Brussels, 03/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - The G20 countries' application of new restrictions to trade has remained stable over the last six months, but the stockpile of restrictive measures adopted since 2008 - which are still in place in these countries today - continues to grow, the WTO criticises in its latest report monitoring trade measures adopted by the G20. The report was published on Monday 2 November.
Over the period analysed (mid-May to mid-October), the G20 countries applied 86 new trade restrictive measures - in other words, an average of over 17 new measures per month (a stable number compared with the previous period (from mid-October 2014 to mid-May 2015).
The overall stockpile of restrictive measures introduced by the G20 countries nevertheless continues to grow. Of the 1,441 restrictive measures adopted since 2008, only 354 had been lifted by mid-October. The total number of these measures still in place was therefore 1,087 - up by more than 5% compared with the last report. Despite their commitment to lifting their protectionist measures, the G20 countries maintain over 75% of the restrictions they have adopted since 2008, the WTO criticises.
Furthermore, over the period analysed, 62 measures aimed at facilitating trade were taken - in other words, an average of 12 new measures per month (the lowest number since November 2013).
By contrast, the WTO says it is encouraging that the number of anti-dumping investigations by G20 economies has fallen “significantly”.
In its forecasts of 30 September, the WTO reviewed world trade in goods downwards - from 3.3% to 2.8% for 2015, and from 4.0% to 3.9% for 2016 (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)