The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ended on the evening of Friday 1 March after five days of intense negotiations (see EUROPE 13362/13). It will not have enabled a repeat of what the organisation’s Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, called “the miracle of MC12” in 2022. The members (now 166) did not agree on the second part of the agreement on fisheries subsidies and there was even less consensus on the reform of the global agricultural system. The European Commissioner for Trade, Valdis Dombrovkis, said he was “ disappointed at the lack of breakthroughs” on these two issues.
An agreement was ready to be adopted on banning subsidies that contribute to overfishing, but the issue of the transition period for developing countries could not be resolved. India did not convince the other members to agree on a 25-year delay for the application of the rules, and therefore adopted a blocking attitude on this issue as well as on agriculture.
“We deeply regret that it was basically just one WTO member that blocked a comprehensive agreement on banning harmful fisheries subsidies worldwide”, Valdis Dombrovskis said at the end of MC13.
Ms Okonjo-Iweala said she was confident that discussions would continue and that an agreement would be reached in the near future. “When we get to Geneva, the members will have a better understanding of each others’ concerns and reservations, so that will facilitate moving in a better way than before we got here”.
At the final press conference, the Director-General only mentioned progress in the discussions and avoided any negative elements in her remarks. For example, she welcomed the extension of the e-commerce moratorium.
This was threatened by India in particular, but the Indian Minister for Commerce, Piyush Goyal, eventually lifted his veto. This text, which abolishes customs duties on electronic transmissions, has been extended until the next ministerial meeting (MC14).
Valdis Dombrovskis, speaking on behalf of the EU, said he was “very relieved” by the decision which he welcomed: “The EU invested considerable time and political effort to build a coalition in favour of extending this deal”.
However, this is a provisional decision and WTO members must work towards a definitive solution to the issue. Many developing countries believe that the moratorium deprives them of a major source of income. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)