After nearly 24-hour negotiations, the 164 member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have signed agreements for the first time in years. Early Friday morning, they made agreements to enable the production of Covid vaccines in more countries and to ban subsidies for illegal and unregulated fishing in order to protect overfished stocks.
However, a planned agreement on trade in agricultural products never materialized. “You don’t go home empty-handed,” WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the end of the conference, which was due to end on Wednesday. In the absence of an agreement, the 68-year-old had pushed for an extension because she did not want to see her first ministerial meeting as a flop. “The WTO has shown that it is capable of responding to the challenges of our time.”
Parties followed
At the final meeting of government representatives at 5 a.m., there was not only a long round of applause when the conference chairman formally stated that all member states support the agreements. Unanimity was needed. There was also a festive mood in the full hall: ministers, civil servants and diplomats spontaneously played a late birthday song for Okonjo-Iweala and another minister. According to her own statements, she was in no mood to celebrate on her actual day of honor, Monday, because she feared the conference would fail.
Civil society representatives did not participate in the applause. “It’s shameful that WTO members are prioritizing saving an ailing institution and obscene corporate profits over saving lives,” said Public Citizen’s Melinda St. Louis. In particular, the EU has blocked the abolition of patent rights (TRIPS exemption) demanded by many countries. The agreement reached is not enough.
Ministers also agreed to launch WTO reforms with a work programme. The partially inactive dispute resolution mechanism should work again in two years. They extended an agreement not to levy tariffs on international digital trade for the time being.
They also agreed that purchases made by the World Food Program (WFP), which supplies food to the world’s hungry, should not be hampered by export restrictions. At the same time, however, they have left the door open to doing exactly this if it serves to adequately provide for their own population.
Often difficult negotiations
The sometimes vague formulations, which leave a lot of room for interpretation, were a sign of the often difficult negotiations. In addition to the individual agreements, there was a general closing statement with vague promises like this: “We are committed to working on necessary reforms in the WTO. (…) In our view, the reforms should improve all functions.” To this day she does not understand how one can argue for hours about a single word in a footnote, Okonjo-Iweala said to the laughter of ministers.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
