The 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) officially came to a close at the early hours of this Saturday in Abu Dhabi, having lasted until Friday at midnight.
No agreement was also reached there because the two most important issues—agricultural and fisheries subsidies—could not be agreed upon by the rich and leading developing nations.
India and a few other developing countries made a significant push for long-term fixes for public food stockholding (PSH). The United States (US) and European Union (EU) denied making any compromise on the issue terming it trade distorting measure. The second phase of the fisheries subsidies agreement that proposed to ban subsidies on overcapacity and overfishing was also not approved due to strong differences among the countries. On dispute settlement reform, members agreed to work on ‘having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024.’ The graduating LDCs including Bangladesh get three years as an extra time after their graduation to adjust with the WTO rules and provisions regarding the dispute settlement system. They will also enjoy LDC-specific technical assistance and capacity building provided by the WTO for three years after graduation. There is, however, no binding commitment on the continuation of the preferential market access for the graduating LDCs. “We reaffirm the provisions of special and differential treatment for developing Members and LDCs as an integral part of the WTO and its agreements,” said the declaration. “Special and differential treatment in WTO agreements should be precise, effective and operational.” WTO DG Okonjo-Iweala, in her concluding statement said. She also said: “We have worked hard this week. We have achieved some important things and we have not managed to complete others. Nevertheless, we moved those pieces of work in an important way. At the same time, we have delivered some milestone achievements for the WTO and laid the groundwork for more.”
MC13 Chair and UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, commended participants for their active participation in the conference during the closing session.
Trade ministers and senior officials from 164 members of the WTO joined the MC13 on Monday.
Due to their inability to agree on important matters during these few days, the meeting was continued on Friday.
The conference was attended by a delegation of eight representatives from Bangladesh, led by State Minister for Commerce Ahasanul Islam Titu.
