The number of restrictive trade measures taken by G20 economies increased over the past six months, a new monitoring report for the period from October 2010 to April 2011 has highlighted.

New restrictions on imports introduced by the economies over the review period covered around 0,6% of total G20 imports, up on the 0,3% reported for the previous six months.

Export restrictions were also imposed mainly on food products and some minerals. These measures included export taxes and quotas designed to secure domestic supply and address resource depletion.

But the report by the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad) also says that G20 countries had mostly honoured their pledge to keep international investment open.

Leaders of the G20, comprising the world’s largest economies, committed to resist protectionism and promote global trade and investment at summits in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

The OECD and Unctad said that most new investment measures taken by G20 governments during the review period reduced restrictions to international capital flows and improved clarity for investors. It was also found, though, that three countries (Brazil, China and Russia) introduced new restrictions on investment.

The WTO, which drafted the trade section of the report, indicated that it was particularly concerned about the rise in export restrictions, saying governments might be tempted to use export restrictions to alter, to their advantage, the relative price of their exports, or to expand production of domestic industries at the expense of foreign production.

Closer multilateral cooperation was urged to mitigate the negative impact of export restrictions on importing countries, in particular net food importing countries and those with industries highly dependent on imported raw materials inputs.

“There are still many risks to the global economic recovery, so it’s encouraging that G20 countries have kept their markets open for foreign investment,” OECD secretary-general Angel Gurría said in a statement. “But they must resist calls for trade protectionism if they want to keep the recovery on track.”