While the EU had high expectations of the 14th WTO Ministerial Meeting, held between 26 and 29 March in Yaoundé (Cameroon), its outcome was seen as a further admission of failure for multilateralism.
“Today, supporters of the multilateral trading system are waking up with a hangover”, lamented Bernd Lange (S&D, German), head of the European Parliament delegation in Yaoundé.
After long days of negotiations, few major trade issues were resolved, against a backdrop of prolonged disruption linked to the Middle East conflict.
Reform of the institution. The greatest expectation ahead of the meeting was that progress would be made on reforming the organisation, which has lost credibility with the increase in geopolitical tensions and trade disputes.
For the EU, there was still hope of finding a way out of the consensus rule, which is blocking many decisions, as well as the dispute settlement mechanism, which has been paralysed by the United States since 2019 because of its refusal to renew the judges in the WTO’s Appellate Body. Washington still maintains this refusal.
Moratorium on e-commerce. The United States reportedly made its broader support for the institution’s reform work plan conditional on reaching an agreement on extending the moratorium on e-commerce.
This 1998 agreement prohibits customs duties on dematerialised digital trade.
The United States, like the EU and other developed countries, was counting on the moratorium being extended for a long time, as it is once again due to expire.
Negotiations were blocked by Brazil’s request not to commit to extending the moratorium beyond two years. The country reportedly linked these negotiations on e-commerce to those on the highly sensitive subject of agriculture. India is also notoriously opposed to a permanent extension of the moratorium.
“Without an agreement to extend the moratorium on digital tariffs, a period of great uncertainty could soon begin for businesses and consumers”, lamented Mr Lange.
However, WTO Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, made it clear that negotiations were continuing.
“In the circumstances, we believe that it would be appropriate to preserve the important texts we have developed here and use them as a basis to finalise agreements in Geneva at the next General Council meeting”, she said.
Agreement on e-commerce. In addition, the agreement on e-commerce has not been integrated into the WTO framework because of India’s opposition.
This WTO agreement on e-commerce was adopted in 2024, but has been blocked on several occasions by a minority of the WTO’s 166 member states.
One modest outcome concerns the continuation of negotiations on fisheries subsidies. Ministers set themselves the objective of formulating recommendations at the 15th Ministerial Conference with a view to arriving at the comprehensive disciplines on fisheries subsidies referred to in Article 12 of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)