Governments should start planning a co-ordinated exit strategy that would eliminate actions and elements that have acted as "sand in the gears of international trade that may retard the global recovery", said top multilateral organisation leaders in a joint report for G20 leaders meeting in Pittsburgh later this month.

These restrictive trade elements included tariffs, nontariff barriers, subsidies and burdensome administrative procedures regarding imports, and have been applied by many countries in recent months, said the joint report from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development secretary general Angel Gurria, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development secretary general Supachai Panitchpakdi, and World Trade Organisation director general Pascal Lamy.

"We welcome the G20 governments' commitment to maintaining open trade and investment regimes and their ability to withstand domestic protectionist pressures. International rules for trade and investment agreements ... are a source of opportunity in times of economic growth and a restraining influence in times of difficulty. It is in this latter role that the rules are serving us particularly well right now," the leaders said.

They further said that trade rules and investment agreements have acted as a safety harness preventing the adoption of wide-scale protectionist policies.

They welcomed the commitment by governments to continue open trade and investment policies and pointed out that world leaders, particularly those in the G20, had a responsibility for ensuring that trade and international investment functioned as tools for economic recovery.

The global crisis is not over, and rising unemployment will undoubtedly spark further protectionist pressures in the years to come, they added.