At the recent meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Committee on Market Access (CAM), held on 13 and 14 May in Geneva, Members commemorated the Committee's 30th anniversary by highlighting significant milestones, including a major breakthrough: the collaboration between the WTO, the World Customs Organization (WCO), and the World Health Organization (WHO) to establish new specific tariff headings for vaccines in the Harmonized System (HS).
In this context, the interim president of the Harmonized System Committee, Nicola Waterfield (Canada), celebrated the agreement on the new HS codes which will be adopted in June and will come into force on January 1, 2028— pointing out that “will allow for better identification and classification of vital products to respond to health crises and will promote greater coherence between trade policies and public health objectives, including equitable access to vaccines globally.”. The WTO, in its official statement, highlighted this collaboration as one of the Committee's milestones, along with progress in transparency and the strengthening of the multilateral system. During the meeting, it was also proposed to invite representatives of the three organizations (WTO, WCO, and WHO) to reflect on the factors that enabled this unprecedented inter-institutional cooperation, which, according to Gael Grooby, Acting Director of the WCO's Directorate of Tariff and Trade Affairs, seeks "“to provide greater visibility to covered products in trade so that they can be traced and relevant measures implemented as needed.”
An anniversary with achievements, tensions and challenges
In her inaugural address, WTO Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard, highlighted that “Market access is one of the pillars of the multilateral trading system"and that the CAM's job is"fundamental to the integrity and effectiveness of the entire WTO architecture".
Amongst the achievements Highlights of the Committee's work over three decades included the modernization of tariff commitments through the continuous updating of the Harmonized System, as well as advances in transparency through platforms such as the Integrated Database and the new Tariff and Trade Data Portal.
A report on supply chain resilience was also adopted, the result of thematic sessions held between 2023 and 2025, which analyzes vulnerabilities, monitoring methods, and the role of international cooperation.
However, the celebrations were not without tensionsDuring the meeting, they were nuanced by the addressing of 33 trade concerns, including tensions around reciprocal tariffs, new restrictions in agricultural and industrial sectors, and a Joint communication from Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, and Peru on the European Union Regulation on deforestation-free supply chains, considered by South American countries as a disguised trade barrier.
A report was also presented warning of the low compliance rate for notifications of quantitative restrictions, which barely exceeds 26%. This led the Committee Chair to urge Members to improve the quality and frequency of their notifications.
La The next formal meeting of the CAM is scheduled for October 15 and 16, where the evaluation of measures and the monitoring of the trade concerns raised will continue, according to the WTO.WTO Information)
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