Brussels, 14/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - At the G20 summit in Brisbane (15-16 November) the G20 leaders are expected to adopt an action plan for growth and resilience, which will include a chapter on removing obstacles to trade.
In this context, the leaders are expected to take action on the WTO compromise found on 13 October between the US and India on the Indian programmes on public stockholding for food security purposes (see EUROPE 11196). This compromise is expected to pave the way for the adoption of the protocol on implementing the trade facilitation agreement, concluded at the WTO conference in Bali at the end of 2013.
According to the latest joint report by the WTO, OECD and UNCTAD on the protectionist measures taken by the G20 countries - a report that was published on 6 November - 215 new measures have been adopted since 2013 (+12%). In total, the number of restrictive measures taken within the G20 has continued to increase since the start of the crisis in 2008, and only 282 of the 1,244 restrictive measures recorded have now been abolished. However, the three organisations state that the recourse to protectionism has been more moderate than forecast in response to the 2008 crisis (see EUROPE 11193).
In Brisbane, the G20 (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the EU) is enlarged to Spain (permanent guest), Mauritania (which is presiding over the African Union in 2014), Burma (which presides over the ASEAN), Senegal (representative of the new partnership for Africa's development), New Zealand and Singapore. (EH)