WTO members take stock of consensus, eye summer deadlines for fisheries, ag

World Trade Organization members this week assessed one of the organization’s founding principles, debating how to ensure consensus-based decision-making becomes more outcome-oriented as many in Geneva push for breakthroughs this summer on fisheries subsidies and agriculture. During a General Council meeting on Wednesday and Thursday, members took up two recent papers centered on consensus . In one, a group of members proposed the idea of “responsible consensus,” which they defined as basing negotiations on facts and evidence, balancing national interest...