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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Feb24/26) Abu Dhabi, 27 Feb (D. Ravi Kanth) — The chair of the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference (MC13) said on 26 February that the Abu Dhabi ministerial conference is to be a “launching pad” for addressing some of the 21st-century issues while underscoring the need for consensus-based decision-making, in what appears to be the proverbial Orwellian “double-speak”, said people familiar with the development. The chair of MC13, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), suggested that it is difficult to know what forms of consensus will yield results, adding that “reconciling” all the views of the 164 members would need “tremendous statecraft”. While consensus-based decision-making was highlighted by the chair of the conference as well as by the WTO Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, attempts are underway to “short-circuit” consensus-based decision-making in order to approve the controversial plurilateral Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD), complained a capital-based trade official, after attending the MC13 opening ceremony. Despite the diminishing value of the WTO agreements, including the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, the WTO DG Ms Okonjo-Iweala touted the successes of MC12, held in Geneva in June 2022. She said: “Success is changing the tone about the WTO, both outside and within it. We will always have our naysayers and detractors but there is no doubt that members have shown that we can deliver when members roll up their sleeves and muster the requisite political will. During the last several weeks, the atmosphere in our preparatory discussions in Geneva has been more constructive and conducive than it was in the run-up to MC12.” The DG, who presented a rather upbeat assessment of the proposed agreements on the table, cautioned that: “Our challenge this week is to prove that we can still deliver and demonstrate that MC12 was not a one-off miracle on Lake Geneva. We need to convert improved atmospherics into concrete results. We need to show the world that not only does the WTO underpin over three-quarters of global goods commerce – it is also a forum where members deliver new benefits for people through trade.” The four-day conference began with the admission of two new members – Comoros and Timor-Leste – to the WTO family, increasing the overall membership to 166 countries. “We are kicking up with some excellent news of the accession of Comoros and Timor-Liste,” said the DG, suggesting that it took eight years for the two countries to complete their accession negotiations. She said that 22 more countries are seeking to become members of the WTO, adding that they see the “value” in joining the WTO. Given the fragile state of multilateralism and a rising wave of geopolitical conflicts in different regions, Ms Okonjo-Iweala exhorted the trade ministers to safeguard the multilateral trading system through cooperation and leadership. In the face of plummeting global trade, she said that “multilateralism is under attack.” The DG repeatedly stressed that multilateralism and the multilateral trading system is a “public good” that must be preserved at any cost. She expressed her concern over the “fragmentation” of the MTS (multilateral trading system), underscoring the need to ensure that “the WTO remains strong”. The DG highlighted the importance of “digital trade”, “trade and inclusivity”, and “WTO reform” among others. She stressed on the WTO’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and how it addresses environmental sustainability. The DG emphasized the need for an outcome in agriculture, saying that around 735 million people are under-nourished. On the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, the DG said that it provided global equity, adding that some members questioned the value of the moratorium. It appears that in a bilateral meeting with the DG on 25 February, South Africa challenged the DG’s stand on extending the moratorium and even on IFD, said a Southern African trade official, who asked not to be quoted. In her statement, the DG lent full support to the controversial plurilateral Agreement on Investment Facilitation for Development, even though the issue has lacked consensus since 2017, said people who took part in MC13 opening ceremony. Ms Okonjo-Iweala touted the benefits of the IFD Agreement in her opening remarks at the inaugural ceremony, urging members to show “leadership” by adopting flexible positions, in what appears to be a reference to India and South Africa which have consistently raised both procedural and systemic concerns in the run-up to MC13. She said trade ministers have an opportunity to approve the plurilateral Agreement on the IFD, while mentioning other plurilateral agreements such as the open plurilateral Information Technology Agreement (ITA), the closed Agreement on Government Procurement, and so on. The DG said the reform of the WTO’s dispute settlement system (DSS) is another priority, adding that the DSS is working at the panel stage, maintaining that there are alternative mechanisms to resolve the trade disputes. The DG praised the former Guatemalan trade official who facilitated the informal discussions on reform of the DSS, and the United States for the progress made in the DSS discussions. The DG also thanked “India, South Africa, and the EU for negotiating an approach that allowed the Services Domestic Regulation Agreement to go forward, paving the way for easier access to participating WTO members and economies by services providers from all WTO members.” +
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