WTO MC14

World Trade Organization members are grappling with the purpose of reform talks amid questions about the institution’s importance as they prepare for a ministerial conference in just five months, according to a report by the facilitator of the reform talks. Organizational reform conversations have dominated much of the Geneva discourse in recent years as two of the WTO’s key functions, negotiations and dispute settlement, have been mired in deadlock. The U.S. for years has blocked nominations to the WTO’s Appellate...

The African, Caribbean and Pacific group has proposed a ministerial declaration to renew the World Trade Organization’s moratorium on duties on electronic commerce transmission, excluding any discussion of definitional aspects of the moratorium and including a commitment to work with international organizations. The WTO’s 14th ministerial conference is set for March 2026 in Cameroon. Fights over the extension of the e-commerce moratorium have become a regular ritual at ministerials. While WTO members in each instance have agreed to extend it,...

World Trade Organization reform cannot succeed if members prioritize their national interests over the common good, the facilitator of the reform talks said this week, noting “deeply divergent” views among delegations and urging them to “lead with courage.” During a General Council meeting on Monday and Tuesday, Norwegian Ambassador Petter Ølberg, tapped to guide the broad WTO reform talks, detailed the state of the discussions. According to Ølberg, members remain in agreement that the WTO needs significant reform but disagree...

The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of countries is preparing a proposal on e-commerce in advance of the next World Trade Organization ministerial that could include support for continuing a moratorium on e-commerce duties, according to a Geneva-based trade official. Barbados, speaking on behalf of the ACP, said the group was working on the draft during a Sept. 25 meeting on the e-commerce work program; they also expressed support for the moratorium, the official told Inside U.S. Trade in...

World Trade Organization negotiators remain stymied by deep divisions on agriculture and the second phase of the fisheries subsidies talks, leaving prospects shaky for 14th ministerial conference outcomes and prompting the U.S. and others to warn the WTO against attempting to be too ambitious for MC14. During the Trade Negotiations Committee meeting on Tuesday -- coming ahead a General Council meeting next week -- Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the chair of the TNC, asked delegations to answer two key questions related...

The U.S. will not consider a draft negotiating text for an agreement on fisheries subsidies at the World Trade Organization as a basis for advancing those talks, Washington said on Tuesday, calling for members to “pause” and “reflect” on the negotiations and precluding the possibility of a deal by the next ministerial conference. Talks on the agreement, known as Fish 2, cover subsidies for overfishing and overcapacity, among other provisions that members left out of a 2022 agreement on fisheries...

World Trade Organization delegations are not in alignment yet on how they should proceed with dispute settlement reform, including whether to appoint another facilitator and to what extent negotiators should resume technical talks ahead of the 14th ministerial conference in March. During a Dispute Settlement Body meeting on Friday, the chair, New Zealand Ambassador Clare Kelly, told members she had consulted with 25 different delegations on the issue, according to a copy of her report obtained by Inside U.S. Trade...

GENEVA -- Negotiators here are starting to lay a foundation for what could be achieved at the next World Trade Organization ministerial conference, with reform top of mind and little else in focus. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has called on negotiators by December to try to identify areas that could be ripe for outcomes at the 14th ministerial, set for March in Cameroon. With about three months to go to that deadline, and amid ongoing uncertainty about how the U.S...

World Trade Organization members should aim to ensure next year's 14th ministerial conference produces a “package” that includes both “practical options” as well as political guidance to advance substantive reforms, the facilitator of the WTO reform talks said on Friday. Norwegian Ambassador Petter Ølberg held an initial round of consultations with delegations last month following his appointment as facilitator. In a July 4 communication to members, obtained by Inside U.S. Trade , Ølberg cited “broad willingness” to move forward on...