Parties to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) gave their final approval to the United Kingdom’s accession to the pact, in its own right, once it leaves the European Union. At a meeting of the WTO’s Committee on Government Procurement on 27 February, the GPA parties also agreed to grant (...)
A new Strategic Plan launched by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) seeks to deepen efforts to assist least developed countries (LDCs) benefit from trade. The goals of the new plan are to improve the trade environment for LDCs so there is inclusive and sustainable growth, and to increase (...)
The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 25 February 2019, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document (...)
At a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 25 February, WTO members considered Thailand’s request for the establishment of a dispute panel to rule on duties levied by Turkey on imported Thai air conditioners. Members also renewed their discussions on resolving their differences over (...)
Addressing a meeting of European Union trade ministers in Bucharest, Romania, on 21 February 2019, Director-General Roberto Azevêdo welcomed the EU’s engagement in the conversations aimed at strengthening the WTO and called for their continued leadership to help address some of the key challenges (...)
Speaking at an international conference on “interconnectivity in Central Asia” held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on 19 February, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff said an open trade policy agenda and active participation in the work of the WTO can promote greater connectivity within Central Asia and (...)
Trade weakness is likely to extend into the first quarter of 2019, according to the WTO’s latest World Trade Outlook Indicator (WTOI) released on 19 February. The simultaneous decline of several trade-related indicators should put policy makers on guard for a sharper slowdown should the current (...)
A Regional Trade Policy Course for WTO members and observers from French-speaking Africa began on 18 February in Abidjan. The course, which is the first to take place in 2019, has been organized in partnership with the École Nationale Supérieure de Statistiques et d’Économie Appliquée d’Abidjan (...)
Twenty-nine officials from 15 governments in the process of acceding to the WTO participated in a Seminar on WTO Accessions Rules, which took place in Geneva from 4 to 15 February. The event was the first WTO Secretariat activity to focus on WTO accession (...)