29/07/2016 (Agence Europe) - Obstacles to trade in world up 11% since autumn 2015, says WTO. In its latest regular report on developments in trade, which was published on 25 July, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) notes a considerable increase in the number of measures which restrict trade since autumn 2015. Between mid-October 2015 and mid-May 2016, the member countries of the WTO applied 154 new trade-restricting measures (145 of which for the countries of the G20 alone), or 22 measures a month, a considerable hike compared to the previous period (15 measures per month) and the highest monthly average since 2011. Conversely, however, 132 measures to facilitate trade were adopted over the same period, or 19 per month. In total, the stock of trade-restricting measures in place grew by 11% over the period in question. Just 25% of the 2,800 measures to restrict trade set in place since the crisis in October 2008 have been removed. (EH)