Handbook on provisions and options for trade in times of crisis and pandemic

COVID-19 has brought significant disruption to international trade and supply chains. Countries have massively relied on ad-hoc, unilateral measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. While some of these measures were trade restrictive and others trade facilitating, their overall effectiveness has been undermined by lack of coordination. This has been the case despite the existence of the multilateral trade rules and many regional trade agreements (RTAs), which reminded us of the insufficiency of the existing trade provisions to provide protection and resilience under crisis circumstances.

In order to improve RTAs in ensuring more resilient, coordinated and predictable responses to future crises, ESCAP in collaboration with the other 4 UN Regional Economic Commissions, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) launched the Global Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic in Regional and Other Trade Agreements (IMP). This Handbook is the main outcome of the Initiative, including inputs of a wide range of experts from academia, government, international organisations, civil society, and the private sector.

This Handbook comprehensively covers all the major rules areas in RTAs, including Essential Goods and Services, Trade Facilitation, SPS and TBT Measures, Intellectual Property Rights, Digital Trade, Transparency, and Development. It identifies key issues in each area and explores options for provisions that could be used in future RTAs to provide sufficient guidance during future crises. The options for provisions include “baseline”, “baseline+”, and “discretionary” options, depending on the extent of obligations, protection, resilience and policy space provided by those provisions. This Handbook will help enhance the understanding of existing trade provisions and guide the design of more tailored provisions in the future.

Note: This Handbook is published without publication edits and it is a living document, we will continue working on updating it.

UN Course based on the Handbook: https://www.unescap.org/training/rta-ttcp

Moe information about the Initiative: Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic in Regional and other Trade Agreements | ESCAP (unescap.org)

COVID-19 has brought significant disruption to international trade and supply chains. Countries have massively relied on ad-hoc, unilateral measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. While some of these measures were trade restrictive and others trade facilitating, their overall effectiveness has been undermined by lack of coordination despite the existence of the multilateral trade rules and many regional trade agreements (RTAs). Accordingly, ESCAP in collaboration with UNCTAD and other UN Regional Economic Commissions, as well as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and experts from civil society and academia, launched the Global Initiative on Model Provisions for Trade in Times of Crisis and Pandemic in Regional and Other Trade Agreements (IMP). This Handbook is the main outcome of the Initiative.

This Handbook explores options for provisions that could be used in future RTAs to better guide how trade could be conducted during future crises. It covers all the major rules areas in RTAs, including Essential Goods and Services, Trade Facilitation, SPS and TBT Measures, Intellectual Property Rights, Digital Trade, Transparency, and Development. The options for provisions include “baseline”, “baseline+”, and “discretionary” options, depending on the extent of obligations, protection, resilience and policy space provided by those provisions. This Handbook aims at enhancing users’ understanding of existing provisions in RTAs and guiding them in designing more tailored provisions in the future, always keeping in mind the need for trade to contribute to inclusive and sustainable development.

UN Course based on the Handbook: https://www.unescap.org/training/rta-ttcp

More information about the Initiative is available HERE.