OVERVIEW OF DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL
TRADING ENVIRONMENT
Annual Report by the DIRECTOR-GENERAL[1]
(Mid‑October 2019
to mid‑October 2020)
Corrigendum
In Annex 4 the following measure on page 228
should read:
ANNEX
4 – MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE IN SERVICES[2]
(Mid-october 2019 to mid-OCTOBER 2020)
|
Measure
|
Mode(s)
of supply
|
Sectoral
classification
|
Source
|
Date
|
Verified
by Member
|
|
Hong Kong, China
|
|
A new pilot
scheme allows nationals of countries who may visit Hong Kong, China visa-free
and who possess a "Letter of proof" issued by a qualified arbitral
institution to participate in arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong, China as
visitors, without having to obtain employment visas. The pilot scheme will be reviewed after two
years.
|
Mode 4
|
Business services
|
Pilot Scheme on Facilitation for Persons Participating in Arbitral
Proceedings in Hong Kong.
Viewed at:
https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202006/29/P2020062900772.htm
|
Effective 29 June 2020
|
YES
|
In
Annex 5 the following measure on page 265 should be deleted:
ANNEX
5 – COVID‑19 TRADE AND TRADE-RELATED MEASURES (GOODS)[3]
(Mid-October 2019 to mid-OCTOBER 2020)
Recorded, but not confirmed information[4]
|
Member/
|
Measure
|
Source/Date
|
Status
|
|
Observer
|
|
Hong
Kong, China
|
Temporary import ban of certain poultry meat from Brazil, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
|
ANSA - Spanish Service (BASP) (18 August 2020)
|
|
__________
[1] This Report covers the period mid-October 2019 to mid-October 2020.
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.
[2] The inclusion of any measure in this Annex implies no judgement by
the WTO Secretariat, either direct or indirect, on the consistency of any
measure referred to with the provisions of any WTO agreement.
[3] This table has been compiled by the WTO Secretariat and is an
informal situation report and an attempt to provide transparency with respect
to measures affecting trade in goods taken in the context of the COVID-19
crisis. It does not pass judgment on or questions the right of WTO members to
take such actions. The Secretariat has not sought to determine and indicate
whether the measures listed in the table have trade-restrictive or
trade-facilitating effects. The information in this table is not exhaustive and
does not include information on general support measures. The measures listed
in this table provide a situation report up to 15 October 2020. A consistent
feature of the trade and trade-related measures taken in response to the
COVID-19 crisis has been the frequent changes, adjustments and occasional roll‑back
of such measures to reflect the evolving situation. The updated lists of
measures implemented in the context of the current pandemic are available on
the COVID-19 page of the WTO website: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/covid19_e/trade_related_goods_measure_e.htm.
[4] This section includes information which has been obtained from
public sources but has not yet been confirmed by the delegation concerned.