On the evening of Friday 1 March, trade ministers and other representatives of the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi. Despite the event being extended by a day, the expected announcements were not made. Phase II of the agreement on fisheries subsidies and the reform of the agricultural system could not be adopted. At the time of going to press, the final session had not ended.
The day before, the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, stated that “agriculture is still the subject that makes or breaks a ministerial conference”.
This was surely the most sensitive subject. Failing to reach agreement on a binding deal to reform the world agricultural system, the ministers negotiated a roadmap designed to reboot discussions. As in 2022, the question of public food stocks posed a problem in the final hours of negotiations. India, in particular, has always demanded a permanent solution for developing countries so that they can maintain their stockpiles, even though this practice is decried by many countries.
Phase II of the agreement on fisheries subsidies was under threat, despite the fact that a joint draft text had already reached the ministers’ table.
However, the moratorium on e-commerce has been saved: it has been extended until the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference. This text abolishes tariffs on electronic transmissions and is of crucial importance for the EU and other members.
As for the thorny issue of reforming the WTO and its dispute settlement system, in particular, not much was expected from the start of the week in terms of results.
“We instruct officials to accelerate discussions in an inclusive and transparent manner, build on the progress already made, and work on unresolved issues, including issues regarding appeal/review and accessibility to achieve the objective by 2024 as we set forth at MC12”, ministers said in the decision adopted at the end of MC13. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)