OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL
TRADING ENVIRONMENT
Annual Report by the DIRECTOR-GENERAL[1]
(Mid‑October 2022
to mid‑October 2023)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. 2
1 INTRODUCTION.. 5
2 RECENT
ECONOMIC AND TRADE DEVELOPMENTS. 8
2.1
Merchandise trade volume and outlook. 8
2.2
Trade development in value terms. 12
3 TRADE AND
TRADE‑RELATED POLICY DEVELOPMENTS. 18
3.1
Overview of trends identified during the review period. 18
3.1.1
Regular trade measures. 18
3.1.2
COVID-19 trade and trade-related measures. 25
3.1.3
Developments in the context of the war in Ukraine and the food crisis. 27
3.2
Trade remedy trends. 30
3.3
Sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. 36
3.4
Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) 43
3.5
Policy developments in agriculture. 45
3.6
General economic support 48
3.7
Other selected trade policy issues. 51
4 POLICY
DEVELOPMENT IN TRADE IN SERVICES. 71
5 POLICY
DEVELOPMENTS IN TRADE AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY. 79
6 TRANSPARENCY
OF TRADE POLICIES. 82
[1] This Report covers the period mid-October 2022 to mid-October 2023.
It is presented pursuant to Paragraph G of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism
mandate and aims to assist the Trade Policy Review Body to undertake its annual
overview of developments in the international trading environment that are
having an impact on the multilateral trading system. The Report 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 implications with
respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the Report with any WTO
Agreements or any provisions thereof.