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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Apr22/06) Geneva, 8 Apr (D. Ravi Kanth) – Amidst the threats to expel Russia from the World Trade Organization as well as to exclude Moscow’s participation in all important international meetings, including the G20 meetings, doubts continue to persist as to whether the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) will take place as tentatively scheduled for 12-15 June, said people familiar with the development. Russia’s war against Ukraine, now entering its sixth week, seems to have “weaponized” economic and trade sanctions against Moscow on many fronts. Besides the financial war launched against Russia by the Group of Seven (G-7) developed countries under the US leadership, Washington seems to have embarked on its own “war” to exclude Russia from participating in important meetings at the WTO. On 7 April, the US Congress passed what is called the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act that would deny most-favored-nation (MFN) treatment to Russia, thus enabling Washington to impose higher tariffs on some Russian goods as it deems appropriate. More importantly, it calls on the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to press for Russia’s expulsion from the 164-member WTO, an intergovernmental trade body. It also requires the USTR to block the accession process of Belarus to the WTO. In a related development, the US treasury secretary, Ms Janet Yellen, told the US Congress that Washington “will not be participating in a number of meetings if the Russians are there.” Perhaps, she was referring to the G20 finance ministers’ meeting scheduled to be held on 20 April in Washington. Indonesia currently holds the presidency of the G20, and its meetings including the upcoming G20 leaders’ summit to be held in Bali, Indonesia, in October. It remains to be seen how this will all pan out. It is against this backdrop that there are doubts as to whether MC12 can be held as scheduled, given the opposition from the G-7 developed countries, particularly the US, as attempts are being made to exclude Russia from key negotiating body meetings, said people familiar with the development. At an informal General Council (GC) meeting on 28 March, the GC chair, Ambassador Didier Chambovey from Switzerland, said “delegations stressed that MC12 should be a streamlined, business-like Conference.” He indicated that “it is foreseen that the Conference begins with a short opening ceremony on Sunday, 12 June, in the afternoon, without a debate, and then moves on to business from 13 until 15 June.” Ambassador Chambovey, however, did not elaborate on what he meant by “a streamlined, business-like Conference.” So far, ministerial meetings had always faced several hurdles and often the negotiations were embroiled in some tricky issues at the eleventh hour. Unconfirmed reports suggest that some powerful Western countries are insisting that Russia should not be given a seat in finalizing the outcomes for MC12 or allowed to participate in the conference itself, said people familiar with the development. Apparently, attempts may be made to finalize an informal agreement on the likely “deliverables” for MC12 such as the WTO’s response to the pandemic, including the IPR component, fisheries subsidies, agriculture, a roadmap for negotiating WTO reforms to be decided at the 13th ministerial conference, and other issues such as the moratorium on levying customs duties on electronic transmissions among others. A final agreement could be foisted on Russia on a “take-it-or-leave-it” basis, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Further, there is no clarity as to whether the Russian trade minister and his team from Moscow will be allowed to participate in the ministerial conference, said people, preferring anonymity. However, there is another school of thought among the G-7 countries to let the ministerial conference take place as scheduled, with the participation of the Russian minister, a European source told the SUNS. According to the European source, the draft text on fisheries subsidies is there on the table as well as several other proposals that can be negotiated after the Easter break (which takes place from 15-18 April). Apparently, the USTR has not conveyed whether it would agree to the leaked IP text because of opposition to that text in the US Congress, the European source said. Significantly, many international civil society organizations have appealed to US President Joe Biden not to approve the leaked IP text, as it fails to address the core concerns raised by a large majority of developing countries that had demanded a temporary TRIPS waiver. The temporary TRIPS waiver calls for suspending the implementation of several provisions in the TRIPS Agreement relating to copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information in order to ramp-up the production of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Without an agreement on the TRIPS waiver, things could become more difficult in concluding the WTO’s response to the pandemic, said people familiar with the development. Even the trade component of the WTO’s response to the pandemic, especially the “trade and health” package as advanced by the Ottawa Group of countries led by Canada, is mired in differences, said people, who asked not to be quoted. NEGOTIATIONS TAKE A ” BACKSEAT” Surprisingly, no formal open-ended negotiations on fisheries subsidies or other issues have taken place for several days. There are still outstanding issues in the fisheries subsidies negotiations particularly on territoriality, fuel subsidies, special and differential treatment, forced labour in the fisheries sector, and even dispute settlement among others. It is possible that the chair of the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, may be holding bilateral meetings, but many members seem to be unaware of any work taking place behind the scenes, said an African official, who asked not to be quoted. Nevertheless, the delay in the negotiations and developments behind the scenes could raise the prospects for “take- it-or-leave-it” decisions being hammered out by a small group of five or seven countries, as had happened at the tenth ministerial conference (MC10) in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2015. Given these imponderables, members remain unclear whether MC12 would be held from 12-15 June, as tentatively agreed at the informal General Council meeting on 28 March. However, many developing countries, including China and the South-East Asian nations, seem determined to press for MC12 to be held as planned without any delay or systemic hurdles, said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted.
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