The theme of this year's Report is "Trade policy commitments and contingency measures". The Report examines the range of contingency measures available in trade agreements and the role that these measures play. Also referred to as escape clauses or safety valves, these measures allow governments a certain degree of flexibility within their trade commitments and can be used to address circumstances that could not have been foreseen when a trade commitment was made. Contingency measures seek to strike a balance between commitments and flexibility. Too much flexibility may undermine the value of commitments, but too little may render the rules unsustainable. The tension between credible commitments and flexibility is often close to the surface during trade negotiations. For example, in the July 2008 mini-ministerial meeting, which sought to agree negotiating modalities — or a final blueprint — for agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA), the question of a "special safeguard mechanism" (the extent to which developing countries would be allowed to protect farmers from import surges) was crucial to the discussions.

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