The Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) officially adopted at its meeting on 11 December a package of six recommendations and declarations aimed at addressing challenges smaller businesses face when they trade internationally. The package will be (...)
The Director-General’s latest annual overview of trade-related developments shows a marked slowdown in the number of trade-restrictive and trade-facilitating measures adopted by WTO members related to goods trade over the past year. The report, presented at a 11 December meeting of the WTO’s (...)
Speaking at the 9th edition of the China Round Table on WTO Accessions on 11 December, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said WTO accession has been key in providing new members with a vehicle to modernize and put their economies on a sustainable path of economic growth. Over the 25-year (...)
Self-employed and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises account for two thirds of jobs worldwide. To ensure that all workers are equally protected, governments are implementing policies that extend the application, compliance, and enforcement of labour law to all enterprises regardless of (...)
Members exchanged ideas on how to further advance their understanding of the links between trade and gender and how to approach trade issues with a “gender lens” at the first meeting of the Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender on 10 December. Members also welcomed the release of the report (...)
At the meeting of the Council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on 10 December, WTO members agreed to continue discussion on a proposal by India and South Africa for a temporary waiver of certain TRIPS obligations in response to COVID-19. A status report will be (...)
In remarks delivered to a 10 December Chatham House discussion regarding trans-Atlantic cooperation on WTO reform, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff warned that maintaining the status quo at the WTO “can only lead to further disaffection” with the organization. In particular, if members fail to (...)
The government of Sweden is pledging SEK 40 million (approximately CHF 4.2 million) over the period 2020-2023 to help developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) participate more actively in agricultural trade. This grant to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) aims to (...)