Trade Monitoring

The WTO Trade Monitoring Exercise provides regular, factual and up-to-date information on global trends in trade measures and trade policymaking. It is a cross-cutting transparency exercise within the WTO that allows WTO members and observers to undertake regular, non-legal peer reviews.

The WTO produces two series of Trade Monitoring Reports:

The WTO-wide Trade Monitoring Reports, which are issued under the title "Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment" (WT/TPR/OV series). These reports cover trade-related measures and developments introduced by WTO members and observers. They are prepared under the mandate in Paragraph G of the Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) in Annex 3 of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO.
The Report on G20 Trade Measures, jointly issued with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Monitoring Report on Investment Measures, covering trade and investment measures taken by G20 economies. These reports are presented under the mandate provided by G20 leaders to the WTO, OECD and UNCTAD since the global financial crisis in 2009.

Trade Monitoring Database

The database provides information on trade measures implemented by WTO members and observers since October 2008. The database is updated each time a new trade monitoring report is discussed and reviewed by WTO members.

Get in touch with the WTO's Trade Monitoring team

[email protected]

News

Aim of the reports

Since 2009, the WTO Trade Monitoring Exercise has provided WTO members and observers with regular updates on the latest trends in the implementation of a broad range of policy measures that affect trading interests of producers and consumers around the globe. Although the reporting of trade measures is a continuous process throughout the year, the description of the emerging trends as well as a broader update on the state of play of global trade, is presented annually in the WTO Trade Monitoring Reports.

Preparation of the reports

The WTO Secretariat works closely with all delegations to collect comprehensive, up-to-date, and accurate information on their trade and trade-related measures. In preparing these reports, the Secretariat aims to ensure that the data used is reliable and as complete as possible. To this end, it draws on information provided by delegations, WTO notifications and other reliable public sources. To improve data quality and coverage, the Secretariat invites members and observers, on a voluntary basis, to provide relevant information and to verify their trade measures.

Frequency of the Trade Monitoring Reports

As a result of the 7th Appraisal of the TPRB, since 2024 the WTO-wide and the G20 Monitoring Report have been circulated once a year, in November/December. The WTO-wide Trade Monitoring Report, once finalised, is discussed with the full membership at a formal meeting of the WTO's Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB), pursuant to the mandate set out in Paragraph G of the TPRM. The WTO-wide Trade Monitoring Reports are produced under the responsibility of the WTO Director-General.

Background papers on WTO trade monitoring exercise