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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct25/06) Geneva, 6 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) — As members convene for the World Trade Organization’s General Council meeting on 6 October, its Director-General, Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is urging trade ministers to focus “on delivering a reform package for this organization,” which she viewed as being “critical.” She suggested that “there are some things that work in the organization,” though she did not specify what those are at this juncture when the WTO is at a cross-roads amidst the alleged unilateral reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on all WTO members, according to people familiar with the development. Her concluding remarks in a restricted document (Job/TNC/129) issued on 1 October, following a meeting of the Doha Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), contained several seemingly meandering messages for members, particularly on the need to decide which processes are failing to deliver outcomes, people said. While remaining conspicuously silent on how the WTO must reform itself or tackle alleged unilateral measures imposed by the United States – such as tariffs imposed under the Section 232 national security provisions – the DG made several remarks without clarifying them, said people who asked not to be quoted. Unlike her signed article last month in the Financial Times, where she identified specific issues like consensus- based decision-making as a “recipe for paralysis,” her TNC statement was rather more ambiguous about what the organization should “sustain” and what it should do away with, according to several trade envoys who preferred not to be identified. WTO REFORM In her concluding remarks at the TNC meeting, the DG stated: “It looks certain that, trying to focus Ministers on delivering a reform package for this organization is critical.” She suggested that “Members, in doing the WTO Reform process with the WTO Reform Facilitator, Ambassador Petter Olberg (Norway), must reflect on what they want to sustain that works.” “There are some things that work in the organization,” she said, without indicating what they are. “That is why I say that, while the ship is rocky, the ship is there, and it is moving,” the DG said, insisting that “some things inside this ship are valuable.” She said that “we can all point to them,” adding that “Ministers should indeed debate on what they find of value in this organization and what they want to keep.” She reiterated that “some of those things are clear. Ministers should also point to what it is they want to change and how they want to change it to make the place function better. While some of you may not believe this is important, I believe that Ministers also ought to focus on the future.” Ms. Okonjo-Iweala also pointed out that “sometimes, we do a lot of navel-gazing at the WTO, and we do not look at what is fast moving in the outside world that demands that we change.” She stressed that the need for change is “not just because we have some things that do not work,” but also “because we have to get with it. We have to know that things are changing, and this organization has to grapple with those changes.” According to the DG, the WTO “has been going through a rocky time – and I will say more at next week’s General Council meeting.” “But amazingly,” she said, “the numbers show some stability and resilience in the way that the multilateral trading system is functioning.” “It is because there are some things that work that need to be sustained and we must not forget those,” she maintained. “STRESS TEST” In her signed Financial Times article on 4 September, titled “A stress test for global trade,” Ms. Okonjo-Iweala suggested that “WTO members should use the present crisis to tackle the problems they feel bedevil the system.” She elaborated that “this would mean modernizing the rule book, which mostly dates back to the early 1990s [namely, the Marrakesh Agreement that established the WTO in 1995].” “The treasured consensus decision-making system must not become a recipe for paralysis,” she emphasized, arguing that “one way to do this would be to make “plurilateral” agreements easier.” “These already allow coalitions to negotiate in areas of importance to them, such as digital trade or investment facilitation.” She noted that “Members who are not yet ready would be free to join later, or not,” and that “this would help the WTO become more agile in responding to changes such as artificial intelligence.” The DG also mentioned that “another area where members need more creativity is the WTO’s dispute settlement system.” However, in her TNC statement, she seemed to have attached less importance to the sanctity of previous ministerial mandates on agriculture and other issues. “Concerning agriculture,” she told members in her TNC statement, “everybody acknowledges the difficult situation and the need to be realistic.” “Those were two things that came out very clearly – but also the fact that there is some work going on by the African Group and the Cairns Group that shows some promise of pulling Members together in some direction.” “If that can result in something around which Members can coalesce, it could indeed be something that could help us at MC14.” On the stalled negotiations concerning disciplines on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing, or “Fish 2”, the DG said “it is clear that, even though there are different views on what we can or cannot achieve by MC14, virtually all Members say that we should move forward to try and appoint a new NGR Chair to guide the negotiations.” She also “heard some interesting suggestions that could be reflected in the Road to Yaounde document on how we might want to look at decisions – just an elaboration of what is there by Egypt and Australia.” All important decisions are being deferred to the General Council meeting in December. The DG said “so, we are taking this December deadline seriously as Brazil said this morning – it would be tough when the time comes” and “it will not be easy.” Ms. Okonjo-Iweala said that she does not want members “to repeat any of the mistakes of any past MCs,” emphasizing that they should strive towards “a crisp and successful approach to the coming Ministerial Conference.” GC AGENDA The agenda (WT/GC/W/970) for the General Council (GC) meeting on 6 October has two decisions to be taken. They include: 1. Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration (CBFA) – Reports on Meetings of 24 June and 17 July 2025, and update on more recent developments. It remains to be seen whether the chair of the CBFA will indicate whether the US is among the countries that have not paid their annual dues for the past two years. 2. Incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement into Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement – Draft Decision. It is highly unlikely that there will be any decision at the GC meeting as this issue has been blocked on account of systemic and procedural concerns voiced by India and South Africa, among others. Discussions at the meeting will largely focus on “Follow-Up to Outcomes of Ministerial Conferences: MC13 (Abu Dhabi); MC12 (Geneva, co-hosted by Kazakhstan); MC11 (Buenos Aires); MC10 (Nairobi); and MC9 (Bali) – Statement by the Chairperson (of the GC).” A detailed discussion is also expected on “WTO Reform – Report by the Facilitator [Ambassador Petter Olberg of Norway, whose seemingly top-down approach has raised sharp concerns among developing countries]” and on the “Work Programme on Electronic Commerce – Report by the Facilitator,” said people familiar with the development. Other agenda items include the “Work Programme on Small Economies – Report by the Chairperson of the Dedicated Session of the Committee on Trade and Development.” Furthermore, Gambia, on behalf of the least-developed countries (LDCs), is expected to make a statement on “WTO Smooth Transition Support Measures in Favour of Countries Graduated from the LDC Category Pursuant to Paragraph 3.” Brazil is scheduled to make a statement on “Rethinking the Rules-Based Multilateral Trading System,” while China is expected to make a statement on “Heightened Trade Turbulence and Responses from the WTO.” +
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