WTO sees slight deceleration in G20 trade restrictions
The Dollar Business Bureau The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) thirteenth trade monitoring report on G20 trade measures, issued on June 15, 2015, shows a slight deceleration in the application of new trade-restrictive measures by G20 economies, with the average number of such measures applied per month lower than at any time since 2013. Since mid-October 2014, 119 new trade-restrictive measures were put in place over the period — an average of 17 new measures per month. Also during this period, G-20 economies continued to adopt measures aimed at facilitating trade. The trend on these trade liberalizing measures remains stable with G-20 economies introducing some 112 new measures during the period under review — an average of 16 measures per month. Trade-restrictive ...
Rise in trade restrictions is concerning: WTO chief
The Dollar Business Bureau WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo speaking at Trade Policy Review Body, 8 December 2014 Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, World Trade Organisation (WTO), has expressed concerns over increasing trade restrictive measures and has urged members to provide information over trade practices and reduce restrictions to help global trade recover. According to WTO estimates, global trade growth is expected to slowdown to 3.1% (down from previous forecast of 4.7%) in 2014 and recover slightly to 4% 2015. “Against this backdrop, recent trends in trade policy actions of members are a cause for concern,” Azevêdo said. He was referring to the increase in trade restrictions reported in the WTO’s annual report on “Developments in the International Trading Environment”. While introducing ...
TFA essential to unlock trade potential of Landlocked Developing Countries: WTO
The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz Over 80% of LLDCs are in Africa and Asia (Pic. Source - UN) The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has urged members to adopt the TFA to help Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) benefit from the multilateral trading system. Speaking at the second UN conference on LLDCs’ issues in Vienna, yesterday, Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General WTO, said that the world today has the transport and communications to eliminate distance as a barrier to economic growth, but millions still live in poverty due to lack of resources and the development benefits that trade and foreign direct investment can bring. According to the UN, there are about 32 LLDCs in the world (16 in Africa, 10 in Asia, ...
RTAs cant replace multilateral trading system: WTO chief
The Dollar Business Bureau | @TheDollarBiz Multilateral trading system has strong support across the world, says WTO chief Roberto Azevêdo Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said that while Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) are growing and important for global trade, they cannot replace multilateral trading system. According to the WTO, RTAs have grown significantly in the past two decades; the WTO has been notified of 253 RTAs which suggests an average of 24 RTAs per year. However, growing popularity does not mean that everything is fine with RTAs. Around one-fifth of RTAs are now large trade agreements involving more than two countries and WTO says that around 20% of the disputes now involve a RTA partner. Apart ...
