TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct24/23)
29 October 2024
Third World Network

WTO: MC14 in March 2026, Brazil elevates IFDA as top priority at G20 meet
Published in SUNS #10106 dated 29 October 2024

Geneva, 28 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) — The World Trade Organization’s upcoming 14th ministerial conference (MC14) is tentatively scheduled to be held in Cameroon during the last ten days of March 2026, due to the Director-General selection process and varying levels of progress in different areas, including on the reform of the dispute settlement system, agriculture, and fisheries subsidies among others, said people familiar with the development.

At a closed-door meeting of select trade envoys on 23 October, Cameroon is understood to have informed the participants that it is considering convening the conference during the last ten days of March 2026, said people familiar with the discussions.

G20 STATEMENT

Meanwhile, in a WTO-related development, the trade ministers of the G20 group of industrialized and developing countries, meeting in Brasilia on 24 October, issued a rather weak statement on WTO issues.

The G20 members include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, and the African Union.

Besides the G20 members, the Brasilia meeting was also attended by countries that were invited by the Brazilian presidency: Angola, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, and Singapore.

The G20 statement underscored the need for WTO members to “swiftly” find consensus on incorporating the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) into the WTO’s legal framework, seemingly elevating the IFDA over other WTO issues in terms of the space accorded to this issue in the statement.

In the run-up to the WTO’s fifth ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003, Brazil used to regard “agriculture” as the engine of the Doha trade negotiations. Now, it seems to have elevated the non- mandated IFDA to that status, said people familiar with the discussions at the G20 trade ministers’ summit that concluded in Brasilia on 24 October.

In the same breadth, the G20 statement recalled the 30th anniversary of “the Marrakesh Agreement and the Marrakesh Declaration”, under which the IFDA is seemingly inconsistent as per Articles 9 and 10 of the Marrakesh Agreement, said people familiar with the statement.

Under the sub-title of “WTO Reform and Strengthening of the Multilateral Trading System”, the G20 trade ministers said that “in line with the overarching priority of Brazil’s G20 Presidency to promote the reform of global governance institutions and reconfirming the long-standing priority of the G20 trade track, we advanced discussions in support of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reform and the strengthening of the multilateral trading system.”

The trade ministers “stressed the importance of a rules-based, non-discriminatory, fair, open, inclusive, equitable, sustainable and transparent multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core.”

At a time when the future of the multilateral trading system seems rather uncertain due to geo-political and geo-economic tensions as well as the intensifying disruption of global supply chains, the G20 trade ministers said that they “will work to ensure a level playing field and fair competition to foster a favorable trade and investment environment for all.”

“On the year of the 30th anniversary of the Marrakesh Agreement and the Marrakesh Declaration, we reaffirm the objectives and foundational principles of the multilateral trading system, while calling for the intensification of the work towards the necessary reform of the WTO to improve all its functions,” according to the statement.

The G20 trade ministers reaffirmed their “commitment to conduct discussions at the WTO with a view to having a fully and well-functioning Dispute Settlement System, accessible to all WTO Members, by 2024, and to accelerate work on unresolved issues in an inclusive and transparent manner, building on progress already made.”

While the ministers acknowledged and welcomed “the outcomes of the Thirteenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13),” the fact is that there were no agreements in areas like agriculture and the second phase of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement on addressing fisheries subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing, said people who reviewed the Brasilia statement.

The G20 trade ministers reiterated “the centrality of the development dimension in the work of the Organization, and recognize the need for further work to tackle issues in which consensus was not possible.”

However, they failed to mention the continuation of special and differential treatment (S&DT) on a self-designation basis, nor the strengthening of the S&DT provisions that are seemingly under assault from the largest trading nation, said people who asked not to be quoted.

Lastly, the G20 trade ministers reiterated their “support for transparent and inclusive work by the WTO Membership to address trade challenges and enable trade to serve as an engine of growth and prosperity for all.”

In contrast to the limited focus on “WTO Reform and Strengthening of the Multilateral Trading System”, the G20 Brasilia statement, under the theme of “Sustainable Development in Investment Agreements”, focused a great deal on the controversial IFDA.

The statement revealed differences between the proponents of the IFDA on the one side, and opponents like India and South Africa, on the other.

According to the Brasilia statement, “In line with Brazil’s G20 Presidency commitment to “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet,” we note the focus given by the Presidency to the treatment of sustainable development in international investment agreements (IIAs) as an important workstream for 2024.”

The trade ministers thanked “the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which prepared, with inputs from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the report “Mapping Sustainable Development and Investment Facilitation Provisions in IIAs Concluded by G20 Members and Invited Countries”.”

As regards the IFDA, the ministers said, “The G20 members and guest countries that are parties to the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA), concluded under a Joint Statement Initiative at the WTO, underscore the positive role that the IFDA can play in supporting cross-border investment for developing countries, including the provision of more technical assistance and capacity building support for developing and least developed countries, while encouraging the WTO members to swiftly find consensus on incorporating the Agreement into the WTO legal framework.”

It acknowledged the differences raised by the G20 non-members of the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI), saying that “some expressed concerns in relation to ongoing discussions on Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) and on rulemaking on investment policy at multilateral trade fora through such Joint Statement Initiative (JSI).”

“Further, those members also expressed serious reservations related to the IFD text and reiterated that discussions regarding such text should be held under the appropriate forum and through a proper mechanism,” said the statement, implying that the WTO is not the appropriate forum for investment negotiations, said people familiar with the Brasilia statement.

Under Brazil’s G20 Presidency commitment – “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet,” – the trade ministers said they endorsed the document “G20 Principles on Trade and Sustainable Development”.

“The document is conceived as a list of voluntary, non-binding, non-exhaustive guiding principles for consideration by countries in the design and implementation of measures related to trade and sustainable development.”

The statement also mentioned the “G20 Compendium of Good Practices to Increase the Participation of Women in International Trade.”

In short, the G20 trade ministers’ statement seems to vindicate the deep divisions among the G20 members, as well as Brazil’s priorities in global trade that stand diametrically opposed to that of the earlier coalition of G20 developing countries in agriculture that it had created more than 21 years ago, in July 2003, said people familiar with the current discussions. +