Members of the World Trade Organization have ended the first half of this year on a somber note of failure, with little or no consensus on any of the targeted negotiations, including disciplines on fisheries subsidies that led to the depletion of global fish stocks. Members failed to find a way forward on a planned second phase of disciplines on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and over fishing during a two-day meeting of the General Council that ended Tuesday.
In an opinion piece published by his current employer Akin Gump, former WTO trade official Alan Yanovich considers the forum's prospects under a return of Trump Administration policies. Despite formidable challenges, Yanovich contends the institution has a shot at survival. "The best-case scenario that can be expected from a second Trump administration is benign neglect and even that is not the only plausible scenario," he writes. With no leverage or traction in trade relations with the U.S., supporters of the body will continue to rely on the WTO for purposes beyond dealing with Washington.
Battle lines are being drawn in the World Trade Organization’s Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations as members take sides over the draft text on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing prepared by the negotiations chair, according to people familiar with the developments. At the Doha trade negotiations committee meeting last week, Chair Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland made it known that the draft disciplines, including the alleged “free pass” given to big subsidizers engaged in distant water fishing with easily circumvented notification requirements, will remain unchanged, said people familiar with the discussions.
The United States blasted China’s “predatory” trade practices yesterday as the World Trade Organization launched its ninth trade policy review of Beijing. China has not lived up to the commitments it made in joining the WTO in 2001 and the challenges have gotten worse, US Deputy Representative to the WTO David Brisbee stated.
The GC chair has issued a report on what transpired at the one-day retreat he convened last week primarily to discuss the decision-making processes at the WTO. In his report, the chair says that he “detected a collective desire to enhance decision-making. processes in Geneva, build and restore trust, uphold consensus decision making in a manner that delivers results and ensure the WTO remains fit for purpose.” The report makes several suggestions, including on the “consensus: understanding and implementation”, “transparency” and “improving the consensus mechanisms”. The report says “the concept of consensus was discussed extensively, with a focus on distinguishing it from unanimity” and “consensus should not be (mis)used as a tool for vetoing but rather as a means to build convergence and foster genuine agreement.”
Several major industrialized countries, including the European Union, seem to be preparing the ground to support the request from the coordinator of the African Group to speed up the reelection process for incumbent World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala out of concern that former President Trump could return to the White House next year. Mr. Trump’s administration opposed Ms. Okonjo-Iweala’s candidacy and overall took a dim view of the value of the WTO. Several trade envoys alleged that the DG has played a role in exerting pressure on Chad and a few other countries to go ahead with their communication while being aware that it has no consensus within the African group.
Trade envoys participating in a one-day retreat on Monday expressed mixed views on issues of transparency, inclusion and small green room meetings, while unable to reach any convergence on the core issue of finding innovative approaches to replace the consensus-based decision-making at the World Trade Organization, said people familiar with the developments. During the retreat, trade envoys apparently held frank discussions on a raft of issues based on the questions circulated by the chair of the WTO’s General Council, Ambassador Petter Olberg of Norway.
The chair of the World Trade Organization’s Doha rules negotiating body has issued a draft text on addressing fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. The genesis of this latest text appears to be the result of bilateral and small group meetings with the chair and select members said people familiar with the discussions. The seven-page draft text issued on Wednesday is based on a two-tier, hybrid approach of sustainability criteria. It highlights the proposal from the United States on forced labor in fishing activities. Our correspondent notes the chair provided a major carve-out to the two big subsidizers- the European Union and China- to continue their distant water fishing. As deals are being struck, it is expected that China will accept Article B.5, opts out from S&DT in exchange for the United States dropping the forced labour provision, said people familiar with the negotiations.
The facilitator overseeing the work on the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement reform presented a report June 20 on various aspects of the central issue concerning the “appeal/review” mechanism that could replace the binding Appellate Body and thereby attenuate the enforcement function of the multilateral trade body, said people familiar with the developments. Without a robust enforcement function undergirding the two-tier dispute settlement system, which is seen as the jewel in the crown of the Uruguay Round trade agreements that created the WTO in 1995, the value purpose of negotiating any new agreements would become meaningless, said people familiar with the negotiations.
Aid for Trade unlocked $648 billion between 2006 and 2022, according to a new World Trade Organization report. In her opening remarks at the WTO’s meeting on aide for trade, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said: "One of the most remarkable changes since 1995 is that trade-enabled growth has lifted over 1.5 billion people out of extreme poverty.”
The United States, China and New Zealand used a meeting on aid for trade to to pitch for early conclusion of the World Trade Organization’s fisheries subsidies agreement. The meeting became a venue for advancing the stalled fisheries subsidies agreement which continues to suffer from alleged historical asymmetries.
The outgoing chair of the World Trade Organization’s Council for Trade in Services presented many recommendations yesterday for “reinvigorating” the work in services trade, which appears to have become a casualty due to the pursuit of joint statement initiatives instead of multilateral processes, said people familiar with the developments.
Sharp divisions marked an informal meeting convened by Brazil at the World Trade Organization to discuss the permanent solution for public stockholding programs for food security, with one country saying that there is no legitimacy to the Brazilian informal process, according to people familiar with the discussions. The informal meeting appears to have been embroiled over procedural issues, after India challenged the “legitimacy” of the process, said people familiar with the developments.
The new chair of the World Trade Organization’s Committee on Trade and Environment has shared ideas on how to advance thematic sessions on few topics in the complex and controversial arena of trade and climate change – where there is no clear mandate from the WTO’s recent 13th ministerial conference, said people familiar with developments.
A concept note issued ahead of the proposed workshop on the way forward in the World Trade Agriculture negotiations on July 2-3 acknowledges for the first time that the lack of progress in agriculture talks is due to “jettisoning of the single undertaking approach in the Doha negotiations in 2011.” The three-page concept note, titled “Rebuilding trust and progress to address contemporary challenges,” blames the stalled talks on the: “Difficulties in finding balances and trade-offs after the jettisoning of the single undertaking approach in the Doha negotiations in 2011, and the subsequent acknowledgment of differences on the agreed Doha negotiations framework and architecture as resulting from the Bali and Nairobi Decisions.”
Several industrialized countries, including the United States and China, as well as developing countries, actively engaged in the informal process launched by Brazil on how to move the agriculture negotiations forward, said people familiar with the developments. However, at that meeting, several other developing and some least-developed countries, including India, clearly signaled their indifference to a parallel informal process outside the discussions that come under the purview of the Doha agriculture negotiating body, which is rebranded as the Committee on Agriculture Special Session, said people familiar with the discussions.
Many World Trade Organization members called for preserving the two-tier dispute settlement system, including the binding Appellate Body, at the first formal meeting on dispute settlement reform, said people familiar with the discussions. At the Head of Delegations meeting, the new facilitator, Ambassador Usha Dwaraka-Canabady of Mauritius, explained the process she will follow in the coming days and months.
India continues to take the position that the Investment Facilitation Agreement for Development Agreement cannot be part of the World Trade Organization’s rulebook. India reiterated its position at the General Council meeting last week, even as the United States, without joining the IFDA, supported its integration into Annex 4 of the Marrakesh Agreement, said people familiar with the development.
Several countries, including China, Indonesia, and India among others, strongly supported the African Group’s proposal on “policy space for industrial development- advancing WTO Committee work to support structural transformation and industrial development in developing countries” during the WTO’s General Council meeting last week, said people familiar with the discussions.
Countries are mulling over what to do next after failing to meet a deadline to produce an agreement to prepare for future health crises in two years. African states would like to see a deal this year, while others argue for a longer extension.
