Representatives of 12 countries and the European Union (EU) that make up the Ottawa Group held a virtual meeting this Monday (15.06.2020/XNUMX/XNUMX), where they approved trade policy actions to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting of the so-called Ottawa Group was attended by Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, the European Union, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.
The Ottawa Group was formed by the member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Canada to strengthen and modernize the international organization created in 1995.
After the virtual meeting, the countries issued a release which highlights the need to establish joint actions to address the economic impacts caused by COVID-19.
According to the document, the the need to have a new WTO Director-General as soon as possible, which can contribute to the development of the organization's agenda.
The Six points of the Ottawa Group Action Plan Are detailed below:
- Transparency: Ensure notification of restrictive trade measures imposed in the context of COVID-19 and put an end to them as soon as possible.
- Agriculture: Monitor compliance with joint statements on predictable and open agricultural trade; end emergency measures as soon as possible; and improve agricultural trade flows, taking into account lessons learned during this crisis, in order to prevent future crises from affecting trade, food security and stability of agricultural markets.
- e-Commerce: Accelerate work on the joint initiative on e-commerce, including having a consolidated text by the end of 2020.
- Trade Facilitation: Promote the adoption of digital solutions aimed at ensuring efficient border crossing of essential goods in situations such as COVID-19.
- SMedical supplies: Advance analysis to facilitate trade in medical supplies in order to be better positioned to deal with medical emergencies and keep global supply chains functional.
- Greater involvement with the different actors in the economy: Explore the best ways to intensify collaboration with different economic actors for better dissemination and use of trade policies.
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