As we now know, WTO members, supported as always by the Secretariat, made MC12 a resounding success. After nearly six days of negotiations – culminating in a marathon 48 hours of non-stop talks – ministers and delegates adopted a package of multilateral deals that will deliver for people, businesses, and the planet. The scale and scope of the so-called “Geneva Package” of agreements has not been seen at the WTO since the mid-1990s.

I came to the WTO because I was firmly convinced that trade was part of the solution to the global commons problems, from pandemic disease to climate change, that represent some of the biggest threats to our future prosperity. Speaking to members on my first day in office in March of last year, I recalled the fundamental goals of the WTO, as set out in the preamble to our founding Marrakesh Agreement: using trade as a means to improve living standards, create better jobs and promote sustainable development. These goals are fundamentally about people. But one more reason I came here was that I felt the WTO had the potential to do much more to improve the lives of people around the world.

MC12 is proof that the WTO can deliver results. Members have shown they are capable of reaching multilateral compromises and finding solutions to contemporary challenges – provided they have the political will to do so.

The results achieved at MC12 will enhance the role trade has been playing in helping people cope with the multiple problems we currently confront – economic, environmental, and of course, the COVID-19 pandemic and the more recent food security crisis.

The deal on fisheries subsidies – concluded after nearly 21 years of negotiations – is only the second new agreement WTO members have reached since 1995, and the very first WTO agreement to put environmental sustainability at its core. By banning subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, as well as fishing in the high seas and in overfished stocks, the pact represents a major step forward in protecting ocean health and biodiversity. Importantly, it also means that WTO members have delivered on the mandate given to them in Sustainable Development Goal 14.6.

To read the full report from the WTO, please click here.

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Developing countries and their financing partners are looking to the multilateral trading system to deliver development outcomes. Of the 53 developing countries which responded to the questionnaire accompanying the M&E exercise, 50 (94 per cent) include trade priorities in their development strategies, including 25 least-developed countries (LDCs) (93 per cent). Responses also indicate that 31 donors (86 per cent) include trade priorities in their development strategies. 

To read the full report from the WTO. please click here.

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In her opening message, DG Okonjo-Iweala says:

“The multilateral trading system has played an important part in efforts to fight COVID-19. Trade’s resilience represented a lifeline for millions, enabling access to food and other essential supplies. Now, the WTO can and must play a critical role in accelerating COVID-19 vaccine production and in ensuring a strong, sustained and inclusive global economic recovery.

“To live up to its founding objectives of using trade to help people — to raise living standards, create jobs and promote sustainable development — the WTO must deliver results this year. By responding together to a global crisis without precedent in our lifetimes, members can begin to rebuild the trust needed to address future challenges.”

To read the full report from the World Trade Organization (WTO), please click here. 

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To view the full report, please click here

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