The proposal by several senior officials of the World Trade Organization to postpone the 12th Ministerial Conference of the organisation to March 2022 has not yet met with much enthusiasm among its members.
According to a Geneva official, many members, including the EU, felt they could not confirm the date at this time, instead agreeing to meet in January to discuss the date again.
The same source admitted that it would be necessary to get Christmas over and see if a decision could be taken afterwards. There will then have to be a consensus among the members on a possible date.
This postponement should allow delegations to concentrate on reaching agreements on the various texts on the agenda, as WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has repeatedly stressed.
Furthermore, on the issue of the WTO’s response to Covid-19 as well as intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines, the Indian Ambassador suggested at a meeting of heads of delegation on 2 December that a virtual meeting of ministers be held to move the negotiations forward.
For the WTO Director General, this solution could eventually be considered, if it could lead to results. However, she insisted on the need to first narrow the differences in position on the texts. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)