WTO amends Trade Policy Reviews, members call for multilateral trade protection

The World Trade Organization has, for the first time, amended the Trade Policy Review Mechanism while also calling for a joint “safeguarding of WTO-based multilateral trading system.”    Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have issued a joint call for “safeguarding the WTO-based multilateral trading system,” according to a recent statement from the WTO.
   The WTO cites “lacking political will to find compromises and to forge consensus,” as well as the questioning of legitimacy within member discussions and negotiations. Compliance with notification obligations and the functioning of the WTO’s dispute settlement system are also posing as a challenge for the WTO. 
   Nevertheless, the WTO successfully approved amendments to the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) “to improve the process of reviewing members’ trade policies and practices and the monitoring of the global trading environment.” The amendments are the first since the TPRM’s establishment in 1989. 
   One amendments adjusts the cycle of WTO members’ Trade Policy Reviews, which currently has members undergoing a review every two, four or six years. The frequency will be changed to three, five and seven years, with the largest economies reviewed most frequently. The amendment will be phased in starting in 2019.
   “We call on Members to safeguard the integrity of the open, rules-based Multilateral Trading System embodied in the WTO and to work together to ensure its sound functioning.The WTO continues to be essential to achieving inclusive and sustainable global growth and development, including through the further integration of LDCs [least developed countries] into world trade,” said the WTO.