The World Trade Organization’s members introduced fewer trade-restrictive measures from mid-October 2016 to mid-October 2017 compared to the previous year during a period of economic uncertainties.
International trade flows have rebounded strongly during the last 12 months after a sharp slowdown in 2016, said WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo.
The report was issued ahead of the key decision-making WTO Ministerial Conference that will take place from Dec 10 to 13 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
WTO Members applied 108 new trade-restrictive measures during the review period from mid-October 2016 to mid-October 2017.
This included new or increased tariffs, customs procedures, quantitative restrictions and local content measures and equates to an average of nine measures a month compared to fifteen in the previous period.
The report also found that WTO Members also implemented 128 measures aimed at facilitating trade, including eliminated or reduced tariffs and simplified customs procedures.
This post has been authored by Arnav Bose of The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences.
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