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The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022.  The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.

The Multilateral Leaders Task Force members are mobilizing critical financing, with a focus on grants and concessional lending; helping to...

Saudi Arabia claims that the challenged measure, imposed on 10 June, is inconsistent with provisions of the WTO's Antidumping Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

Mono-ethylene glycol is a liquid used in the production of polyester fibres and film, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resins and engine coolants.

Further information is available in document WT/DS606/1

Services has become an increasingly important part of global trade, amounting to about half of world trade in value-added terms. Services trade policies are key determinants of overall economic productivity and trade performance. 

The addition of services is a complement to the existing information on measures related to trade in goods contained in the Trade Monitoring Database, which was revamped in 2019 to facilitate access to information on trade measures taken by WTO members and observers. Measures relating to intellectual property were also added to the Monitoring Database in 2021.

While most of the services measures identified in the WTO's trade monitoring reports since 2015 have provided for additional liberalization or otherwise facilitated trade, a number of them could be considered to be trade restrictive.

The information in the database comes from the trade monitoring reports, which are circulated by the WTO Secretariat in July and...

The SPS Agreement aims to ensure that WTO members’ health protection measures in the areas of food safety, animal and plant health do not restrict international trade more than necessary. The WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures oversees the implementation of the SPS Agreement and is the forum where members discuss specific trade concerns (STCs).

The publication focuses on members’ compliance with notification requirements under the SPS Agreement and the trade concerns raised in the SPS Committee, often in response to these notifications.

Key results highlighted in the booklet:

The Goods Trade Barometer is a composite leading indicator providing real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends ahead of conventional trade volume statistics. The latest barometer reading of 110.4 is the highest on record since the indicator was first released in July 2016, and up more than 20 points year-on-year.

The rise in the barometer reflects both the strength of current trade expansion and the depth of the pandemic-induced shock in 2020. It is notable that, while still well above trend, the index has started to rise at a decreasing rate, which could presage a peaking of upward momentum in trade.

All of the barometer's component indices were above trend in the latest month, illustrating the broad-based nature of the recovery. Indices for air freight (114.0), container shipping (110.8) and raw materials (104.7) in particular continued to rise, signalling faster than average trade growth.

The...

The Goods Trade Barometer is a composite leading indicator providing real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends ahead of conventional trade volume statistics. The latest barometer reading of 110.4 is the highest on record since the indicator was first released in July 2016, and up more than 20 points year-on-year.

The rise in the barometer reflects both the strength of current trade expansion and the depth of the pandemic-induced shock in 2020. It is notable that, while still well above trend, the index has started to rise at a decreasing rate, which could presage a peaking of upward momentum in trade.

All of the barometer's component indices were above trend in the latest month, illustrating the broad-based nature of the recovery. Indices for air freight (114.0), container shipping (110.8) and raw materials (104.7) in particular continued to rise, signalling faster than average trade growth.

The...

World Tariff Profiles 2021 provides comprehensive information on the tariffs and non-tariff measures imposed by over 170 countries and customs territories. It is a joint publication of the WTO, the International Trade Centre and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The TBT Agreement aims to ensure that technical regulations, standards and conformity assessment procedures are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. At the same time, it recognises WTO members' right to implement measures to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as the protection of human health and safety, or protection of the environment.

The booklet focuses on members' compliance with notification requirements under the TBT Agreement and the concerns raised in the TBT Committee, often in response to these notifications. Governments are required to “notify” other members, through the WTO Secretariat, of proposed measures that may have a significant effect on other members’ trade and that are not in accordance with relevant international standards.

Key results highlighted in the publication:

The Trade Cost Index has been produced by the Economic Research and Statistics Division (ERSD) to complement other statistics that WTO provides on trade costs, such as average tariffs or the number of non-tariff measures. The aim is to give a sense of the degree of restrictiveness of some of these measures, to measure how trade policy barriers compare to other trade costs, and who bears these costs.

What is it? The WTO Trade Cost Index uses estimates of bilateral trade costs for 43 economies and 31 sectors between 2000 and 2018 to illustrate the evolution of trade costs over time, the incidence of trade costs across economies and sectors ( Economy-Sector ), for different household income groups, by gender, firms size and skill groups ( Economic Agents ) as well as identify the main factors determining trade costs ( Determinants ).

How is this index built? Our approach is top down. That is, we start from an indirect estimation of overall trade...

The fourth Trade Dialogues session dedicated to the business community was organized jointly with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and brought together over 80 business representatives who discussed their priorities in the various areas of the WTO's work. The Dialogues have been organised since 2016 and involve both the ICC and the B20, the business arm of the G20.

During the opening session, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was joined by General Council Chair Ambassador Dacio Castillo, ICC Chair Ajay Banga and B20 Italy Chair Emma Marcegaglia.

DG Okonjo-Iweala said: “I am very pleased to have facilitated another Trade Dialogues with the private sector. Our rules directly impact businesses’ ability to move goods and services across borders and tap into new markets. Because they deal with these realities every day, they can help us and the members understand what is working well, and more...

The Trade for Peace Programme aims to promote trade as a pathway to development and sustainable peace in fragile and conflict-affected states by highlighting the potential role of trade and economic integration in the peace, security and humanitarian fields. The Programme seeks to strengthen interdisciplinary insights into relationships between trade, peace, stability and shared prosperity.

The Trade for Peace Programme is now looking to gather, generate and deepen knowledge and understanding on the linkages between trade and peace. The research seeks to identify the socio-political, governance and economic conditions that enable trade to make a positive contribution to peace.

A new publication is planned which will feature the research papers selected from submitted proposals. Selected research papers will also be invited to be presented at the Trade for Peace Conference, tentatively scheduled to be held on the first quarter of 2022. Applicants are welcome to...

Based in Geneva, near the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) advises its developing country* Members and least-developed countries (LDCs) on all issues relating to WTO law.

The Goods Barometer is a composite leading indicator for world trade, providing real-time information on the trajectory of merchandise trade relative to recent trends. The barometer's current reading of 109.7 is nearly 10 points above the baseline value of 100 for the index and up 21.6 points year-on-year, reflecting both the strength of the current recovery and the depth of the COVID-19 shock last year.

In the latest month, all of the barometer's component indices were above trend and rising, highlighting the broad-based nature of the recovery and signalling an accelerating pace of trade expansion.

Among the barometer’s component indices, the biggest gains were seen in export orders (114.8), air freight (111.1) and electronic components (115.2), all of which are highly predictive of near-term trade developments. The strength of the automotive products index (105.5) may reflect improving consumer sentiment, since confidence is closely linked to sales of...

The WTO Secretariat is organized into divisions. These are normally headed by a director who reports to a Deputy Director-General or directly to the Director-General. The Appellate Body has its own Secretariat.