G20 broadly holding line on protectionism: WTO

The G20 major rich and emerging countries have been broadly successful in holding protectionist pressures in check in recent months but must remain vigilant, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said on Monday.                                           

"Most G20 members continue to manage successfully the political process of keeping domestic protectionist pressures under control, despite a difficult environment for some of them where employment levels and new job opportunities are shrinking," it said in a report, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.

World trade growth appears to have resumed, with a strong recovery in the Asia-Pacific region in the past few months, after world trade volumes fell by about 12% in 2009, taking it back to 2006 levels, it said in the report, prepared with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.