World Trade Ministers couldn’t agree on anything. A significant WTO conference on digital customs charges, agricultural, and fisheries subsidies was postponed until Thursday.
The formal concluding session of the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference (MC13), which was originally slated for the previous day, was moved back to Friday by authorities due to the lack of progress.
After being rescheduled four hours earlier, the final session is now set for 10 GMT. “These negotiations are a bit like a roller coaster,” said a source close to the talks.
Disagreements amongst the 164 member states of the body over important matters that dominated the agenda of the talks marked the beginning of the conference in the capital of the United Arab Emirates on Monday.
These consist of agricultural subsidies, fishery subsidies, and a ban on customs fees for online purchases. “Everybody is working with a very positive outlook to try to see what’s the maximum we can get done,” Indian trade minister Piyush Goyal told journalists. “I am very confident. We will come out with significant outcomes, particularly when it refers to areas of very deep concern to large numbers” of developing countries, he added.
