G20/ OECD Stocktaking Seminar on Global Value Chains

OECD, Paris, 29 May 2013

New trade realities make a strong case for open markets and a renewed commitment of G20 Governments to resist protectionism.

Ministers, G20 Sherpas, international organisations and policy makers joined a host of other stakeholders to examine the progress made to date on measuring trade in value-added terms and to distil the policy implications that have emerged from this work.

Globalisation has created new and innovative ways of organising business activities which has led to a rethinking of how trade policies can be best employed in stimulating strong, balanced and job-rich growth.


Summary and conclusions document (pdf)‌

Meeting highlights

• Participants observed that the rapid expansion of global value chains are magnifying the cost of protectionism, making the case even stronger for multilateral liberalisation.
  
  
  
• Participants underscored the urgency of concluding a trade facilitation agreement in the WTO as a way to significantly reduce trade costs.
  
  
  
• The pivotal role that high quality and efficient services play in the functioning of global value chains was well-recognized by all participants.
  
  
  
• The need to address non-tariff measures in goods, including agriculture, via convergence of technical regulations, standards and mutual recognition agreements, was also identified as a way to boost trade and growth.
  
  
  
• Speakers and participants underscored the importance of developing a broader agenda to increase competitiveness, appropriately tailored, to ensure that each economy benefits from integrating into global value chains.
  
  
  
• Participants underlined the need to deepen knowledge and understanding of the functioning, dynamics and policy implications of global-value chains, a rationale for developing knowledge sharing and capacity building mechanisms in this domain.
  
  
  
• Some participants emphasised that trade openness should also be addressed in the context of the G20 Framework for strong, sustainable and balanced growth, calling in particular for an ambitious structural reforms agenda.