In the context of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference, the European Union and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which brings together 12 countries including Canada, Japan, Australia and the United Kingdom, recognised the importance of urgent reform of the WTO in a joint statement adopted on Friday 27 March.
“We support the WTO reform process (...) and will seek to collaborate in tangible, pragmatic ways, in order to deliver concrete reform recommendations by MC15”, wrote the two blocs.
Armed with its brand new trade agreement with Australia (see EUROPE 13835/1), the EU supports, with the CPTPP, a rules-based trading system and enhanced cooperation between like-minded WTO members. The partners also share concerns about market-distorting practices.
Despite the reluctance of another of the EU’s major trading partners, India, the joint statement supports a “long-term solution” to extend the moratorium that has prohibited the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions since 1998. The partners also affirmed the need to encourage greater participation in the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (see EUROPE 13837/21). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)