The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Thursday warned of increasing trade restrictive measures which could undermine efforts to recover the global economy.

There is now a danger of "an incremental buildup of restrictions that could slowly strangle international trade and undercut the effectiveness of policies to boost aggregate demand and restore sustained growth globally," Pascal Lamy said in a report circulated to WTO members.

"There have been increases in tariffs, new non-tariff measures and more resort to trade defense measures such as anti-dumping actions," Lamy said.

But he said the danger of protectionism was still not so high as to cause a global trade war, which was the case in previous economic downturns.

In the 47-page report, Lamy said it was still not clear when the current economic crisis would bottom out, but it was essential to avoid an escalation of trade protectionism.

He said government stimulus packages would be helpful in the current crisis, but many measures, such as subsidies and government aids, could be harmful to imports.

"The main risk is that governments will continue to cede ground to protectionist pressures, even if only gradually, as long as the global economic situation continues to deteriorate," Lamy said.

"In that case, the negative impact on trade will mount as the number of new measures accumulates. This will worsen the contraction of world trade and undermine confidence in an early and sustained recovery in global economic activity," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2009)