Tag: World Trade Organization

The European Commission revealed a new proposal today, December 12, which aims to allow the European Union to protect its trade interests despite the paralysis of the multilateral dispute settlement system in the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Following the recent crisis that the World Trade Organisation’s Appellate Body experienced, the European Parliament called ECSA to join the efforts in resolving this crisis, in favour of the shipping trade.

WTO issued its Services Trade Barometer, revealing that global trade in commercial services faced increasing headwinds in the second quarter of 2019. The latest reading of 98.4 is below the baseline value of 100 and well below the most recent peak of 103.1 recorded in July 2018.

The WTO’s latest World Trade Statistical Review 2019 confirming a continuous uncertainty on global trade and a rise on trade-restrictive measures. The report highlights that trade continues to be concentrated. The ten leading traders in 2018 represented more than half of world trade.

The lack of availability of trade finance is impeding the trade opportunities of small businesses, specifically in developing countries, according to a new publication by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Finance Corporation, launched on 3 July at the Global Review of Aid for Trade.

In light of the Oceans Day celebrated in the shipping industry, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) published a video on a success story in sea life recovery in Costa Rica. A fishing community in Tárcoles, on the country’s Pacific Coast, decided to act and protect their livelihoods by setting up a marine conservation area.

World trade growth is possible to remain weak into the second quarter of 2019, according to the WTO’s latest World Trade Outlook Indicator, released on 20 May. The new WTOI reading is 96.3, exactly as it was in the previous release in February 2019, maintaining the weakest level since 2010. The latest WTOI is still well below the baseline value of 100 for the index.

A delegation from the ICS, the Asian Shipowners’ Association (ASA) and the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) has, at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, raised concerns regarding recent increases in protectionist measures. The associations presented two position papers to the WTO, to highlight the importance of the shipping sector fully committing to the preservation and promotion of free trade policies and principles around the world.

During the 7th session of the UNCTAD meeting on transport, trade logistics and trade facilitation, the participants focused on the reforms the governments should conduct to ease flow of products across borders, many of which fall under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation.

The world trading system should be continuously re-examined with regard to reforming the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the governance of data flows, given the escalation of trade restrictive measures and the impact on businesses, said Mr Akahoshi, President of JETRO.