The World Trade Organization published two information notes Oct. 8, with one relating to COVID-19 vaccine production and tariffs on vaccine inputs, the other on trade-related bottlenecks on critical products to fight COVID-19. The first report, based on the Joint Indicative List of Critical COVID-19 Vaccine Inputs for Consultation, looks into the most favored nation tariffs and imports of these goods by the top 27 vaccine manufacturing countries to identify any chokepoints. The report found that critical product tariffs remain high, especially in certain developing companies, the WTO said.

The World Trade Organization released a new online tool for tracking changes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) -- the system used to classify traded goods, the WTO said. The HS Tracker was developed with the World Customs Organization and is meant to aid customs officials and traders in preparing for HS amendments set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.

The World Trade Organization launched a database that establishes an interactive platform to research information relating to the dispute settlement process under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947. The database is based on a WTO report on GATT disputes during 1948-95, that was published in 2018. The database provides access to the main documents in GATT disputes, including consultation requests, adjudicators, disputing parties and claims and defenses. The resources section gives access to different GATT dispute settlement procedures, which have evolved over time. A one-page summary has key dates, documents and other information relating to each GATT dispute, the WTO said.

Discussions over the Bali tariff rate quota underfill mechanism were suspended at the World Trade Organization Committee on Agriculture's Sept. 23-24 meeting, the WTO said. The underfill mechanism refers to cases where the fill rate of a TRQ in a given year is below 65% or the fill rate is not notified, as formulated during the 2017-19 review of the implementation of the Bali TRQ decision, WTO said. One key outstanding issue in paragraph four is how to get to closure on an underfill for a developing importing member that does not achieve the required increase in the fill rate in the final stage of the mechanism, the WTO said. Talks over how to resolve this issue were suspended, with some members requesting more time for discussion.

The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body established a panel to address Japan's concerns over China's antidumping duties on stainless steel products, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Sept. 28. Japan requested the panel in August. China's antidumping duties began in July 2019 on stainless steel goods from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the European Union. Japan said the duties violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement) “due to flaws in the Chinese authorities' determination and its investigation procedures.”

The World Trade Organization circulated the agenda for the Sept. 27 meeting of the dispute settlement body, which includes a briefing on the implementation status of the dispute resolutions for the U.S.'s antidumping duties on hot-rolled steel products from Japan, Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act, the U.S.'s antidumping and countervailing duties on large residential washers from South Korea, and certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China. The DSB will also hear about the U.S.'s Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000, and will receive a statement from the U.S. about the European Union's measures affecting trade in large civil aircraft. China will also issue a statement regarding the panel report in the dispute over the U.S.'s safeguard measures on solar panel imports.

China will appeal a World Trade Organization panel ruling that U.S. safeguard measures on solar panels imposed by President Donald Trump in 2018 are legal under international trade law (see 2109020041), per a notice WTO circulated, at China's request, Sept. 20. “China regrets that currently no division of the Appellate Body can be established to hear this appeal,” the notice said. “In this exceptional circumstance, and in the interests of fairness and orderly procedure in the conduct of the appeal, China will await further instructions from the division, when it may eventually be composed, or the Appellate Body, regarding any further steps to be taken by China in this appeal.”

Members of the World Trade Organization Information Technology Agreement should expand the ITA’s list of covered products to include more than 250 additional information and communications technology goods, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said in a September report. The foundation said this new and third expansion of the ITA -- called the “ITA-3” -- would eliminate tariffs on a range of evolving ICT goods and “generate tangible economic growth” for major trading nations, including the U.S., China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and others.

The World Trade Organization and the World Intellectual Property Organization launched a new book, "Competition Policy and Intellectual Property in Today's Global Economy," on Sept. 16, the WTO said. The book peers into "the positive linkage between intellectual property (IP) and competition in jurisdictions around the world, surveying developments and policy issues from an international and comparative perspective," the press release said. Chapters of the book, written by a variety of experts, include discussions on enforcement of competition law, standards-setting organizations and the application of competition policy with a particular focus on the WTO.

Global exports of intermediate goods rose by 20% from the first quarter of 2021, the World Trade Organization said in a new quarterly report released Sept. 2. The large uptick in IG exports marks a rebound from when the mark dropped precipitously in the second quarter of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. China was identified as the largest driver of the surge, noting a 41% uptick in Chinese IG exports mainly for information communication technology equipment and photovoltaic cells, the report said. “The most resilient supply chains in the first quarter were for ores, precious stones and rare earths, with exports increasing by 43 per cent in the first quarter, and for food and beverages (up 22 per cent),” the report said. “In contrast, exports of transport parts and accessories posted the weakest recovery at 6 per cent following steep declines in 2020 as the pandemic affected both demand for and production of automotives.”