A piece of a new report from the World Trade Organization laid out trends in technical barriers to trade (TBT) for the last year, finding Tanzania and China as the two countries to give notice of the most new technical barriers. Primarily citing concerns for human health or safety, the world issued 1,372 new TBT notifications to the WTO over the last year. The report also highlighted specific trade concerns from WTO members, publishing all the registered trade issues on issues ranging from market access, import licensing regimes, antidumping practices, safeguards and subsidies. The 169-page report also pegged unequal vaccine access as a major barrier to the full recovery of international trade from the COVID-19 pandemic.

World Trade Organization members reached a consensus July 28 on the 14 new heads of the subsidiary bodies that report to the Council for Trade in Goods. The General Council chair, Ambassador Dacio Castillo of Honduras, added that he will host consultations on how to "improve the overall process for the appointment of officers of all WTO bodies," according to an accompanying press release. The chairpersons are as follows:

Costa Rica requested dispute consultations with the Dominican Republic over antidumping duties on corrugated steel bars from Costa Rica, a July 27 World Trade Organization notice said. Costa Rica said the DR's antidumping measures are incompatible with obligations under the Anti-Dumping Agreement and the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

A European Union request for dispute consultations with Russia in the World Trade Organization over an alleged Russian import substitution program was circulated to members July 26. The substitution program includes three measures to favor Russian state-owned enterprises and businesses over imported goods: price preferencing favoring Russian-origin products in government procurement practices, requirements to obtain prior authorization for the purchase of certain engineering products, and minimum quotas for Russian-origin products in the procurement policies of SOEs. “The EU claims the measures relating to the activities of certain state-related entities, and laws and regulations regulating these activities, are inconsistent with various provisions under the WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994, the General Agreement on Trade in Services, and Russia's Protocol of Accession to the WTO,” a notice on the dispute consultations said.

The U.S. blocked China's request for a further dispute settlement panel to resolve claims that China has not brought its tariff-rate quota regime on wheat, rice and corn in line with World Trade Organization commitments, at the July 26 meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, according to a Geneva-based trade official. After finding that China's compliance efforts lacked in transparency, the U.S. declared its intention to continue pursuing recourse over the non-compliance as opposed to following through with China's request for another panel review.

The World Trade Organization updated on July 20 a list of trade facilitation measures due to be implemented by the end of next year, released at the meeting of the Committee on Trade Facilitation. From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2021, 136 facilitation commitments have been agreed to by 36 different WTO members, which include speeding up the release of perishable goods and publishing trade procedures. Until the end of 2022, there are 389 implementation commitments for 74 members. Deadlines are based on members' own implementation schedules. The list does not include any commitments made by the U.S.

The World Trade Organization released a list of trade bottlenecks and trade-facilitating measures on critical COVID-19 products in a July 20 publication, ahead of the July 21 High-Level Dialogue by the World Health Organization and WTO on expanding COVID-19 vaccines manufacturing to promote equitable access. The indicative list covers vaccine production inputs, vaccine distribution and approval, therapeutics and pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices. The publication also lays out suggestions made by speakers at the WTO's webinar on regulatory cooperation during the COVID-19 pandemic, which include general import, export and transit procedures, and vaccine manufacturing and regulatory approval. “The list is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all specific trade barriers, nor does it make any judgement on the existence or importance of bottlenecks, nor on the desirability of implementing any of the suggestions on trade-facilitating measures,” the WTO said in an accompanying news release.

The U.S. will join World Trade Organization negotiations on strengthening transparency and fairness in domestic licensing procedures for service professionals, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced July 20. The WTO Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation (DR JSI) negotiations should be wrapped up by the WTO ministerial meeting in November, USTR added. The DR JSI in particular can aid industries such as retailing, express delivery and financial services, the release said. USTR also pointed to the improvements to transparency and due process introduced in the USMCA that will be expanded upon in regulations under negotiation.

The European Union is challenging Russia's government procurement policies, the bloc said in a July 19 news release. The EU is requesting consultations with Russia via the World Trade Organization dispute resolution process over three policies that restrict or prevent EU companies from selling to Russian state-owned enterprises. It cited Russia's discriminatory assessments of procurement bids, requirements for prior authorizations and national quota requirements in procurement. When the Russian entities assess goods for procurement, certain SOEs will deduct 15% to 30% from the offered price for domestic goods but still charge full price if the Russian bid is selected, putting foreign interests at a disadvantage. Such restrictions have been building since 2015, the release said. The economic impact of this has been “significant," with the value of published tenders by Russian SOEs in 2019 totaling over 290 billion euros and equivalent to 21% of Russia's GDP.

Since China failed to implement the recommendations from the World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on how to bring tariff-rate quotas on agricultural products in line with WTO commitments, the U.S. is seeking to implement countermeasures on the TRQs, the U.S. delegation to the DSB said in July 16 comments. Submitting their rationale in a one-page brief to the DSB ahead of the July 26 meeting, the U.S. delegation discussed how it is seeking the countermeasures under the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU).