Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) confirmed at a General Council meeting on Monday 19 December that the thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) will be held the week of 26 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi. Cameroon, which had also offered to host the MC13, will in the end host the MC14.
“The United Arab Emirates (UAE) stands ready to make the necessary contribution to the ongoing efforts with a view to making international trade part of the solution, shedding more light on the expertise of the WTO and highlighting the role of the multilateral trading system”, said UAE Ambassador to the WTO Ahmed Abdulrahman Al Jarman.
Intellectual property for Covid-19 treatments and diagnostic tools
WTO members agreed to extend the deadline for deciding whether to extend the TRIPS waiver on intellectual property for Covid-19 vaccines. They were supposed to take a decision to extend the June 2022 agreement to treatments and diagnostic tools by 17 December (see EUROPE 12974/2).
At the time of going to press, WTO delegations meeting in the General Council had not yet been able to agree on a new deadline for taking this decision.
According to WTO spokesperson Daniel Pruzin, some members, including South Africa, have proposed setting the first General Council meeting of 2023 as a deadline or a three-month limit (see EUROPE 13086/15).
The Sierra Leonean Ambassador, Lansana Gberie, who is chairing the IP talks, had suggested that they should meet no later than 30 June 2023 and some members supported this.
In view of the disagreements, the Chairman of the WTO General Council, Didier Chambovey (Switzerland), suggested that the opposing countries should talk to each other and try to reach an agreement quickly. The meeting of the General Council was to continue on the evening of 19 December and on the morning of 20 December. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)