance for European exporters have also taken place at the national 
level. 17 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
EC Reintroduction of export refunds for butter, cheese and 
whole and skim milk powde r (as of 19 January 2009). 
Resumption of market interventions to buy butter and 
skim milk powder from 1 March 2009.  22 January 2009 Commission Regulations No. 
57/2009, 58/2009, and 59/2009 of 
22 January 2009. 
EC Anti-dumping duties on imports of certain iron or steel 
fasteners (CN Codes: 7318 12 90; 7318 14 91; 7318 14 
99; 7318 15 59; 7318 15 69; 7318 15 81; 7318 15 89) from China. 
 
The rate of the duty ranges from 26.5% to 85%. 26 January 2009 Council Regulation No. 91/2009 of 
26 January 2009 (OJ L29/1). 
EC Provisional anti-dumping duties of 3.7%, 8.6%, or 24.9% 
on imports of bars and rods, hot rolled, in irregularly 
wound coils, of iron, non-alloy steel or alloy steel other than of stainless steel, originating in China and Moldova.  6 February 2009 Commission Regulation (EC) No. 
112/2009 (OJ L 38/3). 
EC Notice of initiation of an expi ry review and partial interim 
review of the anti-dumping measures applicable to import 
of silicon (CN 2804 69 00) originating in China. 
 
The measure currently in force is a definitive anti-
dumping duty imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No. 398/2004. By Council Regulation (EC) No. 42/2007 the 
definitive anti-dumping duty wa s extended to imports of 
silicon consigned from the Republic of Korea, whether declared as originating in the Republic of Korea or not. 4 March 2009 Commission Announcement 
2009/C 51/07 (OJ C 51/07). 
EC Termination of the partia l interim review of the anti-
dumping measures applicable to imports of hand pallet trucks and their essential parts (CN 8427 90 00 and 8431 
20 00) originating in China. 
 The measure currently in force is a definitive anti-
dumping duty imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No. 
684/2008.  
The partial interim review is terminated, without 
amending the anti-dumping measures in force (46.7%). 9 March 2009 Council Regulation No. 188/2009 
of 9 March 2009 (OJ L67/1). 
EC Definitive anti-dumping duty on imports of certain 
plastics sacks and bags originating in China and Thailand, 
and termination of the proceeding on imports of certain plastic sacks and bags originating in Malaysia. 
 
The measure currently in force is a definitive anti-
dumping duty (ranging from 4.8% to 14.3%) imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1425/2006.  9 March 2009 Council Regulation No. 189/2009 
of 9 March 2009 (OJ L67/5). 
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 31 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
EC Initiation of an expiry review of the anti-dumping 
measures applicable to imports of sodium cyclamate (CN 2929 90 00) originating in China and Indonesia. 
 
The measure currently in force is a definitive anti-
dumping duty imposed by Council Regulation (EC) No. 
435/2004.  10 March 2009 Commission Notice 2009/C 56/10 
(OJ C 56/42). 
EC Provisional anti-dumping duties (ranging from €23.6 
(US$31) to €208.2 (US$272) per tonne net) on imports of 
"biodiesel" (CN  3824 90 91; ex 3824 90 97; ex 2710 19 41; ex 1516 20 98; ex 1518 00 91; ex 1518 00 99) 
originating in the United States , to be effective as from 12 
March 2009; and for a maximum period of six months. 11 March 2009 Commission Regulation (EC) No. 
193/2009 of 11 March 2009 (OJ 
L/67/22). 
EC Provisional countervaili ng duties (ranging from €211.2 
(US$275) to €237 (US$309) per tonne net) on imports of 
"biodiesel" (CN  3824 90 91; ex 3824 90 97; ex 2710 19 41; ex 1516 20 98; ex 1518 00 91; ex 1518 00 99) 
originating in the United States , to be effective as from 12 
March 2009; and for a maximum period of four months. 11 March 2009 Commission Regulation (EC) No. 
194/2009 of 11 March 2009. 
Ecuador Import tariff reductions on 3,267 tariff lines covering 
products such as: raw materials (from 7.6% to 3.8%), and 
capital equipment (from 6.3% to 2.3%), not locally produced. December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Ecuador 
to the WTO. 
Ecuador Tariff increases on 630 tariff lines (accounting for 8.7% of 
total lines, covering a wide range of goods, with a view to restore balance-of-payments. (Article XVIII.B of GATT 
1994).  
 These measures are intended to be temporary and valid for one year.  They are also applicable to members of the 
Andean Community. Effective as of 
22 January 2009 Notification to the WTO 
(WT/BOP/N/65/Rev.1 of 2 March 2009). 
Hong Kong, 
China Establishment of the State-owned "Hong Kong Export 
Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC)" to encourage trade 
by providing exporters with insurance protection against 
non-payment risk. 26 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Hong 
Kong, China to the WTO, and 
WTO Document 
WT/WGTDF/W/41 of 26 November 2008. 
India Increase in import duties on a range of iron and steel 
products from 0% to 5% (restoration of previous duty). ... Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Elimination of export du ties on steel products (which 
were imposed in May 2008). 31 October 2008 Permanent De legation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Introduction of licensing requirements for imports of 
certain steel products and auto parts.  Some of these 
requirements were removed between December 2008 and 
January 2009.  21 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Under fiscal stimulus meas ures taken by the Government: 
elimination of import duties for Naphtha for use in the 
power sector; elimination of export duties on iron ore fines; and reduction of export duties on lumps. 7 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India New mandatory product quality certification from the 
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for 17 steel imported products.  The Government deferred implementation of 
this regulation by one year on 10 February 2009. 14 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Removal of export duty a nd reduction of minimum export 
price for premium Basmati rice. 20 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Recommendation to apply provisional anti-dumping 
duties on Full Draw Yarn (FDY) imported from China, 
Thailand, and Vietnam. 23 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 32  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
India Temporary ban on imports of toys from China (six 
months), to ensure health and safety of children.   
However, import of toys from China accompanied by the 
following certificates shall be permitted:  
 
(i) A certificate that the toys being imported conform to 
the standards prescribed in ASTM F963 or standards prescribed in ISO 8124 (Parts I-III) or IS 9873 [Parts I-
III]; 
 (ii) A Certificate of Conformance from the manufacturer 
indicating that representative sample of toys being 
imported have been tested by  an independent laboratory 
which is ILAC accredited and found to meet the 
specifications indicated above. The certificate would also 
link the toys in the cons ignment to the period of 
manufacture indicated in the Certificate of Conformity.  23 January 2009; 
2 March 2009 Notification No. 82/(RE-
2008)/2004-2009 of 23 January 2009, amended by Notification No. 
91/(RE-2008)/ 2004-2009 of 2 
March 2009. 
India Preliminary safeguard findings on: Phthalic anhydride; 
Linear alkyl benzene; Aluminium flat rolled product and 
aluminium foil; Soda ash; and Dimethoate technical.  
Provisional safeguard measures imposed only on Phthalic anhydride.  29 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Changes in FDI regulations to facilitate application of 
caps on foreign ownership in sensitive sectors, such as: defence production, telecommunications and aviation.  13 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Increase in the Minimum S upport Price for cotton paid to 
local farmers. 14 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Imposition of 20% duty on imported soybean oils 24 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Export incentives for a variety of exporters, and specific 
export incentives for textile and leather products. 26 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
India Trade facilitation measures such as: enlargement of the 
list of entities authorized to import directly precious 
metals; removal of import restrictions on worked corals; and simplification of export licensing requirements for 
blood samples. 26 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
Indonesia Ministry of Health  Decree No. 1010/08 regulating 
registration and imports of pharmaceutical products. The 
Decree establishes the separation between manufacturers 
and wholesalers to protect cons umer health and the safety 
of pharmaceutical products. With regard to imports, initial 
registration must now be made through an Indonesian 
manufacturer. Once the registration process is complete the foreign company may directly sale to the wholesalers 
concerned.  3 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Indonesia 
to the WTO. 
Indonesia Restrictions on film import s. The regulation stipulates that 
celluloid film may only be imported in the form of 
negative film master or ne gative film dupe (reproduction 
of the master negative film),  but may include a copy of 
the finished product. 
 
The reported objective of the regulation is to deter film piracy and to increase efficiency of the enforcement of the 
Censorship Law. 25 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Indonesia 
to the WTO, and WTO Document 
G/MA/235 of 17 March 2009. 
Indonesia New mining Law adopted in December 2008, promoting 
local processing of raw materials (mineral and coal). The regulation does not prohibit exports of these products. 
(implementing regulations to be adopted)  16 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Indonesia 
to the WTO. 
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 33 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Indonesia New licensing, reporting, and pre-shipment inspection 
requirements on over 500 goods (food and beverages, toys, electronics, footwear, and garments). 
 
Restriction on entry points for those products to six seaports and all international airports.  The legislation is 
reportedly aimed at combating illegal trade and 
safeguarding health and safe ty through the development 
of an effective tracking system. 1 January 2009 and 
1 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Indonesia 
to the WTO. 
Indonesia Introduction of mandatory  standards for steel products 
(hot-rolled steel sheets and coils and zinc-aluminium alloy 
coated steel sheets and coils), to protect consumer safety, 
increase product quality, and establish a fair trade competition. 6 January 2009 Permanent De legation of Indonesia 
to the WTO, and WTO Document 
G/TBT/N/IDN/24/Rev.1, of 18 
March 2009. 
Indonesia Increase of import tariffs on 17 tariff lines such as: 
petrochemical, steel, and electronic parts.  
Reduction of import tariffs on 18 tariff lines.  13 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Indonesia 
to the WTO. 
Indonesia New regulation stipula ting that exports of mining 
products, crude palm oil, coffee, rubber, and cocoa with 
an export value exceeding US$1 million must be 
supported by letters of credit issued by domestic banks. 5 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Indonesia 
to the WTO. 
Japan Special Safeguard measures (SSG) on food preparations 
of flour, meal or starch, and tubers of konnyaku (from 1 
February to 31 March 2009). 13 February 2009 Notification to the WTO 
(G/AG/N/JPN/141). 
Kazakhstan Reduction of import tariffs on equipment and raw 
materials that are not locally produced. 
Increase of import tariffs on finished goods, competing with local production. 28 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of 
Kazakhstan to the WTO. 
Korea, Rep. of As from March 2009, tariff on imports of crude oil 
increased to 3%. 
The tariff was lowered from 3% to 1% in 2004, on a temporary basis, in order to mitigate the effects of 
increase in oil prices.  In light of the subsequent 
stabilization of oil prices, the applied tariff was restored to 
its original rate at 3%. March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Korea to 
the WTO. 
Malaysia Elimination of the current 10% import duty on cement.  
 Liberalization of imports of iron and steel products. 
  
Elimination of import licen ces for the construction and 
manufacturing sector. 14 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Malaysia 
to the WTO. 
Malaysia New technical regulations for 57 steel products, requiring 
certificates of approval for conformity with Malaysian Standards. 15 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Malaysia 
to the WTO. 
Malaysia Extension of anti-dumping duties on Indonesian 
newsprints producers (range 5.39% to 33.14%). 2 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Malaysia 
to the WTO. 
Mexico Tariff reductions on 97% of manufactured goods.  This 
reduction will take place in fi ve annual phases.  In 2013, 
the average applied tariff sha ll be reduced to 4.3% from 
10.4% (December 2008). 63% of the tariff lines shall be 
duty free by then.  12 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Mexico to 
the WTO. 
Mexico Suspension of preferential tariff treatment, arising from 
NAFTA, on 89 tariff lines of goods originating from the 
United States. 19 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Mexico to 
the WTO. 
New Zealand Temporary change in the mandate of the New Zealand 
Export Credit Office (NZECO), in order to provide short/term trade credit insurance at market rates, on a 
temporary basis (Small Busine ss Relief Package to Small 
and Medium Sized Businesses). 4 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of New 
Zealand to the WTO. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 34  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Paraguay Anti-crisis programme including the "Buy Paraguayan" 
plan, which establishes a 70%  preferential margin for 
domestic firms in government procurement.  February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Paraguay 
to the WTO. 
Philippines New “Mineral Ore Export Permit” for the 
transport/shipment of mineral ores.  
According to the authorities, this measure is being 
imposed in order to eradicate undervaluation, misdeclaration and red tape in  the exportation of mineral 
ores, and improve the collecti on of excise tax on minerals. 4 September 2008 Administrative Order No. 2008-20 
from the Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources 
(DAO) of 4 September 2008. 
Philippines Tariff reduction on wheat; meslin; cement; and cement 
clinker to 0% for a period of six months, effective from 22 
December 2008. 7 November 2008 Office of the President Executive 
Orders No. 765 and 766 of 7 
November 2008.  
Philippines Provisional safeguard on steel angle bars for 200 days. 27 February 2009 WTO Documents 
G/SG/N/7/PHL/7; 
G/SG/N/8/PHL/7; and 
G/SG/N/11/PHL/7. 
Chinese 
Taipei Imposition of a volume-based sp ecial safeguard for dried 
day lilies, from 9 October 2008 to 31 December 2008. 18 November 2008 WTO Document 
G/AG/N/TPKM/62. 
Chinese 
Taipei Imposition of a volume-based sp ecial safeguard for other 
liquid milk, from 3 December 2008 to 31 December 2008. 6 February 2009 WTO Document 
G/AG/N/TPKM/63. 
Chinese Taipei Schools and colleges encouraged to buy local products. 
Local labour and local products to be given priority in construction projects. However, any offsets and price 
preference measures shall not apply to GPA-covered 
procurements. ... Press reports, clarified by the 
Permanent Delegation of Chinese Taipei to the WTO. 
Turkey  Additional duties as a safeguard measure imposed to 
imports of cotton yarn from all countries (for the period 
July 2008 to July 2009, 15% or 20% depending on CN code).  21 October 2008 Permanent Delegation of Turkey to 
the WTO, and WTO Documents 
G/SG/N/8/TUR/11; G/SG/N/9/TUR/5; G/SG/N/10/TUR/11; and 
G/SG/N/11/TUR/12. 
Turkey Import tariff increase on a number of products such as: 
iron-steel – hot rolled flat products (from 5% to 13%); 
iron-steel cold rolled flat products (from 6% to 14%); 
iron-steel- coated flat products (from 3.4%-14% to 6%-15%); wheat and meslin, buckwheat, rye, barley and oats, 
unprepared cereal straw and husks (from 50% to 80%); 
and dried apricots, prunes, apples (from 41% to 43.2%).  31 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Turkey to 
the WTO. 
Turkey  Initiation of 3 anti-dumping investigations (two in 
December 2008), and one in January 2009. 17 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Turkey to 
the WTO. 
Russian 
Federation Reduction of meat tariff quotas and increase of non-quota 
rates for pork (from 60% to 75%) and poultry (from 60% 
to 95%), (measure announced in November 2007, but 
effective as from 1 January 2009).  1 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Russian 
Federation Temporary increase of import tariffs (for nine months) on 
a number of products such as: cars (by 5% up to 30%); 
trucks (by 10%-20% up to 25%); buses (by 5%-15% up to 25%); particular types of flat  metals (by 10% up to 15%); 
particular types of ferrous metal pipes (up to 15%-20%); 
butter and certain types of dairy products (by €0.13 up to €0.35/kg (US$0.2- US$0.5)); milk and dairy cream (by 
5% up to 20%); and rice and milling products (by €0.16 
up to €0.23/kg (US$0.2-US$0.3)).  6 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Russian 
Federation Reduction of import tariffs on: civil aircraft; ferrous scrap; 
motors and major components of motor vehicles; cement 
and cement articles; and natural rubber. 6 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 35 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Russian 
Federation Export duties on certain wood products, which were 
scheduled to rise to 80%, to be  maintained at the original 
level of 25% until the end of 2009. 
 
Elimination of export dutie s on nickel and copper. 
 
Reduction of export duties on oil. 24 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Russian 
Federation Import ban on pork on supplies fr om several US facilities 
which do not comply with technical requirements. 15 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Ukraine Import duty surcharges up to 13%, except for "critical 
imports" for a term of up to six months, with a view to 
restore balance-of-payments (Article XII of GATT 1994).  As from 7 March 
2009 Notification to the WTO 
(WT/BOP/N/66 of 9 March 2009)  
Law No. 923-VI.  
United 
States The American Recovery a nd Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(ARRA) includes two “buy American” provisions that 
require government procurement of US-produced 
products.  One provision requires the use of US-produced steel, iron and manufactured goods in public works 
funded by the ARRA, subj ect to certain exceptions 
(public interest, non-availab ility or unreasonable cost).  
The second provision requires the Department of 
Homeland Security to procure US-manufactured textile 
and apparel goods.  However, the ARRA requires that these provisions be applied in a manner consistent with 
US obligations under international agreements.  Further, 
Congress has indicated that the "buy American" provision 
for iron, steel and manufactured goods is not intended to 
apply to LDCs.  
 Section 1611 of the ARRA requires that recipients of Trouble Assets Relief Programme (TARP) funds and 
certain other forms of support comply, for a limited period 
of time (two years), with additional attestation requirements when hiring H-1B workers. This provision 
does not prohibit the hiring of H-1B workers.  17 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO;  
American Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act of 2009, which became law on 17 February 2009. 
United States President's initiative to phase  out direct payments to 
farmers with sales of over US$500,000 a year, as part of 
the Administration's 2010 budget proposal to Congress. 27 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
United States Imposition of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on welded stainless steel pressure pipes from China. March 2009 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
United States Omnibus Appropriations Act 2009 (H.R. 1105) establishing that "none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to establish or implement a rule allowing 
poultry products to be imported into the United States 
from the People's Republic of China".  This is reportedly in response to food safety concerns, and is indented to 
allow time for USDA officials to ensure that imported 
poultry from China is safe.   
Same legislation which cancels funding for a test 
programme by the US Department of Transportation which allowed cross border trucking services with Mexico 
(11 March 2009). 11 March 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act 2009 
(H.R. 1105 – Sec. 727; Div I; 136). 
Vietnam Increase import tariffs on semi-finished products of iron 
or non-alloy steel from 2% to 5%; and for bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel from 5% to 12%.  9 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Vietnam 
to the WTO. 
Vietnam Increase export duties on: sand and stones from 12% to 
17%; mineral products; and wood coal and wood for materials from 0% to 5% and 10%.  26 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Vietnam 
to the WTO. 
Vietnam Variable import duties for paper products.  
Import tariffs on newsprint paper and uncoated paper 
were raised to 29% (up from 20% and 25% respectively).  10 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Vietnam 
to the WTO. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) 
... Not available. WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 36  
 
   
NON-VERIFIED INFORMATION 
Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Argentina Anti dumping measures on Brazilian (413.43%) and 
Chinese (1,450.21%) metal cutlery; air conditioners 
from Thailand; and German and Chinese terminals and 
electrical connections. 26 February 2009 Xinhua News Agency and Diario 
La Nación. 
Argentina Implementation of testing and certification 
requirements on imported toys.  March 2009 Press reports. 
Brazil Inclusion of the meat sector in the drawback 
programme (exception of federal taxes (9.5%) on the 
purchase of national inputs for exportable products) 10 February 2009 Gazeta Mercantil. 
Egypt Anti-dumping duties on imports of white sugar 
(imposed in January 2009). 
 
Anti-dumping/safeguard duties of 10% on imports of cold rolled flat tin sheets. 22 February 2009 Daily News Egypt. 
Egypt Additional duties on cott on textile imported from India 
(bound rate 15%). Since Ja nuary 2009 safeguard duty 
of 30% imposed. 8 March 2009 Business Standard Ltd. 
India Extension and increase of export taxes on hides, skins 
and wet-blue leather. Import license requirement limiting imports to genuine 
end user business with back-to-back export orders.  24 February 2009 The Confederation of European 
Business, referring to Notification No. 122/08 of the Ministry of 
Finance. 
Japan A few local governments reported to be implementing 
policies to encourage purchases of local products such 
as: cars, tv sets, and other electronic equipments. February 2009 Press reports. 
Libya Imposition of “consumpti on tax” on imported finished 
goods, while their locally produced equivalent are not 
taxed. 
Subjecting the same type of products to different 
regulatory schemes, depending on their origin. 24 February 2009 The Confederation of European 
Business. 
Malaysia Ban on the hiring of new foreign workers in key 
services and manufacturing sectors. 22 January 2009 Associated Press. 
Philippines Reduction of import ta riffs on several products, mainly 
not locally produced.  Reduction of MFN tariffs from 
3% to 1% on: silica; kaolin (China clay); bentonite; 
zircon flour; dried distillers grain soluble and soybean 
meal.  
Reduction of MFN tariffs from  15% to 1% on: medical-
compression stockings.  Creation of special tariff line for sodium polyacrylate; 
and methyl ester and biofuel blends at 3% rate. 
Duty free for multichip p ackage (MCP) integrated 
circuits, memories, amplifiers and other electronic 
integrated circuits. 10 February 2009 Business Mirror -  The Philippines. 
Russian 
Federation Increase of export duties on hides, skins and wet-bleu 
leather postponed, not repealed. 
Limitations to the number of  customs stations eligible 
for customs clearance in export of scrap metal.  24 February 2009 The Confederation of European 
Business. 
Tunisia Reduction of customs duties under economic stimulus 
plan. 23 December 2008 Press reports. 
Uzbekistan De facto  limitation on imports of consumer goods via 
restricted access to foreign exchange. Possible further 
delays of conversion for imported consumer goods.  24 February 2009 The Confederation of European 
Business. 
... Not available. 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 37 
 
 
  ANNEX 2 
 
Stimulus Packages 
(September 2008  - March 2009) 
 
VERIFIED 
Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Australia Stimulus Package “Ec onomic Security Strategy (ESS)” 
(1% of GDP). October 2008 Permanent De legation of Australia 
to the WTO. 
Australia National Building Package (A$4.7 billion (US$3.1 
billion)). 12 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Australia 
to the WTO. 
Australia Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) as a financing trust to 
provide liquidity to car dealer financiers. The SPV is intended to be a 12 months transitional funding. Until 
12 March 2009, it has not yet been necessary for the 
SPV to raise capital and lend funds. 2 January 2009 Permanent De legation of Australia 
to the WTO. 
Australia National Building and Jobs Plan (A$42 billion 
(US$27.6 billion)). 13 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Australia 
to the WTO. 
Brazil Government credits (US$1.7 billion) for carmakers; and 
temporary reduction of the industrial products tax on car sales (until April 2009).  7 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Brazil to 
the WTO. 
Canada Offer to loan up to C $4 billion (US$3 billion) to GM 
and Chrysler (as of 19 March 2009 no disbursement of loans has been made). 20 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Canada to 
the WTO. 
Canada Stimulus package "Canada Economic Action Plan" 
(almost C$30 billion (US$24 billion) in 2009, but to surpass C$50 billion (US$39 billion) over the next two 
years, including stimulus from other levels of 
government). 27 January 2009 Permanent De legation of Canada to 
the WTO. 
China Support credit guarantee for SMEs (Yuan 1.6 billion 
(US$0.2 billion)). October 2008 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
China Reduction of sales tax for cars. 20 Ja nuary 2009 Permanent Delegation of China to 
the WTO. 
Dominican Republic Stimulus Package covering monetary and fiscal 
measures ("Cumbre de la Unidad Nacional Frente a la Crisis Económica Mundial"). January 2009 Permanent Delegation of the 
Dominican Republic to the WTO. 
France "Régime temporaire d'aides compatibles d'un montant 
limité".  This measure allows State, regional or local authorities and certain public bodies to grant aid of up 
to €500.000 (US$652,100) in 2009 and 2010 to 
businesses which find themselves in difficulty as a result of the economic crisis. 19 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France "Régime temporaire de prêts bonifiés pour les 
entreprises fabriquant des produits verts".  This measure 
provides reduced-interest loans to business investing in the production of green products. Supports businesses 
faced with financing problems because of the credit 
squeeze while at the same time making it easier for them to invest in products  with an environmental 
benefit. 3 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France "Régime temporaire d'aides sous forme de taux 
d'intérêts bonifiés".  This measure allows State, regional 
or local authorities and certa in public bodies to grant 
aid in the form of reduced interest rates on loans.  4 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France "Régime temporaire d'aides s ous forme de garanties".  
This scheme allows State authorities to grant aid, until 
31 December 2010, in the form of subsidized guarantees for investment and working capital loans.  27 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France Loans to car industry. 28 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Annex 2 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 38  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Germany Bayern LB: State support consisting of core capital 
increase of €10 billion (US$13 billion) and a risk shield of an amount of €4.8 billi on (US$6.3 billion) through 
"Freistaat Bayern". 18 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany KfW-run loan component of German 
"Konjunkturprogramm" for larger companies.  Aid to 
undertakings affected by the current credit squeeze.  The programme will be administered by the 
Kreditanstald für Wiederaufbau (KfW). 30 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany Loan programme (€15 billion (US$19.6 billion)) for 
SMEs providing interest rate reductions on loans to 
finance investments and working capital. 30 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany More flexible capital investments until 2010 for SMEs 
that are in early stages of development. Measure 
increases the maximum investment ranges from 
€1.5 million to €2.5 m illion (US$2 million to 
US$3.3 million). 3 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany Loans at low interest rates for companies encountering 
financial difficulties as a result of the credit squeeze.  19 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany Subsidized State guarantees for companies in the form 
of investment and working capital loans.  27 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
India Broad stimulus package including: fiscal measures and 
changes in FDI regulations (allowing for larger shares of foreign ownership in areas such as: industrial parks, 
air transport services, petroleum and natural gas, and 
mineral and ores) to counter recessionary trends. 7 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of India to 
the WTO. 
Hong Kong, China Establishment of the "SME Loan Guarantee Scheme", 
with the Government acting as guarantor for up to 50% 
of the approved loans.  
Establishment of the "Special  Loan Guarantee Scheme". 26 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Hong 
Kong, China to the WTO, and 
WTO Document 
WT/WGTDF/W/41 of 26 November 2008. 
Hungary Temporary aid scheme for granting limited amount of 
compatible aid. The scheme enables the granting of  aid of up to €500,000 (US$652,100) and reduced interest 
loans. 24 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Jamaica Support loans to small bus inesses and micro-enterprises 
(US$350 million) ... Permanent Delegation of Jamaica to 
the WTO. 
Korea, Rep. of Stimulus package of US$14. 1 billion in total, which 
constitutes approximately 2.4% of Korea's GDP. The total amount of the package may be increased. December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Korea to 
the WTO. 
Korea, Rep. of Reduction on the individual consumption tax on 
automobiles (local and imported) by 30%: from 5% to 3.5% for automobiles with engines below 2,000 cc; and 
from 10% to 7% for automobiles with engines above 
2,000 cc. The measure is effective for the period 19 December 2008 to 30 June 2009. December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Korea to 
the WTO. 
Luxembourg  "Régime temporaire d'aides au redressement économique".  This scheme enables granting aid of up to €500,000 (US$652,100) to businesses likely to have 
a structural impact on the national or regional economy. 27 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Malaysia Stimulus Package (RM 7 billion (US$1.9 billion)). 14 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Malaysia 
to the WTO. 
Malaysia Second Stimulus Package (RM 60 billion (US$16.2 
billion)), including meas ures to attract FDIs. 10 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Malaysia 
to the WTO. 
New Zealand Stimulus package (NZ$500 million (US$261.3 million)) 
for publicly-funded projects (housing, transport, and 
education). 11 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of New 
Zealand to the WTO. 
   Annex 2 (cont'd) 
 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 39 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Peru Stimulus package ("Plan de Estímulo Económico" and 
"Programa de Seguro de Crédito a la Exportación para Pequeñas y Medianas Empresas (SEPYMEX)"). 30 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of Peru to the 
WTO. 
Portugal Soft loans for granting of aid of up to €500,000 
(US$652,100) for 2009 and 2010.  19 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Russian 
Federation Financial support measures for the car industry: 
increase in government procurement volumes 
(maximum 87.5 billion Roubles, (US$2.5 billion)); 
loans to leasing companies (43 billion Roubles, (US$1.2 billion)); provision of State guarantees (130 
billion Roubles, (US$3.7 billion)); and partial 
compensation on credit rates on vehicles purchased by private persons (2 million Roubles, (US$57,400)). 6 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Russian Federation Special anti-crisis packag e for SMEs, including small 
scale agricultural enterprises (US$1.2 billion for 2009). 6 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Chinese 
Taipei Commodity Tax on cars (passenger sedans, trucks, and 
dual-purpose vehicles with an engine of 2,000 cc or 
less) purchased and register ed between 19 January and 
31 December 2009 can be reduced by a maximum of 
NT$30,000 (US$884). The measure applies to both 
domestic and imported cars. January 2009 Permanent Delegation of Chinese 
Taipei to the WTO. 
Turkey General stimulus package such as financial support 
(with zero interest rates) through Small and Medium 
Sized Industry Development Organization and Trade Credit Facility (US$650 million) for SMEs. 17 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Turkey to 
the WTO. 
Turkey Temporary (three months) reduction of domestic taxes 
(VAT and special consumption taxes) for cars, new houses, and various durable goods. 18 March 2009 Permanent Delegation of Turkey to 
the WTO. 
United 
Kingdom Short-term provision of small amounts of compatible 
aid (De minimis) scheme.  Measure enables aid of up to 
€500,000 (US$652,100) to be granted in 2009 and 2010 to businesses in difficulty as a consequence of the 
current economic crisis. 4 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
United Kingdom Temporary measures to grant loan guarantees and 
interest rate subsidies.  Businesses producing green 
products will benefit. (Scheme will initially concern car 
industry £2.3 billion (US$3.3 billion), but will be open 
to all sectors) 27 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
United States The US Auto Industry Financing Programme aimed at 
stabilizing the US automotive industry through loans to General Motors and Chrysler.  Under this programme, 
US Treasury agreed to loan General Motors (GM) 
US$13.4 billion (delivered in three instalments) and to loan Chrysler US$4 billion.   The US Treasury is 
currently evaluating the restructuring submissions 
received 17 February 2009, under the terms of the loans to GM and Chrysler.   
 
On December 29 2008, US Treasury announced that it would purchase US$5 billion in senior preferred equity 
with an 8% dividend from GMAC LLC as part of a 
broader programme to assist the domestic automotive industry in becoming financially viable.  Additionally, the US Treasury agreed to lend up to US$1 billion to 
General Motors so that GM could participate in a rights 
offering at GMAC in support of GMAC’s reorganization as a bank holding company.  On 
16 January 2008, US Treasury announced a US$1.5 
billion five-year loan to a special purpose entity created 
by Chrysler Financial to finance retail automotive 
purchases.   19 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
United States American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 
(ARRA) providing aid for US$787 billion (5.5% GDP). 17 February 2009 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
Annex 2 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 40  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Uzbekistan Stimulus package "Anti Crisis Action Programme 2009-
2012", including support of the banking system, to export companies and incentives for exports through:  
preferential credit and tax rebates.  January 2009 Permanent Delegation of 
Uzbekistan to the WTO. 
 
 
 
NON-VERIFIED INFORMATION 
Country/  
Member State Measure Date Source 
Austria Government guarantees  and investment support for 
automobile sector (€5.2 billion (US$6.8 billion)); 
additional R&D support (€33 million (US$43 million)) for environment technologies.  ... Press reports. 
China Stimulus package for 10 industries: auto, steel, 
shipbuilding, petrochemical, manufacturing 
equipment, information t echnology, modern logistic, 
non-ferrous metal, textile sect ors, and light industries. 
(aimed at adjusting and invigorating industries). 25 February 2009 Agence France Press. 
China Stimulus Plan (two years) of Yuan 4 trillion (US$586 
billion). 3 March 2009 WTO Reporter ISSN 1529-4153. 
Japan Support to the automobile sector: R&D subsidies to 
support next generation ve hicles; wage support; and 
US$5 billion credit. ... Press reports. 
Japan Government loans to Japanese companies operating 
in overseas markets (¥500 billion (US$5.1 billion)) 
through the Japan Bank for International Cooperation 
(JBIC). Loans under the programme will be 
syndicated between JBIC and private banks, with 
JBIC providing up to 60% of the value of loans, at market interest rates. 
(Toyota Motors has applied for a loan of US$2.1 
billion). 4 March 2009 Financial Times. 
Malaysia Support to the autom obile industry (US$54.2 million) 
to an automotive development fund; and government 
financing of a scrapping scheme to promote purchase of new cars from national automakers.  ... Press reports. 
Morocco Rescue package for three subsectors (automobile 
parts; textiles and clothing; leather and shoes) consisting of direct support equivalent to 20% of the workforce, and 80% of R&D for new markets.  
One year waiver on medium-term credit loans. 22 February 2009 Jeune Afrique No. 2511. 
Portugal Preferential loan to local car industry (€100 million 
(US$130.4 million)). 2 March 2009 Le Figaro. 
Romania Preferential loan to local car industry (€200 million 
(US$261 million)). 2 March 2009 Le Figaro. 
Spain Loan guarantee and support for research and 
development for car industry (€4 billion (US$5.2 
billion)). 2 March 2009 Le Figaro. 
... Not available. 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 41 
 
 
   
ANNEX 3 
 
Overview of National Bailout Measures/Plans an d Guarantee Schemes for Financial Institutions  
(September 2008  - March 2009) 
 
VERIFIED 
Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Australia Guarantee of deposits and wholesale funding of 
Australian banks, building societies and credit unions, Australia subsidiaries of foreign-owned banks, and 
domestic deposits of Australian residents with branches 
of foreign banks in Australia. All eligible deposits of up 
to A$1 million (US$656,000) are guaranteed for free. 
Deposits of over A$1 million, to be also guaranteed but 
with a fee. ... Permanent Delegation of Australia 
to the WTO. 
Australia Financial Claims Scheme to provide depositors and 
general insurance policyholders with timely access to their funds in event of  an institution failure. 2 June 2008 Permanent Delegation of Australia 
to the WTO. 
Austria Support scheme for fina ncial institutions aimed at 
stabilizing the financial markets by providing 
guarantees, capital and loans. 9 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Belgium Fortis Bank: The State Guar antee Mechanism intended 
to facilitate financing. 19 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Belgium, France, Luxembourg Dexia financial group: State guarantee granted to 
restore investor confidence and to encourage inter-bank 
lending. 19 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Belgium KBC Group: emergency recap italisation scheme of 
€3.5 billion (US$4.6 billion). 18 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Belgium Insurance and banking group Ethias: State aid in the 
form of capital injection in  the amount of €1.5 billion 
(US$1.96 billion). The amount constitutes the minimum 
required to enable the beneficiary to continue operations 
and provides for an adequate return on the capital provided by the State authorities. 12 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Brazil Purchase of equity stake in troubled banks to enhance 
competition and strengthen Brazil's financial system. 
Authorization granted to the two largest State-owned 
banks, Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal, 
to constitute fully owned or controlled subsidiaries as 
well as to purchase participa tion in financial institutions 
based in Brazil. 22 October 2008 Permanent Delegation of Brazil to 
the WTO. 
Canada Extension of the Insure d Mortgage Purchase Program 
(IMPP) to purchase high quality insured mortgages to improve liquidity in the financial system and ensure the 
availability of credit to c onsumers and businesses of 
financial institutions, by C$50 billion (US$39 billion) 
(an addition to the C$75 billion (US$59 billion) 
announced in the fall of 2008). 27 January 2009 Permanent Delegation of Canada to 
the WTO. 
Denmark Guarantee scheme for deposits and senior debt for the 
banking sector. 10 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Denmark Roskilde Bank: package of measures for its liquidation. 
Danish authorities provided a guarantee for any losses 
in relation to this process. 5 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Denmark Recapitalisation scheme and amendments to the 
existing guarantee scheme for banks. 3 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Annex 3 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 42  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Finland Guarantee scheme aimed at stabilising the financial 
markets by ensuring financial institutions access to financing. The State guarantee would cover, against 
remuneration, the issuance of new short and medium 
term non-subordinated debt with maturity between 90 
days and three years. A maturity of up to five years is 
limited to mortgage-backed bonds only (budget is 
capped at €50 billion (US$65.2 billion)).  The scheme was modified as from 5 February 2009. 13 November 2008 
and 5 February 2009. Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Finland Kaupthing Bank: State guarantee ensuring full 
compensation against legal risks; three Finish banks 
having settled Kaupthing deposit claims. 21 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France Refinancing measures – guarantee and equity 
intervention for the banking sector. (The Société de 
refinancement des activités des établissements de crédit, 
SRAEC, will issue securities guaranteed by the State with a view to making lo ans to credit institutions 
against collateral). Total amount: €265billion (US$346 
billion).  Non-discriminatory access for banks authorized in France, including the subsidiaries of 
foreign groups 30 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France Capital injection into certain banks. Intervention is 
capped at €21.5 billion (U S$28 billion) (amended 28 
January 2009).  (It complements measure approved by 
the EC Commission on 31 October 2008).  First tranche (€10.5billion (US$13.7 billion)) already utilized to 
recapitalise the top six banks: Crédit Agricole, BNP 
Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Mutuel, Caisse d'Epargne, and Banque Populaire. 8 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
France Modification of risk capital scheme. 16 March 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany Hypo Real Estate (HRE): the German Federal 
Government together with a group of German financial 
institutions provided loan guarantees totalling €35 billion (US$45.6 billion), for covering HRE's re-
financing needs until April 2009, via a newly created 
special purpose vehicle. 2 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany Rescue Scheme package intended to stabilize financial 
markets by providing capital (through recapitalization 
scheme), guarantees (by issue of short- and medium-term debt) and temporar y acquisition of assets. 
The scheme was amended on 12 December 2008. 27 October 2008 
and 12 December 
2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany NORDLB: banking rescue aid in form of a guarantee 
package. 
IKB:  State support to stabilise the bank. 22 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany Commerzbank: capital injection (€10 billion (US$13 
billion), in addition to pr evious €8.2 billion (US$10.7 
billion)) and acquisition of 25% stake. 9 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Germany SdB – Sicherungs-einrichtungsgesellschaft deutscher 
Banken GmbH: guarantee sche me (€6.7 billion (US$8.7 
billion)) to bolster the German Deposit Protection Fund 
and to pre-finance future proceeds from the estates of insolvent Lehman Brother entities. 21 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Greece Package providing eligible  credit institutions with new 
capital and securities whic h can be converted into 
liquidity with the ECB as well as guarantees on short- and medium-term newly i ssued debt, under strict 
conditions. 19 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Hungary Special package providing  eligible credit institutions 
with new capital and guarantees on short- and medium-
term newly issued debt, under strict conditions. 12 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Annex 3 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 43 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Ireland Guarantee of deposits and debts of six banks (Allied 
Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Life and Permanent, Irish Nationwide Building Society, 
and the Educational Building Society).  13 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Ireland Anglo Irish Bank: recapita lisation of €1,5 billion (US$2 
billion).  14 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Italy State guarantee on new liabilities issued by banks for 
maturities longer than three months and up to five 
years, six months renewabl e swap between bank's debt 
certificates and Treasury bills, whose interest rate and 
maturity perfectly match, so as to ensure an identical 
cash flow and straightforward pricing and also guarantee for banks in favour of third parties lending 
them high-grade assets which are in turn used by banks 
in the Eurosystem to obtain refinancing. 13 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Italy Recapitalisation scheme for financial institutions, 
providing the possibility to subscribe subordinated debt 
instruments, to be counted as bank core tier 1 capital. The overall budget will be around €15-20 billion 
(US$19.6-26 billion). 
Amended on 20 February 2009 to provide capital to credit institutions. 23 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Jamaica Bank of Jamaica provided US$168 million in liquidity 
support to the banking sector ... Permanent Delegation of Jamaica to 
the WTO. 
Japan Recapitalisation scheme (Law on Special Measures for 
Strengthening Financial F unctions), for up to ¥12 
trillion (some US$106 billion).  Deposit-taking institutions. 12 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of Japan to 
the WTO. 
Korea, Rep. of State guarantee for up to three years for foreign 
currency denominated inter-b ank loans made between 
20 October 2008 and 30 June 2009, to stabilize Korea's financial markets and prevent potential comparative 
disadvantages.  The programme applies equally to local 
and foreign banks constituted under Korean law.  The total size of this programme will be US$100 billion. 
Liquidity support (by the Government and the Bank of 
Korea) of up to US$30 billion to foreign and domestic banks to relieve liquidity problems. 20 October 2008 Permanent Delegation of Korea to 
the WTO. 
Latvia JSC Parex Banka: package consisting of a State 
guarantee covering certain existing and new loans, of a State one-year deposit to support the bank's immediate 
liquidity needs and of subordinated loans to strengthen 
its capital base.  24 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Latvia Support scheme for banks in form of a guarantee 
covering liabilities. 22 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Latvia JSC Parex Banka: State guarantee, equity intervention, 
soft loans. 11 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Malaysia Central Bank of Malaysia to provide soft loans (RM 
200 million (US$54.1 million )) to commercial banks. 14 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of Malaysia 
to the WTO. 
Netherlands Guarantee scheme for all solvent financial institutions 
with significant activities in the Netherlands, including subsidiaries of foreign banks (capped at €200 billion 
(US$261 billion)). 31 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Netherlands ING: emergency intervention (€10 billion (US$13 
billion)) in the form of recapitalization granted via 
special type of securities. 12 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Annex 3 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 44  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Netherlands AEGON N.V: recap italization (€3 billion (US$3.9 
billion)) through a special type of securities. 27 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Netherlands, Luxembourg, 
Belgium FORTIS Bank and FORTIS Bank Luxembourg: rescue 
and restructuring measure, consisting of capital 
injection. 3 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Netherlands SNS REAAL N.V: em ergency recapitalization (€750 
million (US$978 million)).  10 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
New Zealand Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme, guaranteeing all 
retail deposits of up to NZ$1 million (US$522,700) 
with approved financial in stitutions for two years. 12 October 2008 Permanent Delegation of New 
Zealand to the WTO. 
New Zealand Wholesale Funding Guarantee Facility to investment-
grade financial institutions in New Zealand which have 
substantial New Zealand borrowing and lending 
operations.  The primary goal is to support the re-entry of New Zealand banks to regular foreign markets. 1 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of New 
Zealand to the WTO. 
New Zealand Reserve Bank a nnounced temporary additional 
measures to enable local ba nks to access liquidity in 
exchange for a broader range  of assets such as bank 
paper and asset-backed securities. 12 December 2008 Permanent Delegation of New 
Zealand to the WTO. 
Panama Fiscal stimulus package ("Programa de Estímulo 
Financiero (PEF)") providi ng grants to local banks. September 2008 Permanent De legation of Panama to 
the WTO. 
Portugal State guarantees (€20 billion (US$26 billion)) for 
financing agreements and the emission of non subordinated short- and medium-term debt. 29 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Portugal Banco Privado Portugue s: guarantee of €450 million 
(US$587 million).  13 March 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Russian 
Federation Anti-crisis Action Plan, including measures to stabilize 
the financial and banking system, through measures 
such as: allocation of non-deposit credits for Russian credit organizations (US$50 billion). 6 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation. 
Slovenia Guarantee scheme. Budget capped at €12 billion 
(US$15.7 billion). Available to all solvent Slovenian credit institutions, including Sl ovenian subsidiaries of 
foreign banks. 12 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Spain Scheme intended to stabilize financial markets by 
providing liquidity to eligib le institutions. The measure 
consists of reverse auctions with a government–
sponsored fund purchasing assets outright or on a temporary basis via so-called repurchase agreement. 4 November 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Spain Guarantee scheme, where State guarantee would cover, 
against remuneration, the issuance of notes, bonds and obligations admitted to the o fficial secondary market in 
Spain. Estimated budget is capped at €100 billion 
(US$130 billion) and can increase to €200 billion (US$261 billion). 23 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Sweden Rescue package which c onsists of a guarantee scheme 
covering new issuances of short- and medium-term non-subordinated debt. The total amount of debt to be 
covered is capped at approximately €150 billion 
(US$196 billion). 29 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Sweden Carnegie Investment Bank: rescue aid worth 
€225 million (US$293 million). 15 December 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Sweden Modifications to s upport schemes for financial 
institutions (authorized 29 October 2008). Amendments 
concern, inter alia , the cancellation of growth 
restrictions of participating banks. 29 January 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Annex 3 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
 Page 45 
 
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
Sweden Recapitalization scheme for fundamentally sound banks 
providing capital to banks. Allows government to provide share capital. 10 February 2009 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
Switzerland UBS: transfer of illi quid assets to the Swiss National 
Bank Stabilization Fund up to a maximum amount of 
US$60 billion (UBS will finance 10% of the transfer); 
recapitalization (US$5.1 billion).  
On 10 February 2009, the maximum amount of the 
stabilization fund was reduced to US$39.1 billion.  
(Note: a similar offer was extended to Crédit Suisse 
Group, which has refrained from making use of this option). 16 October 2008 Permanent Delegation of 
Switzerland to the WTO. 
Switzerland Introduction of a leverage ratio, complementing the 
risk-based capital adequacy requirements of Basel II for 
two systemically relevant Swiss banks. This non risk-
weighted nominal parameter will cap the sum of assets 
financed by debt, whereby domestic lending activities are not included in this calculation. 20 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of 
Switzerland to the WTO. 
Trinidad and Tobago The Central Bank has "bailed-out" a major financial 
institution which had interests ranging from life insurance to methanol production, representing almost 
25% of GDP. February 2009 Permanent Delegation of Trinidad 
and Tobago to the WTO. 
United Kingdom Bradford & Bingley: nationalization and winding down 
of the bank, the sale of its retail deposit book and 
branches along with a matching cash element to Abbey 
National and the provision of a working capital facility and guarantee arrangements. 1 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
United Kingdom Financial support measures – guarantee and provision 
of risk capital for banks. Two types of measures: 
recapitalization scheme ( up to £50 billion (US$70.9 
billion)), and guarantee scheme (up to £250 billion 
(US$354.5 billion)).  Available to any financial 
institution with substantial business in the UK. 13 October 2008 Public information available on the 
European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EC Delegation. 
United States Federal Reserve Actions surrounding AIG (rescue 
package (US$85 billion), in exchange for 80% public 
stake in the firm).  
AIG Restructuring under the Economic Stabilization 
Act on 10 November 2008 (a dditional recapitalization 
(US$37.5 billion)). 16 September 2008 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
United States TARP (Troubled A sset Relief Programme), under the 
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, allowing the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase, and 
to make and fund commitments to purchase, troubled 
assets from any financial institution.  Total amount foreseen: US$700 billion (US$250 billion upon 
enactment, other US$100 billion if requested by the 
President, and US$350 billion subject to Congressional approval). 
 
The Act defines "financial institution" as including "any institution, including, but not limited to, any bank, savings association, credit union, security broker or 
dealer, or insurance company, established and regulated 
under the laws of the Unite d States or any State, 
territory, or possession of the United States...but 
excluding any central bank of , or institution owned by, 
a foreign government". 3 October 2008  Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
United States Treasury and Federal Housing Finance Agency Actions 
with respect to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac:  
(mortgage lenders rescue package). 8 October 2008 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
Annex 3 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/1 
Page 46  
 
  Country/  
Member 
State Measure Date Source 
United States Citicorp: guarantee sc heme for troubled assets (US$306 
billion) and capital injection (US$20 billion), under the Targeted Investment Programme; complemented by the 
Asset Guarantee Programme (2 January 2009). 23 November 2008 Permanent Delegation of the United 
States to the WTO. 
... Not available. 
 
 
 
__________