Only days after the WTO (World Trade Organisation) secretariat came up with its findings on the practices of the G-20 countries as trade restrictive, the G-20 Summit held in Brisbane, Australia expressed its strong commitment to unhindered flow of global trade, including fulfilment of all obligations of the Bali package. According to the latest WTO report on recent trade developments released on November 6, 2014, restrictive trade measures introduced by the G-20 economies since 2008 continue to rise. Given the continuing uncertainties in the global economy, the report stresses the need for countries to show restraint in imposing new measures and to eliminate more of the existing ones.
The G-20, a mighty coalition of the most developed and the advanced developing economies (with the only exception of Russia), is by all means the most decisive factor not only in matters of trade but in other areas of the world order as well. So, when the WTO secretariat's report termed the G-20 trade practices restrictive, it clearly implied that besides the harms such practices do to the rest of the world, these also constitute a well-devised protectionist agenda.
The report shows that the stock of restrictive trade measures introduced by the G-20 economies since 2008 continues to rise despite the pledge to roll back any new protectionist measures that may have arisen. The report says that of the 1,244 restrictive measures recorded since the onset of the crisis in 2008, only 282 have been removed. Over the past year, the number of restrictive measures has increased by 12 per cent. The G-20 economies applied 93 new trade restrictive measures during the period between mid-May and mid-October. This equates to over 18 new measures per month, which is unchanged compared to the previous period. The report also underlines that the overall trade policy response to the prevailing crisis has been significantly more muted than expected. Existing global economic conditions mean that this is not a time for complacency in the international trading system. The G-20 economies must take decisive action to reduce the stock of trade restrictions by showing restraint in the imposition of new measures and by effectively eliminating the existing ones.
There is also a serious lack of transparency regarding what the report calls 'behind-the-border measures', according to the report. These behind-the-border measures include regulatory measures and subsidies. Non-tariff measures, the key constituent of the regulatory measures applied by a number of G-20 economies have been the subject of debate in various WTO bodies. Some consider that these types of measures have become more prominent in recent years, compared to conventional border measures, and therefore, the need to increase the availability of quality is paramount. The report asks the G-20 bloc to provide greater transparency in this area to allow the trading partners a clear understanding of these operations.
Contrary to what the WTO report says about the role of the G-20, the Communiqué of the just-concluded summit of the heads of governments of this bloc in Brisbane reflects that the bloc is more than simply positive in bringing about facilitations in all spheres of global trade, including liberalising trade regimes that it claims it has been at work. The G-20 leaders while committing to 'work in partnership to lift growth, boost economic resilience and strengthen global institutions', have quite emphatically declared that their 'growth strategies include reforms to facilitate trade by lowering costs, streamlining customs procedures, reducing regulatory burdens and strengthening trade-enabling services.' The leaders of G-20 also announced to help businesses make best use of trade agreements as well as ensure that bilateral, regional and multilateral agreements complement one another in a transparent manner and thus contribute to a stronger multilateral trading system under WTO rules. This was followed by a more pointed announcement, "We commit to implement all elements of the Bali Package and to swiftly define a WTO work programme on the remaining issues of the Doha Development Agenda to get negotiations back on track. This will be important to restore trust and confidence in the multilateral trading system."
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo welcomed the 'strong commitment' of the G-20 leaders, as expressed in the Communiqué, to implement all elements of the Bali Package including preparing as quickly as possible a WTO work programme on the remaining issues of the Doha Development Agenda. Although the Director General did not refer to the G-20 leaders' commitment to facilitate global trade nor the findings of his secretariat on the ever-increasing number and scale of trade restrictive measures by the G-20 countries, it remains a dilemma whether to really look forward to any meaningful change in the global trade scenario.
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