WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Trade barriers have been on the rise worldwide, but a decline in the number of new trade-remedy probes suggests that protectionist pressures could be easing for the first time since the global crisis began, the World Bank said Wednesday.

The bank, which has been warning of rising protectionism since the global slump began last year, reported a 24% drop in new investigations into industry requests for import restrictions in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the year-earlier period.

"For the first time since the onset of the global economic crisis in mid-2008, the fourth quarter of 2009 saw a substantial decrease in industry demands for temporary new import barriers under potentially WTO-legal 'trade remedy' policies--antidumping, safeguards, and countervailing duty [antisubsidy] policies," said World Bank senior economist Chad Bown in the report.

But he added that "despite signs that the fourth quarter 2009 could become a turning point for the demands for new trade barriers during the crisis, the annual data are more sobering."

Industry petitions for trade remedies were up 20% in 2009, following a 35% jump in 2008.

In addition, there was a 36% rise in actual import-restricting measures imposed in the fourth quarter of last year, which was expected given the increasing number of investigations underway.

For all of 2009, there was a 30% gain in trade barriers.

-By Tom Barkley, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9275; tom.barkley@dowjones.com

FEBRUARY 17, 2010, 5:32 P.M. ET

Source: online.wsj.com