In a new report, "Implementing the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing and Least-Developed Country Members," the World Trade Organization lays out a summary of the agreement, what it means for developing countries, and efforts taken to provide development finance to the fisheries sector in developing member countries.

South Africa requested World Trade Organization dispute consultations with the EU over certain import restrictions imposed by the EU on South African citrus fruit, the WTO said. The EU measures are phytosanitary requirements concerning oranges and other citrus products related to the Thaumatotibia leucotreta pest, known as the false codling moth. In its consultation, South Africa claimed the EU measures are inconsistent with various parts of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994. South Africa characterized the changes as "abrupt and radical," in that they now require cold treatment processes and precooling steps for specific periods for the citrus before it is imported.

Angela Ellard, a deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, called on WTO member governments to deposit instruments of acceptance with the multilateral trade organization to help the recently negotiated fishery subsidies agreement enter into force. Speaking at a virtual Washington International Trade Association event July 28, Ellard laid out the path ahead for the full adoption of the fisheries agreement while reflecting on steps the WTO looks to take on helping countries fully implement the obligations tied into the agreement. The DDG also spoke of a fund provided for in the agreement which will help less developed countries with the notification and transparency elements of the deal.

Tunisia on July 19 kicked off a safeguard investigation on iron or non-alloy steel wires for the manufacture of furniture springs, the World Trade Organization announced July 21. Tunisia notified the WTO's Committee on Safeguards of its investigation. Interested parties can submit their views on the conduct of the investigation to Tunisia's Trade Ministry within 45 days from the publication of the notice of initiation in the Official Journal of the Republic of Tunisia.

Arbitrators at the World Trade Organization affirmed a WTO dispute panel ruling in a case brought by the EU over certain measures by Turkey concerning the production, importation and marketing of pharmaceutical products. The arbitrators said that Turkey should bring their measures into conformity with WTO obligations. In particular, the arbitrators confirmed the panel's ruling which said that Turkey's localization measure discriminates against foreign pharmaceutical products since it is not a form of government procurement and is not meant to achieve public health objectives nor compliance with laws requiring Turkey to ensure effective and accessible sustainable healthcare for its citizens.

The World Trade Organization launched an "improved version" of the alert system ePing, which provides a single-entry point for users to track and submit information on product requirements while boosting coordination among government agencies and private business. The platform allows for the tracking of sanitary and phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade measures, allowing users to follow changes in product requirements, the WTO said. Businesses can use it to track a specific sector through filtering operations, offering various communication features to share information.

A World Trade Organization arbitrator determined the methodology Canada can use to set the level of retaliatory measures it can impose on goods imported from the U.S. if the U.S. applies countervailing duties on Canadian goods based on a measure found to be inconsistent with WTO rules. In the July 13 decision, the arbitrator said Canada would set the appropriate level of nullification or impairment in the future "based on the four-variety Armington model," which was recommended by the U.S. and can quantify the trade decline experienced by Canada through a particular use of the U.S.'s adverse facts available measures in CVD proceedings.

The World Trade Organization published the agenda for the July 21 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, which includes U.S. status reports on the implementation of recommendations adopted by the DSB on antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. A status report also is expected from Indonesia on measures relating to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products, and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products.

Members of the World Trade Organization agreed at a July 7 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body to grant the U.S. and South Korea more time to talk over a possible settlement to the dispute over the U.S. safeguard measure on large residential washers, the WTO reported in an email. South Korea launched the dispute, and a dispute settlement panel in the proceeding issued its report in February, finding the U.S. violated numerous WTO commitments in enacting the safeguard. South Korea and the U.S. jointly requested the DSB adopt the panel's findings by Oct. 5 unless the DSB decides not to do so or either country tells the DSB of its decision to appeal the ruling -- though this would be futile, given the Appellate Body's lack of members. The DSB agreed to accept the joint request, the second of its kind. The next DSB meeting will be held July 21.

The World Trade Organization launched a Trade Connectivity Heatmap to provide a broad overview of the trade relationships between various economies across product categories, the WTO announced June 24. The map uses bilateral trade flow data from over 180 economies aggregated into around 70 product types to allow users to zero in on data for bilateral product-by-product relationships. The map allows for the organization of data based on four indicators: imports from a selected economy as a share of other economies' total imports in a chosen product category, exports meant for the selected economy as a share of other economies' total exports, the selected economy's imports originating from other economies as a share of the selected country's imports in the selected product category, and a selected country's exports meant for other economies as a share of the selected country's exports in the chosen product category.