Thank you very much Ambassador Aran for giving me the opportunity to say a few words at the beginning of this important meeting. 
 
It gives me great pleasure to introduce to the Trade Policy Review Body my Annual Report on Developments in the International Trading Environment.  This Report builds on the trade monitoring reports presented to Members at regular intervals.  The trade monitoring exercise has become a regular feature of the WTO activities, and one which I think is much appreciated by all Members.  The monitoring reports receive considerable public attention at all levels.  The success of this initiative is also due to your active participation through the provision of relevant information and the verification of recorded trade measures. 
 
The last time I addressed this same Body was on 8 July 2010.  At that time, I noted that economic growth was returning to many countries, but warned that the global recovery was uneven and fragile, and that unemployment remained at very high levels.  I am sure you all will agree that these uncertainties still remain and present a serious challenge for the global economy and the multilateral trading system. 
 
World trade in 2010 recovered strongly following its worst decline in many decades.  Our current forecast is for world trade to grow by 13.5% this year.  The Report illustrates that the world economy is still in a recovery phase from the global financial crisis.  Although developing countries have performed relatively well recently, output growth in developed countries has remained sluggish.  The economic recovery has not been strong enough so far to impact significantly on high levels of unemployment.
 
In addition, as illustrated in the Report, new risks have emerged more recently that call for prudence and collective responses particularly in the areas of current account imbalances and of exchange rate and monetary policy developments.  We still have to remain vigilant to make sure that our trade system continues to serve the entire membership as an insurance policy against protectionist tendencies, in particular during these difficult times.
 
Let me now make a few specific comments about some of the main points emerging from the Annual Report on the Overview of Developments in the International Trading Environment.  It is not my intention to repeat all the issues addressed in the Report, but to highlight those that I consider more important at this moment for the multilateral system.
 
First, regarding the main observations coming out from the trade monitoring exercise, it is reassuring to note once again that governments have largely continued to resist protectionist pressures and to exercise some restraint over the imposition of new trade restrictions during the past year. 
 
Overall, new trade restrictions were imposed at a much slower pace than in previous periods.  For example, the number of initiations of new trade remedy investigations has declined, contrary to what was predicted, and was predictable on the basis of the track record of data during the previous economic crisis.
 
Let me draw your attention, however, to an increased use of export restrictions that our monitoring activities have picked up in 2010, and that I know is of concern to many of you.  The measures have mainly affected food products and some raw materials and minerals.  Maybe because WTO disciplines are weaker on the export side than on the import side, export restrictions have not been a regular or major issue for the management of the trading system in the past, but they have the potential to create serious obstacles to trade today in our increasingly integrated world economy, with supply chains that in many cases extend widely across countries and regions too.  I suggest that they may require a closer look by Members from a systemic point of view, to ensure that they are properly covered by the core WTO principles of non-discrimination and transparency.
 
On the other hand, we should congratulate those governments that have taken trade facilitating measures:  indeed the number of new measures that facilitate trade has increased, as shown in the Report. 
 
Also, in the area of trade in services, countries are maintaining their services trade policies and levels of market access, and some governments have introduced significant changes in order to allow broader presence of foreign suppliers in various services sectors.
 
Notwithstanding this relatively positive assessment, it is important to recognize that there is a need for increased vigilance by all WTO Members to three potential dangers:

• The first danger is related to an increase in protectionist pressures generated by stubbornly high levels of unemployment in many countries, persistent global imbalances, and macroeconomic concerns such as perceived exchange rate misalignments.

• The second danger is the steady accumulation of measures that restrict or distort trade.  Since the end of 2008, trade restrictions have built up to cover around 1.9% of total imports; this is too much.  There is a need for governments to remove those measures that were taken as a temporary response to the economic crisis.

• The third is the challenge of managing the trade impact of general economic stimulus measures taken in response to the crisis.  Although most of the measures were taken at the outset of the crisis, many are still in place and continue to generate concerns for some of our Members.  The effects of these measures on trade and competition will be examined at a Special Session of the TPRB planned for early spring next year. 

The Annual Report also covers other important trade-related areas. 
 
The individual Trade Policy Reviews undertaken over the past year have confirmed that although some Members have raised a few of their applied MFN tariffs, such increases have been rare, and, overall, their trade regimes were not significantly changed by the global crisis. 
 
Regional Trade Agreements continue to be an important and growing feature of the international trading system.  Around 200 RTAs that are in force have been notified to the WTO, and about 100 more are in the process of being negotiated.  All regions have become active in this field.  Given these developments, the availability of relevant information is of utmost importance.  The Transparency Mechanism for RTAs, which can provide this transparency, has shown that while RTAs generally do open trade, many of them have been unable to address problems of tariff peaks and sectoral protection, and that it remains difficult to overcome vested protectionist interests at regional level.  Here, we must say that the efficiency of the Transparency Mechanism for RTAs depends to a large extent on the availability and the quality of relevant information to be provided by Members. More needs to be done by all in this area if the full potential of our work on RTAs is to be met. This is a task for each and every Member. 
 
In the area of Government Procurement, there has been significant progress in 2010 toward broadening the membership of the Agreement and advancing the negotiations on the coverage of commitments.  Armenia's accession was gavelled last Tuesday.  The accession negotiations of two Members (China, and Jordan) have gained speed during the year.
 
Important steps have been taken this year by all WTO Councils and Committees to improve the implementation of WTO notification requirements and stimulate a more up-to-date and comprehensive flow among Members of recent trade-related developments.  The record of compliance with notification requirements has improved considerably in the past two years. For example, 41% of Members are now in full compliance with their agricultural notifications for the 1995-2004 implementation period, compared with 33% of Members at the same time last year.  There has been significant improvement in the notification of Regional Trade Agreements since the adoption of the Transparency Mechanism.  And 62% of Members have now supplied tariff data to the IDB and 69% have supplied import data, compared with 54% and 59%, respectively, this time last year.   We all should be happy with that.  But more needs to be done. 
 
The global financial and economic crisis and the WTO's trade-monitoring exercise have shown the importance of increased transparency for the smooth functioning of the multilateral trading system.  Again, progress in this area depends on active participation by all Members.
 
Indeed, the comprehensive, accurate and neutral nature of the monitoring reports can be ensured only through an active participation of all delegations.  I would therefore like once again to urge you all to continue actively participating in the monitoring exercise through the timely provision of initial information and the subsequent verification of individual measures.
 
The trade monitoring exercise has revealed that there are important gaps in the multilateral trading system where protectionist sentiments can agitate and expand.  A successful conclusion of the DDA can help reduce these gaps and provide more certainty to all Members for their trading relations of the future.
 
2011 offers a window of opportunity to conclude the Doha Round. At the last TNC we put together a programme of work for the months ahead. It is now upon Members to enter into “give and takes” which can get you to a deal that you can all take back home. 
 
Finally, I would like to inform delegations about the frequency of the monitoring reports for next year. There will be two WTO monitoring reports, one in June and one in November. We will also produce two reports for the G20 in 2011.  
 
This concludes my introductory remarks for this meeting.  
 
Thank you.