At a meeting of all World Trade Organization (WTO) heads of delegation, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on members to focus “attention and flexibility” on intensive negotiations scheduled for the fall, to allow for “meaningful agreements” on key issues such as fisheries subsidies and the response to the pandemic, among others.
According to the WTO statement, at an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) at the level of heads of delegation, held on 23 July 2021, the chairs of several negotiating groups presented their plans to advance the talks after the return from the August holidays. In their remarks, Okonjo-Iweala asked members to identify “Two, three or four areas that we need to focus our attention on between now and MC12” to obtain “significant and quality” results.
El Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, Ambassador Santiago Wills, of Colombia, outlined its plans for the “final round” of talks on fisheries subsidies. He outlined a two-stage process, with the first addressing major differences among members to collectively improve the text, and the second engaging in line-by-line analysis based on the text. Ambassador Wills indicated that a detailed work plan would be sent to all delegations the following week, and said members should aim for a full text of the agreement no later than early November.
Recalling the 15 July meeting where ministers called on members to complete negotiations as soon as possible, ahead of MC12, Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that “many gaps remain to be filled” in the draft text. She called for the active participation of all delegations in the upcoming text-based negotiations, asking them to “find the necessary compromises” to conclude a fisheries subsidies agreement.
On the WTO system's response to COVID-19 and future pandemics, Okonjo-Iweala reported on the High Level Dialogue held on July 21, where the WTO and the World Health Organization (WHO)) convened representatives from vaccine manufacturers, governments, public health advocacy groups, and development finance institutions to explore ways to expand COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing to promote equitable access.
Okonjo-Iweala welcomed the appointment of New Zealand Ambassador, David Walker, as facilitator of members’ efforts to “bring together their various pandemic-related proposals into a potential deal.” He said attempts by governments to establish financial and governance arrangements to be better prepared for future pandemics could be supported by a WTO framework covering supply chain openness and monitoring, increased investment in production and intellectual property, among other issues.
The WTO Director-General urged members to "move forward with a sense of urgency" in negotiations in the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council on the proposal for exemption of standard intellectual property protections for COVID-19-related vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, hoping for a “practical and forward-thinking solution” as “people’s lives are at stake.”
WTO members were reminded that despite continuing differences of opinion, the hard work of The Director-General has advanced fisheries subsidies further than ever before, as well as discussions on small and medium-sized enterprises, gender, e-commerce, trade and environmental issues, domestic regulation of services and investment facilitation.
The twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) is scheduled to take place from 30 November to 3 December 2021, in Geneva, Switzerland. (WTO Press Release)
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