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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Dec25/11) Geneva, 4 Dec (D. Ravi Kanth) — The World Trade Organization’s Director-General, who chairs the Doha Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), is convening a formal TNC meeting on 12 December. Ostensibly, the meeting is expected to seek responses from members on issues to be taken up as part of a work program after the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), to be held in Yaounde, Cameroon, on 26-29 March 2026. In her capacity as TNC chair, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala appears to have overlooked several mandated and unresolved issues from the WTO’s 12th and 13th ministerial conferences, which ought to have been prioritized for the Yaounde meeting, according to people familiar with the development. An email sent by the DG on 2 December has puzzled members because the WTO’s leadership has informally dissuaded trade envoys from key countries and even heads of regional coalitions from submitting new proposals – a call that challenges some South American countries, who insist on an outcome on agriculture, said a South American trade official who asked not to be quoted. It is understood that some African trade envoys were questioned for submitting written proposals on their MC14 priorities and on WTO reform. Several developing countries have seemingly expressed concern that three proposed reform issues – changing the consensus principle, introducing differentiation among developing countries for availing of special and differential treatment (S&DT), and “leveling the playing field” – are being given extraordinary precedence over the mandated issues, the trade official said. Although there is no consensus on these so-called reform issues, the WTO’s leadership has somewhat irrationally foisted them onto members while sidelining the real mandated issues, said people familiar with the DG’s email. The DG has also conveyed to members that they should submit their proposals for MC14 by 12 December, said people familiar with the development. However, amid growing antipathy toward the reform proposals being advanced by the facilitator overseeing the WTO reform discussions – a move seen as appeasing the United States, which has seemingly turned the multilateral trading system upside down – the DG is now suggesting that members adhere to the assessments of the chairs of the Doha negotiating bodies, said an African official who asked not to be quoted. In another rather perplexing development, the WTO’s General Council (GC) chair, Ambassador Saqer Abdullah AlMoqbel of Saudi Arabia, met with the chairs of the regular WTO bodies last week and sought their advice on the issues that need to be taken up for MC14 – a call that received a “frosty” response from several chairs, said people familiar with the development. The GC chair and the DG, in a joint letter to members, informed them of their intention to convene a meeting with capital-based senior officials on 16 and 17 December, which would coincide with the year-end General Council meeting, despite a lack of clarity and progress on any issue, particularly on WTO reform, said people familiar with the development. Against this background, several members seem to be sceptical of the underlying intentions of the WTO’s leadership and whether they amount to a proverbial “red herring”, said people who asked not to be identified. DG’S EMAIL In her email sent to members on 2 December, Ms. Okonjo-Iweala sought responses on two questions to be addressed at the upcoming formal TNC meeting on 12 December. The DG argued that “this TNC/HoDs meeting will be an important milestone on our path to MC14, including input into the implementation of the December decision-making at the General Council.” She said: “During my consultations on the Roadmap to Yaounde document, many of you emphasized that the Chairs’ role is critical in assisting the TNC Chair, GC Chair, and Members to operationalize the cut-off” for MC14. Privately, several trade officials said they gave no assurances about articulating priorities for MC14 while linking the mandated or unresolved issues to the WTO reform issues. Some officials said while they were asked not to present their demands for MC14 – and were even challenged for submitting proposals, like the African Group – they are now being told that the chairs will decide how issues are to be placed in the post-MC14 basket. The DG further said “the Chairs of CoA SS, NGR, CTD SS, and CTS SS will not only report on developments in their respective areas but will also provide their assessments in light of MC14 preparations,” a statement that seems to reflect a lack of clarity on what ought to be achieved in Yaounde. According to the DG, “Drawing on these reports and assessments, Members should be able to identify – for the General Council’s decision – those areas that are not ready for Ministerial action and what is ready.” She claimed that “this reflects our shared understanding that, by the December General Council cut-off date, issues demonstrating prospects for convergence should advance for focused Ministerial consideration at MC14,” in what appears to be a “top-down” process, as no “bottom-up” process was seemingly followed in the ministerial preparations. The DG added, “at the same time, securing Ministerial affirmation or a re-commitment to continue engagement on Members’ negotiating priorities after MC14 may also be an important element.” “While the Chairs, including myself as TNC Chair, will provide our assessment, it remains the collective responsibility of Members to ensure an efficient, effective, and manageable agenda for Ministers at MC14 – a practical application of the “Geneva first principle”,” she stressed. However, based on the ministerial signatures being collected regarding the incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement (IFDA) in Annex 4 of the WTO Agreement, an attempt will likely be made to advance this issue, notwithstanding that the IFDA is being seen as procedurally and systemically inconsistent with the WTO rules, said people familiar with the development. An attempt will also likely be made to secure ministerial approval for launching discussions on the three controversial WTO reform issues – changing/amending the consensus principle, differentiation among developing countries for availing of S&DT, and “level playing field” issues – at MC14, even though members remain sharply divided on them, said people familiar with the development. It seems clear that during the two-day discussions this week convened by the facilitator on these three reform issues, there was a lack of consensus and sharp divisions – which in the normal course would lead to the issues being dropped, said several trade envoys who asked not to be quoted. Nevertheless, the DG said that “to make this discussion focused and productive, I would invite responses guided by the following questions: 1. After listening to the Chairs’ reports and my report, how do you consider is the best way to move things forward for a decision at the General Council? 2. Are there negotiating areas where you believe Ministerial affirmation or a re-commitment to continued engagement after MC14 would be particularly important, and if so, which ones?” Some powerful members do not want the WTO leadership to send an outcome document to MC14, said people who asked not to be quoted. On such major issues, the DG wants to limit discussions to strict time-lines, which may not enable members to state their concerns adequately, said a person who asked not to be quoted. Ms. Okonjo-Iweala wrote, “to make the most effective use of our time, I encourage delegations to keep interventions concise and targeted, respecting the following limits: * Individual interventions: maximum 3 minutes. * Members speaking on behalf of a group while also making their own delegation statement: maximum 5 minutes.” In short, the preparations for MC14 appear to have entered uncharted waters, with developing countries left on the thin edge of a huge precipice, said several members who preferred not to be identified. +
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