WTO members reached consensus on 27 May on a slate of names of the chairpersons for the 14 subsidiary bodies that report to the Council for Trade in Goods. The Chair of the Goods Council, Mr. Gustavo Nerio Lunazzi (Argentina), thanked delegations for their cooperation and flexibility in (...)
At a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 23 May, WTO members considered a request from China for the establishment of a dispute panel to review surtax measures imposed by Canada on certain products of Chinese origin, including electric vehicles and steel and aluminium (...)
The Netherlands is extending its partnership with the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF), committing CHF 1.3 million to help developing economies enhance their sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) capacities. This contribution, which will enable value chain participants to strengthen (...)
At a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development in special session on 22 May, WTO members continued deliberations on three Agreement-specific proposals submitted by the G-90 group. The proposals relate to the application of special and differential treatment (S&DT) under the WTO (...)
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretary General Martin Chungong urge parliaments worldwide to accelerate ratification of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies — the first WTO accord to place environmental sustainability at its core. With 99 WTO members (...)
At an information session on 22 May, WTO members were briefed by the WTO Secretariat on the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies and the process for depositing instruments of acceptance with the WTO. They also heard from several members about their ratification experiences. An information session (...)
WTO members will need to agree on a package of “deep and thorough” reform proposals for consideration at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in March next year if the WTO is to remain relevant, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told members at a meeting of the General Council on 20-21 (...)
The WTO Fish Fund Steering Committee agreed at its meeting on 19 May on next steps to open its first Call for Proposals to receive funding for project grants intended to support the implementation of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies once it enters into force. The Committee also welcomed (...)
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Andrej Plenkovic, on 20 May at the WTO. They discussed current trade challenges and shared concerns about the effects on the global economy. They emphasized the crucial role of the multilateral trading (...)
On 20 May, Lesotho’s WTO Ambassador Tsiu Khathibe presented his country’s instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Lesotho is the 99th WTO member to deposit its acceptance of the Agreement with the (...)