WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
14 June 2010 
 (10-3235) 
Trade Policy Review Body  
  
 
REPORT TO THE TPRB FROM THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL  
ON TRADE-RELATED DEVELOPMENTS
1 
 
 
1. This Report reviews trade and trade-re lated developments in the period from 
1 November 2009 to mid-May 2010. 
 
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
2. Despite the severity of the global financial crisis and its widespread impact on economies 
around the world, governments have largely resisted r esort to trade barriers.  However, there are still 
instances of trade restrictive measures taken during th e period under review.  There also appears to be 
an increasing trend in the use of export restrictions affecting mainly food produc ts and raw materials.  
In a few cases, some governments have taken trad e facilitating actions.  Given the current economic 
environment and the risks ahead, governments should re main vigilant to preserve the level of trade 
openness and act to remove the most trade rest rictive measures taken over previous periods. 
3. It is important that all governments continue to actively participate in the trade monitoring 
exercise, which is of general systemic value to the multilateral trading system.  The TPRB encouraged 
all Members and Observer Governments to conti nue providing timely and accurate information on 
their trade and trade-related measures. 
Fewer new restrictions, but they are accumulating;   priority to exiting restricting measures 
4. The monitoring of trade and trade-related measures implemented during the period under 
review reveals that some governments continue to ha ve recourse to new trade restrictions.  However, 
it also confirms the overall pattern of a declini ng trend in terms of instances of new measures and 
their coverage of trade.  Although this declining tr end is to be welcomed, careful attention has to be 
given to the growing risk of a potential accumulation of trade-restricting measures implemented since the outbreak of the global financial crisis.  This  risk is compounded by a relatively slow pace of 
removal of previously adopted restrictive measures.   Exiting current restricting measures should be a 
priority. 
5. The factual information collected by the WT O Secretariat on new trade and trade-related 
measures implemented between 1 November 2009 a nd mid-May 2010 shows a number of instances of 
countries taking measures that have the potential to dir ectly or indirectly restrict trade.  The most 
common measures identified during this period were th e initiation of new trade remedy investigations 
                                                     
 
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 im pact on the multilateral trading system.   WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 2  
 
  (although the first four months of 2010 have shown a significant cooling-off of trade remedy use), 
increases in import tariffs, import bans, and import licenses.  There also continued to be concerns raised by trading partners that some countries are restricting market access for imported agricultural products based on sanitary and phyt osanitary considerations.   
6. The new trade restricting or distorting measures that have been introduced since 1 November 
2009, along with the initiation of new investigations into the imposition of trade remedy measures (a 
number of which may never result in the actual impositi on of the measures or the restriction of trade), 
are estimated to have covered collectively arou nd 0.4 per cent of annual world imports.  The new 
measures have been concentrated in particular  on base metal products (mainly steel products), 
followed at some distance by machinery, ag ricultural products and transport equipment. 
7. On the other hand, some governments implemente d, during this period, measures to facilitate 
trade, in particular by reducing or temporarily exempting import tariffs, and by terminating a few 
trade-restrictive actions started in previous periods .  However, based on a simple count, measures that 
have the potential to restrict trade outnumber those that facilitate trade by a factor of 3:2. 
8. There also appears to be an increasing trend in  the use of export restrictions, affecting in 
particular food products and commodities.  The most frequent measures used in this area include 
increases of export duties (in some cases the introduction of new duties), export prohibitions, and export quotas.  The increase in export restrictions see ms to be happening worldwide.  A few countries 
also took measures to reduce export restrictions.  However, export restricting measures outnumber 
export facilitating measures by a factor of 5:2. 
The global economy is recovering, but risks ahead 
9. The global economic recovery has been evolving be tter than expected in the last six months, 
but the recovery is still subject to significant downsi ze risks.  In many parts of the world the strength 
of the rebound is moderate.  World GDP is expected  to grow by 4.2 per cent in 2010 (compared with 
a decline of 0.5 per cent in 2009), mainly driven by good performance in emerging developing countries.  Merchandise trade is forecast to expa nd by 9.5 per cent in 2010 after the unprecedented 
decline of 12.2 per cent a year earlier.  In advan ced economies, unemployment is projected to stay 
close to 9 per cent through 2011 and then to decline on ly slowly.  Trade has an important role to play 
in firmly anchoring the economic recovery, and o ffers a sustainable, non-debt creating source of 
growth and development.   
10. Even if the global economy is on a recovery path , the financial crisis and the global economic 
downturn that followed have had far-reaching effect s, especially on developing countries.  Economic 
growth in the world’s low income economies has he ld up much better that during previous recessions.  
However, the overall impact of the crisis on poor countries should not be underestimated.  The IMF 
and World Bank reported that the global economic cris is has slowed the pace of poverty reduction in 
developing countries.  The IMF estimates that by  the end of 2010, 64 million more people will have 
fallen into extreme poverty than without the crisis.
2 
More open trade can support the nascent economic recovery 
11. Significant risks for the trading system remain as long as unemployment continues at peak 
levels and government fiscal positions tighten.  K eeping trade open has been and remains crucial in 
providing opportunities for countries to emerge from the global crisis, in particular at times when 
public deficits are growing for many.  These opportunities can only be seized fully through a prompt and successful conclusion of the DDA.  Until the R ound is concluded successfully, there also remains 
                                                     
 
2 IMF, World Economic Outlook, 21 April 2010.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 3 
 
 
  a large amount of room in which protectionist pressu res can continue to agitate.  Implementing a co-
ordinated programme of trade liberalization and facilitation on a global scale, including reducing the 
gaps between applied and bound levels of trade restriction and distortion will substantially strengthen 
the capacity of the multilateral trading system to help governments resist these pressures.  Based on a 
WTO Secretariat estimate for 22 countries (developed and developing) and on the draft DDA 
modalities on the table, the trade-weighted average bound tariff would be cut by half (from 8.5 to 
4.1 per cent). 
12. Pending a successful conclusion of the DDA negot iations, it is important that governments 
recommit to refrain from raising trade barriers as a means of overcoming the effects of the global crisis, and to roll-back those trade restricting meas ures already put in place during previous periods.   
As many stimulus programmes end, governments should remain vigilant 
13. Even if thus far resort to protectionist measu res has been relatively muted, governments must 
remain vigilant.  Economic conditions around the worl d, in particular pers istent high levels of 
unemployment and mounting pressure on government  finances, may continue to feed into 
protectionist pressures.  The expected end of th e government stimulus measures may add to those 
pressures.  It is noteworthy that in some cases, gove rnments have been confronted with strong calls to 
resist protectionist actions.  These calls seem to have  played their part in the restraint that most 
governments have shown in restricting trade.   
14. Many government stimulus measures are still in  place, but newer specific programmes are 
becoming less frequent than immediately after the start of the crisis.  Given the sheer size of these packages, stimulus measures taken to rescue sectors of systemic importance (such as banking) or to 
preserve jobs (as in the automobile industry) or to stimulate demand (such as consumption tax 
reductions or "buy national" provisions in govern ment procurement legislation) may be more 
significant in terms of their potential impact on trade and free competition than traditional trade 
restrictions.  However, any detailed economic an alysis of these measures should consider the 
extraordinary situation in the global economy and the exceptional responses judged necessary by 
governments, while avoiding counter-p roductive distortions of trade. 
Special analysis shows selected sector's trade performance and sectoral policies 
15. The sectoral analysis in the last section of this report illustrates the situation in three 
particularly sensitive areas (car industry, iron a nd steel sector, and textiles and clothing), where the 
global crisis seems to have been felt much hard er and where governments implemented a number of 
trade and trade-related measures to help these sectors overcome the crisis.  The analysis shows that 
these sectors were confronted with adjustment pr oblems long before the crisis and that important 
challenges are still in front of them.  They are characterized by high employment, overcapacity and 
were already the focus for trade restrictions. 
16. The automobile industry was hit hard by the global crisis with demand falling sharply.  
Governments implemented a number of measures to support producers' balance sheets and to sustain 
consumer demand.  The iron and steel industry w as also heavily affected by the crisis.  Many 
governments adopted fiscal stimulus packages, as we ll as a number of trade-specific measures, to 
support this industry.  Trade-restricting measures in the textiles and clothing sector have been limited. 
Efficiency of trade monitoring depends on more active participation of delegations 
17. The regular monitoring of trade developments has contributed to improved transparency in 
the multilateral trading system.  WTO Members an d Observer Governments have, overall, actively 
participated in this exercise.  Active participati on of all Members and Observer Governments, through WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 4  
 
  the provision of initial information and the verifica tion of listed individual measures, is needed to 
ensure the accuracy, comprehensiveness and relevance of this type of monitoring.   The monitoring 
exercise is sometimes rendered di fficult, for instance when a governme nt denies the existence of trade 
measures or practices that have been publicized by  the press and raised by its trading partners as a 
matter of concern. 
18. Improved transparency in the multilateral syst em depends also on strengthening Members' 
response to WTO notification requirements.  WTO bodies have embarked in numerous exercises to improve the timeliness and functioning of their resp ective notification procedures.  In some of them, 
such as the SPS and TBT Committees, a marked increase in the number of official notifications of 
relevant measures has been observed.  The monito ring report for the end of the year will present an 
overview of developments regarding not ification requirements in the WTO. 
I. INTRODUCTION  
19. The Director-General has reported regularly to WTO Members on trade and trade-related 
policy developments in the context of the global fi nancial and economic crises .  This Report reviews 
trade-related developments during the period 1 November 2009 to mid-May 2010.
3   
20. The TPRB has agreed to continue the monitoring of trade and trade-related policies and called 
for an active participation in this transp arency exercise of WTO Members and Observer 
Governments.4  Replies to the request from the Direct or-General for information on measures taken 
during the period under review were received fro m 27 Members and Observers (counting the EU as 
one), of which 16 are members of the G20 (c ounting the EU Member States separately).5  The WTO 
Secretariat has drawn on these replies, as well as on a variety of other public and official sources, to 
prepare this Report.  The Secretariat has receive d good cooperation from the majority of delegations 
that were requested to verify th e accuracy of the information contained in Annexes 1 and 2.  Where it 
has not been possible yet to verify the information this is noted in the Annexes.6  
21. The country-specific measures listed in Annex 1 and 2 are new  measures implemented by 
governments during the period under review to facilitate or restrict trade flows.  
22. To contribute to informed discussion about the potential impact of policy measures in the 
context of the global financial cr isis, this report includes in the last section of the Report a more 
detailed presentation of selected sectors (textiles a nd clothing, steel, and automobile) in which the 
sector's overall production and trade performance are described.  
                                                      
3 The previous trade monitoring report, contained in WTO document WT/TPR/OV/12 (18 November 
2009), covered the period from October 2008 to October 2009.  The WTO Secretariat, together with the 
Secretariats of the OECD and UNCTAD,  issued on 8 March 2010 a more recen t report on trade and investment 
measures by G20 economies.  The relevant measures id entified in that document are also reproduced in this 
report. 
4 At the TPRB meeting on 22 January 2010, WTO Members agreed to maintain the trade policy 
monitoring exercise and encouraged all delegations to continue to contribute to its success by providing timely 
and accurate information on their trade and trade-related measures.  It was decided that in 2010, the Director-
General will prepare two monitoring reports: one in June and the other in November (WTO document WT/TPR/OV/M/7 of 3 March 2010). 
5 These are:  Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union (France, Germany, Italy, and the 
United Kingdom), Indonesia, Japan, Korea Rep. of, Mexico, Turkey, the Russian Federation, and the United States. 
6 The inclusion of any measure in this Report or in its Annexes implies no judgement by the WTO 
Secretariat on whether or not such measure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature.  Moreover, nothing in 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 any WTO Agreement.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 5 
 
 
  II. ECONOMIC AND TRADE TRENDS 
23. The global economy is recovering better than expected, but in many parts of the world the 
strength of the rebound is moderate.7  The recovery is proceeding at different speeds within and across 
regions, and unemployment is still high in many economies.  Emerging and developing economies are 
performing better.  The IMF forecasts a continuation of the recovery for the world economy but at 
varying speeds across and within regions.8  World GDP is expected to grow by 4.2 per cent in 2010 
(compared with a decline of 0.5 per cent in 2009), mainly driven by good performance in emerging 
developing countries.  Merchandise trade is forecast  to expand by 9.5 per cent in 2010 after the 
unprecedented decline of 12.2 per cent a year earlier.  Exports of developing economies are expected 
to expand by more than 11 per cent, while those of  developed economies are expected to grow by 
7.5 per cent.  Chart 1 illustrates the contribution of developing countries to trade recovery.  Recent 
data show that the value of merchandise trade was around 25 per cent higher in the first three months 
of 2010 than in the same period of 2009, fuelle d mainly by demand from Asia and higher commodity 
prices.9 
979111315
10
-7
-18 -19-1312556101214
13
-4
-13-14-12315
-40-30-20-10010203040
2007Q1 2007Q2 2007Q3 2007Q4 2008Q1 2008Q2 2008Q3 2008Q4 2009Q1 2009Q2 2009Q3 2009Q4 2010Q1Chart 1
Contributions to year-on-year growth in  world merchandise exports, 2007Q1 - 2010Q1
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates based on data compiled from IMF International Financial Stistics, Eurostat 
Comext Database, Global Trade Atlas and National Statistics.Percentage
Note: Due to scarce data availability, Afri ca and Middle East regional totals ar e under-represented by about 5% and 
15% respectively.Contribution of developed economies Contribution of developing economies + CIS
World merchandise exports, year-on-year percentage change1
 
                                                      
7 G20 Communiqué of the Meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, Washington 
D.C. 23 April 2010. 
8 IMF, World Economic Outlook, 21 April 2010. 
9 These data refer to current US dollars, i.e. they ar e not adjusted for inflati on and therefore cannot be 
compared with the annual tr ade growth estimate (WTO Press Release 604, 2 June 2010). WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 6  
 
  A. G
LOBAL ECONOMIC AND TRADE DEVELOPMENTS  
24. Since last November, global trade flows have continued to rebound strongly from the 
depressed levels seen during the depths of the global  financial crisis.  The volume of world trade in 
the first quarter of 2010 was up 17 per cent over the same period in 2009 and 3.5 per cent higher than 
the previous quarter.10  This was the fourth consecutive qua rterly increase in all regions.  The 
magnitude of the turnaround was greater in some regi ons than in others (Cha rt 2).  Asian economies 
in particular have seen a stronger resurgence in trade, while developed economies other than Japan 
have lagged somewhat, with slower but still positive trade growth (Chart 3).   
25. The expansion of GDP in developing countri es has increasingly been supported by private 
consumption and investment rather than governme nt expenditure, an indication that growth is 
becoming self-sustaining.  However, the revival of  economic activity to date has had little impact on 
unemployment, which remains in the neighbourhood of 10 per cent in some developed countries 
(Chart 4).  
26. New risks for sustained global economic recovery are emerging.  Concerns about fiscal 
sustainability and mounting sovereign debt are producing renewed bouts of volatility in financial 
markets.  The fiscal consolidation needed to avoid defaults could lead to slower growth in some 
advanced economies.  The evolution of the interna tional prices of commodities, including oil, also 
adds to the uncertainties and may influence the recovery (Chart 5). 
27. So far, these additional risk factors have not ha d a measurable impact on trade, but they have 
clouded the outlook for the remainder of the ye ar.  In March, the WTO Secretariat forecast 
9.5 per cent growth in the volume of world trade in 2010 based on the assumption that trade and GDP 
would continue to expand throughout the year, but th at their growth rates would attenuate over time.  
This is consistent with data recei ved to date and with expected near-term developments.  As a result, 
there is no reason to adjust this projection at this time.  However, it must be acknowledged that recent 
events have increased the level of uncer tainty surrounding the March forecast.   
 
 
                                                      
10 CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, Trade Monitor, 31 May 2010.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 7 
 
 
  50100150200250
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Emerging economiesChart 2
Volume of monthly exports and imports, January 2000 - March 2010
50100150200250
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
OECD minus Turkey, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and Central European countries.
CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.Indices, 2000 = 100Exports
Imports
World Advanced economiesa
United States Euro AreaJapan
a
Source: 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 8  
 
  010203040506070
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10050100150200250
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10020406080
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
050100150200250
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10020406080
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
0306090120150
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
0306090120150
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10Chart 3
Monthly merchandise exports and imports of selected economies, January 2006 - April 2010
United States Japan(US$ billion)
European Union (27) extra-trade France
Germany United Kingdom
China
01020304050
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
0510152025
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10Republic of Korea
Brazil
05101520253035
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10India
 
Chart 3 (cont'd) 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 9 
 
 
  051015202530
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
05101520
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-1001020304050
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-100246810
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
010203040
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
0510152025
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10
0510152025
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10Russian Federation South Africa
Chinese Taipei Singapore
Malaysia Thailand
Turkey
010203040
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10Mexico
Source :  IMF, International Financial Statistics;
               GTIS; GTA database; national statistics.Exports Imports0510152025
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10Australia
05101520
Jan-06 Jul-06 Jan-07 Jul-07 Jan-08 Jul-08 Jan-09 Jul-09 Jan-10Indonesia
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 10  
 
  -8.0-6.0-4.0-2.00.02.04.06.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007
Q3-2007
Q4-2007Q1-2008
Q2-2008
Q3-2008
Q4-2008
Q1-2009
Q2-2009
Q3-2009Q4-2009
Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour forc eChart 4
Quarterly GDP growth and harmonized unemployment rates of selected economies(Annualized percentage change over previous  quarter and percenta ge of labour force)
United States
-10.0-8.0-6.0-4.0-2.00.02.04.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007Q3-2007Q4-2007Q1-2008Q2-2008Q3-2008Q4-2008Q1-2009Q2-2009Q3-2009Q4-2009Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour forc eEuropean Union (27)
-18.0-16.0-14.0-12.0-10.0-8.0-6.0-4.0-2.00.02.04.06.08.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007Q3-2007
Q4-2007
Q1-2008Q2-2008Q3-2008
Q4-2008
Q1-2009Q2-2009
Q3-2009
Q4-2009Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour force
-12.0-10.0-8.0-6.0-4.0-2.00.02.04.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007
Q3-2007Q4-2007Q1-2008Q2-2008Q3-2008Q4-2008Q1-2009Q2-2009Q3-2009Q4-2009Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour forceJapan United Kingdom
GDP (RHS) Unemployment rate (LHS)
Chart 4 (cont'd)
 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 11 
 
 
   
-14.0-12.0-10.0-8.0-6.0-4.0-2.00.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007Q3-2007
Q4-2007
Q1-2008Q2-2008Q3-2008
Q4-2008
Q1-2009Q2-2009
Q3-2009
Q4-2009Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour forc eBrazil
Source :  OECD, Quarterly National Accounts and Labour Force Statistics, except for China GDP, which is 
estimated based on data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics.-35.0-30.0-25.0-20.0-15.0-10.0-5.00.05.010.015.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007Q3-2007Q4-2007Q1-2008Q2-2008Q3-2008Q4-2008Q1-2009Q2-2009Q3-2009Q4-2009Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour forc eRussian Federation
-5.00.05.010.015.020.025.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007Q3-2007Q4-2007Q1-2008Q2-2008
Q3-2008
Q4-2008Q1-2009Q2-2009Q3-2009Q4-2009
Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour force
-5.00.05.010.015.020.025.0
Q1-2007
Q2-2007
Q3-2007
Q4-2007Q1-2008Q2-2008
Q3-2008
Q4-2008Q1-2009Q2-2009Q3-2009
Q4-2009
Q1-2010% change over previous quarte
r
0.02.04.06.08.010.012.014.0
% of labour forceChina India
GDP (RHS) Unemployment rate (LHS)
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 12  
 
  Chart 5
Prices of selected primary commodities, January 2005 - April 2010
(Indices, 2005=100)
020406080100120140160180200220240260
Jan-05
Jul-05
Jan-06
Jul-06
Jan-07
Jul-07
Jan-08
Jul-08
Jan-09
Jul-09
Jan-10
Energy
Beverages (coffee, tea) Agr. Raw materialsFood Metals
Source :  IMF, Primary Commodity Prices.
 
 
 
1. Merchandise trade in volume terms 
28. Chart 2 illustrates the growth of exports and imports in volume terms through the month of 
March 2010.  As was noted above, the volume of worl d trade in the first quarter of 2010 was up 17 
per cent  year-on-year and 5.3 per cent from the f ourth quarter of 2009 (average of exports and 
imports) according to preliminary estimates fro m the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy 
Analysis (March 2010).11  Exports of advanced economies increased 12.9 per cent year-on-year, led 
by Japan.  Exports of emerging economies performed much better, growing by 21.9 per cent over the 
same period, with very fast growth in Asia.  Th e figure for world trade in March was 4 per cent below 
the peak level recorded in April of 2008, but 21 per cent above the trough of May 2009. Exports of 
developing economies actually accelerated in March.  
29. On the import side, advanced economies' purchases  from the rest of the world were up 6.8 per 
cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2009, led by Japan and the United States.  Emerging economies recorded a substantial rise in imports, tha nks to a significant increase in Asia.  Imports of 
advanced economies grew 4.0 per cent in March.  Emerging economies’ imports  also accelerated in 
March (4.6 per cent). 
                                                     
 
11 All volume figures are seasonally adjusted.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 13 
 
 
  2. Trade in value terms 
(a) Merchandise trade and trade balances 
30. Chart 3 shows merchandise exports and imports  in current dollar terms for selected 
economies.  Most countries have seen their trade fl ows recover substantially since bottoming out in 
January-February 2009.  
31. As illustrated in Chart 3, the US merchandi se trade deficit has narrowed, averaging US$75 
billion per month between January 2006 and Oc tober 2008 before dropping to US$47 billion on 
average between November 2008 and March of this year .  In the case of China, although the value of 
its monthly merchandise exports was traditionally highe r than that of its imports, it was roughly at the 
same level as the value of its imports in April 2010.   Japan's recovery in both exports and imports has 
been the fastest of any mature developed economy,  and the country appears to be narrowing the gap 
between its current level of tr ade and its pre-crisis trend. 
(b) Trade in commercial services 
32. The availability of timely data on trade in comme rcial services is much more limited than for 
merchandise trade, but such data as do exist tell a similar story of steady improvement from the low 
point of trade in 2009, with some notable exceptions .  Year-on-year increases in services exports and 
imports in the first quarter of 2010 are generally  smaller than the equivalent growth rates for 
merchandise trade since the declines in services tended to  be smaller and bottomed out slightly later.   
33. US exports increased by 9 per cent year-on-y ear in the first quarter of 2010 while imports 
grew 7 per cent.  France had a 5 per cent increase on the export side and 2 per cent growth on the 
import side, while the United Kingdom had increa ses of 1 per cent on both the export and import 
sides.12  Japan’s services exports and imports both declined. 
B. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE FINANCE  
34. In preparation for the G20 Summit in Toronto, Finance Ministers have reviewed at the end of 
April 2010 the report of the Group of Experts mon itoring the implementation of the support package 
agreed by G20 Leaders a year ago in London.  On 18 May, the Director-General of the WTO met with 
the trade finance community (trade bankers, th e Berne Union of Export Credit Agencies, and 
representatives of international financial institutions) to discuss the latest trends in trade finance 
markets and steps that could be made to addr ess the remaining hurdles to the accessibility and 
affordability of trade finance in all regions.  The Director-General's conclusions and recommendations 
made during the expert meeting have been discuss ed and largely shared by WTO Members at the 
meeting of the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance on 4 June 2010.  Following this, and 
further contacts with senior members of the trad e banking community, the Director-General called 
upon financiers to keep their lines of credit open to small countries, small banks and small and 
medium-sized enterprises in a concentrating trade fina nce market, particularly in continents such as 
Africa in which financing gaps remain.13     
35. The trade finance environment described in the G20 expert group report remains by and large 
valid, although recent developments – the heightened perception of sovereign debt  risk in parts of the 
world, and higher volatility of exchange rates – have  an adverse impact on the funding cost of banks, 
for trade finance and other banking activities.  As c onfirmed by market participants on 18 May, trade 
finance markets have continued to improve since the autumn of 2009, but recovery patterns have been 
                                                      
12 All these figures are seasonally adjusted. 
13 Global Commodity Finance Conference, Geneva, 9-10 June, 2010. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 14  
 
  mixed across regions with emerging markets leadi ng the improvement.  Consistent with the rapid 
recovery of trade in the Asian region, on the high e nd of the market there was a large appetite for risk 
and ample liquidity to finance trade from China, I ndia and Korea, with a lowering of spreads.  In 
Latin America, Brazilian authorities have been playing a significant role in the stabilization of the local market for trade finance, and hence with th e recovery of trade and bank liquidity, spreads are 
returning to pre-crisis levels.  Th e situation in other Latin American  countries is more mixed.  The 
same applies in the Middle-East, where the situation is easing in some countries but remains a source 
of concern in others.   
36. In Europe, the risks associated  with the situation in Greece, as well as other European 
countries that face the prospect of reduced credit ra tings, is increasing the cost of trade lending.  The 
Eastern European market as well as Central Asia remains difficult as it has been characterized by 
many trade debt restructuring agreements last y ear.  There appear to be continuing constraints on 
trade finance in Africa – particularly in Sub-Sa haran Africa, and in the financing of manufacturing 
imports and inputs.  It is difficult to determine whether this phenomenon is permanent or temporary, 
although global commercial banks indicate that the high cost of collection of information on 
counterparty risk and the low profitability of sma ll operations in the region are making the financing 
of trade unattractive.  Hence several internationa l players have become more selective in working 
with local counterparty banks, with requirements on documentation, cash coll ateral, and other forms 
of guarantees which are very difficult to fulfil. A question mark is raised as to whether enough 
international credit will be available to import goods  when consumer and i nvestment demand picks up 
in Africa. 
37. The above considerations are resulting from an  environment in which global banks have 
restored their liquidity levels, but in which banks  are more selective and stringent in their assessment 
of counterparty risk.  The overall result is that small countries, small count erparty banks and small 
companies appear to be hit harder in terms of access to trade credit markets worldwide.   
38. While the G20 package to support short-term tr ade finance is generally seen as having been 
instrumental in dealing with the 2009 crisis, in particular by helping restore confidence and making 
available significant risk mitigation capacity to prot ect large supply-chain operators/buyers in regions 
such as Europe and Asia, the question arises as  to whether the remaining resources could be 
somewhat redirected towards the needs appearing in 2010.  Thanks  to the G20 package, national 
export credit agencies (ECAs) and Multilateral De velopment Banks (MDBs) have stepped up their 
activities, mobilizing some US$190 billion in commitme nts in one year.  The average utilization rate 
for additional capacity committed h as declined from some 70 per cent in the first half of 2009 to 
around 40 per cent in the second half, reflecting the im provement in the global market situation.  
Hence, the co-chairs of the G20 Trade Finance Experts Group recently recommended that the additional US$150 billion in short-term trade finance, identified in August 2009 as a possible contingent reserve, not be deployed.  
39. While thought should be given to an appropria te exit strategy from trade finance support, 
there should be no rush to a premature exit, particul arly on the risk mitigation side, and efforts should 
continue to focus on situations where difficulties remain  in accessing trade finance.  It has also been 
suggested that consideration be gi ven to enhancing capacity building  to local financial institutions 
under the Aid-for-Trade umbrella, and to the po ssible creation of a trade finance facilitation 
programme at the African Development Bank, to d eal with the problems of import financing, in 
particular the cost and conditions of letters of cr edit confirmation from African banks by the rest of 
the world. The latter proposal has received strong support from the WTO Expert Group on Trade Finance.  
40. With respect to regulatory issues, an inte r-institutional dialogue had started between 
representatives of the trade finance community and the Basel Committee Secretariat – notably at the  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 15 
 
 
  WTO Expert Group Meeting on 18 May, followed by a bilateral meeting between representatives of 
the trade banking community and the Basel Committee Secretariat on  1 June 2010.  
III. TRADE AND TRADE-RELATED POLICY DEVELOPMENTS 
A. OVERVIEW  
41. The fear that countries could have systematically  raised trade restrictions to protect their 
domestic industries in the wake of the global financ ial crisis and the largest economic recession since 
the Great Depression has not materialized.  During the period under monitoring, most governments have largely resisted protectionist pressures, and in  some instances even taken trade opening actions.  
Although some countries took measures that potentially  can restrict and/or distort trade, thus far, 
governments continue to be overall relatively restrained  in their use of protectionist trade policies.   
42. So far, direct trade policy instruments have not  dominated the policy response to the crisis.  
During the period under review, there has been conti nued slippage towards more trade restricting and 
distorting polices, including by some G20 economies.   The factual information collected by the WTO 
Secretariat on new trade and trade-related measu res implemented since 1 November 2009, shows a 
number of instances of countries taking measures that  have the potential to directly or indirectly 
restrict trade.  The most common measures identif ied during this period were the initiation of new 
trade remedy investigations (although the first four  months of 2010 have shown a significant cooling-
off of trade remedy use), increases in import tariffs, import bans, and import licenses.  There also continues to be frequent complaints by trading part ners that some countries ma y be restricting market 
access for imported agricultural products based on sanitary and phytosanitary considerations.   
43. On the other hand, some countries implemente d, during the period under review, measures 
that facilitate trade, in particular  cases of reduction and/or temporary exemption of import tariffs.  For 
example, on 19 April, Canada notified to the WTO its unilateral decision to eliminate customs duties 
on more than 1,500 tariff items (manufacturing inputs  and machinery and equipment); the majority of 
these items, with a simple average MFN rate of 7.2 per cent, became duty-free effective as of 5 March 
2010.
14  In addition to newly implemented measures, Annex 1 also includes the termination of trade 
remedy measures and other previously adopted trad e restricting actions during the period covered. 
44. There appears to be an increasing trend in the use of export restrictions, affecting in particular 
food products and commodities.15  The most frequent measures used include increases of export 
duties (in some cases the introduction of new duties) , export prohibitions, and export quotas.  On the 
other hand, a few countries also took measures to reduce the coverage of previously implemented 
export restrictions. 
45. The list of country-specific trade measures taken during the period under review does not 
include all behind the border measures.  Non-tariff barriers, in particular administrative regulations, 
appear to be having a greater impact on trade conditions than import tariffs.   
46. The reported measures that directly or indirectly have a trade restricting impact affect a 
relatively wide range of imports.  The products mo st frequently affected overall by these measures 
(based on a rough numerical counting of the number of reported measures) include:  iron and steel 
(and their products), machinery and equipment (including electrical equipment), glass and glassware, 
organic chemicals, and plastics.  
                                                      
14 WTO document G/MA/W/101 of 19 April 2010. 
15 Export restrictions create econo mic inefficiencies by distorting the allocation of limited natural 
resources and raw materials.  They have the potentia l to subsidize local producers by lowering the domestic 
prices of their inputs, and increas e prices for foreign producers. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 16  
 
  47. The WTO Secretariat has calculated that new import restricting measures introduced since 1 
November 2009 (along with new initiations of inv estigations into the imposition of trade remedy 
measures) cover close to 0.4 per cent of total world imports (Table 1).
16  It is important to emphasize 
that this percentage represents the trade coverage of the measures;  it does not  indicate the size of their 
impact (reduction in trade) caused by the measures  themselves which, other than in the case of 
prohibitively high restrictions, is considerably less.   In terms of trade coverage, import restricting 
measures mainly affect base metal products (in pa rticular steel), machinery, live animals and 
products, and transport equipment.17   
Share of trade covered by im port-restricting measures 
October 2008-October 2009 November 2009-May 2010 
1.01 0.4 
 
48. Some Members continue to raise concerns about  a generally stricter application of SPS and 
TBT regulations, and of slower customs procedures and additional requirements in the administration 
of import licensing measures (e.g. additional customs inspections, port of entry restrictions, expanded 
use of reference prices).18  As indicated in previous reports, it is not easy to clearly identify the true 
nature and objectives of this kind of trade obstacles, nor is it evident to substantiate it empirically, but 
they can have a significant impact in delaying cu stoms clearance and in raising the cost of trade 
transactions. 
49. The measures included in Annex 1 are not all comparable, in particular in terms of their trade 
impact.  Measures may apply to one specific product, a group of products, or they may affect all trade in a horizontal manner.  Another difficulty lies in the fact that not all measures categorized as trade restrictive may have been adopted with such an intention.
19   
                                                      
16 Calculations are based on the following methodology :  (i) Only trade measures that are actually in 
force are covered.  Measures that have simply been proposed, or that have not yet cleared the domestic 
legislative process, are not included.  (ii) Where two measures exist for th e same country and the same product, 
import figures are only counted once.  ( iii) The value of trade covered is for 2008, and it is counted at the six-
digit tariff line level, which is the most disaggregated level available from UN Comtrade.  For many import restrictions, this overstates
 the value of trade affected by the measure, potentially by quite a lot;  for example, an 
anti-dumping action may only affect highly specific products from just a few firms. 
17 If non-verified measures are included in the calculations, the trade coverage would rise up to around 
0.8 per cent, and minerals (iron ore) wo uld become the most affected sector. 
18 SPS and TBT measures are not includ ed in the country specific list of  measures in Annex1, although 
they may have a direct impact on trade flows.  The WTO Secretariat is not in a position to judge if a particular 
SPS or TBT measure was taken for other reasons than those rela ted to SPS and TBT concerns. 
19 The inclusion of any measure in the Annex Tables  implies no judgement by the WTO Secretariat on 
whether or not such measure, or its intent, is protectionist in nature.  Moreover, nothing in the tables implies any judgement, either direct or  indirect, on the consistency of any measure referred to with the provisions of any 
WTO agreement or such measure's impact on, or relationship with, the global financial crisis.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 17 
 
 
  Table 1 
Trade coverage of restrictive im port measures, November 2009-May 2010 
(Per cent) 
HS section Share in total world impo rts Share in total affected imports 
Total imports affected 0.40 100.0 
  Agriculture (HS 01-24) 0.04 10.6 
    Live animals & products 0.02 5.8 
    Vegetable products 0.00 0.7 
    Fats & oils 0.00 0.0 
    Prepared food etc. 0.02 4.0 
  Industry products (HS 25-97) 0.36 89.4 
    Minerals 0.00 0.0 
    Chemical & products 0.01 3.0 
    Plastics & rubber 0.00 0.8 
    Hides & skins 0.00 0.3 
    Wood & articles 0.00 0.1 
    Pulp, paper etc. 0.00 0.3 
    Textile & articles 0.01 3.6 
    Footwear, headgear 0.00 0.2 
    Articles of stone 0.00 0.6 
    Precious stones, etc. 0.00 0.0 
    Base metals & products 0.27 65.8 
    Machinery 0.04 10.1 
   Transport equipment 0.02 3.7 
    Precision equipment 0.00 0.2 
    Arms and ammunition 0.00 0.0 
    Miscellaneous manufacture 0.00 0.5 
    Works of art, etc. 0.00 0.0 
Note: Calculations are based on 200 8 import figures.  Total world im ports in 2008:  US$16,011.9 billion. 
Source : WTO Secretariat estimates, ba sed on UNSD Comtrade database. 
1. Trade remedies (anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard actions) 
50. The first four months of 2010 have shown a si gnificant cooling-off of trade remedy use.  
Anti-dumping  initiations of new investiga tions have decreased 35 per cent compared to the first four 
months of 2009.20  Even if, as has been the case historically, the number of initiations is higher in the 
second half of the year than in the first half, it is e xpected that there will be fewer initiations this year 
than in 2009.  This would run counter to historical  trends that show that anti-dumping use increases in 
times of economic downturn. 
51. Anti-dumping investigations do not always l ead to the imposition of measures.  From 
approximately six to twelve months after the initia tion of an investigation, Members may impose final 
measures.  Accordingly, the data on initiation of inves tigations  is not an indicator of the number of 
final measures adopted.  However, the initiation of in vestigations has a chilling effect on trade.  The 
number of anti-dumping measures imposed has not s hown an increase from 2008 to 2009.  This is 
notable given that in 2007, Members initiated 163 anti-dumping investigations compared to 208 in 
2008.  With a 22 per cent increase in investigations  from 2007 to 2008, one might have expected a 
                                                      
20 A similar trend has been shown by the World Bank’s Temporary Trade Barriers Database which 
notes that the first quarter of 2010 showed a 20 per cent decrease in newly initiated investigations.  The figures in this database are not comparable to those of the WTO Secretariat due to different methodologies used in 
counting individual measures. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 18  
 
  similar increase in applied measures from 2008 to 20 09.  However, 139 final measures were imposed 
in 2008 compared to 138 in 2009.  This is a sign  that Members are perhaps showing more restraint in 
imposing final measures after initiating new investigations (Chart 6). 
 
050100150200250
2006 2007 2008 2009Chart 6
Anti-dumping actions, 2006 - 2009
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates.Measures Initiations
 
 
 52. Chart 7 shows the products covered by the new investigations initiated between January and 
April 2010.  The coverage has changed slightly from 2009, with a noticeable increase in the area of 
glass products.  Additionally, there has been less variet y in products covered in  2010, but this can be 
explained by the fact that there have been fewe r cases initiated.  Metals, including steel products, 
continue to be the most investigated sector. 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 19 
 
 
  Chart 7
Anti-dumping initiations of new investigations, January - April 2010
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates.Metals
25%
Machinery
10%Glass
15%Food
3%Textiles
8%
Minerals
3%Paper
10%Chemicals
21%Optical 
instruments
5%
 
 
53. During the first four months of 2010, developi ng countries initiated the largest number of new 
investigations (mainly India, Argentina, Brazil,  China and the European Union).  China was the 
country most targetted by these initiations (Chart 8). 
54. Safeguard  initiations have also slowed during the first four months of 2010 compared to the 
same period in 2009.  After a rise to almost histor ical highs from 2008 to 2009, the current decline in 
use could indicate that safeguard investigations will re turn closer to average levels this year.  In 2009, 
28 safeguard investigations were initiated compared to a yearly average of 14 since 1995.  From 
January to April 2010 there have been ten initia tions compared to 14 in the same period of 2009 
(Chart 9).  Accordingly, the Secretariat predicts the total for 2010 to be above average but far less 
than the historic high of 34 in 2002. 
55. Some restraint has been shown by Members wh en deciding whether to impose final safeguard 
measures.  In 2008, out of 11 initiations, six led to final measures and two we re terminated without 
measures (three are on-going).  In 2009, while data are preliminary as many cases are still on-going, out of 28 initiations of investigations, 13 have been  terminated without measures.  Similarly in 2010, 
out of 10 initiations, four have b een terminated without measures. 
56. Products covered in the first four months of 2010 are metals (6 cases), chemicals, glass, paper 
and textiles (Chart 10).  In the same period of 200 9, there was similar but more diverse product 
coverage. 
 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 20  
 
  Chart 8
Anti-dumping initiations of new invest igations by Member, January - April 2010
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates.India (10)a)    By reporting Member
b)    By affected Member
a   Various countries affected by one investigation: Aust ria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, France, India, 
Indonesia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, South Africa, Viet Nam.Argentina (7)
Brazil (4)China (4)EU (4)Australia (3)United States (2)Canada (1)Chile (1)Rep. of Korea (1)Mexico (1)
China (12)
EU (3)Others a (14)
Chinese 
Taipei
(2)Thailand (2)
Rep. of 
Korea
(3)United 
States
(3)Turkey (1)
 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 21 
 
 
  Chart 9
Safeguard investigations by init iating Member, January - April 2010
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates.Dominican 
Republic
(2)Indonesia
(5)Ukraine
(2)Ecuador
(1)
Chart 10
Safeguard initiations of new in vestigations, January - April 2010
Source:  WTO Secretariat estimates.Metals
60%Glass
10%
Textiles
10%Paper
10%
Chemicals
10%
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 22  
 
  57. While countervailing
 duty investigations spiked in 2009 to an almost historic level of 30, 
comparing January to April 2010 to the same period in 2009 shows a slight decrease from five to four initiations.  These data make it difficult to project the total for the year, but a slight decrease could be 
expected.  However, one notable cha nge that could affect projections for this year is that the European 
Union has initiated its first countervailin g duty investigation on Chinese exports. 
2. Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) 
58. The SPS Agreement provides several mechanis ms to monitor the imposition of trade 
restrictions.  All WTO Members are obliged to pr ovide an advance notification of proposed new SPS 
requirements, except for measures ta ken in response to emergency situ ations for which notification is 
to be provided immediately upon taking the measure.  Other Members have the opportunity to 
comment on these notified measures, both directly to the notifying Member and/or by raising the issue 
at a regular meeting of the SPS Committee.   
59. During the period from 1 November 2009 to 15 May 2010, 635 regular notifications and 50 
emergency notifications were submitted by Members.   This compares with 312 regular notifications 
and 132 emergency notifications for the same period in 2008-09.  The higher number of notifications 
signals either an increase in regulatory activity or an improved implementation of the SPS Agreement.  
The data shows a significant increase in the proportion of notified SPS measures from developing country Members:  around 79 per cent of the notif ications submitted from 1 November 2009 through 
15 May 2010 came from developing countries (the corresponding figure for the same period in 2008-2009 was around to 67 per cent). 
60. Any Member can raise a specific trade concern at any of the three regular meetings of the SPS 
Committee each year.  In the two Committee m eetings of October 2009 and March 2010, 12 new 
trade concerns were raised.  In comparison, only 5 new specific trade concerns were raised between 
October 2008 and March 2009, and six new issu es were raised in the June 2009 meeting. 
61. Three of these 12 new issues raised concern import restrictions on beef and swine products 
due to either bovine spongiform encephalopathy or foot-and-mouth disease risk factors.  Apart from 
these three new issues, three previous ly discussed issues on import restrictions were also raised in the 
SPS Committee during this period.  For many of these cases, new risk as sessments were being 
performed to determine whether to remove the impor t restrictions.  Other Members have reported that 
certain WTO Members still maintain unjustified import restrictions.
21   
62. During this same period, one new trade concern was raised regarding restrictions of poultry 
meat due to avian influenza.  Two previously raised  concerns related to impo rt restrictions on this 
same issue were also brought up during the period under study.  These import restrictions relate to 
live birds, fresh poultry meat and meat products;  and live pigs, pork prod ucts and sub-products. 
63. A number of WTO Members have imposed (and a fe w of them still maintain) restrictions on 
imports of pork meat or products, and someti mes on additional products, from WTO Members who 
report high incidences of the A (H1N1) viru s in humans, or any occurrence in pigs.22   
                                                      
21 According to the SPS Agreement, a WTO Member may impose requirements that exceed those of 
the relevant international standards only where they have undertaken an appropriate risk assessment and have 
scientific evidence to demonstrate that the international standard would not provide sufficient health protection.  
In what appears to be a growing numb er of situations, however, Members do  not accept imports on the basis of 
the international standards but have not provided the required scientific justification. 
22 However, more countries have been lifting these restrictions recently than imposing new ones.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 23 
 
 
  64. As of 1 December 2008, the SPS Committee has agr eed to new transparen cy guidelines which 
state that Members are encouraged to notify all regulations that are based on, conform to, or are substantially the same as an international standard , guideline or recommendation, if they are expected 
to have a significant effect on trade of other Members.  From 1 November 2009 to 15 May 2010, around 14 per cent of notifications have indicated th at they do not conform to an international 
standard, 22 per cent have indicated that they do, while 64 per cent have not specified this information 
at all.
23 
3. Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) 
65. Two aspects of the TBT Committee's work are rele vant to the surveillance and monitoring of 
regulatory measures that have an effect on interna tional trade:  Members' notifications of draft 
regulations, and the discussion of potential or actua l trade effects of these measures in the Committee. 
66. Under the TBT Agreement, Members are required to make a notification  to the WTO if a 
proposed regulation may have a significant effect on trade of other Members.  Since the Agreement 
entered into force, over 12,000 notifications of new or changed regulations have been submitted by 
110 WTO Members.  During the period November 2009 to May 2010, the number of notifications 
made to the Committee continued to  increase compared with previous  periods:  1,030 notifications 
were submitted (compared to 875 notifications in the previous six months).  The higher number of 
notifications may signal either an increase in regul atory activity or an improved implementation of the 
transparency provisions of the TBT Agreement. 
67. The number of notifications from developing co untry Members is rising steadily (Chart 11).  
About 80 per cent of the notifications submitted during the period under consideration came from 
developing countries only.  This rise is mainly driv en by China, Korea, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia.  
In particular, the growth in the number of Chinese no tifications is part of a long-term trend which has 
lasted for about five years. 
68. Members also use the TBT Committee as a forum to discuss specific trade concerns  that arise 
between them and that relate to technical regulati ons, standards or conformity assessment procedures.  
These "specific trade concerns" relate normally to  proposed draft measures (notified to the TBT 
Committee as described above) or to the implementation of existing regulations.  Members have underlined the value of the Committee's discussions  on specific trade concerns; these discussions 
provide an opportunity for a multilateral review that  enhances the transparency and predictability in 
the application of standards, technical regula tions and conformity assessment procedures.   
 
                                                     
 
23 This includes both regular and emergency notifications. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 24  
 
  20002001200220032004200520062007200820092010 (April)0200400600800100012001400Chart 11
Number of TBT notifications since 2000
Developed countries
Source:  WTO Secretariat.Developing countries Developed countries
 
 
69. Since the TBT Agreement entered into force, 264 specific trade concerns have been discussed 
in the Committee.  The number of concerns rai sed and discussed in the TBT Committee has grown 
significantly over the last four years.  In 2009, th is number reached 75, a record number (compared to 
59 in 2008) (Chart 12).  The significant increase in specific trade concerns raised in the TBT 
Committee over the last few years may, to a certain extent, be an indication of the increasingly active 
participation of Members in the work of the TB T Committee;  it may also indicate an enhanced 
awareness of the importance of the implementation of  the requirements in the TBT Agreement.  The 
most frequently invoked reason for raising a concern in the TBT Committee is the need for more 
information or clarification about the measure at issu e.  The review of specific trade concerns in the 
Committee is thus an important monitoring mechanism.   
70. By and large, the regional distribution of Members maintaining measures subject to 
discussion in the Committee is spread evenly acros s the WTO membership, with the exceptions of 
African and Caribbean countries.  Measures maintain ed by developing country Members have been 
most frequently raised for discussion (around 60 per cent of the cases).  No measures maintained by 
LDCs have been raised in the TBT Committee yet.  Currently, three of the specific trade concerns 
discussed in the TBT Committee – on seals, country of  origin labelling and clove cigarettes - have led 
to formal proceedings under the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding. 
 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 25 
 
 
  20002001200220032004200520062007200820092010 (April)05101520253035404550Chart 12
Number of specific trade concerns raised per year, 2000-2010 (April)
Previous concerns New concerns
Source:  WTO Secretariat.
 
 
4. Government procurement policies 
71. Monitoring government procurement polices and practices remains a challenge, in part due to 
the nature of the agreement in the WTO (the plur ilateral Government Procur ement Agreement, GPA), 
but mainly to the lack of full information on chan ges in regulations and actual procurement practices 
at all levels of government.  There has been a great deal of activity in this area over recent periods, in 
particular as a result of some components of the st imulus packages implemented in the context of the 
global financial crisis. 
72. One important development related to gove rnment procurement during the period under 
review was the bilateral agreement between Cana da and the United States which could provide a 
springboard for forward movement in th e coverage negotiations under the GPA.24  This possibility has 
arisen because key elements of the bilateral agreem ent are being implemented via the GPA.  This also 
demonstrates the value of increased transparency. 
73. The Canada-US bilateral agreement grew out of negotiations between the two countries to 
address trade frictions related to the impact on Ca nadian suppliers of "Buy American" requirements 
                                                      
24 "GPA Signatories Hope U.S.-Canada Deal Triggers Stalled Market Access Talks,"  Inside U.S. 
Trade , February 19, 2010 and "Upbeat report on GPA talks," Washington Trade Daily, May 3, 2010. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 26  
 
  contained in the American Recovery and Reinvestme nt Act of 2009 (i.e. the stimulus legislation).
25  
While the restrictive impact of this legislation on the market access rights of GPA Parties is limited by 
a clause stipulating that the provisions in question shall be implemented "in a manner consistent with 
US obligations under international agreements"26, the relief provided to Canadian suppliers by this 
clause was limited by the (until now) separate der ogation implemented by the United States against 
Canada in respect of US state government procurem ents. This, in turn, reflected Canada's refusal, 
until now, to include its sub-central gov ernment entities in its GPA commitments. 
74. In its revised GPA offer, Canada has undertaken to cover, for the first time, a range of entities 
from its provinces and territories.  Specifically, it will cover entities from all ten of its provinces and 
two of its three territories.  The additional coverage  proposed in Canada's revised offer has, initially, 
been made available only to the United States under th e terms of the Canada-US bilateral agreement.  
However, it has also been offered to other GPA Parties, subject to the negotiation of mutually 
acceptable commitments (a number of those other Parties have, until now, maintained their own 
derogations against Canada based on Canada's above-noted past refusal to schedule its sub-central 
entities).  The entities that are proposed to be cove red in Canada's revised offer have also been 
incorporated in Canada's current commitments, under its recent notification, and subject to conditions 
noted therein.27 
75. For its part, the United States has removed its  above-noted derogati on against Canada in 
respect of its state government procurements in  both its current commitments and its own second 
revised offer under the coverage negotiations.  Fu rther, the United States' second revised offer 
comprises additional procurement by relevant entities regarding seven pr ogrammes funded by the 
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  This additional coverage has initially been made 
available only to Canada (as provided under the Cana da-US bilateral agreement) but has also been 
offered to other GPA Parties, subject to ne gotiation of mutually acceptable commitments. 
76. In other GPA-related developments during the period under review, negotiations on the 
accession of Armenia are close to being concluded.  China has undertaken to provide a robust revised 
coverage offer in the nego tiations on its own accession.28  In addition, at its recent Trade Policy 
Review meeting, China indicated that it will submit  by mid-July a new proposal to join the GPA.  
Work continues on the accession of Jordan, and I ndia became an observer to the Agreement in 
February of this year. 
B. POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE IN SERVICES  
77. With few exceptions, WTO Members are maintaini ng the general thrust of their services trade 
policies and the resulting level of market openness.  Some are taking further steps to liberalize their 
services sectors to allow greater foreign competition. 
78. In the area of telecommunication services,  two-thirds of countries worldwide have eliminated 
monopolies and opened up fixed telephony to competiti on.  More than 90 per cent of countries now 
permit competition in Internet access and mobile telephony.  Three-quarters of countries no longer 
maintain limits of foreign ownership in the sector, while another five per cent allow foreign majority 
control.  Privatization, either full or partial, is  now in place in at least 125 fixed line incumbents and 
                                                      
25 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5 of 17 February 2009, Sections 
604 and 1605. 
26 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, id., Sections 604(k) and 1605(d). 
27 WT/Let/672, dated 19 March 2010. 
28 Second Meeting of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Joint US-China Economic Track 
Fact Sheet, 25 May 2010 (US Treasury Department website).  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 27 
 
 
  plans to privatize are underway in another 67 incumb ents.  In Europe and the Americas, the share of 
privatized incumbents is 70 per cent and the share in developing countries is 60 per cent.29 
79. Recently, Tanzania issued five new mobile licen ses, bringing the total number to twelve.  
Vietnam has issued a new license for a fixed network which brings to eight the total number of fixed line operators.  India held long-delayed auctions for Third Generation (3G) licenses in April for each 
of its geographic "circles" as well as for a license with national coverage and has now completed 
auctions for wireless broadband spectrum.  Costa Rica issued one mobile licence in January 2010 and 
will launch the tender for a second license in April.    
80. In the area of financial services,
 fewer new government support measures for the financial 
sector have been implemented in the past six months, but it remains unclear which earlier 
programmes are still in place and which have been terminated.  Not all available facilities or 
guarantees seem to have been used, a number of polic ies have expired by now, and other policies have 
been of a one-off nature (e.g. capital injections for tr oubled institutions) or ha ve been made permanent 
(e.g. increases in minimum deposit insurance).30  
81. Since 1 January 2010, Nepal has allowed fo reign banks to engage in wholesale banking 
through branches offices throughout the country.  Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) has defined wholesale 
banking as deposits above Rs.100 millio n and lending above Rs.300 milli on.  Foreign banks willing to 
open a branch are required to bring in at least US$30 million (Rs.2.24 billion) to be eligible for a 
license and are required to invest at least another US$5 million (Rs.374 million) for each branch they want to set up in the country.  Foreign banks wish ing to expand their presence in Nepal must be at 
least B-rated as per the evaluation of internati onal rating agencies such as Moody's and Fitch.  
82. After delaying further liberalization by over a year due to the global financial crisis, on 20 
April 2010 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its decision to review its position by September this year in the wake  of improving conditions worldwide.
31 According to its Annual 
Monetary Policy for 2010-2011, the RBI will prepar e a discussion paper on the mode of presence of 
foreign banks through branch or wholly - owned subsidiary by September 2010.  
83. On 18 March 2010, the Bank of Thailand (BOT ) lifted the one-branch restriction for full 
branches of foreign banks.  Notification No. SorNor Sor 1/2553 allows foreign banks operating a full 
branch to operate two additional branches and expa nd their market presence.  The new branch can be 
a general branch, an electronic branch (ATM), or  a currency exchange counter.  Once approval is 
granted, the additional branch must be set up within two years. 
                                                      
29 Much of the global comparisons regarding telecommunications policies are drawn from ICT 
Regulatory News, May 2010, a report  of recent data compiled for th e ITU World Telecommunication/ICT 
Regulatory Data Base. 
30 For an overview of the measures taken by EU member states as at 12 May 2010, see "State aid: 
Overview of national measures adopted as a response to the financial/economic crisis", MEMO/10/179, Brussels, 12 May 2010, available at:  http://europa. eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/10/179
&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN.  For an update on the US Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), 
see the Monthly 105(a) Report – April 2010 (dated 10 May 2010), prepared by the US Treasury Department, and available at 
http://www.financialstability.gov/docs/105Congressi onalReports/April%202010%20105(a)%20report_ 
final.pdf. 
31 In February 2005, the RBI released the "roadmap for presence of foreign banks in India" laying out a 
two-track and gradualist liberalization approach. The roadmap had been divided into two phases, the first phase 
spanning the period March 2005-March 2009, and the second phase beginning after a review of the experience gained in the first phase. When the second phase began in April 2009, the Indian Government decided to delay 
implementation in light of the global financial turmoil. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  84. Targeted limitations have been introduced  in the area of audiovisual services
 by Bangladesh 
and Indonesia.  Bangladesh decided in April 2010 to re-impose a ban on the screening of Indian 
movies, which had been lifted earlier the same mo nth.  A new law adopted in Indonesia in 2009 
established screen quotas permitting no more than 60 pe r cent of screen time fo r foreign films.  The 
law also includes prohibitions against the dubbing of foreign films and prevents foreign-owned 
companies from distributing or exhibiting films.  
85. A new regulatory framework for postal-courier services  was passed in Indonesia in 2009.  
The New Law on Postal Services (2009) abolish es monopoly powers on certain postal services but 
also requires that postal service suppliers (incl uding courier and express delivery companies) be 
majority-owned by Indonesians.  It requires that  collaboration between domes tic and foreign suppliers 
(with minority ownership) be limited to a province or  capital with an international airport or harbour.  
The New Law also requires private sector operators to contribute to the financing of the universal 
postal service and that non-universal service operators  give priority to the delivery of items falling 
under the universal postal service, subject to co mpensation determined by the government.  
86. Regarding trade in services through the movement of natural persons  (Mode-4), from 1 
October 2010 a labour market opinion will be applie d in Canada to all applications for foreign 
information technology workers – workers in seven types of IT occupations are currently exempt 
from this requirement.   
87. From 1 March 2010, employers in Costa Rica are required to pay foreign executives a salary 
at least 25 per cent above the minimum salary for a similar position.  Also, “Consular Visas” for 
foreign business visitors can now be  obtained upon arrival at a Costa Rican port of entry, rather than 
exclusively prior to entry. 
88. The Indian Government has issued guidelines fo r stricter enforcement of business and work 
visa requirements.  Indian diplomatic posts now accept employment visa applications only from 
nationals of the country where the post is located .  Other nationals are required to file their 
applications at the Indian diplomatic post in their co untry of citizenship.  Additionally, it is no longer 
possible to use a business visa to enga ge in 'project or contractual wo rk' in India.  The new guidelines 
limit the issuance of business visas strictly to bus iness-related activities, which generally include 
attending business meetings, exploring opportunities fo r investment or establishing a business.  For 
other activities, an employment visa is required.  Th e new rules have made it necessary for expatriate 
workers performing contract or project work under a business visa to leave India and re-enter the country for completing their existing assignments under an employment visa.  The new guidelines 
tighten the criteria for foreigners wishing to perf orm project or contractual work to qualify for 
employment visas.  Applicants, be they intra-corp orate transferees or directly hired employees, are 
required to hold a senior-level, skilled position with th e sponsoring company.  Moreover, applications 
involving jobs for which a large number or qualifi ed Indian nationals are available will not be 
considered.  A new quota system is also being enfor ced which limits the number of foreign nationals 
to 1 per cent of the employer's workforce or 20 foreign workers in total, whichever is less.  
Companies seeking more overseas workers need th e approval of the Ministry of Labour and 
Employment. 
89. On 15 July 2009, the Japanese Government enact ed significant changes to its Immigration 
Control and Refugee Recognition Act.  The changes, wh ich will take effect over the next three years, 
include the implementation of a new Resident Card , generally valid for the duration of the foreign 
national's period of permitted stay (previously, the Ca rd was valid for one to five years, regardless of 
the permitted length of stay).  The new Resident Cards will be automatically issued upon landing to 
individuals granted a stay of more than three m onths, subject to exceptions.  Foreign nationals will 
therefore no longer need to register with their lo cal Municipal Office.  In addition, a new visa 
category will be introduced for trainees, to allo w them to enter Japan and engage in on-the-job  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 29 
 
 
  training activities under an employment contract .  Currently, individuals undergoing on-the-job 
training use the non-work trainee visa status, and they can perform work activities only by changing 
visa status.  The new visa category is expected to be implemented on or before 15 July 2010. 
90. Panamanian immigration authorities have increased the maximum duration of stay for 
business visitors to 180 days;  na tionals of countries for which Panama requires an "Authorised Visa" 
will generally still be limited to maximum stays of 30 days.   
91. New Zealand is introducing two new immigra tion categories.  The first will allow 300 
qualifying foreigners aged between 20 and 35 to apply for work with any employ er in the country for 
up to nine months;  the second is available to  another 300 young individu als who already have a 
permit and have received an offer of  skilled employment in New Zealand for at least 12 months, for a 
maximum duration of stay of 24 months. 
92. The Swiss Federal Council has changed th e 2010 work permit quotas for non-EU/EFTA 
nationals on assignment in Switzerland for more th an 90 days.  The quota for B-permits, which are 
used for long-term assignments, is limited to 3,000 (reduced from 4,000 in 2009), the one for L-
permits, which are issued for a period up to one year (but are extendable up to 24 months) is 8,000 (up 
from 7,000 in 2009).   
93. Changes to the United Kingdom's Points Based System took effect on 6 April 2010.  The 
changes broaden the Tier 1 category for highly sk illed foreigners to allow individuals with a 
bachelor's degree to earn points (this was previous ly possible only for holders of graduate-level 
degrees), and reduce the initial duration of stay fro m three to two years, while providing for the 
possibility of a three-year extension.  Changes con cern also the Tier 2 (intra-corporate transferees) 
category, as follows:  two new subcategories have be en created to allow for intra-company transfers 
of graduate trainees who have worked for the sen ding employer for at least three months, for a 
maximum period of one year, and of newly-hired gra duates who move to learn or teach skills relevant 
to their new position, for a duration of stay of up to six months;  the pre-employment requirement for the "standard intra-corporate category" has been increased from six to twelve months. 
94. The Vietnamese Immigration Department has r ecently reduced the maximum initial period of 
stay for business visa holders from six to three mont hs.  If business visitors seek to remain in the 
country beyond these new maximum periods , they must obtain a work permit. 
IV. GOVERNMENT SUPPORT MEASURES  
A. O
VERVIEW  
95. Previous monitoring reports have noted that many governments around the world, in 
particular those in industrialized countries, but not  only them, provided massive support to financial 
institutions, either through guarantees, recapitalizat ion schemes, or through "cleaning" of balance 
sheets from impaired assets.   Other sectors of  the economy also benefited from exceptional 
government support measures.  The vast majority  of these measures and actions were undertaken 
during the first phases of the global crisis, and new measures are becoming less frequent.  The 
majority of new government support measures liste d in Annex 2 are state aid to specific sectors 
(mainly agriculture), and credit insurance and guarantee schemes. 
96. Government support measures were introduced to counteract the impact of the global crisis, 
and to jump-start the economic recovery.  Neverthe less, their implementation raised, and continues to 
raise, concerns about some of their unintended e ffects on open competition and trade.  For example, 
scrutiny of stimulus packages has revealed the ex tent to which government procurement in many 
economies escapes meaningful  multilateral disciplines. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 30  
 
  97. Almost all government support measures were aime d at achieving one, or all, of the following 
policy objectives:  to increase global demand (thr ough infrastructure projects), stabilize financial 
markets (through bail-outs of financial institutions), and to provide support to specific sectors heavily 
affected by the global crisis.
32  In each one of these areas ther e are elements that potentially favour 
trade, and elements that potentially distort trade. 
98. In the area of support to specific sectors, government measures took mostly the form of 
consumption or production subsidies, except on a li mited number of instances of export subsidies in 
agriculture (which have a direct impact on trad e patterns).  Consumption subsidies (such as tax 
rebates and direct payments) are in principle trad e-neutral by increasing demand not only for domestic 
products but for imported goods as we ll.  Production subsidies on the ot her hand have the potential to 
distort trade, in some cases quite significantly.  It  is not the size of the production subsidy intervention 
per se  that matters in this rega rd, but its non-neutral nature vis-à-vis  domestic and foreign firms that 
may distort trade.  For example, bailouts of majo r financial institutions will constitute (in the case of 
credit shortages) a trade distortion if the programmes require a withdrawal from overseas business in order to support domestic lending or if bailout s favour domestic banks and discriminate against 
foreign banks.    
99. Production subsidies apply to output regardless of its  market destination.  This type of subsidy 
can have a direct impact on trade (exports, imports  or both), depending on whether the subsidy is 
granted to an industry that is export-competing, import-competing or both.  For an export competing 
industry, production subsidies w ould boost exports but would have an overall ambiguous effect on 
world trade;   production subsidies for an impor t-competing industry would lead to a decline of 
imports and thus to a decline of world trade;  a nd if an industry is both export and import competing 
the overall effect on world trade is ambiguous.  Ov erall, production subsidies are not necessarily good 
for world trade as they may di scriminate against foreign firms, and may postpone necessary 
restructuring efforts leaving overcapacity and low productivity in the affected sectors.  
100. During the period under review, a number of countries, in particular G20 economies, 
continued to make available stimulus packages or  provide state aid, including export credit schemes 
and specific support predominantly benefiting the agriculture, financial and automotive sectors.
33  
Most stimulus packages include speci fic measures for SMEs.  As a result of this type of support, State 
involvement in industries in crisis continues to be high.  While these measures were necessary to 
overcome the global crisis and impr oving the economic conditions, there are still fears that the future 
exit of public funds from rescued firms could lead to an increase in economic nationalism.  UNCTAD 
notes that overall, the quantity of new state aids and stimulus packages has decreased more recently; 
in addition several countries have started to terminate existing aid schemes.34 
101. The following section provides an overview of  three sectors where a number of governments 
implemented specific measures having a direct or indirect impact on trade and competition.  The aim is to present an economic analysis of the sector s' performance before th e global crisis erupted, a 
description of government specific measures, and their trade performance in the context of the crisis.  
The analysis shows that these sectors were confro nted with adjustment problems long before the 
crisis, that they were already heavily hit by trade r estrictions in the past, and that important challenges 
                                                     
 
32 For example, direct and indirect support to particular sectors have been frequent, with one third of 
OECD countries offering some type of financial support for their automotive industries, and many countries 
engaging in interventions to forestall plant closure through managed bankruptcies and government sanctioned 
mergers, as well as demand-side measures such as car scrapping schemes (OECD, Trade, Policy and the 
Economic Crisis, May 2010). 
33 For example, the European Commission's temporar y framework for state aid allows EU Member 
States to grant limited amounts of aid (direct grants) to  farmers encountering difficulties as a result of the 
financial crisis. 
34 UNCTAD, Investment Policy Monitor, N° 2, 20 April 2010.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 31 
 
 
  still remain in face of them.  The scope of the analysis  is a first step towards a fuller analysis of trade 
developments in these sectors. 
B. THE AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY  
1. Introduction 
102. The automobile industry plays a significant role in many domestic economies and in 
international trade.35  The industry is characterized by high degrees of disintegration along the value 
chain, important economies of scale and product diffe rentiation. During the last decades, there have 
been structural changes in the industry, with wa ves of mergers and acquisitions, and relocation of 
production - especially labour-intensive production stages - away from high-wage OECD countries 
towards low-wage non-OECD ones. 
103. The auto industry was hit hard by the global financial crisis, because demand for automobiles 
depends on access to credit ( ⅔ of auto purchases being done with credit). The slack in demand was 
exacerbated by uncertainty and lower levels of disposable income, which negatively affected 
purchases of durable goods, like cars. Production and export levels worldwide dropped significantly 
in the last months of 2008 and in the first semest er of 2009, with some signs of recovery during the 
last twelve months. 
104. Governments have implem ented a number of measures in the auto industry, both to support 
producers' balance sheets and to sustain consum er demand (through for example the car scrapping 
programmes). The short-run impact of these measures is hard to quantify absent a counterfactual, but 
there is some evidence indicating that these measures have somewhat  contributed to GDP recovery. 
Although none of them are specific trade measures, they are likely to have some trade effects.   
2. Sectoral production and trade structure 
105. The automobile industry constitutes an important sector in the world economy.  In fact, 
despite a relatively small average share in term s of manufacturing value added, employment and 
exports, the sector is characterised by importa nt upstream and downstream spillovers over the 
economy. The OECD estimates a multiplier effect fr om the automobile industry to the rest of the 
economy to be close to three in G7 countries, meaning that a US$1 increase in the value added 
delivered by the automobile industry would increase output by US$3. This effect is larger than the 
multiplier of most, if not all, other industries and always stronger than the average industry multiplier, 
estimated at 2.2.36 
106. The automobile industry has some specific feat ures. The sector is ch aracterised by a high 
capital to labour ratio, which, other things being equa l, gives a comparative advantage in the sector to 
countries where capital is abundant relatively to lab our. At the same time, there is a high level of 
disintegration along the value chain, whereby auto makers and part supplie rs form buyer-supplier 
relationships on a global scale.  Since some of th e parts and components used for the final production 
of automobiles are labour-intensive, their production is  carried out in labour-intensive countries. This 
is why among the top exporters in the sector there are both OECD and non-OECD countries. 
                                                      
35 For the purpose of this study, the automobile industry is defined as sector 34 in the ISIC 
(International Standard Industrial Classification), Rev. 3 nomenclature. The sector is classified as "Manufacture 
of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers", and it in cludes "Manufacture of motor vehicles"; "Manufacture of 
bodies (coachwork) for motor vehicles; manufacture of trailers and semi-trailers"; "Manufacture of parts and 
accessories for motor vehicl es and their engines". 
36 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 32  
 
  107. Another marked characteristic of the sector is the importance of dynamic economies of scale.  
This has given rise to waves of mergers and acquisiti ons and to concentration of brands in a handful 
of countries.  The historical trend of production is however shifting away from OECD countries, 
towards non-OECD countries. Factors that have enc ouraged this trend include labour costs, market 
saturation in OECD countries, high shipping costs and efforts by automakers to locate production 
close to consumer markets.
37 
108. The ILO estimates automotive production employ ment to be 8.4 million people globally in 
2004, and just under 10 million in 2007.38 China has the largest share in total world employment 
(39 per cent), followed by Germany, the United States  and Japan (Table 2).  These last three countries 
have the largest shares of world sectoral value a dded, with China lined well behind in the fourth 
position. This may indicate that Chinese production in this sector consists mainly of standardized 
parts and components.   
109. Data on sectoral employment and value added, as a share of the overall levels of these 
variables in each country's manufacturing sector, is shown in Table 3.  The share of employment in the auto sector in total employment in manufact uring is highest in Germany, Japan and Korea.
39  
Clearly, these are the countries where employment concerns of fluctuations in sectoral output and 
growth rates are likely to be more relevant. The figures on value added show similar patterns, with 
Germany, Japan and Korea having the largest shar e of sectoral value added in manufacturing value 
added in 2005.   
Table 2 
Country share of world employment and value added in automobiles, 2005 
(Per cent) 
Share of world employment  Share of world value added 
Country Share  Country Share 
China 39.0  United States 26.9 
Germany 9.6  Japan 22.3 
United States 9.4  Germany 13.9 
Japan 8.1  China 8.6 
Russian Federation 5.7  Korea, Rep. of 5.7 
Brazil 4.1  France 4.2 
France 3.1  Brazil 3.0 
Korea, Rep of 2.6  United Kingdom 2.7 
United Kingdom 2.1  Spain 2.0 
Italy 1.8  Italy 1.7 
Spain 1.8  Sweden 1.3 
Iran 1.2  Indonesia 0.8 
South Africa 1.2  Belgium 0.7 
Poland 1.2  Poland 0.7 
Czech Republic 1.2  Austria 0.7 
Sweden 1.0  Iran 0.7 
Total 93.1  Total 95.9 
Source : UNIDO IndStat. 
                                                      
37 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. 
38 ILO, "The current global economic cr isis:  sectoral aspects", March 2009. 
39 The table is sorted by the top ten exporters. It reports 2005 data because it is the last year in which 
UNIDO statistics are available for all the top ten exporters.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 33 
 
 
  Table 3 
Automobile sector employment  and value added shares, 2005 
Country Automobile employment 
(thousand) Share in manufacturing 
employment  
(Per cent) Automobile value added 
(US$ million) Share in manufacturing 
value added  
(Per cent) 
Germany 865.0 12.4 76,000 14.2 
Sweden 81.4 11.5 6,800 11.0 
Iran 110.0 10.5 3,700 16.0 
Japan 726.7 9.6 120,000 12.9 
South Africa 108.5 9.2 3,300 8.2 
Korea, Rep. of 237.0 8.7 31,000 10.2 
Czech Rep. 103. 4 8.6 3,600 12.8 
Belgium 47.0 8.1 4,100 6.8 
France 275.3 7.5 23,000 8.6 
Spain 159.0 6.5 11,000 7.0 
United States 839.0 6.4 150,000 6.7 
United Kingdom 191.3 6.1 15,000 5.7 
China 3,500.0 5.9 47,000 6.7 
Brazil 366.0 5.9 16,000 8.5 
Slovak Rep. 23.3 5.8 710 9.7 
Source : UNIDO IndStat. 
110. The automobiles sector plays a significant ro le in world trade, representing on average 
10 per cent of world merchandise exports (Table 4) .  Auto exports have followed a positive trend 
between 2003 and 2007, with two-digit growth ra tes in 2004, 2006 and 2007 and an 8.1 per cent 
growth rate in 2005, before experiencing a slow down in 2008 and a large decrease between 2008 and 
2009 (-32.2 per cent).  There has however been a downwa rd trend in the share of auto exports in total 
merchandise exports (from 10.4 per cent in 2003 to 8. 7 per cent in 2008, and down to 7.6 per cent in 
2009). The reason for this downward trend is that wo rld exports have grown at rates exceeding auto 
exports in booming years, and have contracted l ess than auto exports during the recent crisis. The 
latter phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the financial crisis disproportionately affected 
demand for consumer durables, leading consumer s to postpone purchase of automobiles due to 
increased economic uncertainty and/or a reduction in disposable income. 
Table 4 
World exports in the automobile industry, 2003-09 
 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
Automobile exports value (US$ billion) 722.50 848.90 917.90 1, 015.90 1,205.90 1,244.10 843.90 
Percentage change from previous year  17.49 8.12 10.68 18.70 3.17 -32.17 
Percentage of world merchandise exports 10.37 10.05 9.67 9.31 9.56 8.69 7.55 
Source : GTIS data. 
111. From a regional perspective, the share of auto mobile exports, as percentage of total regional 
merchandise exports, is highest for OECD countries (12. 3 per cent, Table 5).  All other regions' shares 
are below 10 per cent, including South Asia and East  Asia.  Thus, the industry seems not to be 
extremely important in the export compos ition of any region, especially for Asia.40 
112. In some economies, however, auto exports ar e important in the national composition of 
merchandise exports. The share is larger than one fo urth in Japan and Slovakia, and larger than one 
fifth in Spain (Table 6). In these economies there is indeed a high reliance on automobile exports, 
which play a major role in their trade integration. 
                                                      
40 A similar decomposition by income group reveals similar patterns. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 34  
 
  Table 5 
Automobile exports as a percentage of total merchandise exports (by region), 2007 
OECD 12.33 
Latin America and Caribbean 9.28 
Europe and Central Asia 8.14 
Sub-Saharan Africa 6.90 
South Asia 2.71 
East Asia and Pacific 2.40 
Middle East and North Africa 0.33 
Source : GTIS data. 
Table 6 
Automobile exports as a share of total merchandise exports (top 20 countries), 2007 
Japan 23.73 
Slovak Republic 23.26 
Spain 21.01 
Slovenia 18.43 
Germany 18.07 
Czech Republic 16.75 
Mexico 15.41 
Canada 15.19 
Turkey 14.82 
Sweden 13.78 
Poland 13.50 
Korea, Rep. of 13.23 
France 12.31 
Portugal 11.98 
Belgium 11.44 
Hungary 11.36 
Austria 11.22 
United Kingdom 10.22 
Cyprus 10.15 
Argentina 9.48 
Source : GTIS data. 
113. The major exporters in the sector are Germ any, which with US$239 billion accounted for 
almost 20 per cent of world exports in 2007, Japan (14 per cent), the United States (9 per cent), France (6 per cent) and Canada (5 per cent).
41  Japan, Spain, Germany and Canada (for which cars 
represent a high share of their total exports) have a si gnificant share of world exports in the sector.  In 
countries like the Slovak Republic and Slovenia, on th e other hand, auto exports respectively accounts 
for 23.3 per cent and 18.4 per cent of national me rchandise exports, but these two countries do not 
figure in the list of th e top twenty exporters. 
114. The United States, with its sizeable domestic demand, represents the largest destination 
market of automobiles exports, accounting for 19 pe r cent of world imports in 2005 (GTIS data).  
Other major importers are German y (almost 9 per cent), the United Kingdom (7 per cent), France 
(6 per cent), Canada (6 per cent), Spain (5 per cent) and Italy (5 per cent).  
                                                      
41 GTIS data. The other countries in the list of ten top exporters in 2007 are Spain, Belgium, Korea 
Republic, the United Kingdom and Italy.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 35 
 
 
  115. It should be noted that the auto sector, bei ng characterized by economies of scale and product 
differentiation, is a natural candidate for two-way trade of the intra-industry type.42 This is the reason 
why top exporting countries largely overlap with top importing ones. 
3. Impact of the global crisis on production and trade 
116. The automobile industry was hit hard by the gl obal financial crisis of  2008, experiencing the 
largest contraction of demand since the Second Wo rld War. The downturn was synchronized, with 
declines in car sales not only in OECD countries – where sales of automobiles fell on average by 
more than 20 per cent from September to January 2009 –  but also in newly industrialized economies, 
like Brazil and China.  Econometric evidence shows th at 80 per cent of the reduction in car sales in 
the United States and Canada at the end of 2008 is attributable to tight credit conditions.43  T i g h t  
credit conditions also had a significant negative effect  in other G7 countries, except France, implying 
that potential buyers postponed purchases because of the inability to obtain auto loans on affordable 
terms. Other factors that have contributed to the fall in demand for cars are the reduction in income 
growth, the sharp increase in oil prices in 2008, the increased lifespan of motor vehicles, the increase 
in vehicle registration fees and the increased uncer tainty about the future economic prospects, which 
leads consumers to increase precautionary savings  and cut on postponeable durable goods' purchases. 
117. All major producers of automobiles have been  hit by the crisis, although in somewhat 
asymmetric ways.  In the US market, sales of Chrysl er contracted by 30 per cent, Ford and General 
Motors by more than 20 per cent, Nissan and Hy undai by more than 10 per cent, Toyota by 
15 per cent and Honda by 8 per cent between December 2007 and December 2008, on a year-on-year basis.  European brands also saw  their US sales decline in the same time frame, with a 10 per cent 
reduction for BMW, more than 4 per cent for Volk swagen and more than 1 per cent for Daimler.
44 In 
Europe, there is some evidence that sales of small cars have fallen less than sales of other vehicles, 
contributing to the trend increase in the share of small cars.45 
118. The immediate response of automobile producer s to the crisis has been to slow down 
production. The OECD estimates that the number of passenger vehicles produced between December 
2008 and May 2009 declined by 33.4 per cent in the United States, 17.8 per cent in Japan, 8.1 per cent 
in the United Kingdom and 13.9 per cent in Canada.46 These reductions were carried out through 
temporary closures of supplier and assembly plants  worldwide and reduction in employment (fewer 
hours worked, layoffs of temporary employees).47 At the same time, auto  producers worldwide sought 
various forms of government support, which is discussed in the next section. 
119. Following the fall in demand, export volumes of automobiles also plunged at the end of 2008 
and into early 2009.  The slack in exports acros s the top five exporters in late 2008 until mid-2009 
was highly synchronized and substa ntial (Chart 13).  The year- on-year export growth rate was 
                                                      
42 Krugman, Paul (1980), "Scale Economies, product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade", 
American Economic Review 70(5). 
43 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. 
44 The data are from The Economist, "World Cars: The big Chill", January 16th 2009. 
45 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. 
46 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. 
47 Cross-country comparable data on employment ar e not available after 2005. As an example of 
radical reductions in employment during the global cris is, one could cite the state of Michigan, in the United 
States.  The ILO reports that in 2007 the assembly and parts manufacturers employed nearly 190,000 people. By December 2008 this was down to 153,0 00. The decline from December 20 07 to December 2008 was 10.6 per 
cent for assembly and 22.2 per cent for parts. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 36  
 
  negative between February 2008 and February 2009 for all of the top twenty exporters (Chart 14).  
Exports have restarted to grow in mid-2009, with  year-on-year growth ra tes becoming less and less 
negative, and turning positive towards the end of the year. This upshot in export growth rates closely 
mirrors the increase in automobile  sales that took place since mid- 2009. For instance, data from the 
European Automobile Manufactures' Association (ACEA) show positive year-on-year growth rates in 
passenger car registrations betw een June 2009 and March 2010.
48 
120. Export volumes decreased for all countries, but not at the same pace. As a consequence, some 
countries increased their share in world exports of au tomobiles, while others saw their share shrink 
(Chart 15).49 
 
Chart 13
Automobile exports, December 2007 - December 2009
(Year-on-year growth for top 5 exporters)
Dec-07
Jun-08
Dec-08
Jun-09
Dec-09-80-60-40-200204060
Germany France
Japan United StatesCanada
Source :  GTIS data.
 
 
 
  
                                                     
 
48 The growth rates were: 3 per cent in June 2009, 3.1 per cent in July, 3.3 per cent in August, 
6.3 per cent in September, 11.6 per cent in October, 26.9 per cent in November, 16.4 per cent in December, 16.4 per cent in January 2010, 12.9 per cent in February, 3 per cent in March and 10.8 per cent in April 
(European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, ACEA, "Passenger cars:  registration down 7.4% in April", 
April 2010). 
49 Whether the global financial crisis will have pe rmanently affected the patterns of production and 
trade is a question that can only be addressed in  the future, as more data become available.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 37 
 
 
  -70-60-50-40-30-20-100
Sweden
Japan
Austria
United Kingdom
France
Turkey
Slovak Rep.
Canada
Spain
Germany
Italy
Netherlands
China
Czech Republic
United States
Belgium
Mexico
Poland
Rep. of Korea 
ThailandChart 14
Growth in automobile exports, February 2008 - February 2009
Percentages
Source:  GTIS data.
-40-30-20-10010203040Chart 15
Change in the share in automobile world exports, February 2008 - February 2009
Percentages
Source:  GTIS data.
Japan
 AustriaSweden
 United Kingdo m
 France
 Turkey
 Slovak Republic
 Netherlands
 China
 United States Italy Canada
 Spain
 Germany
 Czech Republic
 Mexico Belgiu m
 Polan d
 Rep. of Korea
 Thailan d
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 38  
 
  4. Responses to the crisis and their economic impact 
121. As mentioned above, all major manufacturing producers sought some kind of government 
support in the context of the 2008 global crisis.  A wide range of measures have indeed been 
implemented in the automobile industry to resp ond to the global slowdown. These measures can be 
divided into various categories: 
– First, credit guarantees and direct lending have been extended to vehicle producers 
to maintain their solvency and liquidity. These financial support measures have been intended at helping the most affected pr oducers to stay in business, stave off 
permanent closure of factories and provide producers with sufficient cash to allow them to carry on lending to customers.
50 As argued by the OECD, government 
interventions are motivated by various f actors, including the following:  (i) the 
industry is highly concentrated, making it politically sensitive (this explains the demand for these measures); (ii) the industr y is characterized by strong spillovers 
(see above); and iii) when automakers have  financing companies, bailing them out 
is a way of addressing wider financial sector problems.    
– Second, governments have adopted progr ammes aimed at stimulating consumer 
demand in the short term, in the form of tax cuts, rebates and subsidies. In most 
cases, these programmes have incorporat ed longer-term environmental objectives 
such as cleaner vehicles. These "scrapping" programmes involve shifting purchases from the future to the present by subsid ising the purchases of (in most cases) new 
energy-efficient vehicles. In 2009, car scrappage subsidies were worth some 
€ 6.5 billion in Europe
51, ¥ 370 billion (€ 2.78 billion) in Japan, and US$3 billion in 
the United States.52  
– Third, some measures have been implem ented to support displaced workers in the 
industry. These include, among others, creating special re-employment services at the production site and facilitating transiti on to new jobs and avoid falling in long-
term unemployment traps.
53      
122. Table 7 illustrates the trade and trade-related measures implemented in the automobile sector 
over the period November 2009 to mid-May 2010. 
123. The effects of government support measures are hard to asses, because the counterfactual 
(what would have happened in their absence) cannot be observed.  On the one hand, auto producers' 
bailouts helped them survive the crisis.  The measures taken to support demand have also had a 
positive effect on new car registrations, which went up sharply both in the European Union and in the 
United States. Overall, the OECD estimates th at the car purchase incentive measures have had 
positive impact on the economies, with motor vehicle output adding 1.7 percentage points to real GDP 
change in the third quarter of 2009 in the United St ates, and positive but somewhat smaller effects in 
the euro area.54 
                                                      
50 The Economist, "World Cars: The big Chill", 16 January 2009. Some producer support measures 
have targeted small and medium sized ente rprises in the automobile value chain. 
51 Financial Times, "Automotive industry sputters back to life", May 4th, 2010. 
52 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. 
53 ILO, "The current global economic cr isis:  sectoral aspects", March 2009. 
54 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 39 
 
 
  Table 7 
List of trade and trade-related measures in the automobile industry  
(November 2009 – mid-May 2010) 
Country Measure 
Argentina Initiation on 2 November 2009 of an ti-dumping investigation on imports of el ectrical ignition or starting equipment o f a 
kind used for spark-ignition or compression-ignition intern al combustion engines (for example, ignition magnetos, 
magneto-dynamos, ignition coils, sparking plugs and glow  plugs, starter motors), generators from China. 
Argentina Introduction of non automatic import licensing requirement s, covering products such as autoparts, vehicles, parts and  
accessories of motor vehicles. 
Argentina New customs regulation "aduanas especializadas en el  despacho de determinadas me rcaderías de importación para 
consumo" amending  the list of entry points (selected seaports  and airports) for certain pr oducts such as vehicles and 
parts and accessories. 
Australia Reduction of applied tariffs on passenger motor vehicles and parts (from 10% down to 5%), as from 1 January 2010.   
Brazil Amendments to the IPI value-added tax incentive scheme. IPI increased (to 7%) for commercial vehicles as from March 
2010. 
China Initiation on 6 November 2009 of anti-dumping and counter vailing investigations on impor ts of saloon cars and cross-
country cars of a cylinder capacity of no less than 2,000 cc from the United States. 
India Amendment to the Import Licensing No te No. 2(II)(d) under Chapter 87 restri cting entry points for imports of new 
vehicles to nine seaports and international airports. 
India Withdrawal of hot rolled coils, incl uding seamless tubes/pipes, pa rts and accessories of motor vehicles from the import 
restricted list.  
India Elimination of import tariffs for refrigeration units ("a ir conditioners") used for the production of refrigerated vans o r 
trucks, effective as from 27 February 2010.  
Israel Amendment to the import car scheme, allowing fore ign manufacturers to select different licensed importer. 
Italy Temporary interest rate subsidies for "green" products (overall budget €300 m illion (US$369.2 million)) until 31 
December 2010. The Italian scheme, provide s for interest rate subsidies for th e production of environmentally friendly 
(green) products related to an early adaptation to, or overach ievement of, adopted but not yet in force EU environmental 
product standards. The beneficiaries will in clude in particular the car sector.  
Japan As part of the New Stimulus Package, Government pr ogramme (¥370 billion (US$4 billion )), to encourage the purchase 
of environmentally friendly vehicles (lo cal and imported). The amount of subsidies depends on the type of the vehicle, 
the age of the car to be replaced, its fuel efficiency, or simply purchase of  new one without replacement. Programme 
undergoing amendments to facilitate gr eater participation of imported cars. 
Malaysia Exemption of import tariffs on co mpletely built-up hybrid cars "CBU", and reduction (50%) of the excise duty, for the 
period 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. 
Poland Aid (Zl 11.7 million (US$3.4 milliom)) for Volkswagen Moto r Polska Sp. Z o.o, under a block exemption regulation.   
Romania Guarantees for FORD Romania (overall budget €400 million (US$492.3 million)). The EU Commission authorized, 
under the EU State aid rules, a State guarantee for FORD Ro mania SA to access a loan from the European Investment 
Bank for the period 2009-14. The loan will co-finance the developmen t of a low CO2 engine and subsequent vehicle 
production at Ford's Craiova plant.  
Russian  
Federation Temporary increase of import tariffs on snowmobile s (from 5% to 10%), abolished in January 2010. 
Russian 
Federation Cash-for-clunkers plan (Rub 10 billion (US$321.85 million)) allocated in the Federal Budget for 2010. Rub 50,000 
(US$1,609) for vehicles older than 10 years. Both foreign and domestic old cars can be utilized under this programme, 
but only new domestic cars can be bought with the discount . The plan is part of the "Plan of Industry Support". 
Slovak Rep. Aid (€14.3 million (US $17.6 million)) for Volkswagen Slovakia aiming at the transformation of an existing plant in 
Bratislava. The project involving eligible investments of €300 million (US$369.2 million) by Volkswagen Slovakia, is 
aimed at contributing to the deve lopment of the region's economy. 
Sweden State guarantee (€400 million (US$492.3 million)) for SAAB  Automobile AB to access a loan from the European 
Investment Bank, for the period 2010-19. SAAB is ask to pay an adequate remuneration for the guarantee and provide 
sufficient securities in the case the guarantee would be drawn. 
Venezuela Authorization of import of certain  parts and auto parts under the "Regimen de material de ensamblaje importado para 
vehículos (MEIV)" for the assembly of cars. An import tariff of  3% is applied. Imports require a prior authorization by  
the "Ministerio del Poder Popular de Planificación y Finanzas  y para la Ciencia, Tecnología e Industrias Intermedias". 
Source: WTO Secretariat. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 40  
 
  124. However, these schemes suffer from a payback effect: in most cases, sales are depressed 
when the support measures are phased out. For in stance, in Germany, where the scrapping scheme 
ended in September 2009, sales have been slipping  on year-on-year terms since then, marking for 
instance a 31.7 per cent drop in April 2010 relativ e to April 2009.  In France, where a scrapping 
scheme is still in place, there was a 1.9 per cent in crease in new vehicles' registration over the same 
period.
55 
125. Moving to possible effects on trade flows, it should be noted that scrapping programs have 
positive spillover effects across nations, insofar they do not discriminate according to the origin of the 
vehicle. Absence of synchronization of the durati on and coverage of scrapping schemes across nations 
is likely to increase foreign sales (towards countri es where demand is sustai ned by such a scheme), 
relative to domestic sales (in countries where the payb ack effect lowers demand).  It is interesting to 
note, for example, that in April 2010, orders of German car exports went up 58 per cent on a year-on-
year basis56, while domestic sales, as reported above, fell by 31.7 per cent. 
126. Finally, government support programmes may ha ve negative long-run effects, by distorting 
competition in favour of incumbent firms, distorti ng the incentives for overall industry restructuring, 
and shifting demand away from high-margin luxury cars toward low-margin sedans.57  
C. THE IRON AND STEEL SECTOR  
1. Introduction 
127. The iron and steel industry plays an important role in many economies and in international 
trade.  Steel is an important input for other sectors such as construction, machinery and transport equipment, as well as for the production of metal products.  In 2008, iron and steel accounted for 
3.6 per cent of total world exports in value.
58  The industry is characterized by the relatively large 
scale of installations in many firms, as economies of scale are important for the sector’s productivity;  the world's top 40 producers account for about 56 per cent of global steel production in volume.    
128. As in many other sectors, the iron and steel industry was hard hit by the global financial 
crisis, affected by the decline of consumption of  steel by main steel-user industries, such as 
automotive manufacturing and construction.  Exports also declined as the global demand for steel, as 
observed in the "apparent steel use", plunged by about 7 per cent in 2009.  It would appear that credit restrictions also affected the steel industry.  Domestic steel prices and employment substantially 
declined in many countries and regions.   
129. Against such background, several governments have adopted various trade measures in the 
iron and steel sector.  These include tariff increases, import licensing requirements, contingency 
measures (anti-dumping, countervailin g, and safeguard measures), t echnical regulations, and export-
facilitating measures.  Various fiscal stimulus packages adopted by some government also have 
significant direct and indirect effects on the steel industry.  The short-run impact of these measures is hard to quantify in the absence of a counterfactual, but it is now evident that with the support of these 
stimulus measures and recovery of other manufact uring sectors in some economies, the global steel 
market is recovering strongly in the first quarter  of 2010.  The growing demand in Asia (China in 
                                                     
 
55 Data from European Automobile Manufacturers' Association, ACEA (2010). 
56 German Association of the Automotive Industry ( VDA), "Domestic passenger car market on the way 
back to normal", May 4th, 2010, and ACEA (2010) data. 
57 OECD Economic Outlook, No. 86, Chapter 2: The automobile industry in and beyond the crisis, 
November 2009. 
58 UNSD, Comtrade database (SITC Rev.3).  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 41 
 
 
  particular) helped the recovery, while steel consum ption in developed countries has not yet reached 
the pre-crisis level.  On the supply side, developing  economies continue to add to production capacity.   
130. Consequently, global overcapacity remains one of the main issues in the sector.  The need for 
the iron and steel producers to meet environmental requirements, as well as access to raw materials for the production of steel, are also likely to remain a challenge for the sector.   
2. Sectoral production and trade 
131. Steel is one of the most important basic metals and essential inputs for construction (e.g. 
bridges, buildings, and railway), transport equipment (automobiles
59, ships, and aeroplanes), 
machinery, and metal products.  Main steel products incl ude sheet, plate, rebar, wire rod, bar, pipe and 
tube, structures, and rail.   The industry is character ized by the relatively large scale of installations in 
many firms, as economies of scale are important for productivity.  The world's top 40 steel producers 
accounted for about 56 per cent of world production in 2008.  In terms of countries and regions, steel 
production has been shifting away from developed c ountries towards developing countries, especially 
China and India.  As a result, the share of As ia and Oceania in world production has increased, 
accounting for 63.7 per cent in 2009 compared with 52.2 per cent in 2005 (Table 8).       
Table 8 
Crude steel production, 2005-2009  
(million metric tonnes) 
 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
World 1,147  1,251  1,351  1,329  1,220  
EU-27 187 198 210 198 139 
Other Europe 25 28 31 32 29 
CIS 113 120 124 114 97 
NAFTA 128 132 133 124 82 
Central and South America 45 45 48 47 38 
Africa 18 19 19 17 15 
Middle East 15 15 16 17 17 
Asia and Oceania 598 676 762 771 776 
Source : World Steel Association (2009), World Steel in Figures 2009, a nd various press releases by the World Steel Association. 
132. On the demand side, Table 9 shows the global st ructure of steel consumption, expressed by 
the "apparent steel use", as published by the World St eel Association.  The largest users of steel in 
2008 were China, the EU, the United States, Japan, Korea and India.   
133. The sector has long been characterized by prom inent overcapacity.  Production capacity in all 
regions but ASEAN, Oceania, and Middle East has been, by and large, exceeding their apparent 
regional use of steel.  As a consequence, between  2001 and 2007, global capacity utilization ratio in 
crude steel averaged about 85 per cent.60 
 
                                                      
59 According to the European Automobile Manufact ures' Association, steel accounts for about 60 to 
80 per cent of metal used in an average passenger car, an d between 5 to 10 per cent of the cost of an average 
vehicle.    
60 World Steel Association (2010), Global Steel Capacity Development, Spring 2010 update.  Viewed 
at:  http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/23/4/45143921.pdf [30.05.2010]. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 42  
 
  Table 9 
Apparent steel use (finished steel), 2005-10 
(million metric tonnes) 
 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009a 2010b 
World 1,040 1,134 1,215 1,207 1,121 1,241 
EU-27 166 189 198 181 118 135 
Other Europe 25 29 32 25 24 27 
CIS 42 49 57 49 36 40 
NAFTA 138 156 141 129 81 100 
Central and South America 33 36 42 44 34 40 
Africa 22 23 25 26 26 29 
Middle East 34 35 40 43 41 45 
Asia and Oceania 574 610 671 709 762 826 
      China 340 370 414 443 542 579 
a. Estimates. 
b. Forecasts. 
Source :  World Steel Association (2009), World Steel in Figures 2009, and various press releases by the World Steel Association. 
134. The iron and steel sector plays a significant role in world trade;  iron and steel represented 
about 3.6 per cent of world mercha ndise exports in 2008 (Table 10).  Iron and steel exports followed a 
double digit nominal growth between 2005 and 2008, although the speed of growth slowed down in 
2008.  Reflecting this fast growth, the share of st eel in world merchandise exports has continued to 
increase since 2005.   
Table 10 
World exports in the iron and steel industry, 2004-08 
 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 
Steel exports value (US$ billion)  278 325 376 476 570 
Percentage change from previous year  16.91 15.76  26.64 19.85 
Percentage of world merchandise exports  3.06  3.14 3.14 3.45 3.58 
Source : UN COMTRADE database. 
3. Impact of the global crisis on production and trade 
135. The global financial crisis hit hard the iron a nd steel industry.  Steel consumption was down 
by 1.4 per cent in 2008, followed by a 7.1 per cent decline in 2009, mainly due to weak aggregate demand and increased uncertainty about the future economic perspectives in many countries and 
economies; consumption was also negatively a ffected by weak demand for automobiles and 
construction, the main user industries of steel.
61  Credit restrictions also affected the steel industry’s 
performance.  In the fourth quarter of 2008, global  production of steel decreased by 20 per cent year-
on-year.  
136. Nonetheless, strong recovery in production bega n in 2009 in Asia, particularly in China.  
OECD projects that steelmaking capacity in the wo rld will increase to 1,986 million tonnes by 2012, 
compared with 1,806 million tonnes in 2009.62  On the demand side, apparent use of finished steel is 
estimated to have recovered by 10.7 per cent in 2009.  In 2010, steel consumpti on is projected to grow 
                                                      
61 The ILO estimates that declini ng car production may reduce global steel demand by a further 1 per 
cent in 2009.  ILO document GB.304/stm/2/2, March 2009.  Viewed at:  http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/ 
public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meeti ngdocument/wcms_103437.  pdf. [28.05.2010] 
62 Statement from Risaburo Nezu, Chairman of  the OECD Steel Committee.  OECD online 
information.  Viewed at:  http://www.oecd.o rg/dataoecd/10/5/44258485.pdf [28.05.2010].  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 43 
 
 
  the most in Asia and Oceania, including China, in absolute terms (by 57 mmt), while the growth rate 
is fastest in NAFTA (17.1 per cent) and in Other Europe (12.4 per cent), though from relatively weak 
levels.  
137. Despite the crisis, production capacity for steel has continued to grow over the past few years.  
As a consequence, the global capacity utilization ratio  decreased to less than 60 per cent at the end of 
200863;  it would appear that the ratio has recovered to around 80 per cent.      
138. After an extended period of robust growth, the volume of steel trade declined in the final 
quarter of 2008 and into the first three quarters of  2009;  global steel exports began to recover in 
2009, although trade volumes of the 10 largest exporte rs have not yet recovered the level of the 
previous peak in 2007.  According to estimat es by the OECD, cross-border shipments of steel by 
major steel exporters64 declined to 50 mmt in the fourth quarter of 2008, down 30 per cent quarter-on-
quarter, and 18 per cent year-on-year.  In the firs t quarter of 2009, exports contracted further by 
16 per cent quarter-on-quarter, to 42.4 mmt.  Nonethel ess, export volumes appear to have recovered in 
the second quarter of the year, reaching 46 mmt.  In  terms of volume of steel trade, EU27, Russia, 
Ukraine and China were the top five exporters of  steel (in terms of volume) in 2009, and China, 
EU27, Korea, the United States and Turkey represent  the five largest destination markets of steel 
exports.65   
4. Government specific actions to support the sector and their potential impact 
139. Like some other industries, the steel industry was hard hit by the global financial crisis and 
the global recession that followed.  Against the ba ckground of declining demand for steel, several 
countries adopted various trade measures since the out break of the crisis.  These concerned increases 
in tariffs, adoption of import licensing requireme nts and technical regulations, and “buy local 
products” provisions;  however, among the most prom inent measures used were  trade remedies, as in 
the past before the financial crisis.   
140. Since the fourth quarter of 2008, more than 10 economies have adopted trade remedy 
measures (including the initiation of  investigations), most of whic h involve anti-dumping measures.  
The frequent use of contingency measures is not a new phenomenon.  Over the last two decades, the 
use of trade remedies in the sector has signifi cantly expanded, with non-OECD members becoming 
increasingly frequent users.66   
141. Other than trade remedies, a few countries in creased MFN import tariffs;  some adopted 
import licensing requirements, pre-shipment inspecti on requirements, and/or technical regulations.  
On public procurement, some governments introduced requirements to purchase from domestic 
                                                      
63 OECD Steel Committee says market recovering fast er than expected.  OECD website.  Viewed at:  
http://www.oecd.org/document/32/0,3343,en_2649_34487_45157280_1_1_1_1,00.html [28.05.2010] 
64 These estimates are based on monthly data for th e ten largest exporters (Brazil, China, Chinese 
Taipei, Japan, the EU27, Russia, the Republic of Kore a, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States).  These 
economies accounted fo r 86 per cent of total steel ex ports in 2007.  The figures ex clude intra-EU trade.  OECD 
document DSTI/SU/SC(2009)40, 20 November 2009.   
65 Data on volume of trade are based on data of:  ISSB Ltd., Japan Iron and Steel Federation (JISF), 
The European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries  (EUROFER), and Instituto Aç o Brasil.Trade.  Data on 
the value of exports and imports by UNSD Comtrade were not yet available for 2009. 
66 In the 1980s, trade remedy cases were normally initiated by a few developed economies. In the 
1990s, developing economies became frequent users. Si nce 1990, non-OECD econom ies initiated one out of 
every two anti-dumping/CVD actions involving steel, and contributed significantly to the sharp rise in anti-dumping cases in the late 1990s. More recently, the total number of AD/CVD initiations has risen (OECD, 
"Investigating the Effects of  Trade Remedy Actions on Steel Trade Flows", 2009). WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 44  
 
  producers.  Table 11 lists the trade and trade-related measures taken in the iron and steel sector during 
the period November 2009 to mid-May 2010. 
Table 11 
List of trade-related measures on iron and steel  
(November 2009 – mid-May 2010) 
Country/ 
Member State Measure 
Argentina Initiation on 3 November 2009 of anti-dump ing investigation on imports of certa in oil country tubular goods from 
China. 
Argentina New customs regulation "aduanas especializadas en el de spacho de determinadas mer caderías de importación para 
consumo" amending  the list of entry points (selected seapor ts and airports) for certain products, such as articles of 
iron or steel; articles of base metal. 
Argentina Initiation on 3 March 2010 of anti-dumping i nvestigation on imports of steel straight slaw blades, for working metals 
from China. 
Argentina Temporary export ban on ferrous waste and scrap, remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel  until 9 July 2010.  
Australia Termination on 17 February 2010 (following a continuation inquiry) of anti-dumping duties on imports of hot dipped 
galvanised steel pipe from Tha iland (imposed on 18 February 2000). 
China Annual adjustment of the cat alogue of items subject to automatic impor t licensing, which includes certain steel 
products. 
China Elimination of export duties on 17 tariff lines  includi ng products such as ferro-alloys, as from 1 January 2010. 
EU Renewal of the prior surveillance syst em on steel imports (first established in 2002) until 31 December 2012.  Product 
coverage has been updated and now also includes flat stainless st eel products and large welded tubes. 
EU Termination (repealed after interim review no-dumping)  on 30 December 2009 of anti-dumping duties on imports of 
ferro-silicon from the Former Yugoslav Republic  of Macedonia (imposed on 28 February 2008). 
EU Initiation on 1 April 2010 of anti-dumping and countervailing investigations on im ports of stainless steel bars and 
rods from India. 
EU Termination on 11 May 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on imports of steel ropes and cables from Korea (initiated 
on  11 August 2009) (possible circumvention of anti-dumping measures imposed in 2005). 
India Termination (without measure) on 8 December 2009  of safeguard investigation on im ports of hot-rolled coils, sheet, 
strips (initiated on 9 April 2009). 
India Initiation on 12 January 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on im ports of seamless tubes, pipes & hollow profiles of 
iron, alloy or non-alloy steel (other than cast iron) from China. 
India Initiation on 12 April 2010 of anti-dumping i nvestigation on imports of hot rolled fl at products of stainless steel from 
the EU; Korea; South Africa; Chines e, Taipei; and the United States.  
India Withdrawal of hot rolled coils, includi ng seamless tubes/pipes, parts and acce ssories of motor vehicles from the 
import restricted list.  
Indonesia Initiation on 19 January 2010 of safeguard investigation on impor ts of wire of iron/non-alloy steel, not plated/coated, 
containing carbon less than 0.25% by weight. 
Indonesia Initiation on 19 January 2010 of safegua rd investigation on imports of  wire of iron/non-alloy steel, plated with zin c. 
Indonesia Initiation on 5 February 2010 of safeguard investigation on imports of  strande d wire, ropes and cables for locked 
coil, flattened strands and non-rotating wire ropes. 
Indonesia Initiation on 30 April 2010 of safeguard i nvestigation on imports of  strand ed wire, ropes and cables, excluding 
locked coil, flattened strands and non-rotating wire ropes.  
Korea, Rep. of Initiation on 6 May 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on imports of  stainless steel plate from Japan.  
Peru Termination (automatic expiry after five-year impos ition period) on 6 December 2009 of duties on imports of 
stainless steel articles: pots, frying pans and saucepan s from China, India, and Chinese Taipei (imposed on 4 
December 2004). 
Russian 
Federation Safeguard measure imposed (28.1% for three year s) on certain types of corrosion-resistant pipes.   
Table 11 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 45 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member State Measure 
Russian 
Federation Temporary increase of import tariffs (up to 15%) on certain ty pes of flat metals, and cert ain types of ferrous metal 
pipes (up to 15-20%).  
Saudi Arabia Re-imposition of import tariffs (5%) for imports of steel , as from January 2010. Imports from Gulf Cooperation 
Council members exempted.   
South Africa Termination (without measure) on 6 N ovember 2009 of countervailing investiga tion on imports of stainless steel 
sinks from Malaysia (initiated on 25 July 2008).  
Ukraine Initiation on 17 February 2010 of safeguard investigation on imports of ferro-manganese.  
Ukraine Licensing requirements for exports of certain products such as iron and steel. 
United States Initiation on 21 January 2010 of anti-dumping and countervaili ng investigations on imports of steel drill pipe, and 
steel drill collars from China. 
United States Termination (without measure) on 16 November 2009 of anti- dumping investigation on imports of certain standard 
steel fasteners from China and Chines e Taipei (initiated on 22 October 2009). 
United States Termination (without measure) on 16 November 2009 of counter vailing investigation on imports of certain standard 
steel fasteners from China  (initiated on 22 October 2009). 
Source:  WTO Secretariat. 
142. Apart from any direct support measures targeting steel, such as subsidies and bailouts, fiscal 
stimulus packages can indirectly support steel sectors by increasing demand for steel-consuming 
sectors, such as construction and automobiles.  Ho rizontal measures, such as support for the labour 
market and R&D activities, can also indi rectly support steel manufacturing.   
143. Like in the automobile industry, the effects of these measures are ha rd to assess, because the 
counterfactual (what would have happened in their absence) cannot be observed.67  In the case of 
steel, the recovery in national economies supported by fiscal stimulus measures and in steel-user 
industries, such as automobiles, which have been  supported by sector-specific assistance measures, 
apparently had positive effects on the recent performance.  
D. TEXTILES AND CLOTHING  
1. Introduction 
144. The textiles and clothing industry plays a significan t role in international trade, representing 
on average 4.7 per cent of total world exports. The se ctor is very important for developing economies, 
accounting for almost 30 per cent of their total merchandise exports, and is also of significance to some OECD countries.  
145. Since the end of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005 , substantial structural changes have been 
taking place in the textiles and clothing industry.  The complete integration of the sector into the 
multilateral trading system after 40 years of import  quotas had an impact on the world shares of 
exports across countries, with larger countries gaini ng greater market shares. In addition, the sector 
has been continuously moving towards full scale comp etition. In fact, the capital-intensive textiles 
segment and the labor intensive clothing industry are increasingly integrated through vertical supply 
chains which involve not only production but also distribution and sales activities. 
146. The 2008 global crisis led to a marked decline in demand from developed countries which 
represent a significant share in world imports of  textiles and clothing products. The economic 
slowdown following the crisis also affected this sector which experienced negative growth of -
                                                     
 
67 On the other hand, it could be argued that the introduction of these measures may be related to the 
existence of substantial overcapacity. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 46  
 
  14 per cent in 2009. The large decrease in trade also had an impact on employment with a loss in jobs 
of approximately 20 per cent in developing countries.  During the crisis the structural changes in the 
industry intensified. The consolidation of supply ch ains continued and made it more difficult for small 
firms to survive the crisis.  Countries that increased  their share of world exports after the abolition of 
import quotas were less hit by the crisis.   
147. The trade restricting measures implemented in the textiles and clothing sector have been 
limited.  Other measures such as trade finance and sp ecific support to enterprises have also been used 
by some governments. To evaluate the economic im pact of these specific measu res, factors such as 
the magnitude of the measures, the relative impor tance in the economy of the targeted products, and 
the size of the country adopting them should be considered.  
2. Sectoral production and trade structure 
148. The textile and clothing industry is a large sector  composed by a diversified range of activities 
requiring a different input-mix of labor and capital and hence located in different countries according 
to their relative resource endowments. The entir e supply chain can be subdivided in four main 
production segments (the production of fibers; the treat ment of raw materials; the transformation of 
fabrics into products such as clothes or apparel;  and activities such as importing, distribution and 
retail).   
149. It is not easy to separate the textile and clot hing industries as, in most cases, the production 
processes are integrated and are sometimes situated in a single plant. One of the major differences, 
however, is that the clothing sector is generally more labour intensive than the textiles sector.
68  The 
textiles industry is usually more capital intensive. It is highly automated and is mainly located in 
capital abundant developed economies.  Generally, the textiles industry is less flexible in adjusting to 
consumer tastes than the clothing industry because the lead time n eeded and the capital intensity of 
the industry result in relatively large minimum orders.  
150. The importance of the textiles and clothing sector in employment is significant in countries 
such as China, Hong Kong (China), India and Turk ey, where employment in the sector represents 
more than 20 per cent of total manufacturing employment.  In these countries, the value added 
generated by the textiles and clothing industry re presents around 10 per cent of the total value added 
of manufacturing products.  From the top OECD exporters, Italy and Belgium have a significant 
number of employees working in the textiles and clothing industry (Table 12). 
151. China is the leading producer of textiles and clothing (Table 13).  Other countries 
representing more than 5 per cent of world value adde d are the United States, Italy and Japan.  In the 
past decade the growth rate of the textile and cl othing industry value added has been decreasing for 
industrialized countries while it has been increasi ng for developing countries. This pattern has 
continued throughout the financial cr isis. UNIDO statistics show that wh ile the growth rate of textiles 
and clothing between 2005 and 2008 was -5.4 per cen t and -2.4 per cent respectively for developed 
countries69 it was 8.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent for developing ones.  
 
                                                      
68 However, as Nordas (2005) points out, the clothing segment is becoming less labour intensive. 
Activities such as cutting are now often a computer-assisted process. In addition, specialised machines are used 
for different types of sewing. 
69 Industrialized coun tries excluding CIS.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 47 
 
 
  Table 12 
Textiles and clothing employment and value added shares, 2005 
Country Manufacturing 
employment 
(Thousand) Textiles and 
clothing 
employment 
(Thousand) Share Manufacturing 
value added 
(US$ million) Textiles and 
clothing 
value added 
(US$ million) Share 
China 59,400.0 12,000.0 0.20 698,000 68,000 0.10 
Hong Kong, China 164.0 43.1 0.26 6,080 640 0.11 
Italy 3,836.6 407.2 0.11 260,000 20,000 0.08 
Germany 7,004.2 152.2 0.02 534,000 8,500 0.02 
Turkeya 1,092.0 372.5 0.34 .... .... .... 
Indiab 8,180.5 1,700.0 0.21 66,700 5,400 0.08 
France 3,662.0 153.5 0.04 266,000 7,900 0.03 
Belgium 578.0 30.3 0.07 59,900 2,200 0.04 
United States 13,200.0 575.4 0.04 2,200,000 49,000 0.02 
Netherlands 725.3 15.7 0.02 71,700 1,100 0.02 
a. Data from 2001. 
b. Data from 2004. 
... Not available. Source : UNIDO Industrial Statistics. 
Table 13 
Country share of world value added in textiles and apparel, 2007 
Textiles Apparel 
Country Share Country Share 
China 36.7 China 28.7 
United States 7.5 Japan 9.2 
Italy 6.1 United States 7.9 
India 4.2 Italy 7.4 
Japan 4.0 Thailand 5.3 
Pakistan 2.3 Indonesia 2.5 
Germany 2.2 United Kingdom 2.1 
Korea, Rep. of 2.2 Brazil 2.0 
Brazil 2.1 Bangladesh 1.7 
Turkey 2.1 Viet Nam 1.7 
United Kingdom 2.1 Mexico 1.6 
Mexico 2.0 Turkey 1.6 
Bangladesh 1.9 Korea, Rep. of  1.4 
Thailand 1.9 Egypt 1.3 
France 1.5 Argentina 1.2 
Total 78.8 Total 75.6 
Source : UNIDO Industrial Statistics. 
152. The textiles and clothing industry plays a significant role in world trade, accounting on 
average for 4.7 per cent of total world exports (Table 14).70  However, its share in total exports shows 
a decreasing pattern over time.  Also, the growth ra tes of textiles and clothing exports have decreased. 
In this case, however, the pattern has not been linear  but there has been a decrease of export growth 
rates in 2005 and 2006 with a slight recovery in 2007.   Exports fell by more than 14 per cent in 2009. 
                                                      
70 The world is composed by a set of 78 countries which represent more than 95 per cent of global 
exports. Due to the lack  of data, economies such as Bangladesh, Pa kistan, Macao (China),  and Madagascar, for 
which textiles and clothing is a very significant sector for their economies, are not included in world exports.  
Their share of global exports is less than 4 per cent. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 48  
 
  Table 14 
World exports of textiles and clothing, 2003-09 
 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
Textiles and clothing export values (US$  billion) 387.56 433.96 463. 43 506.45 560.26 585.24 498.57 
Percentage of world exports 5.56 5.14 4.88 4.64 4.44 4.09 4.46 
Percentage change from previous year  11.97 6.79 9.28 10.63 4.46 -14.81 
Source : Global Trade Atlas. 
153. The textiles and clothing industry plays a relativ ely more important role for the development 
and trade integration of certain economies such as Bangladesh, Macao (China), and Pakistan, where 
this sector accounts for more than 60 per cent of th eir total merchandise exports (Table 15).  Also in 
countries such as the Mauritius, Sri Lanka, El Salva dor and Madagascar, textile and clothing exports 
represent between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of tota l merchandise exports and therefore are very 
significant for the economy.  
Table 15 
Textiles and clothing exports as a shAre of total merchandise exports (top 20 countries), 2007 
Country Share Country Share 
Bangladesh 79.45a Jordan 22.30 
Macao, China 66.57a Turkey 21.28 
Pakistan 63.31a China 14.06 
Mauritius 47.08 Bulgaria 13.31 
Sri Lanka 45.10 Romania 13.30 
El Salvador 43.73 India 13.15 
Madagascar 40.84a Hong Kong, China 12.07 
Albania 28.95a Portugal 11.01 
Morocco 26.84 Greece 9.89 
Guatemala 23.08 Indonesia 8.50 
a. Data from U.N. Comtrade statistics. 
Source : Global Trade Atlas. 
154. Data from the Global Trade Atlas show that the countries for which textiles and clothing 
exports represent a very high share of their tota l merchandise exports are not necessarily the countries 
that have a very significant share of world exports  in this industry. For example, China represents 
more than 25 per cent, on average, of total world exports in the textiles and clothing industry, whereas 
this sector only represents 14 per cent of Chin ese merchandise exports. Other Asian economies such 
as Hong Kong (China), India, and Indonesia, repr esent 8.1 per cent, 3.5 per cent, and 1.8 per cent 
respectively of world exports. Some EU economies ar e also important exporters with countries such 
as Italy, Germany, France and Belgium, the Nether lands, Spain, Portugal and Romania accounting as 
a group for almost 30 per cent of total world exports.   
155. The European Union and the United States repr esent the largest destination markets for 
textiles and clothing products, accounting on aver age for around 38 and 20 per cent of world imports, 
respectively. Other important markets are Hong Kong (China) and China, representing respectively 6.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent of world imports.  
156. The textiles and clothing industry has been in c ontinuous transition over the past decade. With 
the end of the Multi Fiber Arrangement (MFA) so me changes in the main patterns of world 
production and exports have occurred. With respect to production, there is evidence
71 that in 
                                                      
71 Kowalski, P & Molnar, M, 2009. "Economic Impacts of the Phase-out in 2005 of Quantitative 
Restrictions under the Agreement of textiles and Clothing," OECD Trade Policy Working Paper N. 90. OECD.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 49 
 
 
  anticipation of the phase-out of the MFA quotas, exporters in low-cost and high productivity 
developing countries started consolidating their pr oduction of standardized labour-intensive textiles 
and clothing products. In addition, producers also  upgraded their capital stocks. In contrast, some 
producers in high-cost developed countries have moved from high scale production towards a market 
structure characterized by specialized firms which compete on quality and design. 
157. In addition, some sectoral studies suggest that in the last 5 years, retailers have been adjusting 
to the increase in "fast fashion" production and to  the improvement in inventory control techniques by 
shifting away from small traditional firms to fewer strategic-suppliers that can source materials, 
coordinate logistics and operate in  locations where delivery cycles ar e shorter. Retailers have been 
consolidating towards larger suppliers and fewer countries. 72  
158. Some production patterns can be found in the trade data. Most of the top exporters are also 
top importers in this sector. This might reflect the fact that a significant percentage of trade is in 
intermediary goods, confirming the increasing integrati on of the sector trough vertical supply chains 
and the increasing importance of global suppliers in this industry.73   
159. With respect to trade, after the abolition of quotas in 2005, exports of countries such as China 
have increased by as much as 21 per cent, the larg est increase amongst all suppliers.  Also, exports 
from India, Indonesia Turkey and Thailand increas ed by 19 per cent, 12 per cent, 7 per cent and 
5 per cent respectively in 2005. While in the first tw o countries the growth rate  of exports decelerated 
in the following two years, reaching rates of around 5 per cent, in the last two the growth rates of 
exports reached 17 per cent and 7 per cent respec tively in 2007.  Finally, Hong Kong (China), 
Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, United States,  Spain and France showed an increase in their 
exports of less than 5 per cent in 2005. With the exception of the United States, this set of economies 
experienced a higher increase in their exports, between 10 per cent and 15 per cent, during the 
following two years.  In contrast, the end of th e MFA had a negative impact on suppliers such as 
Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Portugal and South Korea, which experienced a 
contraction of exports in 2005. With the exception of  Mexico and Chinese Taipei in this last set of 
economies, the negative trend of exports was re versed and became positive in the following two 
years.   
3. Impact of the global crisis on production and trade 
160. The collapse in world demand as a result of the global financial crisis was reflected in a 
decrease of total retail sales.74 In addition, the structural changes in the supply chain of the garment 
industry were still taking place during the economic downturn. In fact, the drop in retail sales was 
mainly driven by a reduction in sales of mainstream  specialists and department stores, which were 
outperformed by big discounters and fast fashion reta ilers that in some cases were experiencing rising 
                                                      
72 See Nordas (2005), Kowalsky and Molnar (2009) above; and Ahmad, M & Diaz, D, 2008, "A 
Reality Check of Three Years of Post-Quota Trade in Textiles And why so many predictions of doom proved 
unfounded," International Textiles and Clothing Bureau, and Forstater, M., 2009, "Implications of the Global Financial and Economic Crisis on the Textile and Clot hing Sector", ILO Sectoral Coverage of the Global 
Economic Crisis. 
73 The high level of aggregation of trade data might however mask the fact that countries are 
specializing and trading differentiate d final products. For instance it might be the case that while China is 
specializing in standardized products such as T-shirts, Italy is exporting top-brand clothes.   
74 In the United States garment sales decreased 2.1 pe r cent with respect to the previous year.  The 
European Union does not report clothing retail sales but in general, total retail sales decreased 1,9 per cent 
during 2008. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 50  
 
  sales volumes.
75 US imports of clothing started to decrease in 2009; this decrease was lagged with 
respect to retail sales, which expe rienced negative growth rates from  September 2008, with respect to 
the previous year. In general the drop in retail sales of clothing was not large enough to explain the significant drop in imports. In addition, towards th e last quarter of 2009 retail sales were already 
experiencing positive growth while import recovery was slower.  One of the reasons why the main 
driver of falling US imports was not a drop in retail sales is that during the crisis, clothing retailers 
were decreasing their inventories. This fact is c onfirmed by a decreasing pattern of the ratio between 
inventories and sales since the end of the 2008.  
161. The overall impact of the global crisis on expor ts of textiles and clothing was very negative 
during 2009, when the total value of exports decreased from US$585,2 billion in 2008 to US$498,6 
billion in 2009, a decline of -14,8 per cent. During th e crisis the share of textiles and clothing products 
in total exports was slightly below its average, implying that the demand of textiles and clothing was 
not substituted by the demand of other products.  
162. Year-on-year export growth from the top 5 OECD exporters went below zero between 
September and November 2008 compared with the sam e months in 2007 (Chart 16). Italy experienced 
the lowest export growth during the crisis, and Italia n exports declined by 34 per cent in April 2009.  
It is possible to observe a slight recovery of e xports across all nations starting in May 2009. Germany 
and France experienced positive export growth fro m October 2009 and in ge neral all countries 
experienced a positive growth of exports by the end of  the 2009, compared with the previous year.  
163. The pattern of year-on-year exports for the t op 5 Asian exporters is less clear (Chart 17). 
While Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia and Ch inese Taipei started experiencing a decline in 
exports from September 2008, China sustained a positive growth until January 2009. With the 
exception of February 2009, where there was a ne gative peak for Chinese and Indian exports, the 
growth rate of exports were still ne gative but in general higher in this set of countries with respect to 
the OECD countries. In addition, all countries starte d to experience positive growth rates at the end of 
2009.    
164. The post-MFA picture of winners and losers has also continued throughout the crisis 
(Chart 18). During 2009, China, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Korea, Thailand and to a 
lesser extent India, increased their share of world exports.  Mexico, the United States, Chinese Taipei, 
Hong Kong (China), Japan and Romania experienced a decrease in their export shares. Finally, some 
countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region such as Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, 
Ecuador, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Chile and Venezuela lo st more than 20 per cent of their market share 
with respect to 2008.  
165. The global recession has had a very negative impact on employment in the textiles and 
clothing industry.  However, it is very difficult to accurately assess the levels of unemployment and 
job losses in the textiles and clothing industry since this sector includes a large number of formal enterprises but there is also a significant amount of smaller and unregistered factories.  In addition, 
short-term contracts are widely used in this sect or. In developing countries around 8000 textiles and 
apparel production units have b een shut down since June 2008. This has implied more than 
20 per cent of jobs losses.
76  In particular, China experienced a 33 per cent of job losses in the sector. 
Also other main exporters such as India, Pakist an, Indonesia and Mexico experienced job losses of 
between 3 per cent and 10 per cent. 
                                                      
75 Studies such as Forstater (2009) show that US-retailer Wal-Mart experienced a raise in sales of 
1.6 per cent during 2008. In addition, non US-retailers su ch as Inditex (Zara), H&M and outlets of Li&Fung had 
a raise in sales of respectively 10 pe r cent, 11 per cent and 14.5 per cent. 
76 Data from the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers' Federatio n (ITGLWF) survey on 
its national affiliates.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 51 
 
 
  Chart 16
Leading OECD textiles and clothing exporters, December 2007 - December 2009
(Year-on-year growth of exports)
Dec-07
Jun-08
Dec-08
Jun-09
Dec-09-80-60-40-200204060
Source :  Global Trade Atlas.Germany France
Italy United StatesBelgium
 
Chart 17
Leading non-OECD textiles and clothing exporters, December 2007 - December 2009
(Year-on-year growth of exports)
Dec-07
Jun-08
Dec-08
Jun-09
Dec-09-80-60-40-200204060
Source :  Global Trade Atlas.India Hong Kon g, China
Indonesia Chinese Tai peiChina
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 52  
 
  -25-20-15-10-50510
China
Turkey
Germany
Spain
Portugal
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Italy
United Kingdom
Thailand
India
Indonesia
Japan
Romania
Rep. of Korea
Hong Kong, China
United States
Mexico
2007 2008 2009Chart 18
Export shares of main textiles and clothing exporters, 2007 - 2009
Percentages
Source:  Global Trade Atlas.
 
4. Responses to the crisis and their economic impact 
166. Some countries have used various trade measu res to tackle the economic slowdown in the 
sector. The most common practice was the initiation of anti-dumping investigations.  Interestingly, the 
increase in MFN tariffs in the textile and clothing sector has been rare across countries.  With the 
exception of very few cases, the trend in applie d MFN rates for the textiles and clothing industry 
continues to be downwards, a trend that has not been reversed by the crisis.77  Other non tariff barriers 
such as the introduction of references prices , import licensing requirements and import duty 
surcharges have been adopted (Table 16).   
Table 16 
List of trade-related measures on textiles and clothing  
(November 2009 – mid-May 2010) 
Country/ 
Member State Measure 
Argentina Introduction of non automatic import licensing requirements,  covering products such as textile fabrics, articles 
of apparel and clothing accessories. 
Argentina New customs regulation "aduanas especializadas en el despacho de determinadas mercaderías de importación 
para consumo" amending  the list of entry points (selected  seaports and airports) for certain products such as 
textiles and apparel. 
Argentina Initiation on 11 February 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on imports of  polypropylene filament yarn. 
Argentina Initiation on 13 February 2010 of anti-du mping investigation on imports of men's or boy's suits, blazers and 
jackets from China. 
Table 16 (cont'd) 
                                                      
77 Table 4 in WTO document WT/TPR/OV/12, part A of 18 November 2009.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 53 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member State Measure 
Argentina Update of the list of "criterion values" (valores criteri o de carácter precautorio) for imports of a number of 
products such as other knitted or croche ted fabrics of synthetic fibres dyed  or printed from certain specified 
origins. 
Argentina, Brazil, 
Paraguay and Uruguay 
(Mercosur) Temporary increase of the Mercosur Common Tariff (t o 18% and 26%) for 157 textiles and textile articles 
tariff lines. Paraguay and Uruguay gi ven a waiver on this measure. 
Australia Gradual reduction of applied tariffs on textiles, clothing, and footwear  products until 2015 (for items with a 
rate of 17.5% down to 10%; and for items with rates of 10% or 7.5% to 5% ).  
Brazil  Initiation on 4 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigati on on imports of knitted or crocheted viscose fabrics 
from China. 
Dominican Republic Initiation on 17 December 2009 of safeguard investigati on on imports of polypropy lene bags and tubular 
fabric. 
Dominican Republic Initiation on 2 March 2010 of  safeguard investigation on imports of  certain socks and other hosiery. 
Ecuador Introduction of a compound tariff for imports of textile products (US$5.5/kg plus 10%).   
EU Termination on 18 March 2010 of anti-dumping duties on impor ts of polyester staple fibres from China, Korea, 
and Saudi Arabia (imposed on 10 March 2005). 
India Imposition of new measures for cotton yarn sector such as (i) suspension of the DEPB (7.67%) benefit 
available for cotton yarn exports; (ii) suspension of dut y drawback scheme for cotton yarn exports (as from 
29 April 2010); and (iii) mechanism to register cotton yarn exporters.  
India Re-imposition of a duty on exports of raw cotton and yarn . Prior to 9 April 2010, raw cotton exports were fully 
exempted. After this date, this exemption was withdrawn. 
Indonesia New Decree on textiles and textile products removing ove rlapping tariff lines and s tipulating certain import 
conditions (prevent misuse and/or manipulati on in bonded zone), as from 26 January 2010. 
Mexico Gradual tariff reduction on 97% of manuf actured goods. This reduction will take place in 5 annual phases. By 
2013 the average applied tariff should be 4.3%; 63% of  tariff lines should be duty-free. Average tariff on 
manufactured goods fell from 10.6% in 2008 to 8.3% in 2009, and to 5.2% as of 1 January 2010. 
Mexico Initiation on 21 April 2010 of anti-dumpi ng investigation on imports of wove n fabrics of cotton "denim" from 
China.  
Pakistan Exemption of import tariffs on cotton yarn (other than sewing thread), containing 85% or more by weight of 
cotton, not put up for retail sale, and cotton yarn (oth er than sewing thread), containing less than 85% by 
weight of cotton, not put up for retail sale. 
Pakistan Temporary export restrictions (quota of 35 million kg) of all types of yarn, for the period 1 March 2010 to 
30 June 2010. Withdrawn on 12 May 2010. 
Pakistan As from 25 November 2009, exports of cotton yarn have been monitored through a system of registration to be 
notified to the Trade Development Authority. 
Pakistan Additional levy "regulatory dut y (15%)",  imposed on a temporary basis, on exports of all types of yarn. 
Peru Initiation on 8 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigati on on imports of woven fabr ics of polyester fibres, 
mixed mainly or solely with viscose rayon staple fibres from India. 
Russian Federation Reduction of import tariffs on articles of apparel, clot hing accessories and other articles of furskin (from 20% 
to 10%).  
South Africa Termination on 27 November 2009 of anti-dumping duties on imports of acrylic fabrics from  Turkey (imposed 
in November 2004).  
Turkey Termination  (no application for sunset review ) on 20 November 2009 of anti-dumping duties on imports of 
polyester synthetic staple fibres from  Belarus (imposed on 20 November 2004). 
Source : WTO Secretariat. 
167. Governments have also adopted other measures which can be grouped in four main areas:  
(i) credit and trade finance measures to encourage fi nancial institutions to strengthen credit loans to 
the textiles and clothing industry have been develope d by some countries;  (ii) profit tax cuts and WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 54  
 
  subsidies;  (iii) cost-cutting decisions such as temporal layoffs and wages freeze;  and (iv) specific 
support to SMEs has been given by some.   
168. The economic impact of trade measures on the textiles and clothing sector will depend on 
factors such as the relative importance in the economy  of the targeted products, the magnitude of the 
actual measures and the size of the country adopting them. When the importing country is large in an 
international market, it means that its imports ar e a significant share in the world market for the 
product. In this case, any trade measure it implemen ts will affect world demand sufficiently to change 
the world price of the product. In contrast, if the c ountry is small then it will take international prices 
as given because their share of world demand will not be  large enough to affect international prices.   
169. Non tariff barriers such as anti-dumping measures, reference prices, import duties surcharges 
and licensing, have a very sim ilar effect to an import tariff. 78
 Such measures will increase the price of 
the imported goods for domestic users or consumers.79 This increase will have a positive impact on 
domestic producers. The price increase in the do mestic market will not only  raise the producer 
surplus in the industry but also will induce an in crease in the output of existing domestic firms, an 
increase in employment, and an increase in total profits.  
170. The first-order effect of both tariff and non tariff barriers is a decrease of imports of the 
specific product that has been targeted by the polic y.  During a global crisis, an import reduction of 
the product subject to a trade measure can arise not only from a decrease in domestic demand of imports but also from a decrease in the scale of op erations in the exporting country. In fact, the 
economic literature shows
80 that during periods of reduced demand, dumping might come from the 
desire of foreign firms to maintain production capacity and under such circumstances the anti-
dumping activity will make foreign firms scale-back their capacity and will indirectly reduce imports. 
In addition, the magnitude of the decrease in imports  of the targeted product will depend on its degree 
of substitutability.  
171. Tariffs and non tariff barriers could also cause trade diversion as a secondary effect.  
However, unlike import tariffs that are generally ap plied to all countries, other policies such as anti 
dumping measures are usually imposed on specific countri es. Therefore, while in the first case, trade 
will be diverted towards substitute  products, in the second case trade can also be diverted towards 
other nations producing the same product.   
_______________ 
                                                      
78 The big difference between quantity measures such as licensing and a tariff is that in the first case the 
government does not receive any revenue from the impos ition of the license and hence the welfare impact of 
quotas will depend on who receives these quota rents. 
79 While anti-dumping measures, reference prices, import duties surcharges have a direct effect on the 
prices of the imported product, measures such as import li censing have an indirect effect on domestic prices by 
restricting the quantity imported of a certain product. 
80 Viner, J. 1923, "Dumping: a Problem in International Trade," Chicago: University of Chicago Press;  
and Staiger, Robert & Wolak, Frank A, 1994, "Measuring Industry Specific Protection: Antidumping in the 
United States," NBER Working Papers 4696, Na tional Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 55 
 
 
  ANNEX 1 
 
 
Trade and trade-related measures1  
(November 2009 – mid-May 2010)  
 
VERIFIED INFORMATION  
Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Argentina Initiation on 2 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of electrical ignition or starting equipment of a kind used 
for spark-ignition or compression-ignition internal combustion 
engines (for example, igniti on magnetos, magneto-dynamos, 
ignition coils, sparking plugs and glow plugs, starter motors), 
generators (NCM 8511.30.20; 8511.80.30; 8511.80.90; 
9032.89.11) from China. Resolución SICPME 
No. 20/2009 
(29 October 2009).   
Argentina Initiation on 3 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of certain oil country tubular goods (NCM 7304.29; 7306.29) from China. Resolución SICPME No. 
29/2009 (2 November 2009).   
Argentina Introduction of non automatic import licensing requirements, 
covering products such as textile fabrics, autoparts, electrical 
machinery and equipments, vehicles, parts and accessories of 
motor vehicles, articles of apparel and clothing accessories, 
chemicals, and paper (NCM Chapte rs 28; 48; 51; 52; 54; 55; 59; 
60; 61; 62; 63; 65; 68; 73;  82; 84; 85; 87; 94; 96). WTO Documents 
G/LIC/N/2/ARG/22 of 3 November 2009 and 
G/LIC/N/2/ARG/23 of 
27 November 2009.   
Argentina Introduction of "criterion valu es" (valores criterio de carácter 
preventivo) for imports of a number of products such as fungicides (NCM 3808.92); electro-mechanical domestic 
appliances (NCM 8509.40); electrical ignition or starting 
equipment (NCM 8511.80); optical media (CDs) (NCM 8523.40); and automatic regulating or controlling 
instruments and apparatus (NCM 9032.89) from certain specified 
origins. Resoluciones Generales 
AFIP Nos. 2699/2009, 2700/2009 and 
2701/2009 
(4 November 2009).   
Argentina Increase of the value-added tax (from 10.5% to 21%) for 
information technology products  (NCM 8415; 8418; 8516; 8517; 
8518; 8519; 8521; 8527; 8528), as well as of the product coverage for the application of the excise tax (17%). Products 
manufactured or assembled in the Tierra del Fuego free zone are 
exempted. Ley 26.539 
(20 November 2009).   
Argentina Initiation on 2 December 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of table, floor, wall, wi ndow, ceiling or roof fans, with a 
self-contained electric motor (NCM 8414.51; 8414.59) from China. Resolución SICPME No. 
70/2009 
(24 November 2009).   
Argentina Initiation on 18 December 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of new pneumatic tyre s, of rubber (NCM 4011.10.00; 
4011.20.90; 4011.61.00; 4011.92.10; 4011.92.90) from China. Resolución SICPME 
No. 139/2009 
(17 December 2009).   
Annex 1 (cont'd) 
                                                      
1 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 with the provisions of any 
WTO agreement or such measure's impact on, or relationship with, the global financial crisis. WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 56  
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Argentina New customs regulation "adua nas especializadas en el despacho 
de determinadas mercaderías de importación para consumo" amending  the list of entry points (selected seaports and airports) 
for certain products such as carbonates; tableware and 
kitchenware; articles of leather; textiles and apparel; footwear; ceramic products; glassware; imitation jewellery; articles of iron 
or steel; articles of base metal; machinery and mechanical 
appliances; electrical machinery and equipment; vehicles and parts and accessories; clocks and watches; lamps; toys; and 
manufactured articles (NCM Chapters 28; 39; 42; 50 to 64; 69; 
70; 71; 73; 82; 83; 84; 85; 87; 90; 94; 95; 96). Resolución No. 3/2010 
DGA (29 January 2010).   
Argentina Initiation on 11 February 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of  polypropylene f ilament yarn (NCM 5402.48.00; 
5402.59.00) from Brazil. Resolución SICPME 
No. 15/10 (10 February 2010).   
Argentina Initiation on 13 February 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of  air conditioning machines  (NCM 8415.10.11; 8415.83.00; 8418.69.40) from Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, and 
Viet Nam. Resolución SICPME 
No. 16/10 (12 February 2010).   
Argentina Initiation on 13 February 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of men's or boy's suits, blazers and jackets 
(NCM 6203.11; 6203.12; 6203.19; 6203.22; 6203.23; 
6203.29.10; 6203.29.90; 6203.31; 6203.32; 6203.33; 6203.39) from China. Resolución SICPME 
No. 18/10 
(12 February 2010).   
Argentina Initiation on 3 March 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of steel straight slaw  blades, for working metals  
(NCM 8202.91.00; 8202.99.90) from China. Resolución SICPME 
No. 36/10 (2 March 2010).   
Argentina Update of the list of "cr iterion values" (valores criterio de 
carácter precautorio) for imports of a number of products such as 
baby carriages and parts (NCM 8715.00); flywheels and pulleys, including pulley blocks (NCM 8483.50.90); automatic circuit 
breakers (NCM 8536.20. 00); other knitted or crocheted fabrics 
of synthetic fibres dyed or printed  (NCM 6006.42.00; 6006.44.00); stemware drinking gl asses, other than of glass-
ceramics (NCM 7013.28.00); other dr inking glasses, other than 
of glass-ceramics (NCM 7013.37. 00); and benzoyl peroxide 
(NCM 2916.32.10) from certain specified origins. Resoluciones Generales 
AFIP Nos. 2720/2009, 
2730/2009, 2777/2010, 2778/2010, 2779/2010, 
2780/2010, 2781/2010, 
2783/2010 and 2785/2010 (various dates 
from November 2009 to 
March 2010).   
Argentina Adjustment of "criterion values" (valores referenciales de 
exportación de carácter precautorio)  for exports of a number of 
products such as natural honey (NCM 0409.00.00); fresh grapes 
(NCM 0806.10.00); copper and articles thereof (NCM 74); and 
fresh apples, pears and quinces (NCM 0808.10.00; 0808.20.10) for certain specified destinations. Resoluciones Generales 
AFIP Nos. 2786/2010, 2787/2010, 2788/2010, 
and 2790/2010 
(26 February 2010).   
Argentina Temporary export ban on fe rrous waste and scrap, remelting 
scrap ingots of iron or steel  (NCM 7204.10.00; 7204.21.00; 7204.29.00; 7204.30.00; 7204.41.00; 7204.49.00; 7204.50.00) 
until 9 July 2010.  Permanent Delegation of 
Argentina to the WTO (3 June 2010).   
Argentina, 
Brazil, 
Paraguay and 
Uruguay (Mercosur) Temporary increase of the Mercosur Common Tariff (to 28%) 
for 11 tariff lines (dairy products: NCM 0402.10; 0402.21; 
0402.29; 0402.99; 0404.10; 0406.10; 0406.90), as from 
31 January 2010 until 31 December 2011. Paraguay and Uruguay given a waiver on this measure. Decisión No. 25/09 del 
Consejo del Mercado 
Común 
(7 December 2009), and Permanent Delegation of Brazil to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Argentina, 
Brazil, Paraguay and 
Uruguay 
(Mercosur) Temporary increase of the Mercosur Common Tariff (to 18% 
and 26%) for 157 tariff lines (textiles and textile articles: NCM 5004; 5005; 5006; 5106; 5 107; 5108; 5109; 5110; 5204; 
5205; 5206; 5207; 5306; 5307; 5308; 5401; 5402; 5403; 5404; 
5405; 5502; 5508; 5509; 5510; 5911). Paraguay and Uruguay 
given a waiver on this measure. Decisión No. 26/09 del 
Consejo del Mercado Común 
(7 December 2009), and 
Permanent Delegation of Brazil to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
Argentina, 
Brazil, 
Paraguay and Uruguay 
(Mercosur) Temporary increase of the Mercosur Common Tariff (to 35%) 
for 3 tariff lines (articles of leather: NCM 4202.22.10; 
4202.22.20; 4202.92.00). Paraguay and Uruguay given a waiver on this measure. Decisión No. 27/09 del 
Consejo del Mercado 
Común (7 December 009), and 
Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
Australia Consumer price index adjust ment for the calculation of new rates 
of customs duties for certain products such as alcoholic beverages (HS 2203; 2204; 2205; 2206; 2207; 2208) and tobacco 
products (HS 2401; 2402; 2403) resulting in increase of the 
customs and excise duties, as from 1 February 2010. Customs Notice 
No. 2010/05 (2 February 2010).   
Australia Gradual reduction of applied tariffs on textiles, clothing, and 
footwear products until 2015 (for items with a rate of 17.5% 
down to 10%; and for items with rates of 10% or 7.5% to 5% ) (HS Chapters 30; 38; 39; 40; 42; 43; 50; 51; 52; 54; 55; 56; 57; 
58; 59; 60; 61; 62; 63; 64; 65; 90; 94).  Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO 
(1 January 2010).   
Australia Reduction of applied tari ffs on passenger motor vehicles and 
parts (from 10% down to 5%) (HS Chapters 39; 40; 68; 70; 73; 
83; 84; 85; 87; 90; 94; 96), as from 1 January 2010.   Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO 
(1 January 2010).   
Australia Termination on 25 November 2009 of anti-dumping 
investigation on imports of linear low density polyethylene (HS 3901.10; 3901.90) from Cana da and the United States 
(initiated on 28 May 2009). Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
Australia Initiation on 3 December 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of certain plywood sheeti ng, of conifer and non-conifer 
species, in various widths and grades ranging from high quality 
appearance structurally-certified grades with minimal imperfections, through to non-structural non-appearance grades 
to which no manufacturing st andard applies (HS 4412.31; 
4412.32; 4412.39) from Brazil, Chile, China, and Malaysia. Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
Australia Termination on 12 January 2010 (following a reinvestigation)  of 
anti-dumping duties on imports of toilet paper (HS 4818.10) 
from China and Indonesia (re investigation initiated on 
30 June 2009). Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
Australia Termination on 16 February 2010 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of certain silicon (HS 2804.69) from China (imposed on 17 February 2005). Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
Australia Termination on 17 Febr uary 2010 (following a continuation 
inquiry) of anti-dumping duties on imports of hot dipped galvanised steel pipe (HS 7306.30) from Thailand (imposed on 
18 February 2000). Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
Australia Termination on 23 March 2010 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of polyvinyl chloride homopolymer resin (HS 3904.10) 
from Hungary (no application for continuation received) and 
Korea (following a continuation inquiry) (duties imposed on 24 March 2000). Permanent Delegation of 
Australia to the WTO 
(18 May 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Australia Initiation on 19 April 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of   clear float glass (CFG) in nominal thicknesses of 
3 mm-12 mm (HS 7005.29.00) from China, Indonesia, and 
Thailand. Report No. 159 - 
Australian Customs and Border Protection 
Service (April 2010).   
Australia Increase of excise rates fo r imports of certain tobacco products 
(HS 2401.10.00; 2401.20.00; 2401.30.00; 2402.10.20; 
2402.10.80; 2402.20.20; 2402.20.80; 2403.10.30; 2403.10.70; 2403.91.00; 2403.99.80), as from 30 April 2010. Customs Notice (No 1) 
2010 (29 April 2010).   
Belarus, 
Kazakhstan, Russian 
Federation Adoption of a Common External Tariff (CET) consisting of 
11,170 tariff lines, of which 9,208 are subject to ad valorem duties, 1,746 to compound duties and 216 to specific duties. CET 
rates on 9,024 tariff lines are equal to those of the Russian import 
tariff (as of November 2009). For 426 tariff lines including products such as meat, cheese, eggs, rice, flour, oils, sugar, 
cement, plastic, wood, textiles, aluminium, the CET rates are 
higher than those of the Russian import tariff. For 1,357 tariff lines  including products such as live animals, vegetables, 
chemicals, plastics, footwear, metals, mechanical equipment, 
machinery, the CET rates are lo wer than those of the Russian 
import tariff.  WTO Document 
JOB/ACC/1 of 12 April 2010. Effective as from 
1 January 2010.  
Brazil Creation of new tariff lines, in  some cases resulting in a decrease 
of import tariffs  on products such as codfish (NCM 0305.30.10) (from 10% to 0%), and electrical equipment (from 18% to 0%), 
as from 1 January 2010. Resolução No. 82 
(15 December 2009).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (from a range of 12-14% down to 
2%) on 573 tariff lines such as capital goods, informatics, and 
telecommunication equipment. CAMEX Resolutions 
Nos. 61 and 62 
(28 October 2009); 77 
and 78 (15 December 2009); 3 and 4 (4 February 2010).   
Brazil  Initiation on 4 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of knitted or crochete d viscose fabrics (NCM 6004; 
6006) from China. Circular No. 60 
Ministério do desenvolvimento, 
indústria e comércio 
exterior - Secretaria de comércio exterior 
(3 November 2009).   
Brazil  Initiation on 4 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of hand tools "rebitadores manuais" (NCM 8205.59.00) 
from China. Circular No. 72 
Ministério do 
desenvolvimento, 
indústria e comércio exterior - Secretaria de 
comércio exterior 
(22 December 2009).   
Brazil Termination (lapsing of application period) on 7 November 2009 
of anti-dumping duties on imports of ammonium nitrate  
(NCM 3102.30.00; 3105.51.00; 3105.59.00) from Russia and Ukraine. WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/BRA of 
23 March 2010.   
Brazil Termination (without measure) on 16 December 2009 of anti-
dumping investigation on imports of polyethylene terephthalate 
resins (NCM 3907.60.00) from  Argentina (initiated on 
27 April 2009).   WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/BRA of 23 March 2010.   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Brazil Initiation on 12 March 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of salt "sal grosso" (NCM 2501.00.19) from Chile. Circular No. 7 
Ministério do desenvolvimento, 
indústria e comércio 
exterior - Secretaria de comércio exterior 
(7 March 2010).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (to 2%) on 6 tariff lines such as 
informatics, machinery and equipment (NCM 8419.50.90; 
8471.70.12; 8537.20.90; 8541.30.29; 9030.40.90; 9030.82.10), until 31 December 2010. CAMEX Resolution 
No. 17 (25 March 2010).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (to 2%) on 163 capital goods tariff 
lines  (NCM Chapters 84, 85,  86, 87, 89, 90, and 94), until 
31 December 2010. CAMEX Resolution 
No. 18 (25 March 2010).   
Brazil Extension of the period until 31 December 2011, of the reduction 
of import tariffs (to 2%) for 232 tariff lines (informatic and telecommunication equipments, and capital goods)  
(NCM Chapters 73; 82; 84; 85; 87; 89; 90).  CAMEX Resolutions 
Nos. 26 and 27 (14 April 2010).   
Brazil Initiation on 12 March 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of glassine and other glazed transparent or translucent 
papers (NCM 4806.40.00) from France, Italy, and Hungary. Circular No. 13 
Ministério do 
desenvolvimento, 
indústria e comércio exterior - Secretaria de 
comércio exterior 
(16 April 2010).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (to zero) on A(H1N1) vaccines  
(NCM 3002.20.11; 3002.20.21), for a period of 12 months. 
(Included on its national list of exemptions to the Mercosur Common Tariff). CAMEX Resolution 
No. 22 (23 April 2010).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (f rom 20% to zero) on ethyl alcohol 
(NCM 2207.10.00; 2207.20.10) until 31 December 2011. 
(Included on its national list of exemptions to the Mercosur Common Tariff). Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO and 
CAMEX Resolution No. 21 (23 April 2010).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (to 2%) on certain products such as 
palm kernel (quota 150,000 tonnes) (NCM 1513.29.10); backed refined copper (quota 450,000 units) (NCM 7410.21.10); 
electrodes (quota 10,000 tonnes) (NCM 8545.19.90),  for a 
period of 12 months. CAMEX Resolution 
No. 25 (29 April 2010).   
Brazil Reduction of import tariffs (t o 2%) on paper and paperboard in 
rolls  (NCM 4810.13.90). CAMEX Resolution 
No. 29 (14 May 2010).   
Brazil Amendments to the IPI valu e-added tax incentive scheme. IPI 
reductions for household appliances  were eliminated as from 
31 January 2010. IPI increased (to 7%) for commercial vehicles; 
and (from 0 to 5%) for furniture and components as from March and April 2010 respectively. Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO 
(26 May 2010).   
Brazil New tax incentives (Integrated  Drawback) for exporters (mainly 
agri-businesses); consisting in the elimination of the IPI value-added tax (5%), or the PIS/Cofins social contribution on the 
basis of the turnover (9.5%) on the purchase of inputs (local and 
imported) to be used in the manufacturing of export products. A similar scheme was already in place for machine parts, and 
equipment. Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO (26 May 2010). The full IPI reduction 
was extended until June 2010 for capital 
goods; and until 
31 December 2010 for construction material.  
Brazil Elimination of import tariffs  and the IPI value-added tax (5%) 
for computers for public schools. Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO (26 May 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Canada Trade facilitation measure liberalizing the conditions under 
which shipping containers (HS 9801.10.20) can temporarily be imported into Canada on a duty-free basis.  Permanent Delegation of 
Canada to the WTO (1 February 2010). Permanent measure 
effective as from 15 December 2009. 
Canada Initiation on 22 March 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of greenhouse bell peppers (HS 0709.60.90) from the 
Netherlands. Preliminary Injury 
Inquiry No. PI-2009-005 
- Canadian International 
Trade Tribunal (22 March 2010).   
Canada Elimination of im port tariffs on 1,541 tariff lines (manufacturing 
inputs, machinery and equipment). The majority of those items with a simple average MFN rate of 7.2%, became duty-free as of 
5 March 2010 (1,100 tariff lines), with the remainder scheduled 
to be gradually eliminated, starting on 5 March 2010 but by no 
later than 1 January 2015. WTO Document 
G/MA/W/101 of 19 April 2010.   
Canada Termination (without measure) on 6 May 2010 of anti-dumping 
investigation on imports of polyisocyanurate thermal insulation board (HS 3921.13) from the United States (initiated on 
8 October 2009).   Permanent Delegation of 
Canada to the WTO (18 May 2010).   
Chile Initiation on 4 December 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of wheat flour (HS 1101.00.00) from Argentina. Permanent Delegation of 
Chile to the WTO 
(27 May 2010).  
Chile Termination on 26 January 2010 of safeguard duties on imports 
of powdered milk and gouda cheese (HS 0402.10.00; 
0402.21.11; 0402.21.13; 0402.21.14; 0402.21.15; 0402.21.16; 
0402.21.17; 0402.21.18; 0402.29.11; 0402.29.12; 0402.29.13; 0402.29.14; 0402.29.15; 0402.29.16; 0402.29.17; 0402.29.18; 
0406.90.10). Investigation was initiated on 4 September 2009. 
Provisional measure was imposed on 10 October 2009. WTO Document 
G/SG/N/7/CHL/9/ 
Suppl.1 of 
3 February 2010.   
Chile Initiation on 10 March 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of melamine resin panels (HS 4410.11.00)  from Austria. Permanent Delegation of 
Chile to the WTO 
(27 May 2010).   
China Import ban of poultry and poultry products (HS 0105; 0207) 
from: Spain, France (Deux-sevres), and the UK (Hampshire). Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
China Initiation on 6 November 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of saloon cars and cross-country cars of a cylinder 
capacity of no less than 2,000 cc (HS 8703.23; 8703.24; 
8703.32; 8703.33; 8703.90) from the United States. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
China Initiation on 6 November 2009 of  countervailing investigation on 
imports of saloon cars and cross-country cars of a cylinder 
capacity of no less than 2,000 cc (HS 8703.23; 8703.24; 8703.32; 8703.33; 8703.90) from the United States. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
China Annual adjustment of the catalogue of items  subject to automatic 
import licensing, which includes pr oducts such as pork, chicken, 
vegetable oil, tobacco, paper, milk, minerals, chemicals, 
electrical products, and certain steel products. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
China Reduction of applied MFN impor t tariffs on six tariff lines (HS 
0810.10; 0812.90;  2206.00.10; 2206.00.90; 4104.19; 5512.11) 
including products such as fresh strawberries, fermented 
beverages, woven fabrics of synt hetic staple fibres, hides and 
skins, as from 1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
China Elimination of export duties on 17 tariff lines (HS 2508; 2606; 
2620; 2818; 2826; 2827; 2834; 7202; 7216) including products 
such as clays, aluminium ores, chemicals, ferro-alloys, as from 
1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
China Reduction of interim export duty rates on 21 tariff lines (HS 
2809; 2814; 2834; 3102; 3103; 3105) including products such as 
chemicals and fertilizers, as from 1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
China Temporary increase of MFN import tariffs on fuel oil (to 3%), 
and jet fuel (to 6%), but below their respective binding levels of 
6% and 9%.  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
China Termination (expiry without review) on 14 November 2009 of 
anti-dumping duties on imports of monoethanolamine 
diethanolamine from Iran and Mexico (initiated on 
14 November 2004).   WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/CHN of 
19 March 2010.   
China Termination (expiry without  review) on 30 November 2009 of 
anti-dumping duties on imports of chloroform (HS 2903.13) from India (imposed on 30 November 2004).   WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/CHN of 19 March 2010.   
China Termination (expiry without review) on 31 December 2009 of 
anti-dumping duties on imports of dispersion unshifted single-model optical fiber (HS 9001.10) from the United States 
(imposed on 1 January 2005). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/CHN of 19 March 2010.   
China Initiation on 22 April 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of dispersion unshifted  single-mode optical fibre 
(HS 8544.70) from the EU and the United States. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(18 May 2010).   
China Initiation on 22 April 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of caprolactam (HS 2933.71) from the EU and the 
United States.  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(18 May 2010).   
China Import ban on poultry products (HS 0207) from Pennsylvania 
and Texas (USA) (15 Ja nuary 2010), and Bhutan 
(12 March 2010), due to low pathogenic avian influenza.  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO (18 May 2010).   
China Elimination of import restrictions due to A(H1N1) Flu on swine 
and swine products from Canada  on 1 December 2009, and for 
all countries, as from 23 February 2010.  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO (18 May 2010).   
China Elimination of import restricti ons due to Bird Flu from Chile and 
Thailand on 23 and 30 December 2009 respectively, and from Belgium on 15 April 2010.  Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO (18 May 2010).   
Costa Rica New law "Ley de Reform a al Régimen de Zonas Francas" 
adopted on 22 January 2010, reforming the free trade zone regime, and amending certain income tax issues. In May 2010, a 
Decree concerning the new legislation was issued. This 
instrument aims to create a commi ttee to determine the "strategic 
sectors" to be prioritized in Costa Rica for the granting of 
benefits offered under the free trade zone regime. Permanent Delegation of 
Costa Rica to the WTO (31 May 2010) and Law 
No 8794.   
Dominican 
Republic Termination (without measure) on 26 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on imports of toilet paper 
(HS 4818.10.00) (initiatie d on 12 October 2009). WTO Documents 
G/SG/N/6/DOM/2 of 
30 October 2009 and 
G/SG/N/9/DOM/1 of 13 January 2010. . 
Dominican 
Republic Initiation on 17 December 2009 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of polypropylene bags and tubular fabric 
(HS 5407.20.20; 6305.33.10; 6305.33.90). WTO Documents 
G/SG/N/6/DOM/3 of 14 January 2010 and 
G/SG/N/11/DOM/1 of 
6 April 2010. Provisional duty 
imposed on 1 April 2010. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Dominican 
Republic Termination (without measure) on 19 May 2010 of safeguard 
investigation on imports of toilet paper (HS 4818.10.00) (initiated on 19 January 2010).  WTO Documents 
G/SG/N/6/DOM/4 of 21 January 2010 and 
G/SG/N/9/DOM/3 of 
27 May 2010.   
Dominican 
Republic Termination (without measure) on 2 February 2010 of safeguard 
investigation on imports of   glass bottles (HS 7010.90.20; 
7010.90.40) (initiate d on 15 April 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/DOM/2 of 2 March 2010.   
Dominican 
Republic Initiation on 2 March 2010 of safegua rd investigation on imports 
of  certain socks and other hosiery (HS 6115.95.00; 6115.96.20). WTO Documents 
G/SG/N/6/DOM/5 of 10 March 2010 and 
G/SG/N/7/DOM/2 of 
20 May 2010. Provisional duty 
imposed on 20 May 2010. 
Dominican 
Republic Initiation on 5 April 2010 of safe guard investigation (China 
specific) on imports of  ceramic sinks, wash basins, wash basin 
pedestals, baths, bidets, water closet pans, flushing cisterns, urinals and similar sanitary fixtures of porcelain or china 
(HS 6910.10.10; 6910.10.30). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/16/DOM/1 of 
8 April 2010.   
Ecuador Gradual phasing out of all im port surcharges introduced as BOP 
measure (introduced on 22 Janua ry 2009). Reduction by 10% of 
import surcharges introduced on all products on 
23 January 2010, and additi onal reduction by 30% on 
28 May 2010.   WTO Documents 
WT/BOP/N/75 of 
23 February 2010, and 
WT/BOP/N/76 of 3 June 2010.   At the BOP meeting 
on 8 June 2010, 
Ecuador committed to 
eliminate the measures by 23 July 2010. 
Ecuador Initiation on 19 April 2010 of sa feguard investigation on imports 
of laminated safety glass, of size and shape suitable for 
incorporation in vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft or vessels 
(HS 7007.21.00). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/ECU/8 of 26 April 2010.   
Ecuador Introduction of a compound tariff for imports of footwear 
(US$6/pair plus 10%), and clot hing and textiles (US$5.5/kilo 
plus 10%).   Decreto Ejecutivo 372.   
Egypt Initiation on 24 December 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of plastic containers  (boxes) PET (HS 3923.10) from 
Italy. WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/EGY of 25 January 2010.   
Egypt Extension of the temporary el imination of import tariffs on raw 
sugar (HS 1701.11; 1701.12) until 31 December 2010 (decision 
originally implemented on 15 August 2009).  Permanent Delegation of 
Egypt to the WTO (31 May 2010).   
Egypt Suspension of the elimination of import tariffs on refined sugar 
(HS 1701.91; 1701.99), as from 31 March 2010 until 
31 December 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Egypt to the WTO (31 May 2010).   
El Salvador New regulation amendi ng the law on production and sale of 
alcoholic beverages ("Ley re guladora de la producción y 
comercialización del alcohol y de las bebidas alcohólicas"). The 
decree sets different tax rates for selected products  
(HS chapter 2208). Decreto No. 239 
(16 December 2009).   
EU Termination on 18 March 2010 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of polyester staple fibres (HS 5503.20.00) from China, 
Korea, and Saudi Arabia (imposed on 10 March 2005). Commission Notices 
2009/C 249/08 and 
249/09 (17 October 2009). . 
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
EU Export refunds for milk and milk  products.  Commission Regulations 
Nos. 1056/2009 of 5 November 2009 and 
1113/2009 of 
19 November 2009. No longer applicable 
as from 19 November 2009. 
EU Initiation on 17 December 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of certain continuous filament glass fibre products 
(HS 7019.11; 7019.12; 7019.19; 7019.31) from China. Commission Notice 
2009/C 307/11 (17 December 2009).   
EU Renewal of the prior surveillan ce system on steel imports (first 
established in 2002) until 31 D ecember 2012.  Product coverage 
has been updated and now also in cludes flat stainless steel 
products and large welded tubes (HS chapters 72 and 73). Public information 
available on the European Commission's 
website transmitted by 
the EU Delegation (17 December 2009).   
EU Initiation on 22 December 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of purified terephthalic acid and its salts of a purity by weight of 99.5% or more (HS 2917.36.00) from Thailand. Commission Notice 
2009/C 313/08 (22 December 2009).   
EU Initiation on 22 December 2009 of  countervailing investigation 
on imports of purified terephthalic acid and its salts of a purity by weight of 99.5% or more (HS 2917.36.00) from Thailand. Commission Notice 
2009/C 313/09 (22 December 2009).   
EU Establishment of an additional quantitative limit 
(500,000 tonnes) for the exports of out-of-quota white sugar (HS 1701.99) without refund in respect of marketing year 2009-
10. The quota was fully allocated by 22 February 2010. Public information 
available on the European Commission's 
website transmitted by 
the EU Delegation. Commission Regulation 
No. 94/2010 
(3 February 2010). Expiration date 
30 June 2010. 
EU Initiation on 17 February 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of zeolite A powder (H S 2842.10.00) from Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. EU Notice (OJ C 40/04) 
(17 February 2010).    
EU Initiation on 17 February 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of melamine (HS 2933.61.00) from China. EU Notice (OJ C 40/10) 
(17 February 2010).   
EU Initiation on 18 February 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of coated fine paper, which is paper or paperboard 
coated on one or both sides (exc luding Kraft paper or Kraft 
paperboard), in either sheets or rolls, and with a weight of 
70g/m2 or more but not exceeding 400g/m2 and brightness of 
more than 84 (HS 4810) from China. EU Notice (OJ 2010/ 
C 41/06) (18 February 2010).   
EU Termination (without measure) on 25 February 2010 of anti-
dumping investigation on ring binder mechanisms (HS 8305.10.00) from Thailand (initiated on 
17 December 2008). Commission Decision 
2010/116/EU (24 February 2010).   
EU Termination on 21 March 2010 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of reciprocating compre ssors (excluding reciprocating 
compressor pumps), giving a flow not exceeding 2 m3 per minute 
(HS 8414.40; 8414.80) from China (imposed on 18 March 2008). Commission Notice 
2010/C 73/10 
(23 March 2010).   
EU Termination (repealed after interim review no-dumping) on 
30 December 2009 of anti-dumping duties on imports of Ferro-silicon  (HS 7202.21.00; 7202. 29.20; 7202.29.90) from the 
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (imposed on 
28 February 2008). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/EEC of 31 March  2010.   
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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State Measure Source/Date Status 
EU Initiation on 1 April 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of stainless steel bars a nd rods, not further worked than 
cold-formed or cold-finished, other than bars and rods of circular 
cross-section of a diameter of 80 mm or more (HS 7222.20) from 
India. Commission Notice 
OJ C 87/1 (1 April 2010).   
EU Initiation on 1 April 2010 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of stainless steel bars a nd rods, not further worked than 
cold-formed or cold-finished, other than bars and rods of circular 
cross-section of a diameter of 80 mm or more (HS 7222.20) from 
India. Commission Notice 
OJ C 87/17 (1 April 2010).   
EU Initiation on 17 April 2010 of co untervailing investigation on 
imports of coated fine paper, which is paper or paperboard 
coated on one or both sides (exc luding Kraft paper or Kraft 
paperboard), in either sheets or rolls, and with a weight of 
70g/m2 or more but not exceeding 400g/m2 and brightness of 
more than 84 (HS 4810) from China. EU Notice (OJ C 99/30) 
(17 April 2010).   
EU Termination on 11 May 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of steel ropes and cables, including locked coil ropes, 
excluding ropes and cables of stainless steel, with a maximum cross-sectional dimension exceeding 3 mm (SWR)  
(HS 7312.10.81; 7312.10.83; 7312.10.85; 7312.10.89; 
7312.10.98) from Korea (initiate d on  11 August 2009) (possible 
circumvention of anti-dumping measures imposed in 2005). EU Regulation 
No. 400/2010 
(26 April 2010).   
India Initiation on 3 November 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of polymers of vinyl chlo ride or of other halogenated 
olefins in primary forms (HS 3904.22.10) from China; Japan; 
Korea; Malaysia; Russia; Chin ese, Taipei; and Thailand. Notification 
No. 14/36/2009-DGAD Ministry of Commerce 
& Industry - Department 
of Commerce (3 November 2009).   
India Initiation on 5 November 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of sodium tripoly phos phate (STPP) (HS 2835.31.00) 
from China. Notification No. 
14/25/2009-DGAD 
Ministry of Commerce & Industry - Department 
of Commerce 
(5 November 2009).   
India Termination (without measure) on 4 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on im ports of oxo alcohols (HS 2905; 
2912) (initiated on 16 January 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/IND/4 of 
5 November 2009.   
India Termination (without measure) on 8 December 2009  of 
safeguard investigation on impor ts of hot-rolled coils, sheet, 
strips (HS 7208) (initiated on 9 April 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/IND/5 of 
23 November 2009.   
India Termination (without measure) on 18 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on imports  of linear alkyl benzene-LAB 
(HS 3817.00.11) (initiate d on 6 January 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/IND/6 of 
1 December 2009.   
India Termination (without measure) on 24 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on impor ts of plain particle board 
(HS 4410) (initiated on 22 April 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/IND/7 of 
1 December 2009.   
India Termination (without measure) on 5 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on imports  of uncoated paper and copy 
paper (HS 4802) (initiated on 20 April 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/IND/8 of 
4 December 2009.   
India Termination (without measure) on 6 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on impor ts of unwrought aluminium, 
aluminium waste and aluminium scraps whether or not alloyed (HS 7601; 7602) (initiated on 22 May 2009).  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(December 2009).   
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
India Termination (without measure) on 13 November 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on imports  of coated paper and paper 
board (HS 4810) (initiated on 20 April 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/IND/9 of 4 December 2009.    
India Initiation on 8 January 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of  glass fibre and ar ticles thereof, including glass 
rovings, glass chopped strands , glass chopped strands mats 
(HS 7019) from China. Notification No. 
14/28/2009-DGAD 
Ministry of Commerce 
& Industry - Department of Commerce 
(8 January 2010).   
India Initiation on 12 January 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of seamless tubes, pipe s & hollow profiles of iron, alloy 
or non-alloy steel (other than cast iron), whether hot finished or 
cold drawn or cold rolled, of an  external diameter not exceeding 
273 mm or 10" (HS 7304) from China. Notification No. 
14/55/2009-DGAD 
Ministry of Commerce 
& Industry - Department of Commerce 
(12 January 2010).   
India Transfer of electrical energy (HS 2716.00.00) to the restricted 
list. Imposition of import licensing requirement for this item. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
India Increase of the purchase price for domestic wheat (HS 1001) 
from Rs 1,080/quintal (US$23/quintal) for 2008-09 to 
Rs 1,100/quintal (US$23.6/quintal) for 2009-10. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
India Increase of export tax on iron ore fines (HS 2601.11.30; 
2601.11.40) (from 0% to 5%), and on iron ore lumps and pellets 
(HS 2601.11.10; 2601.11.20) (from 5% to 10%). Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(1 February 2010). Effective as  from 
24 December 2009.  
India Temporary reduction of import tariffs (to zero) for refined sugar 
(HS 1701.91.00; 1701.99.90) (until 31 December 2010).   Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
India Initiation on 1 February 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of  PVC flex films (HS 3918.10.90; 3918.90.90; 3919.90.90; 3920.10.12; 3920.10.19; 3920.49.00; 3921.90.26; 
3921.90.29; 3926.90.80; 3926.90.99) from China. Notification 
No. 14/04/2010-DGAD Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry 
(1 February 2010).   
India Suspension of export prohibition on wheat and wheat products 
(HS 1001.10; 1001.10.90; 1001.90; 1001.90.20; 1001.90.39) 
(imposed as of 8 October 2007)  for the export of 50,000 MT to Nepal through Food Cooperation of India.   Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry Notification 
No. 29/2009-2014 (9 February 2010).   
India Amendment to the Import Licensing Note No. 2(II)(d) under 
Chapter 87 restricting entry points for imports of new vehicles to nine seaports and international airports. Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry Notification No. 30/2009-2014 
(10 February 2010).   
India Initiation on 10 February 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of  polypropylene "homo-polymers and co-polymers of 
propylene" (HS 3902.10.00; 3902.30.00) from Korea; Chinese, 
Taipei; and the United States. Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry Notification 
DGAD No. 14/26/2009 
(10 February 2010).   
India Initiation on 12 April 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of hot rolled flat products  of stainless steel of ASTM 
Grade 304 with all its variants (HS 7219.11; 7219.12; 7219.13; 7219.14; 7219.21; 7219.22; 7219.23; 7219.24; 7220.11; 
7220.12)  from the EU; Korea; South Africa; Chinese, Taipei; 
and the United States.  Notification No. 
14/12/2010-DGAD 
Ministry of Commerce & Industry - Department 
of Commerce 
(12 April 2010).   
India Initiation on 16 April 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of azodicarbonamide (ADC) "blowing agent or foaming 
agent" (HS 2927.00.90; 2942.00.90; 3812.00.89)  from China.   Ministry of Commerce 
and Industry Notification 
DGAD No. 14/7/2010  (16 April 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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State Measure Source/Date Status 
India On 29 April 2010 the export duty rate on iron ore lumps 
(HS 2601.11.10; 2601.11.20) was further increased from 10% to 15%. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (3 June 2010).   
India Elimination of the forei gn commission concession (12.5%) 
which was included in the calcu lation of the minimum export 
price (MEP) for basmati rice (HS 1006.30.20), reducing its 
export floor price.   Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010). 
  
India Suspension of import tariffs on semi-milled or wholly milled-
rice (HS 1006.30), until 30 September 2010.  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010).   
India Elimination of export ba n of organic non-basmati rice 
(HS 1006.10.90; 1006.20.00; 1006.30.10; 1006.30.90; 
1006.40.00) and wheat (HS 1001). Rice exports limited to 10,000 tonnes/year, and wheat exports to 5,000 tonnes/year.  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010). 
  
India Withdrawal of hot rolled co ils, including seamless tubes/pipes, 
parts and accessories of moto r vehicles (HS 7208), and carbon 
black (HS 2803.00.10) from the import restricted list.  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (3 June 2010).   
India Imposition of new measures for cotton yarn sector such as 
(i) suspension of the DEPB (7.67%) benefit available for cotton yarn exports; (ii) suspension of duty drawback scheme for cotton 
yarn exports (as from 29 April 2010); and (iii) mechanism to 
register cotton yarn exporters.  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (3 June 2010). The DEPB was 
suspended as from 21 April 2010.  
India Re-imposition of a duty on exports of raw cotton and yarn. Prior 
to 9 April 2010, raw cotton exports were fully exempted. After 
this date, this exemption was withdrawn. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010).   
India Concessional import tariff rate (5%)  for certain agricultural 
machineries (i.e. paddy transplant er; laser land leveller; reaper-
cum-blinder; sugarcane harvester;  straw or fodder balers; cotton 
picker) not locally manufactured.   Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010).   
India Elimination of import tari ffs for refrigeration units ("air 
conditioners") used for the production of refrigerated vans or 
trucks. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010). Effective as from 
27 February 2010. 
India Notice from the Department of Telecommunications requesting 
local satellite-based communications services providers to obtain 
security clearance (30 working day) before importing communication equipments, for national security purposes. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO 
(3 June 2010).   
India Reduction and elimination  of import tariffs on selected products 
(polymer, inputs for orthopaedic implants, rhodium, gold ore, raw materials, long pepper, asafoetida), under the Union Budget 
2010-11.  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (3 June 2010).   
India Import ban on dairy products  including chocolates (HS 0401; 
0402; 0403; 0404; 0405; 0406; 1806).  Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (3 
June 2010).   
Indonesia New Decree to protect human health and public moral, 
stipulating that imports, distri bution and selling of alcohol can 
only be made through companies owned by Indonesian citizens 
which are situated in Indonesia, as from 1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO.   
Indonesia Regulation requiring local and foreign bidders for energy service 
contracts to use a minimum of 35% domestic content in their 
operations. Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(December 2009) and 
Regulation PTK No. 007 Revisi-1/PTK/IX/2009.   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Indonesia New Decree prioritizing the s upply of mineral coal to domestic 
needs, in order to manage and prevent shortages, as from 31 December 2009.  Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO (18 May 2010) and 
Decree No. 34/2009.   
Indonesia Implementation of trade f acilitation measures such as duty 
exemption for imports of machines, goods and materials for the 
establishment and development of industries for investment, as from 16 November 2009. The exemption is granted only if 
products are: (i) not yet produced domestically; (ii) produced 
domestically but not fulfil the required specifications; and (iii) produced domestically but not  sufficient for the industries' 
needs.  Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
Indonesia Initiation on 19 January 2010 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of aluminium foil food container/aluminium tray and 
plain lid (HS 7612.90.90). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/IDN/6 of 
5 February 2010.   
Indonesia Initiation on 19 January 2010 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of wire of iron/non-a lloy steel, not plated/coated, 
containing carbon less than 0.25%  by weight (HS 7217.10.10). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/IDN/7 of 
5 February 2010.   
Indonesia Initiation on 19 January 2010 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of  wire of iron/non-a lloy steel, plated with zinc 
(HS 7217.20.10). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/IDN/8 of 
5 February 2010.   
Indonesia Initiation on 5 February 2010 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of  stranded wire, rope s and cables for locked coil, 
flattened strands and non-rota ting wire ropes (HS 7312.10.10). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/IDN/9 of 
18 February 2010.   
Indonesia New Decree on textiles and textile products removing 
overlapping tariff lines and stipul ating certain import conditions 
(prevent misuse and/or manipul ation in bonded zone), as from 
26 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(18 May 2010) and 
Decree No. 02/M-DAG/PER/1/2010.   
Indonesia Elimination of import ba n due to A(H1N1) Flu, as from 
11 February 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(18 May 2010).   
Indonesia Import surveillance mechanis m for certain products such as 
machines, machines equipments (HS 8428.33.90; 8443.19.00; 
8477.10.39; 8477.90.39; 8480.71.00; 8480.79.00; 9010.50.90), raw materials (HS 3907.40.00), blank optical discs, and loaded 
optical discs (HS 8523.40), for IPR "protection/reinforcement" 
purposes, as from 15 March 2010.  Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(18 May 2010) and Decree No. 11/ 
M-DAG/PER/3/2010.   
Indonesia Trade facilitation measure rela ted to the provision of importer's 
identification number (API), as from 29 March 2010.  Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(18 May 2010) and Decree No. 17/ 
M-DAG/PER/3/2010.   
Indonesia New import license regime implementing two different types of 
licences. A general import licence (API-U) for the imports for 
third parties, and a producer import licence (API-I) for imports 
for own consumption and/or to  be utilized in the production 
process.  The Decree aims to increase business certainty and 
expedite services. Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO 
(1 June 2010) and 
Decree No. 45/ M-DAG/PER/9/2009. Implemented as from 
1 January 2010. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
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State Measure Source/Date Status 
Indonesia Additional requirements on im ports of cosmetic and traditional 
herbal medicines (HS 2106.90; 3301.29; 3301.90; 3303; 3304; 
3305; 3306; 3307; 3401; 8539.31.90). Permanent Delegation of 
Indonesia to the WTO (1 June 2010) and 
Decree No. 23/ 
M-DAG/PER/5/2010 (signed on 
21 May 2010). Effective as from 
21 June 2010. 
Indonesia Initiation on 30 April 2010 of sa feguard investigation on imports 
of stranded wire, ropes and cables, excluding locked coil, 
flattened strands and non-rotating wi re ropes;  platted or coated 
with brass, and of a nominal diameter not exceeding 3 mm;  and 
stranded wire of a diameter of less than 3 mm (HS 7312.10.90). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/IDN/10 of 
21 May 2010.  
Israel Amendment to the import car scheme, allowing foreign 
manufacturers to select different licensed importer. Permanent Delegation of 
Israel to the WTO 
(27 May 2010).   
Jamaica Initiation on 26 November 2009 of anti-dumping investigation 
on imports of  ordinary Portland grey cement and Portland blast 
furnace slag blended cement  (HS 2523.29; 2523.91) from the 
United States. WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/JAM of 
26 April 2010.   
Japan Reduction of applied import ta riffs on 10 tariff lines including 
products such as industrial alcohol and petroleum products 
(HS 2207.10; 2710.11; 2710.19), as part of a multi-year planned progressive tariff cuts. Permanent Delegation of 
Japan to the WTO 
(1 April 2010).   
Japan The Postal Reform Bill was approved by the Cabinet on 
30 April 2010. Its main contents are: (i) Japan Post Group to be reorganized from 5 to 3 companies; (ii) to ensure universal 
services such as postal services , savings, and life insurances, to 
be integrally available at post offices in a simple and user-friendly manner;  and (iii) to ensure that Japan Post Group be able to provide postal servi ces equally and universally 
throughout the country. The Japanese Government intends to 
ensure the consistency with its  GATS and other international 
agreements in the future opera tion, and relevant laws and 
regulations.   Permanent Delegation of 
Japan to the WTO (1 June  2010).   
Jordan Termination on 18 February 2010 of safeguard duties on imports 
of footwear (HS 6401; 6402; 6403; 6404; 6405; except 6402.12 
and 6403.12) (imposed on 19 February 2007).  WTO Document 
G/SG/N/10/JOR/6/ 
Suppl.2 of 
13 January 2010.   
Korea, Rep. 
of Recent legislation "Framework Act on Low Carbon and Green 
Growth" aiming at cutting energy consumption and greenhouse 
gas emissions, encouraging Korean government agencies to purchase  energy efficient products. Permanent Delegation of 
Korea to the WTO 
(April 2010). 
 
Korea, Rep. of Termination on 22 November 2009 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of guide hole puncher (HS 8462.41; 8462.49)   from 
Japan (imposed on 23 November 2006). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/KOR of 6 April 2010.   
Korea, Rep. 
of Termination on 11 December 2009 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of polyvinyl alcohol (HS 3905.30; 3905.91)   from 
China, Singapore, and the United States (imposed on 
12 December 2006). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/KOR of 6 April 2010.   
Korea, Rep. 
of Termination on 19 December 2009 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of PVC plate (HS 3917.39; 3919.19; 3920.49; 3921.12; 3921.90) from Japan (imposed on 20 December 2004). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/KOR of 6 April 2010.   
Korea, Rep. 
of Reduction of import tariffs "bas e duty rate" (from 40% to 35%) 
for refined sugar (HS 1701.91; 1701.99).   Permanent Delegation of 
Korea to the WTO (18 May 2010). Effective as from 
1 January 2010. 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Korea, Rep. 
of Initiation on 6 May 2010 of anti- dumping investigation on 
imports of stainless steel plate (HS 7219.21; 7219.22) from Japan.  Permanent Delegation of 
Korea to the WTO (1 June 2010).   
Malaysia Elimination of import tariffs  on certain products such as golf cars 
and buggies (HS 8703.10.00) as from 1April 2010; and 
polystyrene resin (HS 3903.19.91)  as from 30 April 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Malaysia to the WTO 
(3 June 2010).   
Malaysia Exemption of import tari ffs on completely built-up hybrid cars 
"CBU", and reduction (50%) of the excise duty, for the period 
1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Malaysia to the WTO 
(3 June 2010).   
Mexico Gradual tariff reduction on 97% of manufactured goods. This 
reduction will take place in 5 annual phases. By 2013 the 
average applied tariff should be 4.3%; 63% of tariff lines should 
be duty-free. Average tariff on manufactured goods fell from 10.6% in 2008 to 8.3% in 2009, and to 5.2% as of 
1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Mexico to the WTO 
(February 2010). Second phase took 
place on 
1 January 2010. 
Mexico Termination on 19 November 2009 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of monobutyl ether (HS 2909.43.01) from the United 
States (imposed on 30 May 2008). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/MEX of 
25 March 2010.   
Mexico Federal Programme "Program a de Regulación Base Cero" aimed 
at reducing and/or eliminating unnecessary trade procedures, as 
well as facilitate customs formalities. Permanent Delegation of 
Mexico to the WTO 
(12 May 2010). Effective as from 
January 2010. 
Mexico Increase of  tariff-free import quota for toys (HS 9503.00; 
9504.30; 9504.40; 9504.90; 9505.90; 9506.56.99; 9506.62.01; 
9506.69; 9506.70; 9506.99), as from 26 March 2010 until 
31 December 2014. Permanent Delegation of 
Mexico to the WTO 
(31 May 2010).   
Mexico Initiation on 21 April 2010 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of woven fabrics of cotton "denim" (HS 5209.42.01; 
5209.42.99; 5211.42.01; 5211.42.99)  from China.  Permanent Delegation of 
Mexico to the WTO 
(31 May 2010).   
Pakistan Exemption of import tariffs on cotton yarn (other than sewing 
thread), containing 85% or more by weight of cotton, not put up 
for retail sale (HS 5205), and cotton yarn (other than sewing 
thread), containing less than 85% by weight of cotton, not put up 
for retail sale (HS 5206). Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(17 May 2010). Effective as from 
6 January 2010. 
Pakistan New export procedures for wheat (HS 1001). Exports are limited 
to a cumulative ceiling of 200,000 metric tonnes (MT). Exports fixed at a minimum quantity of 50 MT and a maximum of 
500 MT per contract.  Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO (17 May 2010). Effective as from 
8 February 2010. 
Pakistan Additional levy "regul atory duty (25%)", imposed on a 
temporary basis, on exports of copper and aluminium  waste and 
scrap for bars rods, ingots, sl abs and billets (HS 7404; 7602).  Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(17 May 2010). Effective as from 
13 March 2010. 
Pakistan Temporary export restricti ons (quota of 35 million kg) of all 
types of yarn, for the period 1 March 2010 to 30 June 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(17 May 2010). Withdrawn on 
12 May 2010. 
Pakistan As from 25 November 2009, exports of cotton yarn have been 
monitored through a system of registration to be notified to the 
Trade Development Authority. Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(17 May 2010).   
Pakistan Additional levy "regulator y duty (5%)", imposed on a temporary 
basis, on imports of pigm ent and acrylic thickener 
(HS 3906.90.30; 3906.90.40).  Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(17 May 2010). Effective as from 
29 March 2010. 
Pakistan Additional levy "regul atory duty (15%)",  imposed on a 
temporary basis, on exports of all types of yarn. Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(31 May 2010). Effective as from 
13 May 2010. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
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State Measure Source/Date Status 
Paraguay Termination on 4 Februa ry 2010 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of  ordinary cement (NCM 2523.29.10)  from Brazil  (imposed on 20 October 2004). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/PRY of 8 March 2010.   
Peru Initiation on 8 November 2009 of  anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of woven fabrics of polye ster fibres, mixed mainly or 
solely with viscose rayon staple fibres (HS 5515.11.00) from 
India. WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/PER of 
7 April 2010.   
Peru Termination (automatic expiry  after five-year imposition period) 
on 6 December 2009 of anti-dumping duties on imports of 
stainless steel articles: pots, frying pans and saucepans (HS 7323.93.10) from China, India, and Chinese Taipei 
(imposed on 4 December 2004). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/PER of 
7 April 2010.   
Peru Termination on 17 March 2010 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of pure biodiesiel (B100) and blends containing more 
than 50% biodiesel (B50) (HS 3824.90) from the United States 
(imposed on 23 December 2009). Permanent Delegation of 
Peru to the WTO 
(19 May 2010).   
Philippines Initiation on 15 November 2009 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of testliner board (HS 4805.24; 4805.25).  WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/PHL/8 of 
14 December  2009.   
Philippines Termination  (automatic  expiration) on 8 December 2009 of 
safeguard duties on imports of  glass mirrors (copper-based) 
(HS 7009.91.00; 7009.92.00) (imposed on 4 December 2006). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/14/PHL/4/ 
Suppl.4 of 23 April 2010.   
Russian Federation Reduction of import tariffs on stamping machines with 
programmed numerical control (from 10% to duty-free) (HS 8462.10.10).   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (13 December 2009). Measure implemented 
in December 2009 and  abolished in January 2010. 
Russian Federation Specific import tariffs (€0.07/kg (US$0.09/kg)) on top of current 
import duty on caustic soda (HS 2815.11.00).   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (1 February 2010). Measure (which was 
introduced in September 2009) 
abolished in 
January 2010.  
Russian 
Federation Increase of import tariffs (from 0% to 5%) on water boilers, 
internal combustion engines, air and vacuum pumps 
(HS Chapter 84). Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010). Measure (which was 
introduced in 
October 2009) abolished in 
January 2010.  
Russian 
Federation Increase of import tariffs (from 0% to 10%) on certain type of 
pumps (HS 8414.60.00).  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010). Measure implemented 
in November 2009 and  
abolished in 
January 2010. 
Russian 
Federation New import tariffs on polyvinylchloride (from 10% to 15%), but 
not less than €0.12/kg (US$0.15/kg) (HS 3904.10.00). Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010). Measure (which was 
introduced in 
October 2009) abolished in 
January 2010.  
Russian 
Federation Increase of import tariffs on snowmobiles (from 5% to 10%) 
(HS 8703.10.11), for nine months.  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010). Measure (which was 
introduced in October 
2009) abolished in 
January 2010.  
Russian Federation Reduction on import tariffs (from 20% to 15%) on certain types 
of corrosion-resistant pipes (HS 7304.11; 7304.41; 7304.49; 
7306.11; 7306.40), as from 2 November 2009.   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010). No longer applicable. 
Safeguard measure 
imposed (28.1% for 
three years). 
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 71 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Russian 
Federation Increase of export duty (from 5% to 20%) on certain magnesium 
scrap, but not less than €138/tonne (US$170/tonne) (HS 8104.20.00), as from 8 November 2009. Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (1 February 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Increase of import tariffs on live pigs (from 5% to 40%, but not 
less than €0.5/kg (US$0.6/kg)) (HS 0103.91; 0103.92).  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010). Effective as from 
1 January 2010. 
Russian Federation New Decree "Food Security Doctrine" aiming at guaranteeing 
food security and the development of the domestic food 
production sector. It stipulates specific weight criteria of 
domestic production which is used for estimation of the level of food security (based on FAO r ecommendations). Specific weight 
is stipulate at the level of  95% for grain and potatoes, no less 
than 90% for milk, no less than 85% for meat and salt, and no less than 80% for sugar and seafood. Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Reduction of US import quotas for the year 2010 for poultry 
(from 750,000  to 600,000 tonnes) (HS 0105; 0207) and pork (from 100,000 to 57,500 tonnes) (HS 0203).   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (1 February 2010). 
  
Russian Federation Increase of US import quotas for the year 2010 for beef (from 
18,500  to 21,700 tonnes) (HS 0202). Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (1 February 2010). 
  
Russian Federation Extension of duty-free access for certain metal processing 
equipments (HS 8455.22), for nine months. Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (18 May 2010). Effective until 
8 July 2010. 
Russian Federation Prolongation in January 2010 of the temporary import tariff 
increase on butter and certain types of dairy products (by €0.13/kg up to €0.35/kg (US$0.16/kg to US$0.43/kg)); and milk and dairy cream (by 5% up to 20%), for nine months.  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (18 May 2010). 
  
Russian Federation Prolongation in November 2009 of the temporary import tariff 
increase on wheat and silo harvesters (from 5% to 15%) (HS 8433.51.00; 8433.59), for nine months. Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (18 May 2010). 
  
Russian Federation Prolongation in December 2009 of the temporary import tariff 
increase on soy oil meal (from 0% to 5%) (HS 2304.00.00), for nine months.  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (18 May 2010). 
  
Russian Federation Increase of import tariffs on rice and milling products 
(HS 1006.10; 1006.40; 1103.19.50; 1103.20.50; 1104.19.91; 1108.19.10) (from €0.07/kg to €0.12/kg (US$0.09/kg to 
US$0.15/kg)), for nine months. Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (18 May 2010). Effective as from 
10 December 2009. 
Russian Federation Prolongation in November 2009 of the import tariff elimination 
on certain types of high-speed trains (HS 8603.10.00; 
8605.00.00).  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Prolongation of the temporary elimination of import tariffs (to 
zero) for natural rubber (HS 4001.22.00; 4001.29.00).   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010). Effective as from 
16 November 2009. 
Russian Federation Elimination in January 2010 of the temporary specific import 
tariff component (not less than €1.6/unit (US$2.2/unit) on top of 
current import duty (20%) on tableware (HS 8211.91.30; 
8215.20.10; 8215.99.10). Current ad valorem tariff reduced to 15%.  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Increase of import tariffs (up to 15%) on certain types of flat 
metals, and certain types of fe rrous metal pipes (up to 15-20%) 
(HS 7213, 7214, 7216, 7219, 7220, 7227, 7228, 7303, 7304, 7305, 7306), for nine months.  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010). Effective as from 
14 February 2010. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Russian 
Federation Introduction of export tariffs on nickel (5%) (HS 7502.10.00), as 
from 16 December 2009.   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation (18 May 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Reduction of import tariffs on articles of apparel, clothing 
accessories and other articles of furskin (from 20% to 10%) 
(HS 4303.10.10; 4303.10.90).  Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010). Effective as from 
18 December 2009. 
Russian Federation Elimination of import tariffs on polystyre ne (HS 3903.11.00). Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010). Effective as from 
20 December 2009. 
Russian Federation Increase of import tariffs on polycarbonates (from 0% to 5%) 
(HS 3907.40.00).   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010). Effective as from 
February 2010. 
Russian Federation Reduction of import tariffs on drops for eye lens (from 15% to 
5%) (HS 3307.90.00).   Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(18 May 2010). Effective as from 
December 2009. 
Russian Federation Initiation on 11 March 2010 of sa feguard investigation on 
imports of caramel (HS 1704.90.71; 1704.90.75; 1806.90.50). Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 June 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Elimination of import restricti ons on pork from 11 US slaughter 
plants, participating in an "export verification programme". Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 June 2010).   
Russian 
Federation Implementation of measures aimed at facilitating the imports of 
meat from Paraguay. Permanent Delegation of 
the Russian Federation 
(1 June 2010).   
Saudi Arabia Re-imposition of import tariffs (5%) for imports of steel 
(HS 7213; 7214; 7215), as from January 2010. Imports from 
Gulf Cooperation Council members exempted.   Permanent Delegation of 
Saudi Arabia to the 
WTO (2 June 2010).   
Serbia Import ban (and transit) of live pigs and pork products (HS 0103; 
0203; 0206.41; 0206.49; 0209.00.11; 0209.00.30; 0210.11; 0210.12; 0210.19; 0210.99.41; 0210.99.49; 0210.99.90; 0502; 
0504) originating from North and Latin America (A(H1N1)) Flu 
related).  Permanent Delegation of 
Serbia to the UN Office in Geneva. The ban was lifted on 
25 March 2010. 
South Africa Termination on 27 November 2009 of anti-dumping duties on 
imports of acrylic fabrics (HS 5512; 5515; 5801) from  Turkey 
(imposed in November 2004).  WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/ZAF of 
5 February 2010.   
South Africa Termination (without measure) on 6 November 2009 of 
countervailing investigation on impor ts of stainless steel sinks 
(HS 7324.10) from Malaysia (initiated on 25 July 2008).  WTO Document 
G/SCM/N/203/ZAF of 
9 February 2010.   
South Africa Increase of import tariffs on wheat and meslin (HS 1001.90) 
(from zero to R 0.1407/kg (US$0.02/kg)) and wheat or meslin 
flour (HS 1101.00) (from zero to R 0.211/kg (US$0.03/kg)). Imports from Southern African Development Community 
(SADC) members exempted. Government Gazette 
No. 33140 - No. R. 341 
(30 April 2010).   
Switzerland Abolition of export re funds for cream (HS 0401.30.20) 
(temporarily introduced in January 2009) on 4 January 2010 . Permanent Delegation of 
Switzerland to the WTO 
(12 May 2010).   
Switzerland Abolition of export ref unds for live animals (HS 0101.10; 
0102.10; 0104.10; 0104.20) on 4 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Switzerland to the WTO 
(12 May 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 73 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Separate 
Customs Territory of 
Taiwan, 
Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu Initiation on 8 December 2009 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of benzoyl peroxide (B PO) (HS 2916.32) from China.  WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/TPKM of 15 February  2010.   
Separate 
Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, 
Penghu, 
Kinmen and Matsu Initiation on 6 February 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of formaldehyde sulfoxylate (HS 2831.10.20; 
2831.90.00) from China.   Permanent Delegation of 
the Separate Customs 
Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsuto the WTO 
(18 May 2010).   
Turkey Initiation on 22 January 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of glass fibre reinforcement materials (HS 7019) from China.  Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO (22 January 2010).   
Turkey Increase of import tariffs (from 0% to 34% for EU Members and 
to 37% for non-EU Members) for bream fish (HS 0301.99.80), as from 1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
Turkey Reduction of import tariffs  for buckwheat (HS 1008.10) (from 
130% to 40%) and for millet (HS 1008.20) (from 130% to 80%), as from 1 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO (1 February 2010).   
Turkey Termination  (no application for sunset review) on 
20 November 2009 of anti-dumping duties on imports of polyester synthetic staple fibres (HS 5503.20)   from Belarus 
(imposed on 20 November 2004). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/TUR/ Rev.1 of 21 April 2010.   
Turkey Requirement for reciprocity for good manufacturing practices 
certificates to be submitted for receiving market authorization for pharmaceutical products, as from 1 March 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Turkey to the WTO (31 May 2010).   
Ukraine Termination (without measure) on 16 December 2009 of 
safeguard investigation on im ports of  liquid chlorine 
(HS 2801.10) (initiated on 17 March 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/UKR/2 of 12 January 2010.   
Ukraine Initiation on 3 February 2010 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of mineral or chemical fertilisers containing three nutrient elements: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium with a 
nitrogen content exceedi ng 10% (HS 3105.20.10).  WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/UKR/5 of 12 February  2010. 
  
Ukraine Initiation on 17 February 2010 of safeguard investigation on 
imports of ferro-mangane se containing by weight more than 2% 
of carbon (except in ferro-manganese granule size not more than 
5 mm and the mass fraction of manganese over 65%) and ferro-silico-manganese (HS 7202.11.80; 7202.30).  WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/UKR/6 of 
23 February  2010. 
  
Ukraine Initiation on 6 May 2010 of safe guard investigation on imports 
of refrigerators, freezers and othe r equipment for refrigerator or 
freezer, electric or other types (HS 8418). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/6/UKR/7 of 21 May 2010.   
Ukraine Licensing requirements for exports of certain products such as 
iron and steel, copper, and aluminium  (HS 7201.50.90; 7202.60.00; 7202.91.00; 7202.99.80; 7204.50.00; 7218.10.00; 7401; 7402.00.00; 7403; 7405.00.00; 7406; 7407; 7411; 
7414.90.00; 7415.29.00; 7415.39.00; 7418.19.00; 7419; 
7601.20.91; 7601.20.99; 7616.99; 7801; 8454.20.00; 8454.90.00). Permanent Delegation of 
Ukraine to the WTO (31 May 2010). Effective as from 
23 December 2009. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 74  
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
United States Initiation on 21 January 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of steel drill pipe, and steel drill collars, whether or not conforming to American Petroleu m Institute (API) or non-API 
specifications, whether finished or  unfinished (including green 
tubes suitable for drill pipe), without regard to the specific chemistry of the steel, and wit hout regard to length or outer 
diameter (HS 7304; 8431)  from China. United States 
International Trade Commission Inv. Nos. 
701-TA-474 and  
731-TA-1176 (31 December 2009). 
  
United States Initiation on 21 January 2010 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of steel drill pipe, and steel drill collars, whether or not 
conforming to American Petroleu m Institute (API) or non-API 
specifications, whether finished or  unfinished (including green 
tubes suitable for drill pipe), without regard to the specific 
chemistry of the steel, and wit hout regard to length or outer 
diameter (HS 7304; 8431)  from China. United States 
International Trade 
Commission Inv.  Nos. 701-TA-474 and 
731-TA-1176 
(31 December 2009). 
  
United States U.S.-Canada Agreemen t on Government Procurement. The 
agreement has two elements.  First, it includes permanent and reciprocal commitments under the WTO Government 
Procurement Agreement (GPA) with respect to provincial, 
territorial and state procurement.   In addition, the agreement 
provides for additional, recipr ocal guarantees of access on a 
temporary basis.  Canada is providing US suppliers with access 
to construction procurement of a number of provincial and territorial entities (not covere d by the GPA) and municipal 
entities.  The United States is pr oviding Canadian suppliers with 
access to state and local public works projects in seven programmes funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).  The United States is also 
offering access to the seven ARRA programmes to the other 
GPA parties, based on the negotiation of mutually acceptable commitments. Permanent Delegation of 
the United States to the WTO 
(18 February 2010). 
  
United States Termination (without measure) on 16 November 2009 of anti-
dumping investigation on imports  of certain standard steel 
fasteners (HS 7318.15; 7318.16) from China and Chinese Taipei 
(initiated on 22 October 2009). WTO Document 
G/ADP/N/195/USA of 18 March  2010. 
  
United States Termination (without measure) on 16 November 2009 of 
countervailing investigation on impor ts of certain standard steel 
fasteners (HS 7318.15; 7318.16) from China  (initiated on 
22 October 2009). WTO Document 
G/SCM/N/203/USA of 
18 March  2010.   
United States Termination (without measure) on 5 November 2009 of 
countervailing duties on imports of ni-resist piston inserts 
(HS 8409.99) from Argentina (imposed on 6 July 2009). WTO Document 
G/SCM/N/203/USA of 
18 March  2010.   
United States Initiation on 20 April 2010 of anti-dumping investigation on 
imports of certain aluminium extr usions which  are shapes and 
forms produced via an extrusion process of aluminium alloys 
(HS 7604.21.00; 7604.29.10; 7604.29.30; 7604.29.50; 7608.20.00; 7610.10; 7610.90; 7615.19; 7615.20; 7616.99)  from 
China. US Department of 
Commerce - 
International Trade Administration Fact Sheet (April 2010).   
United States Initiation on 20 April 2010 of countervailing investigation on 
imports of certain aluminium extr usions which  are shapes and 
forms produced via an extrusion process of aluminium alloys 
(HS 7604.21.00; 7604.29.10; 7604.29.30; 7604.29.50; 7608.20.00; 7610.10; 7610.90; 7615.19; 7615.20; 7616.99)  from 
China. US Department of 
Commerce - 
International Trade 
Administration Fact Sheet (April 2010).   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 75 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
United States Establishment of an a dditional in-quota (181,437 metric tonnes 
raw value MTRV) quantity of the fiscal year 2010 tariff-rate quota (TRQ) for imported raw cane sugar (HS 1701) for the 
remainder of fiscal year  2010 (30 September 2010) for 
27 countries. This quantity is in addition to the minimum amount to which the US is committed pursuant the Uruguay Round 
Agreements (1,117,195 MTRV).  Permanent Delegation of 
the United States to the WTO (31 May 2010). Effective as from 
11 May 2010. 
Venezuela Elimination of VAT on impor ts of equipments and materials 
used for the production and genera tion of electricity, for a period 
of five years. Imports require a prior authorization by  the "Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Ciencia, Tecnología e 
Industrias Intermedias" stipulating no and/or insufficient local  
production  of the imported items. The generation of electricity is also exempted of VAT. Decreto No. 6.994- 
Gaceta Oficial 
No. 39.298 (3 November 2009).   
Venezuela Import prohibition on certain new air conditioning equipment 
with higher electrical consump tion. Import ban on used air 
conditioning equipment, fridges, and refrigerators (HS 8415). Resoluciones Nos. 156, 
001 and 108 - Gaceta Oficial No. 39.298 
(3 November 2009).   
Venezuela Authorization of import of cer tain parts and auto parts under the 
"Regimen de material de ensa mblaje importado para vehículos 
(MEIV)" (Arancel de aduanas 9801.00; 9802.00; 9803.00; 
9804.00; 9806.00) for the assembly of cars. An import tariff of 3% is applied. Imports require a prior authorization by  the 
"Ministerio del Poder Popular de Planificación y Finanzas y para 
la Ciencia, Tecnología e Industrias Intermedias". Resolución DM/No. 054 
- Gaceta Oficial 
No. 39.415 
(3 May 2010). Effective as from 
3 May 2010. 
Viet Nam Termination (without measure) on 23 February 2010 of 
safeguard investigation on imports  of float glass (clear and 
tinted) with thickness equal or less than 12mm (HS 7005.21.90.00; 7005.29. 90.00) (initiated on 29 July 2009). WTO Document 
G/SG/N/9/VNM/1 of 
7 April  2010. 
  
  
 
NON-VERIFIED INFORMATION 
Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Algeria Stricter rules on government procurement for foreign companies, 
extending preferences for local suppliers. La Tribune 
(25 January 2010).    
Bangladesh Imposition of export ban on jute. Business Recorder 
(19 December 2009).   
Bangladesh Prolongation of the existing export ban on rice  (both aromatic 
and non-aromatic) until June 2010. Information from 
International Grains 
Council (2 March 2010). In operation since May 
2009. Prolongation of the ban on 4 January 2010. 
Bolivia Temporary export prohib itions of corn, and sorghum. Los Tiempos.com 
(25 February 2010); la Razón.com (6 May 2010). Export prohibition on 
corn lifted on 
6 May 2010. 
Bolivia Temporary export prohibitions of sugar, as from 
19 February 2010.   Los Tiempos.com 
(25 February and 
31 March 2010). Lifted on 
15 April 2010. 
Annex 1 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 76  
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
China Promulgation of the "2009 Nati onal Indigenous Innovation 
Products Accreditation Programme"  on 15 November 2009 which reportedly extends preferences for government 
procurement purposes only to products whose intellectual 
property is owned and originally trademarked in China (products covered include computers, co mmunications devices, software, 
and new energy products). It was clarified by the Chinese 
authorities that the Notice is only an invitation for application so 
that the applicants may have their products accredited as national 
indigenous innovation products. The Notice is not linked to 
government procurement regulations. Inside US-China Trade 
(6 January 2010) and Oxford Analytica referring to Notice 618.   
China Reported implementation of measur es aimed at helping domestic 
production, including GPA preferences for local companies, tax 
incentives and rebates, and local content preferences for energy-
related equipments. The Christian Science 
Monitor 
(16 March 2010).   
China Reported inclusion in the National Indigenous Innovation 
Product Catalogue of "third ge neration communications network 
construction" under the domestic "time division synchronous 
code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA)". Press reports 
(17 March 2010).   
China New access requirements for foreign operators in the credit card 
payment-processing market. Foreign operators are only allowed 
to participate in the local curr ency bank card market by issuing 
co-branded cards with local institutions. China Economic Review 
Publishing 
(26 March 2010).   
China Stringent controls on soya and soya oil imports (HS 1201; 1507) 
from Argentina. BBC Mundo 
(6 April 2010).   
China New management mechanism by the Ministry of Industry and 
Information Technology for imports of iron ore (HS 2601.11; 
2601.12).  Xinhua's China 
Economic Information 
Service (19 April 2010).   
China Reported import ban on US da iry products (HS 0401; 0402; 
0403; 0404; 0405; 0406), as from 1 May 2010. WTO Reporter 
(29 April 2010).   
China Duty-free access for 5,000 products from Bangladesh.  The Financial Express 
(9 May 2010).   
Iran Reduction of import tariffs (from 90% to 70%) on cars. Press reports and Global 
Trade Alert 
(10 May 2010).  Effective as from 
21 March 2010. 
Iraq Import ban on certain vegetables into some regions, as from 
1 April 2010.  Press reports 
(April 2010).    
Kenya New Legislation implementing a prohibition for foreigners to 
provide maritime agency services, except for firms establishing a joint venture with locals. The Decree was promulgated in 
April 2009, and will enter into force following a one year's grace 
period. Press reports referring to 
article 16 of the 2009 Shipping Act (March 2010). 
  
Morocco Reduction of import tariffs (from 135% to 90%) on soft wheat 
and (from 170% to 80%) on durum. Information from 
International Grains 
Council 
(1 February  2010). Effective as from 
1 January 2010. 
Nicaragua Import ban of agricultural products from Central American 
countries. El Nuevo Diario.com.ni 
(15 March 2010).   
Nigeria Import ban on bagged cement (HS 2523), as from 
November 2009. Press reports 
(November 2009).   
Nigeria Additional special levies (ranging from 5% to 100%) on 
imported products which have b een normally included in the 
import prohibition list.   Press reports referring  
to the Tariff Book  2008-10 (November 2009).   
Annex 1 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 77 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member 
State Measure Source/Date Status 
Panama Initiation of anti-dumping inves tigation on imports of paint 
(HS 3208; 3209; 3210) from El Salvador, Guatemala, and 
Mexico. Press reports 
(23 October 2010).   
Rwanda Introduction of pre-shipping inspection on imports of products 
from non-East African Community (EAC) Members. The New Times 
(3 March 2010).   
Uganda New customs valuation system implemented (replacing "Method 
One M1" based on transaction value). All Africa 
(26 April 2010).   
Yemen Temporary imposition of additional fees (5 to 15%) on  
71 non-essential imported goods.  Organisation of Asia-
Pacific News Agencies 
(8 April 2010).   
 
 
 WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
Page 78  
 
  ANNEX 2 
 
General Economic Stimulus Measures1 
(November 2009 – mid-May 2010)  
 
 
VERIFIED INFORMATION  
Country/ Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Brazil Additional credit line (US$4 billion) for State 
Governments through the National Development 
Bank (BNDES). Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO 
(1 February 2010). Terminated on 
31 December 2009. 
Brazil Additional credit line (R$80 billion 
(US$44 billion)) through the National 
Development Bank (BNDES), allocated to 
maintain activities already scheduled. The credit 
line will not generate new commitments. Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO (2 June 2010).   
Brazil Announcement of phase 2 of the Growth 
Acceleration Programme (PAC 2) (estimated 
investments US$520 million for the period 2011-14) encompassing a set of actions and investment goals aimed at creating the necessary conditions for 
long -term economic growth and social 
development. Permanent Delegation of 
Brazil to the WTO 
(2 June 2010).   
China Refund of 13% of the sales price granted to farmers 
on the purchase of nine types of home appliances, 
including TV sets (initially established on 
1 February 2009). Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO (1 February 2010). On 1 January 2010, 
the scope of 
beneficiaries of the 
programme was 
further expanded. 
China Measures to promote the domestic film industry 
such as preferential fiscal measures, and ⅔ of 
screening time reserved for local films (already 
applicable since 2001), under the Guiding Opinions 
on Promotion of Prosperous Development of the 
Film Industry of 21 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
China to the WTO 
(1 February 2010).   
EU Amendment to the "Temporary Community 
Framework for State Aid measures to support 
access to finance in the current financial and 
economic crisis".  Communication from the 
Commission (2009/C 303/04) (15 December 2009).   
EU Specific market support measure for dairy farmers 
(€300 million (US$369 million)). The measure is 
intended to grant a financial envelope in order to 
support dairy farmers that ar e severely affected by 
the collapse of world market and EU market prices 
and encounter liquidity problems in these 
circumstances. Members to communicate to the Commission without delay and no lather than 
31 March 2010 a description of the objective 
criteria used to determine the methods for granting support and the provision taken to avoid distortion of  markets. Commission Regulation 
No. 1233/2009 (15 December 2009). 
  
Annex 2 (cont'd) 
                                                      
1 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 with the provisions of any 
WTO agreement or such measure's impact on, or relationship with, the global financial crisis.  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 79 
 
 
  Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Austria "Bürgschaftsrichtlinien" Aid scheme (overall 
budget €15.8 million (US $19.45 million) and 
annual budget €5.1 million (US$6.3 million)), in the form of guarantee for restructuring firms in 
difficulty (all sectors), for the period 
10 October 2009 until 9 October 2011.  EU State Aid N 673/09 
(22 January 2010).   
Austria Short-term export credit insurance scheme. The 
Commission authorized, under EU State aid rules, a 
measure adopted by Austria to limit the adverse impact of the current financial crisis on exporting 
firms. The scheme is effective until 
31 December 2010. Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website transmitted by the EU 
Delegation 
(1 February 2010). EU State Aid N 434/09  (OJ 2010/C 25/02).   
Austria Temporary state aid to help farmers (€1.2 million 
(US$1.5 million)) available until the end of 2010.   Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation (2 June 2010). 
EU State Aid N 118/10. Decision adopted on 
19 April 2010. 
Belgium BELGACAP: "Assurance-crédit export de court 
terme". Aid scheme (overall budget €300 million 
(US$369 miilion)) for all sectors, until 
31 December 2010. EU State Aid N 532/09 
(6 November 2009).   
Belgium Limited amounts of aid (€2.73 million 
(US$3.36 million)) for prim ary producers hit by the 
financial crisis, available until the end of 2010.  Aid will take the form of state guarantees on working capital loans. EU State Aid N 34/10 
(11 February 2010).   
Bulgaria Temporary state aid to help farmers (€10.26 million 
(US$12.6 million)) available until the end of 2010.   Public information available 
on the European Commission's website transmitted by the EU 
Delegation (2 June 2010). 
EU State Aid N 108/10. Decision adopted on 
19 April 2010. 
Denmark Danish Act on Eksport Kredit Fonden (ad hoc 
contracts). Temporary export lending facility 
(overall budget DKr 20 billion (US$3.3 billion)) 
that supplies Danish exporters and their customers with the required liquidity to continue trading until 31 December 2011. Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU Delegation (14 April 2010). 
EU State Aid NN 4/10 
(10 March 2010).   
France Temporary aid scheme (€700 million 
(US$861.5 million)) for farmers. The scheme 
provides aid in the form of direct grants, interest 
rate subsidies, subsidized loans, as well as aid towards the payment of social security 
contributions, valid until 31 December 2010. The 
scheme is in application of the amendment to the Commission's Temporary framework for State aid 
measures to support access to finance in the current 
financial and economic cris is, which introduced the 
possibility of granting limited amounts of aid to primary agricultural producers. EU State Aid N 609/09 
(OJ C30) (6 January 2010). Decision adopted on 
2 December 2009. 
France Aid scheme "aides à l'assistance technique dans le 
secteur des fruits et légumes" (overall budget €1 million (US$1.23 million)), up to 
31 December 2013. EU State Aid No. XA 232/09 
(OJ 2010/C 39/06) 
(16 February 2010).   
Annex 2 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
France Direct grant (overall budget €2.276 million 
(US$2.8 million)) for Eastern Airways, aiming at 
developing new air serv ices from Dijon-Longvic 
airport, for the period 2010-13. EU State Aid N 709/09 
(25 March  2010).   
Germany Temporary framework scheme (€100 million 
(US$123 million)) for farmers.  The scheme provides aid in the form of direct grants, interest 
rates subsidies, subsidized loans, as well as aid of 
social security contributions, valid until 31 December 2010, and with a maximum amount 
of €15,000 (US$18,460) per aid. The scheme is in 
application of the amendment to the Commission's Temporary framework for State aid measures to 
support access to finance in the current financial 
and economic crisis, which introduced the possibility of granting limited amounts of aid to primary agricultural producers. EU State Aid N 597/09 
(OJ C33) 
(10 February 2010). Decision adopted on 
23 November 2009. 
Germany Scheme to facilitate the refinancing of export 
credits (overall budget €1.5 billion (US$1.85 billion)) thr ough KfW Frankfurt am 
Main, from 15 September 2009 until 
14 March 2010. The Commission authorized the scheme, under EU State aid rules, to limit the 
adverse impact of the current financial and 
economic crisis on the supply of export credit. Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation. EU State Aid 
N 48/10 (9 March 2010). Prolongation of the 
scheme (with some technical 
modifications) on 
9 March 2010 until 
31 December 2010. 
Germany Aid package (€30.18 milli on (US$37.1 million)) to 
steel producer ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt GmbH's for a top gas recycling project (TGR). Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU Delegation (2 June 2010). EU State Aid N 450/09 (9 March 2010).   
Italy Temporary interest rate subsidies for "green" 
products (overall budget €300 million (US$369.2 
million)) until 31 December 2010. The Italian 
scheme, which was authorized by the Commission 
under the Temporary Community Framework for State Aid measures to support access to finance in 
the current financial crisis, provides for interest rate 
subsidies for the production of environmentally friendly (green) products related to an early 
adaptation to, or overachievement of, adopted but 
not yet in force EU environmental product standards. The beneficiaries will include in particular the car sector.  Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation (1 February 2010). EU State 
Aid N 542/09 
(OJ 2010/C 25/04).   
Italy Export credits insurance (overall budget 
€31.5 million (US$38.8 million) ) for Vinyls Italia 
S.p.A. (land transport and transport via pipelines, 
chemicals and pharmaceutical industry), from 
1 April 2010 to 1 October 2010. EU State Aid N 77/10 
(25 March 2010).   
Latvia Guarantee for development of enterprise 
competitiveness, valid until 31 December 2010. 
Amendment to the approved aid scheme to include 
"cooperative partnerships" which provide services to producers of agricultural products (purchase, 
supply, distribution, and transport), to the list of 
eligible beneficiaries. Due to the extension of 
eligible beneficiaries, the Latvian authorities estimate an increase of the overall budget to 
LVL 40.6 million (US$70.25 million). Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU Delegation 
(22 December 2009). EU 
State Aid N 506/2009.   
Annex 2 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Latvia State guarantee (€89 million (US$154 million)) to 
steel manufacturer JSC Liep ājas Metalurgs (LM), 
authorised by the Commission under EU State aid rules. The aid is intended for the company 
modernization and is valid until 
15 December 2019.  Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website transmitted by the EU 
Delegation 
(1 February 2010). EU State 
Aid N 670/2009.   
Lithuania Scheme allowing aid of up to €500,000 
(US$615,350) per firm to businesses facing funding problems because  of the current credit 
squeeze. (Beneficiary: companies  that were not in 
difficulty on 1 July 2008).  Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation (1 February 2010). EU State Aid N 272/09. Amended on 
13 November 2009,  extending its scope of 
application to include 
two measures (i) on diversification into 
non-agricultural 
activities; and (ii) on support for business 
creation and 
development, which are integrated in the 
Rural Development 
Programme 2007-13. 
Lithuania Short-term export credit insurance 
(LTL 100 million (US$35.4 million)). The 
Commission authorized, under EU State aid rules, a 
measure adopted by Lithuania to limit the adverse impact of the current financial crisis on exporting 
firms. The scheme is effective until 
31 December 2010. Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU Delegation 
(1 February 2010). EU State 
Aid N 659/09 (OJ 2010/C 
33/02).   
Netherlands Amendments to the short-term export credit 
insurance (initially approved on 2 October 2009). 
The modified scope of the cover provided and the 
level of the premium charged are designed  to 
stimulate exports.  Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU Delegation . EU State Aid N 14/10 (5 February 2010).   
Netherlands Temporary state aid to help farmers (€2.81 million 
(US$3.46 million)) available until the end of 2010.  
Aid will take the form of state guarantees on working capital loans. EU State Aid N 611/09 (OJ 
C 30) (6 February 2010). Decision adopted on 
22 December 2009. 
Netherlands "Subsidieregeling innovatieve zeescheepsbouw". 
Direct grant (overall budget €60 million (US$73.8 million), a nnual budget €20 million 
(US$24.6 million)) for the shipbuilding sector, 
from 1 January 2010 to 31 December 2011. EU State Aid N 692/09 
(9 February 2010).   
Poland State aid to Polish farmers for the purchase of 
agricultural land under the form of subsidized 
interest payments on loans amounting to a 
maximum of Zl 400 million (US$117.8 million) and granted between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2013. Council Decision 
2010/10/EC 
(20 November 2009) 
(OJ L 4/89 of 
8 January 2010).   
Poland Temporary scheme for granting aid of up to 
€500,000 (US$615,350) per firm. On 8 October 2009 the scheme was amended, allowing 
an increase of the overall aid at the disposal of an 
additional group of vulnerable companies, 
particularly in rural areas. Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation 
(1 February 2010).   
Poland Aid (Zl 11.7 million (US$3.4 milliom)) for 
Volkswagen Motor Polska Sp. Z o.o, under a block exemption regulation.   EC State Aid X 128/2010 
(16 April 2010). Aid granted on 
28 December 2009. 
Annex 2 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Poland Aid (Zl 12.48 million (US$3.7 milliom)) for MTU 
Aero Engines Poslka Sp. Z o.o, under a block 
exemption regulation.  EC State Aid X 130/2010 
(16 April 2010). Aid granted on 
29 December 2009. 
Romania Guarantees for FORD Romania (overall budget 
€400 million (US$492.3 million)). The Commission authorized, under the EU State aid rules, a State guarantee for FORD Romania SA to 
access a loan from the European Investment Bank 
for the period 2009-14. The loan will co-finance the 
development of a low CO2 engine and subsequent 
vehicle production at Ford's Craiova plant.  Public information available 
on the European Commission's website transmitted by the EU 
Delegation 
(13 November 2009). EU 
State Aid N 478/09.   
Slovak Rep. Aid (€14.3 million (US$17.6 million)) for 
Volkswagen Slovakia aimi ng at the transformation 
of an existing plant in Bratislava. The project 
involving eligible investments of €300 million 
(US$369.2 million) by Volkswagen Slovakia, is aimed at contributing to the development of the 
region's economy. EU State Aid N 674/2008 
(2 December 2009).   
Slovak Rep. Scheme for a temporary provision of small aid 
(€400 million (US$492.3 million)) in the primary agriculture production sector for the duration of the financial and economic crisis.   EU State Aid N 707/09 
(3 March 2010). Effective until 
31 December 2010. 
Slovak Rep. Temporary aid scheme allowing direct grants of up 
to (€500,000 (US$615,350)) per company, for the period 2009-10. (Beneficiary: companies facing funding problems due to the current crisis).  Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation. EU State Aid 
N 711/09 (2 February 2010).   
Slovak Rep. Aid support (€3.32 milli on (US$4.1 million)) for 
farmers through direct grants. Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website transmitted by the EU Delegation (2 June 2010). EU State Aid XA 7/10. Effective from 
19 February 2010 until 
31 December 2010. 
Slovenia Short-term export credit insurance scheme 
(€50 million (US$61.54 million)). The scheme requires a higher remuneration than that offered by 
the private market and tackles the problem of the 
current insufficiency of short-term export credit insurance covered by the private market. 
(Beneficiary: insurance companies that insure 
claims of insurance holders registered in Slovenia, provided that these companies have concluded a whole-turnover contract with insurers). Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation. EU State Aid 
N 713/09 (16 March 2010). Effective until 
31 December 2010. 
Slovenia Amendment to the Temporary Framework Scheme 
"Guarantees-Jamstvena  Schema (NN 34/09)" 
(overall budget €1.2 billion (US$1.48 billion)) up 
to 31 December 2010. The amendment relates to 
the possibility to calculate maximum amount of the underlying investment loan covered by a guarantee 
also on the basis of the annual EU-27 average 
labour costs. The original scheme intended to be provide in the form of guarantees to both 
investment and working capital loans including the 
reprogramming of short-term loans into medium-or long-term loans. Reprogramming of loans is allowed only for short-term loans. Loans intended 
for the buy-out of companies or shares therein or 
for the paying-off of existing loans not covered by the scheme are excluded. (Beneficiary: SMEs and 
large enterprises that exer cise an economic activity 
in Slovenia). Public information available 
on the European Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU 
Delegation. EU State Aid 
N 105/10 (16 April 2010).   
Annex 2 (cont'd)  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Sweden Short-term export credit insurance scheme, valid 
until 31 December 2010. The Commission 
authorized under EU State aid rules, a measure adopted by Sweden to lim it the adverse impact of 
the current financial crisis on exporting firms. EU State Aid N 605/09 
(25 November 2009). 
  
Sweden State guarantee (€400 million (US$492.3 million)) 
for SAAB Automobile AB to access a loan from 
the European Investment Bank, for the period 
2010-19. SAAB is ask to pay an adequate remuneration for the guarantee and provide 
sufficient securities in th e case the guarantee would 
be drawn. Public information available 
on the European 
Commission's website 
transmitted by the EU Delegation. EU State Aid N 541/09 (8 February 2010). 
  
Hong Kong, China Extension of the Special Loan Guarantee Scheme 
to assist local entreprises until 31 December 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Hong Kong, China to the WTO (21 May 2010).   
Hong Kong, China The Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance 
Corporation (ECIC), a statutory corporation set up in Hong Kong to provide exporters with export 
credit insurance protection against non-payment 
risk, launched a series of enhancement measures to assist exporters to sustain their business and 
develop new markets, dur ing the global financial 
crisis. These measures in clude when risk allows, 
providing higher covers for exporters;  expediting 
processing of credits limits applications;  and 
offering  free buyer credits consultations sessions 
for exporters. Permanent Delegation of 
Hong Kong, China to the 
WTO (21 May 2010).    
India Government support (financial aid package) for the 
National Aviation Company of India Ltd. (Air 
India).  Rs 8 billion (U S$171.3 million) approved 
on 18 February 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (4 March 2010). 
  
India Extension of the stimulus package for exporters 
covering sectors such as textiles and apparel, 
engineering, electronics, agro-food, and agro-
chemicals,  as from 31  March 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
India to the WTO (3 June 2010). 
  
Japan First Supplementary Budget (2009), new Stimulus 
Package (¥15.4 trillion (US$169.2 billion)) (3% 
GDP) to ease credit squeeze; provide safety net for 
unemployed, and stimulate consumer demand. Permanent Delegation of 
Japan to the WTO (1 February 2010). Projects worth 
¥2.93 trillion 
(US$32.8 billion) 
suspended on 16 October 2009. 
Second Supplementary 
Budget (2009) being 
executed. 
Japan As part of the New Stimulus Package, Government 
programme (¥370 billion (US$4 billion)), to 
encourage the purchase of environmentally friendly vehicles (local and imported). The amount of 
subsidies depends on the type of the vehicle, the 
age of the car to be replaced, its fuel efficiency, or simply purchase of new one without replacement. 
Programme undergoing amendments to facilitate 
greater participation of imported cars. Permanent Delegation of 
Japan to the WTO 
(1 February 2010). Programme extended 
for six months, until 
30 September 2010.  
Annex 2 (cont'd) WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
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  Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
Korea, Rep. of Korean Hidden Champion Programme of the 
Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) providing 
tailored loans and guarantees at market rates according to the risk prof ile of the borrower, for 
selected SMEs  with high technologies and growth 
potential (45 identified as of May 2010). The total amount of  the programme is not fixed, but KEXIM 
set a target of W 20 trillion (US$16.6 billion) for 
the next 10 years. The programme is not aimed at 
specific sectors. Permanent Delegation of 
Korea to the WTO 
(1 June 2010).   
Pakistan In order to facilitate trade the State Bank of 
Pakistan allows advance payment (up to 100%) of 
Import Letters of Credit, as from 31 January 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Pakistan to the WTO 
(17 May 2010).   
Russian Federation "Plan of Industry S upport" (Rub 195 billion 
(US$6.3 billion)) for 2010 (mainly through the 
provision of State guarantees on credits). Measures include support to companies, purchase of vehicles 
for the public sector, and support to housing and 
utilities sector. Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010).   
Russian Federation Cash-for-clunkers plan (Rub 10 billion 
(US$321.85 million)) allocated in the Federal 
Budget for 2010. Rub 50,000 (US$1,609) for 
vehicles older than 10 years. Both foreign and domestic old cars can be utilized under this 
programme, but only new domestic cars can be 
bought with the discount. The plan is part of the 
"Plan of Industry Support". Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation (1 February 2010).   
Russian Federation Increase of annual federal funding (from 
Rub 6 billion to Rub 9 billion (US$193.1 million to 
US$289.7 million)) for exports of industrial products, as a partial compensation of payment of interest on credits given by Russian financial institutions for the period 2005-10. Permanent Delegation of the 
Russian Federation 
(1 February 2010).   
Singapore Export Coverage Scheme (ECS) intended to cover 
insolvency and protracted defaults of end buyers (coverage up to 90%). Originally scheduled to be effective from 1 March 2009 to 28 February 2010. Permanent Delegation of 
Singapore to the WTO 
(11 May 2010). Extension of the ECS 
until 31 January 2011. 
United States Jobs for Main Street Act (H.R. 2847), including 
two "Buy American" pr ovisions.  Section 2013 
adds procedural requirements relating to the 
issuance of public intere st waivers for highways 
and public transportation projects. Section 4002 also provides that "all funds provided under this 
Act shall be subject to the requirements of section 
1605 of the ARRA, which includes the requirement that the 'Buy American' clause be applied in a 
manner consistent with international agreements".   Permanent Delegation of the 
United States to the WTO 
(31 May 2010). Effective as from 
18 March 2010.  
Venezuela Fondo Bicentenario (overall budget Bs 3 billion 
(US$699.3 million)) aiming at: (i) developing non-traditional exports (Bs 1 billion 
(US$233.1 million)); and (ii) selective import 
substitution (Bs 2 billion (US$466.2 million)). Decreto No. 7.173 - Gaceta 
Oficial No. 39.349 (19 January 2010). 
  
Annex 2 (cont'd) 
  WT/TPR/OV/W/3 
 Page 85 
 
 
  NON-VERIFIED INFORMATION  
Country/ 
Member State Measure Source/Date Status 
China State aid through a capital injection (Y 1.5 billion 
(US$219.7 million)) for China Southern Airlines. The funds appear to be the last instalment of capital 
extended to the top three carriers. Press reports 
(November 2009).   
China Direct payments to grain farmers (wheat, corn, and 
rice), and price support mechanism for grains. Inside US Trade 
(14 May 2010).   
Croatia Reduction of government subsidies (40%) for 
agriculture sector. Agence France Presse 
(8 March 2010).    
Japan Reported increase of state-funded credit to Japan 
Airlines (from ¥100 billion to ¥200 billion 
(US$1.1 billion to US$2.2 billion)). BBC News (4 January 2010).   
Kazakhstan Reimbursement to local producers of 50% of 
certain export costs su ch as certification, 
participation on foreign e xhibitions, and promotion, 
since February 2010. Press reports 
(February 2010).   
South Africa Second Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP) for 
12 "focus sector" such as textiles and clothing, 
plastics, pharmaceutical and chemicals, automotive, 
and tourism.   Press reports 
(18 February 2010).   
Uruguay Renewal of State aid (Ur$25 million 
(US$1.3 million)) for te xtile and apparel sub-
sectors. El País digital 
(12 May 2010).   
 
 
__________