P166 short courses on key international economic and development issues for Geneva-based delegates

Market access in times of geopolitical tensions

Is trade, as an enabler for sustainable development, at risk? Unilateral policy measures and uncertainty regarding the rules based multilateral trading system have a potential impact on the ability for developing countries to use trade for sustainable development. This session recalls how important trade and market access in particular have been for recent development success stories and provides an overview of trade policy measures that have recently been used and that may prevent such development success stories in future. The focus is on tariffs and non-tariff barriers and measures, as well as voluntary standards, which form the major parts of market access.

At the end of this course, delegates will have gained knowledge of:

• What is at stake for sustainable development and the Sustainable Development Goals in the current period with increased use of nationalistic trade policies.
• Trade policy instruments mostly related to market access, their current use and concrete and systemic implications.

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