The global news cycle is dominated today by the decision by the United States to support the idea of a waiver on intellectual property rules enshrined in the World Trade Organization.
World Trade Organization
WTO Corner: Okonjo-Iweala nominates her four deputies
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala nominated four deputy directors-general to help steer the secretariat and the organisation’s membership.
WTO Corner: Trade and Health, China, MPIA, WTO Secretariat
China joins Trade and Health Initiative It’s gone almost unnoticed, but the Ottawa-Group sponsored ‘trade and healthcare’ initiative is officially expanding, with China joining the group, alongside Hong Kong, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the United Kingdom. The announcement was made official in a communication circulated on 22 April …
WTO: E-commerce negotiators take talks to next stage
Plurilateral e-commerce negotiations at the World Trade Organization are progressing, bit by bit. After a plenary session of the close to 90 participating countries on Tuesday (20 April), the conveners Japan, Australia and Singapore were able to announce that two small paragraphs of legal language were closed.
WTO Director-General sees ‘framework’ on trade and health for MC12
The new director-general of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala convened a brainstorming meeting on Wednesday (14 April 2021) aiming to find solutions to ramp up global production of vaccines and health products to help combat the still-raging global COVID-19 pandemic.
WTO Corner: The quest for a post-COVID 19 agenda
The WTO currently comes across as being in a transition. This is predictable at a time of leadership change and renewal at its secretariat. The new director-geneal is interviewing candidates for the post of deputy DG, is pushing the fish-subsidies agenda and potentially steering the WTO institution into a new …
WTO Corner: WTO and G7 in quest for ministerial conference agenda
Updated on 1 April 2021. G7 pledges work on WTO overhaul The United Kingdom hosted its first trade ministers meeting as post-Brexit G7 host online today. To the host, WTO reform was a major item it wanted to see addressed at the meeting. “Our like-minded democracies need to win the …
WTO Corner: competitive neutrality, gender, e-commerce, ITA2, EU disputes
There is clearly more activity at the World Trade Organization than last year – probably even than the year before last. With a new director-general now in office, a date for the next ministerial meeting all set and hope for a more cooperative US administration, this is the time when …
Airbus-Boeing subsidy agreement countdown begins
The countdown to a negotiated transatlantic Airbus-Boeing subsidy solution has begun today. Last Friday US President Joe Biden and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a mutual four-month temporary suspension of tariffs imposed in 2020 following a 16-year old legal dispute at the World Trade Organization: these tariff …
WTO Corner: Bad health situation at General Council
The arrival of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the helm of the World Trade Organization on Monday gave members a cautious sense of optimism about the ability of the institution to deliver new outcomes.
