Trade and Gender Review of Latin America

8. Policy recommendations

Abstract

Previous chapters in this Review have aimed to increase understanding about women’s engagement in trade and examined relevant trade policy settings in Latin America. Drawing on that analysis, this chapter suggests several policy actions to lower barriers to trade faced by women and thereby increase their likelihood of reaping the benefits from trade. These recommendations aim to suggest ways forward to further support women’s economic empowerment through trade in Latin America. They are viewed as a starting point to motivate policy reforms in the region, and may also contribute to ongoing discussions in international fora on trade and gender.

8.1. Making trade agreements more gender-responsive

Increasingly, trade agreements include gender-specific language and commitments to ensure trade supports women’s economic empowerment. Some Latin American countries, Chile in particular, have been at the forefront of this evolution. Some good examples exist of trade agreements that have incorporated increasingly more far-reaching, specific, targeted, and binding language in support of women’s empowerment through trade.

The recommendations below for trade negotiators and policymakers to consider for future trade agreements and modernisation of existing agreements are not “one-size-fits-all”. Hence some of them may be more suitable for some countries than for others. Some of these recommendations suggest more comprehensive implementation of existing trade agreements; others require negotiation of new agreements or modernization of existing agreements.

• One example of a far-reaching trade and gender chapter in a trade agreement is the Interim Agreement between the European Union and Chile where co-operation is wide-ranging, signatories seek to improve their relevant laws and domestic policies to promote equal rights, ambitious labour standards are promoted, and gender-differentiated data-gathering is supported. Moreover, the agreement outlines institutional arrangements to ensure the implementation and review of such commitments and applies the agreement's dispute settlement provisions to these gender-explicit commitments which make them binding and compulsory. This chapter could be used to inspire future trade agreements or modernisation of existing agreements.

• Co-operation in trade agreements in trade-related and domestic policy areas can help raise awareness and increase momentum for reforms that promote gender equality. Many trade and cooperation agreements include co-operation in diverse areas; one far-reaching agreement in this regard is GTAGA. Co-operation activities within trade agreements can be used to exchange experience regarding issues that are of great importance to increasing women’s empowerment in Latin America, including the prevailing climate of violence against women, tackling informality, and the limited representation of women in senior leadership positions and on boards, particularly in domestically headquartered firms. Areas for co-operation may be far outside trade policies since the context in which women workers and business leaders evolve is complex and multi-faceted.

• Reaffirmation of existing commitments as regards gender equality and women’s empowerment can be more fully implemented through greater monitoring or support for existing monitoring mechanisms within the institutional framework of the trade agreement. Such processes can be as simple as the exchange of best practices and information in respect of how countries have adhered to international instruments, or appointment of contact points to monitor compliance with the commitments that can initiate relevant actions to ensure their future compliance.

• Since women-led firms tend to be smaller than those led by men, provisions that promote and support MSMEs on international markets will positively impact them. Such provisions promote SMEs’ participation in global and regional value chains through business incubators, export assistance, access to capital and credit, promoting access to government procurement opportunities, and promote their participation in digital platforms. One provision in the USMCA eliminates local presence obligations for cross-border service providers, which clearly benefits women-led SMEs by removing the burden of opening a foreign subsidiary as a requirement for doing business for services providers, sectors where they are strongly represented.

• It was seen that in many countries a large share of economic activity takes place in the informal economy. Analysis in this Review suggests that firms in the informal economy are substantially less likely to export than formal firms. Trade may thereby create a strong incentive for firms to formalise and trade agreement modalities and communications could be complemented by policies that reduce existing burdens for firms to formalise. Such measures could be co-ordinated within some of the co-operation activities undertaken in the context of trade agreements.

• In order to ensure implementation of gender-related commitments, institutions and procedures to monitor and review their impact must be clearly spelled out and resourced. Comprehensive implementation includes four components: (i) institutions and procedures; (ii) resources for implementation; (iii) Monitoring and review; and (vi) ex ante impact assessments.

  • Institutions and procedures: Agreements should spell out which body of the trade agreement’s institutional structure is responsible for gender-related commitments (e.g. in the case of stand-alone gender chapters, co-operation agreements, and reaffirmation commitments), operational requirements and functions and procedures of the responsible body, timelines, objectives and milestones. One good example of such institutions and procedures is set out in the Interim Agreement on Trade between the European Union and the Republic of Chile.

  • Resources for implementation: To operationalise the gender-related commitments, funding arrangements that can finance gender-related activities should be envisaged. In the face of scarce resources, co-operation with private sector (e.g. programmes for women exporters financed by UPS) or leveraging the institutional strength and expertise of international organisations like ITC, WTO and UNCTAD can help build capacity.

  • Monitoring and review: agreements should set out timing and procedures for monitoring and reviewing of trade agreements’ differential impacts on women and men, and the implementation of relevant gender-related provisions. They should include clear indications on which entities are responsible for these exercises; and countries should ensure that they have access to the required data, expertise and other resources that are needed for carrying out such monitoring and review. Monitoring of the impacts of trade agreements requires substantial gender-differentiated data, an issue addressed in a recommendation below.

  • Ex ante impact assessments: Assessments should measure gender-differentiated impacts of market access in at least the main sectors that the negotiations cover, identifying sectors that could be of particular importance for women-led businesses or for women’s employment. The scope of the impact assessment could also include estimated price impacts of the trade agreement, which would shed further light on the agreement’s impacts on more vulnerable groups and those in lower income categories where women are disproportionately represented. Examples of ex ante impact assessments are Canada’s GBA+ and UNCTAD’s Trade and Gender Toolbox.1 The results of a gender-differentiated impact assessment that point to particular impacts on women could be used to inform negotiating strategies in order to pursue greater market access in areas where women work and lead businesses thereby helping to close gender gaps.

• With the exception of the EU-Chile agreement, most gender provisions are not subject to dispute settlement. Rather than excluding trade and women chapters and provisions from the application of dispute settlement chapters, future FTAs could introduce non-traditional enforcement procedures for such commitments to increase accountability such as through consultation and the appointment of panel of experts to closely assess compliance with the provisions and make recommendations accordingly.

8.2. Further market access considerations

Many women entrepreneurs, and small business leaders in general, aim to compete on international markets in a spirit of fair competition and level playing field conditions. Competing on international markets with firms that have received massive subsidies from their governments is the antithesis of fair competition, so supporting strong rules on subsidies would be beneficial to most women-led firms.2

Similarly, small or lean firms should not be in the position of competing with large digital firms that pay little tax in any jurisdiction. Some large firms pay almost no tax on their profits due to legal profit shifting tactics where they erode their tax base in higher-tax jurisdictions. This puts smaller firms that tend to operate out of a single headquarters at a disadvantage. It also erodes the tax base of governments around the world and diminishes the tax revenue that they can use to support public programmes, some of which benefit women particularly such as childcare and high-quality public transportation. All efforts to ensure that a minimum global tax is implemented as quickly and fully as possible should be strongly supported. The OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and its two-pillar solution to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalisation of the economy represented an historic, major reform of the international tax system. Reinvigorating the momentum that brought about that agreement is key to levelling the playing field for all firms, including those led by women.

To create a more enabling environment for women's participation in trade, particularly in digitally enabled services sectors where many women-led firms operate, the following recommendations are proposed.

• Reform regulations requiring local presence for cross-border services trade when not strictly necessary in order to lower barriers on foreign entry for key supporting services sectors in the economy such as professional services, ICT services and financial services among others. Many professional services can be provided remotely via digital means and removing these barriers can allow women-led small businesses to access better and cheaper services to grow their businesses.

• Enhance regulatory transparency by allowing sufficient time between publishing new laws and regulations, and their entry into force. Implement robust public consultation mechanisms that are easily accessible, including for smaller businesses led by women.

• Consider targeted public procurement policies to assist women-owned businesses in overcoming systemic barriers to accessing government contracts. These could include set-asides and capacity building initiatives that ensures they are able to access and respond to public procurement tenders.

• Establish clear e-commerce regulations and standardise regulations across the region to give certainty to businesses and to help small businesses understand and comply with the legal landscape when expanding their operations or entering new markets. Continue negotiating digital trade chapters in trade agreements and digital trade agreements with the aim to increase digital trade facilitation and provide enhanced trust for consumers. This could also include pursuing data flow regulation focused on balancing the trade-offs between protecting the privacy of personal data while ensuring the flow of data across international borders and not including unjustified location requirements.

A major impediment to women businesses’ expansion, including into international markets, is access to finance. Trade costs could be substantially lowered by reducing the gap between regulation in the commercial banking sector in the countries under review, and global best practice. This would reduce costs substantially in all countries under review. Other ways of closing finance gaps for women business leaders include promoting programmes that target women business leaders for extending loans. The International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Banking on Women Global Trade Finance Programme, for example, incentivises loans to women business leaders by partnering with banks in 75 countries. IFC extends credit to banks for their loans to women-led firms at a lower rate than for credit to other firms. Moreover, some commercial banks in Latin America like Santander, Scotiabank, and Banorte have programmes that target women business leaders, but they are not always well known. Some commercial banks, mostly headquartered in Europe, link ESG outcomes such as gender equality in firm leadership to the level of the interest rates they offer. This is one way to leverage finance to promote inclusivity, but seems to be less prevalent in the Americas. Such innovative business practice can also be associated with easing restrictions on foreign entry in the banking sector. Some innovative fintech solutions have been shown to be better tailored to women business leaders' needs. Although equal access to credit cannot be mandated, a regulatory framework that prohibits discrimination in access to credit on the basis of gender is a first step, and is currently missing in Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica (World Bank, 2023[1]).

A challenge expressed by some women entrepreneurs during the research phase of this Review was the high cost of logistics and transportation. Removing the barriers to trade in these services is one way to lower costs. Reducing barriers to trade in courier services, logistics and road transport would substantially reduce prices for firms to trade, which most affect SMEs where women-led firms are strongly represented. Countries may also consider streamlining business requirements and ensuring a more level playing field for entrants into these sectors that are well known to enable trade, both international and domestic.

Similarly, access to quick, reliable fixed broadband services at reasonable price is a necessity for small businesses and emerged from the OECD-World Bank-Facebook survey as a challenge specifically for women entrepreneurs in some countries. Trade costs in the sector are estimated to fall by up to 12% if countries’ regulatory gap with ‘global best practice’ is halved. Examples of starting points for potential reforms include efforts to improve the independence of the regulatory authority (e.g. in Chile), changes to public procurement procedures (e.g. in Brazil), and improvements to the procedure through which firms can provide comments on regulations (e.g. in Mexico).

It was seen that consumers in lower income quintiles, where women are disproportionately heads of household, benefit most from lower prices through trade. Lowering tariffs, especially in essential goods and those consumed by lower income households, would thereby benefit women most.

8.3. Support for gender-responsive policymaking in plurilateral contexts

All seven of the Latin American countries in this Review have now joined the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTAGA). This is a strong signal of the political impetus to promote women’s empowerment through trade for which they should be commended, and the momentum of the adherence to GTAGA of many Latin American countries should be seized. GTAGA is a formidable platform for discussion and capacity building to support gender equality in trade. Strong engagement in GTAGA should be prioritised, with associated resources. The GTAGA mandate for broad-ranging co-operation to further women’s economic empowerment, capacity building, full implementation of CEDAW and ILO Conventions that aim to eliminate discrimination in employment and occupation, improving women’s participation in the labour force and in leadership, financial inclusion, developing women’s networks and developing trade missions for businesswomen would all be substantial steps toward supporting women in trade. Collecting relevant data and undertaking gender-differentiated analysis of women in trade, strong components of GTAGA, will elucidate areas for prioritisation and will be necessary to track progress.

Moreover, many countries of Latin America have been strong participants in, and promoters of, the WTO Buenos Aires Declaration in 2017 and the WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender that was established in 2020. They could continue to support the work underway in the Informal Working Group, including by taking stronger leadership roles in topics that are most relevant to them. A proposal to include gender outcomes in the Trade Policy Review process has been put forward in the work of the group and may be one way to prioritise more gender-inclusive trade policymaking.

In 2024, work on women in trade was prioritised in plurilateral policymaking bodies by two countries examined in this Review. During its G20 Presidency, Brazil prioritised discussions on and with women business leaders to explore the challenges they face in trading and has compiled a compendium of policy responses to support women on their export journeys.3 Peru has prioritised inclusive trade during its 2024 APEC Presidency, and organised for the first time a joint meeting of Ministers responsible for Trade and Ministers of Women to “explore and adopt further measures to enhance women’s capacities to progress and to untap the economic potential of women” where Ministers issued a joint statement promoting collaboration and continued work in key actions to foster conducive environments for women’s integration into regional and global trade.4 This type of leadership should be commended and supported; such international leadership can serve as a basis for future objective-setting to build on the outcomes of these fora.

8.4. Trade facilitation

The seven Latin American economies rank well in their trade facilitation performance as compared to other regions. Some areas could nevertheless be further strengthened, particularly to respond to challenges faced by MSMEs and women-led businesses when engaging in international trade.

8.4.1. Enhanced transparency of trade-related procedures and consultations involving women traders

Trade facilitation processes could be made more gender-responsive by ensuring the participation of women traders in countries’ consultations and exporter programmes, and further adapting working methods to MSMEs. For instance, the export promotion programmes for women traders in the selected countries (e.g. in programmes such as Argentina’s Mujeres exportadoras, Chile’s Mujer exporta, Costa Rica’s Women Export, Mexico’s MujerExporta, Peru’s Ella Exporta) could expand their existing training on trade facilitation issues to additional modules including a wider range of topics, with direct involvement of customs administration experts and other relevant border agencies. These programmes could also include a more systematic assessment of the results of such trainings for women-led businesses, to better tailor them to the evolving needs and challenges faced by such businesses.

In addition, increasing involvement of associations representing women-led businesses and MSMEs through National Trade Facilitation Committees or other structures for regular consultations with the private sector can help identify any inefficiencies and coordination challenges faced in the interaction with customs or other border agencies when trading (including when using enquiry points, as well as challenges encountered at specific border posts,5 for specific products, or when trading with specific countries). Additional steps can be taken to use such coordinating bodies for addressing challenges that women traders might face in accessing logistics services. Several Latin American economies (such as Peru and Chile) have put in place Logistics Observatories, which could also incorporate and make accessible such information.

As regards consultations with traders, the countries under review could ensure that drafts of all new and adjusted trade-related regulations are systematically published prior to their entry into force, and that they explain in a fully transparent and comprehensive manner how public comments have been considered.

More information could also be made available to guide small businesses – including those that are women-led – on advance rulings systems in economies beyond those with which trade agreements are in place, which could help them access competitively priced inputs as well as reduce fixed costs of accessing new markets.6

In the area of transparency, the average time between publication and entry into force of trade-related regulations and of new fees and charges could be increased to allow traders, including women-led businesses, more time to adjust their operations. SMEs can require more time to respond to changes in regulations. Entrepreneurs in one country7 included in the Review mentioned the difficulty caused by changes in processes and information required for export invoicing8 which disrupted the smooth flow of their exports. Customs authorities could also consider publishing on their websites more comprehensive information on decisions and examples of customs classification, penalty provisions, as well as judicial decisions relating to appeal procedures to help guide businesses.

Assistance to help traders understand and comply with existing trade regulations can also incentivise MSMEs in the informal economy, including those led by women, to formalise their trade transactions. The incentive for firms to formalise is higher when support services for importing and exporting are more efficient whereby trading in the formal sector is easier and lower cost. Advertisement of such services among potential traders can support the ambition of a move toward greater formalisation. Trainings can help firms clarify that they have the potential to enjoy additional benefits by joining a culture of compliance.

The structured discussions with women traders in the countries in the region highlight that trust and confidence in officials at some border posts may be particularly low among some women traders. Improved interaction between traders and government agencies, through better public-private dialogue on trade-related regulations and enhanced integrity of border agencies, can increase trust and disincentivise informality. Businesses are likely to be more inclined to comply with trade-related regulations and fees if they sense that their views have been accounted by government authorities and if they perceive the latter as trustworthy. In addition, through enhanced interaction, government authorities are likely to better grasp the specific hurdles firms face and thus better target the necessary measures that need to be put in place to reduce the cost of trading formally.

Ensuring that hiring procedures at customs and other relevant border agencies produce a gender diverse workforce among border officials would be desirable. Corporate cultures in male-dominated professions may not favour trust among women clients of those services. Ensuring that border crossings are areas of transparency, with uniform application of processes and absence of corruption, can increase levels of trust.

8.4.2. Streamlining and automating border procedures

Areas where further efforts could strengthen trade facilitation performance and support women-led businesses both as exporters and importers are simplification of documents and streamlining of procedures, including through digital tools. These can provide women-led businesses and MSMEs with increased predictability of cross-border trade transactions undertaken.

Few MSMEs in the selected countries under review appear to be currently part of Authorised Operator (AO) programmes, in contrast to MSMEs’ roles in economic activity and trade in Latin America. In addition, existing AO systems do not capture gender-related characteristics of the companies covered by these programmes. To design strategies that could help increase the coverage of MSMEs and women-led businesses in AO programme, more information needs to be collected on the challenges encountered by such firms in meeting requirements to become an AO and when going through the certification process. Targeted outreach to MSMEs and women-led businesses would help firms address these challenges and collect information from their experiences, which can help authorities understand if and how AO compliance criteria ought to be targeted further to address challenges faced by MSMEs and women-led businesses. In addition, explicit strategies could be implemented among border agencies to harmonise the requirements for AOs, co-ordinate the certification, manage the follow-up, and co-ordinate the inspection of AOs.

Moreover, the selected LAC economies do not appear to compile at this stage gender-relevant indicators on the use by women traders of other trade facilitation tools such as pre-arrival processing or trade Single Windows. Without such indicators, it is difficult to better understand whether a low use of trade facilitation tools stems from a lack of awareness among businesses or specific challenges encountered when trying to use the different systems for export and import transactions. Ministries of Trade together with customs agencies in the respective LAC countries could consider involving associations of women-led businesses in the dissemination of existing trade facilitation programmes and tools as well as in consultations on planned trade facilitation reforms.

While most Latin American countries have reduced the number of documents required for exporting and importing, further efforts could be made to reduce the necessary time for traders in preparing such documents, including through an enhanced and efficient use of trade Single Windows. To reduce transaction times at the border, copies of trade-related documents could be accepted where another government agency holds the original of a document, which is not currently the case in all the countries covered in this Review.

8.4.3. Simplified trade regimes for low-value transactions

In addition to trade facilitation measures meant to expedite the release and clearance of goods in general, customs authorities could propose a simplified trade regime particularly aimed at low-value consignments (de minimis regimes9), which can represent an important share of informal cross-border trade at the same time as an increased opportunity to participate in cross-border digital trade. Currently, Colombia (at USD 200), Costa Rica (at USD 100), Mexico (at USD 50) and Peru (at USD 200) have de minimis regimes for customs duties in place. Brazil introduced as of 1 August 2023 a customs duty de minimis regime of USD 50, which applies only to B2C shipments from/to companies certified under the Remessa Conforme programme;10 the de minimis regime also provides prioritised customs clearance, and a reduced selection rate for customs inspection. Chile has a customs duty de minimis threshold of USD 40, which applies to personal shipments only. Argentina does not have a de minimis regime in place (Global Express Association, 2023[2]).

De minimis procedures could allow consignments valued below a specific threshold to also benefit from simplified documentary requirements as well as lower trade-related fees and charges for transactions under a certain value or could suppress these fees and charges altogether if no duty is collected on the transaction. This can be particularly important for women-led businesses that tend to trade in low-value goods consignments at a high frequency.

For the private sector, different de minimis and VAT/GST obligations across different jurisdictions can present challenges for firms engaging in cross-border parcels trade. These relate to uncertainties about applicable VAT/GST rates for specific goods headed to particular jurisdictions, and to different requirements for invoicing, registration, record keeping, or reporting obligations. As highlighted above, these thresholds continue to vary widely, including across different types of consignments and countries. Applying different regimes can also increase the costs of collection for customs and other border agencies (López González and Sorescu, 2019[3]).

Additional and user-friendly information could be made available on specific processes covered in trade agreements regarding small parcels (e.g. de minimis, specific customs declaration and clearance procedures). Beyond existing trade agreements, more information on taxes and border procedures applied in other markets when exporting small parcels, as well as on how to import small parcels to the selected countries, could be centralised and provided on customs websites or other relevant export promotion platforms.

8.4.4. Enhanced border agency co-operation

The seven countries could use the frameworks of the various regional platforms and co-operation fora they are part of (e.g. Pacific Alliance, APEC, SIECA, Mercosur) to further enhance mechanisms for cross-border agency co-operation. Further improvements could build on the progress made in the region in terms of cross-border risk management co-operation and could focus on aligning data requirements with trading partners’ Single Windows and legal frameworks allowing for the sharing of trade transactions-related data. More generally, data content and structure and interoperability aspects are by far the most challenging in terms of improving the operation of trade Single Windows.

Enhanced border agency co-operation and improved infrastructure at land border posts can also help address informal trade. Improved co-operations mechanisms between agencies responsible for border management and streamlined processes in day-to-day operations can make trade less cumbersome and create the incentives for informal traders to formalise their operations. The countries under review can also consider specific facilities at land border posts such as help and monitoring desk for women traders, as well as discounted fees for warehousing and storage facilities for small traders, including women-led businesses.

8.5. Trade promotion agencies and professional networks

Export promotion agencies and business networks can fill the information gap that was underlined by women business leaders regarding foreign markets and export procedures (Section 4). In some countries, such agencies are active: trade promotion agencies Procomer in Costa Rica, Procolombia in Colombia and PromPerú in Peru are some examples. In 2020, Procomer won a World Trade Promotion Organisation (WTPO) award from the International Trade Centre for its sustainability initiatives and in 2024 Brazil’s ApexBrasil won WTPO’s best initiative award. On the other hand, Promexico, Mexico’s export promotion agency, was disbanded in 2019. Although Promexico’s functions were in principle outsourced to different government agencies, it is unclear which ones manage which functions.

In some countries, strong business networks exist. Members of ANDI in Colombia, for example, account for over half of Colombian sales. In some countries, however, business networks are fragmented and women’s business networks are particularly isolated. Women report that they get limited benefits from business networks in some Latin American countries. Some networks remain relatively closed to women business leaders, and women chairs of Chambers of commerce and other networks are still quite rare, especially outside urban centres. While not strictly within the purview of government, greater gender balance could be encouraged when including business representatives in public facing events and when receiving delegations.

Strong trade promotion agencies can be an important source of information for women-led firms that have less access to informal information networks, and generally have fewer resources to devote to information-gathering about new markets, in part due to time constraints. Some trade promotion agencies have established targets to ensure their services are offered to, and taken up by, women business leaders. In some cases, this may mean engaging in non-traditional export sectors, or with smaller size firms, or firms that export a smaller number of goods and services. Some of the export sectors where women-led firms have expressed the need for more support are food, health-related products and cosmetics. Catering to women-led firms may also mean communicating about export promotion agency services in networks where women business leaders are found, and creating networks of women exporters.11 A first step toward more inclusive trade promotion is to monitor and report on the number of women business leaders and men business leaders that use trade promotion services.

Women-led firms have been shown to benefit particularly from engagement on digital platforms. Ensuring they have the training and tools that they need to engage on such platforms could be an objective of trade promotion agencies or small business development associations. Some programmes do this already, like Mujer Produce in Perú. A first step to engaging in digital trade, however, is a fast and reliable internet connection, preferably fixed broadband. In countries where that is not available at affordable cost, including outside urban centres, providing such services could be prioritised.

Finally, trade missions that are organised by export promotion agencies could ensure a gender balance. Trade missions organised in conjunction with embassies in target markets, potentially including participation in trade shows, can increase information gathering, contacts, and market knowledge for their participants. In the first instance, monitoring the gender balance of such trade missions can inform as to their inclusiveness.

8.6. Data gaps

Evidence-based policymaking can only be undertaken with robust, comprehensive data. Data on employment and on business characteristics needs to be combined with trade data to give a comprehensive picture of women’s engagement in trade. This can only be done at the national level. In many countries, this data exists: the challenge is combining different data sources. This exercise has been undertaken in Brazil very recently.

Other types of data that contribute to understanding women’s potential to engage in trade, and how trade impacts them, are wide-ranging. Better understanding the impact of trade through the price channel on different types of households requires harmonised household expenditure surveys in internationally recognised classifications. Women’s access to credit and resources determines their ability to grow their businesses and engage in paid productive activity so available data on loan applications and loans extended is a cornerstone of better understanding the challenges they face. Comprehensive, recent data on unpaid work and on women’s participation on corporate boards and in senior positions can shed light on the barriers to women’s advancement, including barriers to future entrepreneurship.

Some data could be collected through programmes and policies that aim to close gender gaps. For example, one way to support closing gender wage gaps is to promote pay transparency where firms are obliged to report their pay structures by gender at all levels of the firm. This information can be used to measure progress on closing those gaps. Similarly, reporting requirements for women on boards and in senior leadership can inform as to progress in breaking the “glass ceiling”. Many trade promotion agencies collect data through their programmes to support women entrepreneurs, both through surveys of their members, and feedback from programmes that women exporters attend.

The OECD is undertaking an exercise of examining existing data gaps in women’s engagement in trade, and the gaps that policymakers face in undertaking evidence-based gender-responsive trade policies. That exercise should suggest areas of further focus to collect new ̶ and combine existing ̶ sources of relevant data.

8.7. Domestic policies

In some countries, legislation does not adequately protect women and legislative reforms could be envisaged. In Argentina and Colombia, there are no civil or criminal penalties for sexual harassment in the workplace (World Bank, 2023[1]). Sexual harassment is common in some countries, and perhaps more prevalent in those where sexual harassment legislation is not enforced. Moreover, even when legislation is in place, it is sometimes not implemented sufficiently. Although there is appropriate legislation in place for some years regarding sexual harassment in Mexico, for example, there have been numerous cases of women who have reported such abuse losing their jobs. In some countries and particularly in more vulnerable jobs, women have been asked to take a pregnancy test before securing a position. Although these requirements may be forbidden, the business climate may be such that they are accepted either due to incomplete implementation of legislation, low penalties for non-compliance, or accepted behaviours that are in contrast to existing regulations.

Gender gaps persist in many areas, including high gender wage gaps. In some countries under review (Chile, Colombia and Mexico) there is no explicit law in place that mandates equal pay for equal work (World Bank, 2023[1]). Greater pay transparency at the firm level, and at all levels of firm hierarchy, can help tackle gender wage gaps (OECD, 2023[4]). However, reporting gender pay gaps only tackles the issue of wage discrimination in formal firms. Some of the largest gender pay gaps in many middle-income countries are at among lower wage workers, many of whom work in the informal economy.

In some countries under review, the informal economy accounts for close to half of productive activity. This activity is subject to little oversight and is untaxed and unregulated. It is therefore not surprising that some legislation is imperfectly implemented. Tackling informality is a complex undertaking. It requires clear and transparent legislation and regulatory environment, as well as streamlined legislation that incentivizes citizens and businesses to comply. Many policies to counter informal activity are punitive — fines for unpaid taxes and unregistered business activity for example. The benefits of trade can be a positive incentive for firms to formalise since firms that trade need to prove their formal existence when engaging with border authorities and are more likely to need to access the benefits accessible only to formal firms such as obtaining credit.

One area where gender gaps persist particularly strongly in Latin America is in unpaid work. Changing the gender balance in responsibility for unpaid work requires a long-term commitment. One clear area where the amount of unpaid work can be reduced is through publicly provided, affordable childcare to families where both parents choose to pursue employment.

More generally, typical working hours in many Latin American countries are long. In some, the six-day work week is still common practice, making achieving work/life balance and raising children more challenging. This affects women more given their greater unpaid work responsibilities.

Establishing targets for women on boards has been shown in some countries to increase the number of women in senior positions. A first step toward greater Board transparency is requiring firms to report the gender balance on their Boards. This seems to have had a positive effect on inclusion of women on Boards in Mexico.

Globally, gender-based violence affects one in three women during her lifetime. A staggering 38% of women who are murdered are killed by a male intimate partner. Rates of gender-based violence are among the highest in some Latin American countries. In 2023, Latin America and the Caribbean recorded 3 877 femicides — 1463 of which took place in Brazil.12 In Mexico, on average ten women die every day as a result of femicide and gender-based violence has increased substantially in the last decade, even compared with other types of violence. High levels of domestic violence and of violence more generally increases anxiety, particularly among women, increases potential for psychological scarring and can negatively impact their confidence and their ability to take the risks necessary to succeed in the professional sphere. Hence, the challenges posed by violence are closely related to the economic empowerment of women and their ability to access economic opportunities. Many countries under review have been addressing the high rates of gender-based violence through appropriate legislation. Monitoring and collection of information related to incidences of gender-based violence is key to better understanding and countering such violence. Sharing information on good practice could be envisaged in the context of trade agreements or co-operation agreements such as GTAGA, in addition to prioritising actions against gender-based violence at the national and sub-national levels.

References

[2] Global Express Association (2023), De minimis Thresholds, https://global-express.org/index.php?id=271&act=101&profile_id=-1&countries%5B%5D=-2&search_terms=&question-filter=&qid_34=1&qid_34_optid=1&qid_35=1&qid_36=1&qid_92=1.

[5] López González, J. and S. Sorescu (2021), “Trade in the time of parcels”, OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 249, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0faac348-en.

[3] López González, J. and S. Sorescu (2019), “Helping SMEs internationalise through trade facilitation”, OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 229, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/2050e6b0-en.

[6] Moïsé, E. and S. Rubínová (2021), “Sustainability impact assessments of free trade agreements: A critical review”, OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 255, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/65b1a07e-en.

[4] OECD (2023), Reporting Gender Pay Gaps in OECD Countries: Guidance for Pay Transparency Implementation, Monitoring and Reform, Gender Equality at Work, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ea13aa68-en.

[1] World Bank (2023), Women, Business and the Law, World Bank, https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1944-5.

Notes

← 1.  A review of ex ante impact assessment methodologies, including as regards gender-specific commitments, can be found in Moïsé and Rubínová (2021[6]).

← 2.  Not all of the recommendations in this section are within the purview of the seven Latin American countries covered in this Review. However, in supporting multi-lateral or plurilateral policy action in these areas, they and others advance policy action on creating a level playing field for women and MSMEs in trade.

← 3.  See https://www.gov.br/mdic/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/publicacoes/documentos-da-reuniao-ministerial-de-comercio-e-investimentos/ingles/g20-compendium-of-good-practices-to-increase-the-participation-of-women-in-international-trade.pdf.

← 4.  APEC, Priorities for APEC Peru 2024 – Policy and Discussion Papers, 2023/ISOM/004; and https://www.apec.org/meeting-papers/sectoral-ministerial-meetings/trade/joint-statement-of-apec-ministers-responsible-for-women-and-ministers-responsible-for-trade.

← 5.  Specific contact points at selected border posts could be considered.

← 6.  Advance rulings can reduce disputes at the actual moment of release or clearance with the customs authority on tariff headings, valuation, and origin (i.e. eligibility to preferential treatment) and consequently delays are avoided.

← 7.  Structured discussions of the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs were held in a series of round tables in Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Peru between July 2023 and May 2024.

← 8.  The import/export invoicing process requires creating a commercial invoice with details of the goods, their value, buyer/seller details, payment terms, and methods. This invoice helps with customs clearance, duty, and tax determination, and can vary based on the country and type of goods being shipped.

← 9.  De minimis concerns thresholds below which either import duties and/or VAT do not apply or for which customs procedures, including data requirements, are simplified (López González and Sorescu, 2021[5]).

← 10.  The Programa Remessa Conforme (PRC) is a new voluntary compliance programme open to national and foreign companies using e-commerce platforms, websites, or digital tools to sell their products. The criteria to participate in the programme encompass a spectrum of issues, ranging from basic regulatory compliance to a firm commitment to anti-smuggling efforts and the monitoring of registered sellers.

← 11.  New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), New Zealand’s trade promotion agency, has recently overhauled its programmes to ensure greater inclusivity, a model that could inspire progress in similar agencies (Box 3.5 in OECD SME and Entrepreneurship Outlook 2023).

← 12.  ECLAC, Gender Equality Observatory, https://repositorio.cepal.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/69e978aa-ff89-4afb-afbb-e5d39904b9b1/content.