OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE
INTERNATIONAL TRADING ENVIRONMENT
MINUTES OF THE MEETING
11
December 2020
Chairperson:
H.E. Mr.
Harald Aspelund (Iceland)
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS BY THE CHAIRPERSON
1.
Good afternoon
and welcome to this meeting of the TPRB, which was convened by Airgram
WTO/AIR/TPR/102 on 13 November 2020.
2.
The purpose of
this meeting is for Members and Observers of the Trade Policy Review Body to
undertake their annual overview of developments in the international trading
environment which are having an impact on the multilateral trading system, as
provided for in Paragraph G of Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement.
3.
As mentioned in
the Airgram, today's discussion is assisted by the Director-General's Annual
Report which provides a comprehensive "tour d'horizon" of the overall
state of global trade, of significant developments in the implementation of
trade policies by WTO Members and Observers, and an up-date on several trade policy
issues affecting the trading system for the period between mid-October 2019 and
mid-October 2020. And this means, of course, that the COVID-19 pandemic is
covered extensively in this Report.
4.
The Report was
circulated in document WT/TPR/OV/23 on 30 November in English. In accordance
with the Rules of Procedure for meetings of the TPRB, the Report was issued as
an unrestricted document.
5.
At the outset,
let me briefly recall the purpose of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism, which
according to Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement, is to achieve greater
transparency in, and understanding of, Members' trade and trade-related
policies and measures. The TPRM is not intended to serve as a basis for the
enforcement of obligations under WTO Agreements, for dispute-settlement
purposes or to impose new policy commitments on Members.
6.
These same
fundamental principles apply to the periodic reports by the Director-General -
such as the Annual Report presented today. The trade monitoring exercise is,
above all, a transparency exercise. It is intended to be purely factual and has
no legal effect on the rights and obligations of WTO Members. It is without
prejudice to Members' negotiating positions and has no legal implication with
respect to the conformity of any measure noted in the Report with any WTO
Agreement or any provision thereof.
7.
As you know, the
preparation of these Reports relies on Members’ timely and specific inputs to
the trade monitoring exercise as well on their notifications under the various
WTO Agreements. For the current Report, 62% of the membership provided input,
representing around 97% of world trade.