TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Feb22/04)
7 February 2022
Third World Network

WTO GC chair continues consultations amid differences on Walker text
Published in SUNS #9508 dated 7 February 2022

Geneva, 4 Feb (D. Ravi Kanth) -  The chair of the WTO's General Council, Ambassador Dacio Castillo from Honduras, on 4 February continued his consultations with select trade envoys on the WTO's response to the pandemic, amidst seemingly unbridgeable differences among members over the report issued by the former facilitator on the WTO's response to the pandemic as well as on other issues, according to people familiar with the development.

At a small-group meeting of around ten members on 3 February, the General Council (GC) chair conveyed the message that he has to figure out how to proceed on the consultations over the seemingly diametrically opposing positions on Walker's text; on the issue of convening a virtual or physical meeting due to lack of consensus on the Indian proposal to convene a virtual ministerial meeting on the issue; and on whether to convene future meetings in a small group or a larger group of countries, said people who asked not to be quoted.

During the meeting on 3 February, the United States, India, South Africa, and Sri Lanka among others expressed their varying levels of opposition to Walker's text.

The US, which had already stated that the Walker text cannot be discussed in the absence of the former facilitator, Ambassador David Walker from New Zealand, maintained that it remains opposed to the text, especially over the trade-related measures proposed by Ambassador Walker, said people familiar with the discussions.

India said that the text is not "balanced", suggesting that it has to be balanced first before further discussions can take place.

Sri Lanka and South Africa also voiced their reservations on continuing the work on the basis of Walker's text, said people familiar with the development.

SUPPORT FOR WALKER'S TEXT

In sharp contrast, the European Union, China, and members of the Ottawa Group of countries led by Canada reiterated their support for Walker's text, arguing that it must remain as the basis for further discussions, said people familiar with the discussions.

The EU also said that it wants a high level of ambition on the trade-related measures based on Walker's text, said people familiar with the discussions.

In short, the differences seem to have hardened over Walker's text and there appears to be no meeting point between the two sides on the text, said people familiar with the discussions on 3 February.

However, while the WTO director-general Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has supported the trade-related measures proposed by Ambassador Walker, she apparently did not make any comment at the meeting, said people who asked not to be quoted.

Speaking at the informal GC meeting on 25 January (Job/GC/290), she said " ... we have all agreed that response to the pandemic must be a comprehensive package that is made up of IP [intellectual property] and trade and health issues."

She said "if we should have a breakthrough on the IP issue, we should also be ready with the rest of the response so that we can indeed go forward with a comprehensive package."

Interestingly, the DG's call on the "trade and health" issue is largely based on Walker's text, said people familiar with the text.

CSOs OPPOSE WALKER'S TEXT

Many international civil society organizations, including the Third World Network (TWN), had last year severely criticized Walker's text on several grounds.

"Without proper consultations, Ambassador Walker produced a draft text of a ministerial declaration on the WTO's response to the pandemic with almost no brackets and proposed it as the basis for deliberations among a very small group of selected countries. Such processes are designed to put pressure on the rest of the membership, who are not in the room to negotiate, to accept the outcome when they are shown the result of the deliberations at the last minute," the TWN said on behalf of the CSOs (see SUNS #9466 dated 24 November 2021).

The CSOs also opposed Walker's text on substantive grounds for its alleged unilateral attempt to advance trade liberalization measures, including tariff measures, under the pretext of the pandemic, adversely affecting the developing countries.

Also, at the meeting on 3 February, sharp differences emerged between the two sides over the level of ambition on the trade-related measures in the WTO response to the pandemic, said people, who preferred not to be identified.

Further, differences also cropped up over the need to convene either virtual ministerial meetings or in-person meetings between the members of the small group consultations comprising the US, China, India, South Africa, and Switzerland among others, said people familiar with the development.

The EU sought an in-person meeting of a small group of trade ministers instead of a virtual meeting, a view that the DG suggested in her statement made at the informal GC meeting on 25 January.

The director-general was apparently present at the meeting on 3 February, though it is not clear whether she spoke or not. It appears that the DG said she has no comments, said a source, who asked not to be quoted.

Several countries who took part in the meeting, apparently expressed their surprise over the GC chair's decision to continue with his consultations, while Switzerland and some other members apparently underscored the need to engage in the process, according to another person, who asked not to be quoted.

Some members such as the EU, Brazil, and members of the Ottawa Group raised the linkage between the WTO response to the pandemic and other issues such as fisheries subsidies and proposed WTO reforms.

Ambassador Walker's draft text, comprising a Declaration or a political statement and an action plan, has generated sharp differences over several issues contained in the draft.

The text states, "to further the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and control of COVID-19, we recognize the necessity of keeping markets open, consistent with the existing WTO rules, to facilitate manufacturing, and supply and distribution, of vaccines, therapeutics, and essential medical goods, including their inputs, as well as the provision of services."

It also mentions transparency and monitoring measures, as well as export prohibitions or restrictions (an issue that was apparently opposed by the US, India, and several other countries) due to their adverse effect on the availability of and access to COVID-19 products and inputs needed to manufacture them.

It also emphasizes on trade facilitation, regulatory cooperation and coherence, and tariffs, and the role of trade in services among others.

However, Ambassador Walker's refusal to take into consideration proposals from India as well as Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Egypt, and South Africa has diminished the credibility of the draft text, said people who asked not to be quoted.

DIFFERENCES PERSIST ON VIRTUAL VS PHYSICAL MEETINGS

The GC chair has apparently informed members that there is no consensus on the Indian proposal for convening a virtual ministerial meeting. He also indicated that there is still no consensus as to when the WTO's 12th ministerial conference (MC12) has to be rescheduled.

At the informal GC meeting on 25 January, the DG called for a stock-taking meeting in February, and decide when "we might be able to have a Ministerial and be able to agree on such a date."

In short, even as the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened due to the new Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the huge costs it has imposed on all countries, the WTO is still struggling to come up with a credible response to the pandemic based on the TRIPS waiver as co-sponsored by 64 countries, said people familiar with the development.