Shipowners are calling on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to help maintain free and fair competition within the maritime sector to help the recovery from the pandemic.
The International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) urged the WTO to confront challenges facing the multilateral trading system at a meeting of ministers in Geneva this week.
The ICS warned that commitments by governments to long-established principles underpinning free trade were showing signs of strain even before the outbreak of Covid-19.
The economic crisis caused by the pandemic has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. In April, the WTO downgraded its projections for merchandise trade growth in 2022 from 4.7% to 3%.
WTO head Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also cited food and energy supply issues as further elements of a “polycrisis” that has hit the international trading system.
Trade ministers are meeting for the first time in five years to thrash out key issues facing the global economy.
The ICS released a 17-page document on Monday with 10 key demands for action to encourage collaboration between the WTO and the shipping industry.
The chamber warned that the economic impact of the pandemic led many governments to introduce emergency support, including subsidies and state-backed loans on favourable terms.
The report warned that the temporary measures should not be used to “promote other national policy objectives which may afford the recipients an unfair commercial advantage” or lead to market distortion.
“Care should also be taken to ensure that such measures are transparent and will be withdrawn or suspended as soon as practicable,” said the document, Shipping Policy Principles for Pandemic Recovery.
ICS secretary general Guy Platten said: “ICS and the WTO, as the facilitators of free trade throughout the world, are united on many issues, but none more so than our shared values and principles of open and unimpeded access to international markets.”
