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Ph: DR: La DG/OMC Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Wednesday February 28 congratulated Members for the “considerable progress” made after three days of intense work at the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi. With less than 24 hours remaining before the closing session scheduled for MC13, the DG asked Ministers to make an additional effort to achieve convergence on the various issues examined.
At a heads of delegation meeting, as the clock ticks down, DG/WTO Okonjo-Iweala calls attention to Members stressing that if delegations continue to work hard, a positive outcome from MC13 is within reach and that ministers should be able to return home on time on February 29, the last day of the conference.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of State for Foreign Trade and President of MC13, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, will in turn declare that it was time to put aside differences and work together to achieve the common goal. “This is the reason for consensus, to which I know you are all attached. He also expressed hope that the results would be adopted at the official closing ceremony of MC13.
Mid-term update of the Conference
The meeting of heads of state and government was preceded earlier in the day by a thematic session on dispute settlement reform, moderated by Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs, and a session working session on development, moderated by Kerrie Symmonds, Barbadian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Minister Barth Eide said members may not be able to complete work on dispute resolution reform at MC13. However, he said they should be able to take stock of the significant progress that has been made, acknowledge that further work is needed and instruct officials in Geneva to accelerate their work to put in place a fully operational dispute settlement system accessible to all by 2024, as ministers agreed at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) in June 2022.
Although many members expressed disappointment that MC13 failed to reach agreement on dispute resolution reform, they acknowledged the progress made in informal discussions facilitated by Guatemala’s former deputy permanent representative, Marco Molina.
Minister Kerrie Symmonds reported “considerable progress” in development discussions and said he expected a landing zone would be possible within the next 24 hours. “I think this will be an important signal to the international community that we can act for people through trade”did he declare.
Facilitators from other areas of negotiation also informed members. Iceland’s Permanent Secretary of State, Martin Eyjólfsson, reported on the results of his bilateral and group consultations on fisheries subsidies. He said he hoped solutions were within reach through members’ focused participation and willingness to reach a deal. “I sincerely believe we can achieve a result,” he said.
Rebecca Miano, Cabinet Secretary at the Kenyan Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry, provided an update on the agricultural negotiations. She noted that all members consider it important to achieve an outcome on this issue at MC13, given that outcomes on agriculture have been elusive at the last two ministerial conferences. “This is seen as key to building confidence and working towards a result at MC14”a-t-elle deplore.
Todd McClay, New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Exports and facilitator of the e-commerce work programme, said he had submitted a text to members on his own responsibility to identify possible areas of convergence . Regarding the moratorium on the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions, he noted that differences of views remained but that a viable path was possible.
Finally, Botswana’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mmusi Kgafela, informed members of his efforts regarding some outstanding issues in the draft MC13 ministerial declaration. He said he was “encouraged by the overall positive engagement” and hoped that by the closing session of the Conference, the text would be further stabilized and in such a form that ministers could consider it for adoption. . (Source : OMC-
