Isolated US tries to block MC11 Ministerial Declaration
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The United States stood isolated and exposed on Wednesday (22 November) for its unilateral decision to block the finalization of the ministerial declaration for the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial conference (MC11) in Buenos Aires next month, trade envoys told SUNS.

US doubts WTO's pre-eminence for multilateral trade liberalization
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 16 November 2017)
The United States has cast doubts on the pre-eminence of the World Trade Organization for accelerating multilateral trade liberalization. The US did so on Tuesday (14 November) during a discussion at a small group meeting on the outcome document for the ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires, trade envoys familiar with the development told SUNS.

South countries insist MC11 outcome must be finalised in Geneva
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 14 November 2017)
Uganda along with many countries said on Friday (10 November) that the outcome document for the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial conference in Buenos Aires must be finalized in Geneva so as to avert the opaque process that was adopted in the run-up to the last ministerial meeting in Nairobi, in 2015, trade envoys told SUNS.

MC11 becoming a North-South battle
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 26 October 2017)
The eleventh ministerial conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organization in Buenos Aires in December is increasingly transforming itself into a North-South battle on unresolved trade issues of the Doha Work Program (DWP).

The African Group position on e-commerce talks at WTO
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 24 October 2017)
The African Group has formally circulated on 20 October, as a restricted official document, the full statement that it had delivered at an informal meeting on the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce on 16 October.

South countries shoot down proposals for e-commerce negotiations
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 18 October 2017)
A large majority of developing and least developed countries shot down on Monday (16 October) proposals from major industrialized and some developing countries for establishing a "Working Party" or "Working Group" on Electronic Commerce at the World Trade Organization's upcoming ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires, several trade envoys told SUNS.

Consensus eludes trade ministers at Marrakesh
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 16 October 2017)
The just-concluded informal trade ministerial summit in Marrakesh on 10 October brought into sharp focus the linkages between fisheries subsidies and improvements in the Doha trade remedy rules, and between the permanent solution for public stockholding programs and domestic support.

No outcomes possible at MC11, unilateralist USA insists
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 16 October 2017)
The United States, which sent a low-level delegation to the Marrakesh meeting, continued to maintain its unilateral position that no outcomes are possible at the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires beginning on 10 December, participants told SUNS.

MC11 will be scene for fierce US vs South battle
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 10 October 2017)
The World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial conference (MC11) in Buenos Aires beginning on 10 December is going to be a fierce battle between the developing and poorest countries on the one side, and the United States on the other, trade envoys told SUNS.

DG pulled up for flouting mandates, WTO and Rules
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 27 July 2017)
The World Trade Organization Director-General, Roberto Azevedo, was taken to task on Tuesday (25 July) by developing countries for flouting the mandates of the Doha Work Program and for adopting questionable procedures and practices, such as Heads of Delegations (HoD) meetings, in his efforts to advance new issues by the backdoor, several trade envoys told SUNS.

South call for credible results, including on PSH & SSM at MC11
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 27 July 2017)
The developing countries, individually and along with their coalitions on Tuesday called for credible results based on the Doha work program, including the permanent solution for public stockholding programs for food security, at the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires in December, trade envoys told SUNS.

Chairs of WTO Doha bodies report on key issues at TNC
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 27 July 2017)
After an hiatus of almost two years, an informal meeting of the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) was finally held on Tuesday, at which the chairs of the various negotiating bodies under the Doha Work Programme reported on their recent consultations on the key issues in the run-up to the eleventh ministerial conference in Buenos Aires this December.

Doha Round "legacy issues" can't be ignored in favour of new issues
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 21 July 2017)
The legacy issues of the Doha Round cannot be ignored in the push for starting negotiations on the new issues (such as investment facilitation and binding rules on e-commerce), and the WTO members must decide "by consensus" that the Round has been concluded, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry, said on 18 July.

India optimistic over course-correction for Buenos Aires MC11
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 21 July 2017)
The Indian commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday (19 July) expressed "optimism" about finalizing two-thirds of the work on the proposed deliverables for the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting by the time when an informal trade ministerial summit takes place in Marrakech by mid-October.

Developing and LDCs to pay heavy price for Hamburg declaration
(D. Ravi Kanth, Hamburg, 11 July 2017)
The leaders of the Group of 20 developed and developing countries along with invited nations on Saturday unveiled a controversial declaration of compromises for "shaping the interconnected world" for which the developing and poorest countries will continue to pay a heavy price.

Formulaic approach to MC11 outcomes to ensure comfort for US?
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 22 June 2017)
Attempts to finalize a formulaic approach of outcomes for the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires this December are being intensified with the sole aim of ensuring that the United States remains comfortable without having to undertake any fresh commitments, according to people familiar with the development.

North to try to bury DDA, push e-commerce & MSME talks at MC11
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 14 June 2017)
Major developed countries and their "allies" in the developing world have intensified efforts to quietly bury the Doha Development Agenda negotiations while launching negotiations on electronic-commerce and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) at the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December, several ministers and trade envoys told SUNS.

South nations demand credible, concrete outcomes on Doha at MC11
(D. Ravi Kanth, Paris, 12 June 2017)
Trade ministers from India, South Africa, Indonesia, and the ACP countries on Thursday called for credible and concrete outcomes based on the outstanding Doha issues at the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires in December, according to people familiar with the development.

Investment Facilitation and links to China's OBOR
(Chakravarthi Raghavan, Geneva, 22 May 2017)
The stalemate over the agenda at the General Council last week, resolved on 18 May with a compromise of sorts by the statement from the GC Chair, Amb. Xavier Carim of South Africa, has nevertheless brought to the fore many questionable practices of the secretariat and major systemic issues that, if left unresolved, may soon result in causing irreparable damage to the WTO multilateral trading system.

Azevedo gets second term, South Africa to chair General Council
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 2 March 2017)
The General Council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Tuesday formally re-appointed Roberto Azevedo to a second four-year term as Director-General of the organisation.

WTO Members voice their views on key issues for MC11
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 28 February 2017)
An informal Heads of Delegation (HOD) meeting at the WTO on 23 February heard a range of members voicing their views on what they see as their priority issues for possible deliverables at the eleventh ministerial conference (MC11) in Buenos Aires later this year.

WTO secretariat & DG reproached for vitiating negotiating climate
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 27 February 2017)
India and several developing countries on Thursday (23 February) reproached the World Trade Organization Secretariat led by Director-General Roberto Azevedo for "vitiating" the negotiating climate by pushing controversial new issues such as e-commerce and investment facilitation, despite opposition from a large majority of members, trade envoys told SUNS.

CSOs urge WTO DG to advance development mandate, not 'new issues'
(Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 13 February 2017)
Over 80 Indian civil society organisations (CSOs) called on WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo to advance the development mandate of the WTO negotiations especially on key issues in agriculture, instead of his current push for agreements on e-commerce and investment.

ICs want "payment" anew for unresolved Doha agri issues
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva, 24 January 2017)
Major developed and some developing countries appear to be pushing for "payment" for addressing the unresolved Doha issues in agriculture in the run-up to the World Trade Organization's eleventh ministerial meeting in Buenos Aires later this year, sources told SUNS on Saturday.