The Trade Ministers of the EU27 met in Luxembourg on Friday 3 June for an ‘Trade’ Council , a few days before the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), from 12 to 15 June. They reiterated their support for a rules-based multilateral system in the context of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
With food security under threat around the world, French Minister for Trade, Franck Riester, and the EU Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovskis, reiterated that Russia was solely responsible for the supply risks. “It’s Russia which is blocking Ukraine’s exports through Ukrainian ports, Russia is burning down food storages, it’s manipulating its own grain exports. Russia is clearly using this food security issue as a weapon of war”, said Dombrovskis.
According to Mr Riester, the trade ministers want WTO members to refrain from using export restrictions. At the MC12, a ministerial declaration is expected on the WTO’s response to food insecurity, as well as one to exempt the UN World Food Programme (WFP) from export bans. More generally, a ministerial declaration is also expected on the reform of the global agricultural system. Discussions continue in Geneva to reach agreements on these various texts, not without difficulties.
The ministers also stressed the urgent need to reach an agreement on fisheries subsidies at the WTO. For Franck Riester, it is a question of “establishing consistency between what we defend in terms of sustainable development and biodiversity and our trade practices”.
Lifting of patents on Covid-19 vaccines.
In Luxembourg, only a few ministers mentioned trade and health as priorities for the MC12. As attention wanes on the lifting of intellectual property rights on Covid-19 vaccines, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala continues to push members to agree on a text. While an agreement was reached between the EU, South Africa, the US and India, which had different positions (Quadrilateral Agreement, see EUROPE 12912/9), major differences remain between the rest of the WTO members. “The situation remains complicated, but the best chance to reach a result is, in any case, to stay close to the text of the quadrilateral agreement”, Valdis Dombrovskis told EUROPE.
At the opening of the MC12 in Geneva on 12 June, EU Trade Ministers will meet to adopt conclusions detailing their position on all the issues discussed during the week. In November 2021, EUROPE had access to a draft of the text, when the MC12 was meant to be held at the end of November.
See the EU Council conclusions of November 2021 on the opening of the MC12: https://aeur.eu/f/1y6 (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)