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Law360 (April 24, 2020, 7:42 PM EDT) -- Despite the rise in export restrictions on essential items to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries aren't notifying the World Trade Organization of those restrictions, making it harder to procure supplies, the WTO reported Thursday.
Eighty countries and customs territories have imposed some form of restriction on items such as face masks, ventilators, gloves and hand sanitizer, according to the WTO's report. But the Geneva-based trade body added that just 13 governments have formally notified the WTO of those actions.
"Economic operators and members are having to cope with a high degree of uncertainty, as it remains unclear what measures have been adopted by which countries, and new measures are being introduced regularly," the WTO said.
This gap in reporting makes it difficult to know where to procure supplies and it could have long-term effects, including spreading the pandemic.
"Given its global nature, if some countries are not able to combat the disease, this coronavirus, or mutated strains of it, will inevitably recirculate and contaminate the populations of all countries, including those imposing the export restrictions," the WTO said.
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo has emphasized the need for transparency and "urged members to exercise maximal restraint in the use of export restrictions and other measures that could disrupt supply chains," the WTO said.
Azevêdo told WTO members that they need to post any restrictions on the relevant national websites and notify the WTO as soon as possible after making changes to exports that include essential items that are critical during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That includes stating how long the restrictions will be in effect and which items they apply to, "which would allow other members and economic operators to become acquainted with the scope of the new measures," the WTO said.
When it comes to placing export restrictions on food, members are required to notify the Committee on Agriculture and take into account the effects on other WTO members, the organization said. Only three countries so far notified the WTO that they were placing export restrictions on food.
The impacts of trade restrictions also mean that countries may turn to domestic production to meet the needs for essential supplies, which would be more costly, and domestic producers likely wouldn't be able to produce supplies fast enough to meet the demand, the WTO said.
In March, G-20 leaders who pledged to keep trade channels open said that any "emergency" steps taken to restrict trade should be "targeted, proportionate, transparent and temporary."
However, despite challenges to the restrictions, and pledges to halt them, there may be long-lasting effects on international trade. The WTO predicted earlier this month that global trade could drop as much as 32% as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, creating the greatest dip in international commerce since World War II.
--Additional reporting by Sarah Martinson and Alex Lawson. Editing by Haylee Pearl.
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