TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar20/11)
16 March 2020
Third World Network

MC12 in Kazakhstan no longer "feasible" due to coronavirus
Published in SUNS #9089 dated 16 March 2020

Geneva, 13 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) -- The Kazakhstan government has informed the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it is not "feasible" to host the 12th ministerial conference (MC12) in June due to "the current situation with COVID-19 and the WHO declaration of a pandemic."

Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the proliferating lock-down and quarantine conditions being instituted around the world, the prospects for convening MC12 anytime soon are bleak.

"Nobody really knows when the MC12 can be held and it is not really a priority now," said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted.

Nonetheless, a special WTO General Council meeting will be held to decide the way forward, the trade envoy said, suggesting that missions in Geneva are planning for the worst.

In an urgent email sent to WTO members on Thursday (12 March), the chair of the WTO General Council, Ambassador David Walker of New Zealand, and the WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said they "have been informed by the Government of Kazakhstan that, in connection with the current situation with COVID-19 and the WHO declaration of a pandemic, it would be appropriate for Members to revisit the decision to hold MC12 from 8-11 June in Nur Sultan."

"In consultation with the Delegation of Kazakhstan," said Ambassador Walker and Azevedo, "it is our considered view that holding MC12 as previously agreed will not be feasible."

"Should any Delegation hold a different view, we kindly ask them to inform us by sending a message" through an email by Monday (16 March) evening, Ambassador Walker and Azevedo said in their urgent message.

"Members will have an opportunity to deliberate on this matter at a Special General Council meeting to be held as soon as conditions permit," they suggested.

In short, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a new normal of uncertainty that has no clear time-frame at this juncture.

Switzerland, which is the immediate neighbour of Italy, the country most affected by COVID-19 in Europe, is facing a huge challenge and it remains to be seen whether it would also announce lock-down conditions.

This is perhaps the first time when a WTO ministerial meeting has to be called off because of a massive pandemic that has exposed the cracks in globalization on an unprecedented scale.

With the stock markets having collapsed and the world economy facing a grim recession, it is time that countries revisited the neo-liberal model that has wreaked havoc on several fronts for the past four decades, particularly in regard to people's health.

Ironically, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the importance of fiscal boost across various sectors to the center stage as the pandemic remains both a "health challenge" as well as an "economic challenge," according to UNCTAD's update of its Trade and Development Report. +