The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 25 April 2025, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document officially called an “airgram”.

25 April 2025

The WTO-ITC Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund launched on 22 April its first call for applications for funding and technical support. Women-led businesses in the Dominican Republic, Mongolia and Nigeria are invited to apply for support aimed at boosting their digital and export capabilities. An application period for Jordan will follow shortly.

22 April 2025

The government of France has provided a second instalment of CHF 1.7 million (approximately EUR 1.9 million) to support technical assistance and capacity-building programmes for developing economies and least-developed countries (LDCs).

22 April 2025

The WTO Secretariat’s latest Global Trade Outlook and Statistics report, issued today (16 April), comes at a time of growing uncertainty for the global economy — and with it, a sharp deterioration in the prospects for world trade.

16 April 2025

At a meeting on the Work Programme on E-commerce on 16 April 2025, WTO members discussed the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies on digital trade and their impact on trade policies and development prospects.

16 April 2025

•  Under current conditions, the volume of world merchandise trade is likely to fall by 0.2% in 2025. The decline is expected to be particularly steep in North America, where exports are forecasted to drop by 12.6%.
•  However, severe downside risks exist, including the application of “reciprocal” tariffs and broader spillover of policy uncertainty, which could lead to an even sharper decline of 1.5% in global goods trade and hurt export-oriented least-developed countries.
•  The report contains for the first time a forecast for services trade to complement its projections for merchandise trade. The volume of services trade is forecasted to grow by 4.0% in 2025, around 1 percentage point less than expected.

16 April 2025

The third review of the trade policies and practices of Sierra Leone takes place on 15 and 17 April 2025. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Sierra Leone.

15 April 2025

On 11 April, WTO members confirmed the appointment of Ambassador Adamu Mohammed Abdulhamid of Nigeria as the new Chair of the Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services (CTS SS), the negotiating arm of the Council. Ambassador Abdulhamid will lead members in advancing negotiations aimed at achieving a progressively higher level of liberalization, as reflected in members’ specific commitments under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), which forms an integral part of the WTO’s founding document, the Marrakesh Agreement.

11 April 2025

At a meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) on 9-10 April, WTO members addressed more than 30 trade concerns touching on a wide range of trade measures and economic sectors, including recent tariff actions being discussed at the WTO for the first time. Members also exchanged views on the CTG’s future work and elected Mr Gustavo Nerio Lunazzi of Argentina as CTG Chair for the upcoming work year.

11 April 2025

A week-long training course on trade in services and the services-related aspects of WTO accessions concluded on 11 April in Geneva, with 28 officials from 12 acceding governments participating. Delivered in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC), the course aimed to help participants increase their understanding of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and engage effectively in services negotiations as part of the WTO accession process.

11 April 2025