World Trade Organization

Cambodia deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 6 May. Minister of Commerce Cham Nimul presented Cambodia’s instrument of acceptance to Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard.

At a meeting of the Council for Trade in Goods on 30 April-1 May, WTO members were updated on the progress made in improving its functioning and advancing WTO reform. Members also addressed a significant number of trade concerns and elected Ambassador Clare Kelly of New Zealand as Chairperson of the Council for the period 2024-2025.

The WTO Secretariat and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 1 May aimed at bolstering collaborative efforts to drive inclusive and sustainable development through trade and economic integration, including in Asia and the Pacific region. The MoU was signed ahead of ADB’s Annual Meeting to be held on 2-5 May.

Registration is now open for the 2024 Aid for Trade Global Review, to be held from 26 to 28 June at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva. The event — titled “Mainstreaming Trade” — will provide an opportunity for participants to take stock of 18 years of the Aid for Trade initiative, which has generated USD 687 billion to help developing economies — including least-developed countries (LDCs) — play a bigger part in global trade.

WTO members taking part in a meeting of the Committee on Rules of Origin on 29 April reviewed measures aimed at improving the functioning of the committee and using digital tools to facilitate the work of delegates. The committee also reviewed notifications and papers submitted by members, developments regarding preferential rules of origin for least developed countries (LDCs) and a possible new approach towards improving transparency in the notification of non-preferential rules of origin.

At the 25-26 April meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), WTO members continued their work on reviewing and building on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a view to building effective solutions for any future pandemics. Members also considered how to proceed with the review of the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement, mandated to take place every two years. Ambassador Sofía Boza of Chile was elected TRIPS Council Chair for the upcoming year.

WTO members welcomed the appointment of a new facilitator for the ongoing negotiations on dispute settlement reform at a meeting of the WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) on 26 April. Members also formally adopted two dispute panel reports, one concerning EU measures relating to palm oil and oil palm crop-based biofuels from Malaysia and the second concerning Australian anti-dumping duties on certain imports from China.

WTO members continued to explore opportunities and challenges emerging in the links between trade and environment policies on 23-25 April, holding the second thematic session on trade’s role in the clean energy transition initially discussed in November 2023 back-to-back with the meeting of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE). Members furthermore considered proposals to enhance discussions on the nexus between trade and the environment.

WTO members commemorated on 25 April the 30th anniversary of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), concluded in Marrakesh as part of the historic package of multilateral agreements that brought the WTO into existence in 1995. Speaking at a High-level Dialogue to mark the date, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the anniversary was an opportunity to engage in a forward-looking dialogue on how the WTO can best respond to current and future intellectual... Читать дальше...

Co-convenors of the e-commerce talks — Australia, Japan and Singapore — said at their last round of negotiations held from 22 to 25 April that the work now will move to the final decision-making phase. This is where participating members will focus on domestic consultations and conduct political outreach to try to close the gaps on remaining issues in the negotiations, they added.