You don’t need a ministerial conference to take important decisions at the World Trade Organization. Despite the 12th ministerial conference not happening this week as planned there has been movement in quite a few areas this week.
World Trade Organization
Comment: The new Japan-US-EU ‘trilateral’ underwent a pandemic mutation
The relaunched Japan-US-EU trilateral conversation aimed at developing new rules related to so-called ‘non-market’ behaviour in international markets is shaping up to be very different from the pre-pandemic initiative launched during the Trump administration.
WTO Corner: Turkmenistan, NGO MC12 attendance row
Turkmenistan applies to join the WTO There are only a few more holdouts out there in the world which are not members of the world trade institution. Until recently the Central Asian country Turkmenistan was one of them. After its neighbour Uzbekistan made moves to accelerate its accession process to …
Brazil sues EU over salmonella regulations at the WTO
Almost ten years after rules on salmonella in poultry meat were amended in the European Union, Brazil is filing for consultations at the dispute settlement body of the World Trade Organization in Geneva over what it sees as discriminatory treatment of its processed poultry meat.
WTO Corner: US joins TESSD, EU capital position, Arab MC12 views, Uzbek accession bid
The countdown to the next WTO ministerial to be hald at the end of this month is on.
WTO ‘plurilateral’ agreements brace for moment of truth
India and South Africa never liked ‘plurilateral’ agreement negotiations initiated in the World Trade Organization after the Doha ministerial conference twenty years ago. But a series of agreements among a broad subset of members of the global trade institution are coming to fruition. Now the long-simmering disagreement between these two …
WTO Corner: USTR Tai sees outcomes on fish and health at MC12
United States trade chief Katherine Tai set out her first fully articulated views on the WTO since taking office last spring at a speech hosted by the Graduate Institute in Geneva on Thursday (14 October 2021). Tai’s speech indicated the United States is committed to achieving agreements on fisheries subsidies …
WTO Corner : A frustrated DG, constructive joint statement initiatives, supply chain bottlenecks
Hi from Day 3 of the 2021 WTO Public Forum. The twelfth ministerial conference is two months away and many participants are wondering whether the event that might define the fate of the global world trade institution will rise to the challenge. Signals are mixed – at best. While there …
WTO : Services domestic regulation negotiations concluded
The 65 members of the World Trade Organization involved in negotiations on a text that establishes basic ground-rules for states on dealing with foreign services suppliers concluded their negotiations on Tuesday (27 September).
WTO e-commerce negotiations: status report
Negotiations towards a plurilateral agreement on e-commerce at the World Trade Organization moved another small step forward on Monday (13 September). Parties found a definitive settlement on two more sub-chapters in the area of ‘open government data’ and ‘online consumer protection’. It remains unclear what type of deliverable negotiators will …
