Los jefes de la CCI y de la OMC instan al diálogo con las empresas para fundamentar la respuesta a las repercusiones de la COVID-19 en el comercio

El Director General de la OMC, Roberto Azevêdo, y el Secretario General de la Cámara de Comercio Internacional, John Denton, emitieron una declaración conjunta el 2 de abril en la que instaron a un mayor diálogo con las empresas para maximizar la eficacia de las políticas públicas destinadas a mitigar los daños económicos provocados por la pandemia de la COVID-19, en particular en lo que se refiere al comercio.

Nos preocupan las graves perturbaciones que están sufriendo las cadenas de valor en muchos sectores, con importantes consecuencias para el empleo y el suministro de mercancías, en particular los suministros médicos esenciales y de alimentos”, afirmaron en la declaración del 2 de abril. “Las empresas pueden desempeñar un papel fundamental señalando de qué manera las corrientes comerciales y las cadenas de producción se ven afectadas, lo que contribuirá a identificar soluciones que aumenten al máximo los resultados en materia de salud y reduzcan al mínimo los daños económicos”.

“Cada vez es más evidente que la desaceleración económica provocada por la pandemia requerirá una reconstrucción significativa de las políticas nacionales y de la cooperación internacional”, dijeron. “Por lo tanto, deben continuar los esfuerzos en curso para mejorar y fortalecer el sistema de comercio mundial, incluida la OMC”.

Los dos dirigentes acogieron con satisfacción los esfuerzos de los Gobiernos por “mitigar las repercusiones de la pandemia en el empleo y el crecimiento y sentar las bases para una recuperación sólida e inclusiva”. Dijeron que, con el fin de generar “recomendaciones constructivas para los Gobiernos sobre las medidas de política comercial que pueden aplicarse fácilmente para acelerar la respuesta a la pandemia de COVID-19 a corto y medio plazo”, la CCI celebraría una “mesa redonda empresarial virtual” organizada con sus asociados, así como con el apoyo de la OMC.

Texto:

Heads of ICC1 and WTO call for increased action on trade to ensure an effective response to COVID-19 pandemic and announce virtual business roundtable to provide concrete advice to governments. We are profoundly saddened by the suffering and loss of life the COVID-19 pandemic is causing around the world. This health crisis is also becoming a social and economic crisis, and we support governments’ efforts to mitigate the pandemic’s effects on jobs and growth, and lay the foundations for a strong and inclusive recovery. G20 leaders have clearly recognised the need for the international community to step up global cooperation in response to this crisis. The business community is—and will continue to be—an important partner in this response. Trade and trade rules have a crucial role to play in both the health and economic response to the crisis. We welcome the G20’s endorsement of this view, including their assertion that any pandemic-related trade measures should be “targeted, proportionate, transparent, and temporary.” We also underscore the importance of “actively working to ensure the flow of vital medical supplies, critical agricultural products, and other goods and services across borders,” as well as the G20’s broader commitment to “minimise disruptions to trade and global supply chains”. We deeply share the G20’s concern about the impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable, including developing and least developed countries, and on workers and businesses, including micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). We are concerned about the severe disruptions to value chains in many sectors—with major implications for employment and the supply of goods, especially essential medical and food supplies. Bold and urgent leadership is required to keep trade moving and to secure jobs. Now is the time for concrete measures to respond to the economic dimensions of the pandemics. Business can play a key role in signalling where trade flows and production chains are being affected, helping to identify solutions that maximize health outcomes while minimising economic damage. It is increasingly clear that the economic downturn caused by the pandemic will necessitate a significant rebuild of domestic policies—and of international cooperation. In this time of uncertainty, leadership requires not only responding to the crisis at hand but providing a clear vision for the future. On-going efforts to improve and strengthen the global trading system, including the WTO, must therefore continue. With a view to providing additional concrete business recommendations to governments, ICC will work with its partners, supported by the WTO, to host an extraordinary virtual business roundtable. This virtual session will look to provide constructive recommendations to governments on trade policy measures that can be readily deployed to speed the response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the immediate and mid-term. 1 The International Chamber of Commerce is the institutional representative of over 45 million businesses. ICC’s recommendations on trade policy and post-pandemic rebuilding were sent to governments and international agencie.