Date: June 24, 2009

Time: 12:30 - 2:00 pm

Venue: MC3-101

Video | Website 

Chair: Bernard Hoekman, Director, International Trade Department, World Bank

Speaker: Simon Evenett, Professor or Economics, University of St. Gallen and CEPR

Moderator: Jim Kolbe, Former Member of Congress and Senior Transatlantic Fellow, GMFUS

Speakers will present Global Trade Alert (GTA), a web-based tool that draws upon expertise from independent research institutes around the world, and provides real-time information on government measures taken during the current global economic downturn that are likely to affect trade. This tool could be of significant help to Bank staff engaged in dialogue with governments on trade, business climate, and regulatory reform.

Description: In London, the G20 committed to “not repeat the historic mistakes of protectionism of previous eras”, and called on the WTO and other international bodies to monitor and report publicly on countries’ adherence to this undertaking.

Global Trade Alert (GTA), a web-based tool, draws upon expertise from independent research institutes in seven regions, and provides real-time information on government measures taken during the current global economic downturn that are likely to affect trade. Over 100 other government measures are currently under investigation by GTA, such as:

• Vietnam: Increased import tariffs on semi-iron, non-alloy steel, and paper products
• Indonesia: New regulation on the use of domestically issued letters of credit
• India: Imposition of 20% duty on imported soybean oils
• Argentina: New non-automatic licensing requirements for apparel, textiles, domestic appliances
• Zambia: Increase in fuel import duty from 5% to 25%
• Russia: Increase of tariffs on automobile
• Japan: Special safeguard measures on certain food preparations
• European Communities: Reintroduction of export refunds for milk, butter, and butter-oil

Simon Evenett will present this tool that could help:

• monitor and understand the trade effects of client countries' measures that have been taken as a response to the global crisis;
• anticipate effects on client countries’ exports of measures that have been taken by major trade partners - and eventually prepare legal action to seek  remedy (e.g. in the WTO, safeguards, antidumping);
• foster dialogue with client countries, providing an objective assessment of government measures, and suggesting alternative less trade-restrictive measures – everyone can report suspicious measures on-line;
• contain protectionist pressures that are detrimental to the longer term growth and development perspectives of our client countries.

Contact: Olivier Cattaneo at ocattaneo@worldbank.org