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Info Service on Sustainable Agriculture Geneva, 9 Dec (D. Ravi Kanth) – The World Trade Organization’s General Council (GC) chair and the WTO director-general on 8 December appealed to trade ministers to empower their trade envoys in Geneva to conclude multilateral decisions on the “WTO’s response to the pandemic, including the TRIPS dimension” and on “fisheries subsidies” by the end of February. In a joint letter to trade ministers dated 8 December, seen by the SUNS, the GC chair, Ambassador Dacio Castillo from Honduras, and the DG, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that “we have also heard the desire to harness the constructive momentum in the fisheries subsidies negotiations, and to build exchanges in other areas including agriculture.” However, they failed to mention the outstanding mandated issue concerning the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, as demanded by the G33 coalition of developing countries led by Indonesia, and the African Group, said people familiar with the development. To ignore the need for a ministerial decision on the permanent solution for PSH programs for food security, which is needed urgently to tackle the problem of global hunger faced by more than 1 billion people, while focusing mainly on fisheries subsidies that would cater to the needs of just “250 million people” is unjustifiable, said a person, who asked not to be quoted. The mere mention of agriculture in the letter, without calling for an outcome on the mandated issue of the permanent solution for PSH programs for food security, is bound to create an uproar among several developing countries, said people, who asked not to be quoted. With the cancellation of the Doha agriculture negotiating body meeting scheduled to take place on 8 December, which angered many developing countries, the demand for concluding ministerial decisions on the WTO response to the pandemic and on fisheries subsidies without a decision on the permanent solution for PSH programs for food security could severely derail the prospects for the end-February deadline, said people, who asked not to be quoted. ONE-PAGE LETTER FROM GC CHAIR & DG In the one-page letter, Ambassador Castillo and Ms Okonjo-Iweala wrote that “the WTO cannot afford to wait for a ministerial conference before it delivers,” following the postponement of the 12th ministerial conference (MC12), which was scheduled to begin in Geneva on 30 November, due to the emergence of the new Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. “We have to act now, devising new ways of working as needed to achieve meaningful multilateral outcomes,” the GC chair and the DG argued. “Our aim is to conclude deals, or at least resolve brackets and clean up texts to the full extent possible,” they emphasized. “To this end,” Ambassador Castillo and Ms Okonjo-Iweala asked trade ministers to “empower your Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives in Geneva to exercise the requisite flexibility and political will.” They urged the trade ministers to debrief their envoys during the upcoming X-mas holidays, “concerting with them sufficiently to enable them to conclude agreements on their return to Geneva.” The GC chair and the DG said somewhat hyperbolically that “the world cannot wait … it needs a WTO that delivers for citizens, especially amidst the current circumstances.” OMICRON VARIANT OF VIRUS “The new Omicron variant has reminded us once again of the urgency of converging on a WTO response to the pandemic, including the TRIPS dimension … We have to resolve this now,” said the GC chair and the DG in their letter to the ministers. However, given the DG’s apparent obsession with her so-called “Third Way” approach and also the EU’s proposal relating to the use of compulsory licensing, the GC chair and the DG must realize that there is no support among members for these two options. At a time when the world is grappling with the new Omicron variant and the economic slowdown caused by it, the WTO needs to focus only on concluding the temporary TRIPS waiver, said several members, who asked not to be quoted. The 64 co-sponsors of the temporary TRIPS waiver proposal have made repeated calls for the past one year on finalizing the decision on the waiver to address the COVID-19 pandemic on a “war footing”. The temporary waiver seeks to suspend the implementation of certain provisions in the TRIPS Agreement relating to copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information for a period of three years for ramping-up the production of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines across developing countries in combating the pandemic. However, a handful of countries led by the European Union have blocked attempts to finalize the decision on the temporary TRIPS waiver and even refused to engage in text-based negotiations so far, said people familiar with the discussions. In their letter, the GC chair and the DG acknowledged that the “new Omicron variant has reminded us once again of the urgency of converging on a WTO response to the pandemic, including the TRIPS dimension” right now. However, for the past 12 months, the WTO has singularly failed to agree on the temporary TRIPS waiver that has been supported by more than 100 former leaders, as well as a large number of Nobel Laureates, parliamentarians and international civil society organizations, said the co-sponsors of the temporary TRIPS waiver. It is public knowledge that a handful of countries – the European Union, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom among others – have failed to engage in text-based negotiations on finalizing the temporary TRIPS waiver. Although the US has supported the waiver since May this year, it has failed to provide leadership in crafting an outcome on the waiver, said people familiar with the discussions. In her intervention at the informal Heads of Delegation (HoD) meeting last Thursday, the DG said “there are 7 billion people waiting with regards to the TRIPS and the response to the pandemic,” in sharp comparison to “250 million people are waiting for us on fisheries.” If that be the case, then the negotiations on the TRIPS waiver as well as on the permanent solution for public stockholding programs for food security, which addresses the problem of global hunger, ought to have been accorded the highest priority, as compared to fisheries subsidies, said people, who preferred not to be identified. TRADE-OFFS Furthermore, trade negotiations always hinge on “give-and-take” trade-offs and without them, progress is inevitably stalled. By not treating all the multilateral issues on the table on par, the GC chair and the DG are attempting to foist their choices on members, said people, who asked not to be quoted. In their one-page letter, the GC chair and the DG stressed, “we propose to work towards an end-February deadline for the WTO response to the pandemic including the TRIPS dimension, as well as the fisheries subsidies negotiations, without prejudice to other areas of work.” “The goal would be to have clean texts that you, Ministers can bless end-February,” the GC chair and the DG proposed. They have also subtly indicated that MC12, as and when it is re-convened, could be a mini-ministerial meeting as happened in 2008. “The precise format for Ministers to collectively look at texts can be determined in light of the prevailing epidemiological situation at the time,” Ambassador Castillo and Ms Okonjo-Iweala wrote in their letter. They went on to say that business-as-usual approaches are something the world, and the WTO, can no longer afford, notwithstanding the fact that the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations are taking place for more than 20 years. The GC chair and the DG argued that even difficult political issues can be resolved amid uncertainty around in- person meetings by harnessing “the power of technology that allow Ambassadors and Permanent Representatives to consult in real time.” But it is well established that decisions are difficult to be concluded virtually, given the fears of revealing positions through a virtual mode, said people who asked not to be quoted. In multilateral trade negotiations, it is often said that dollars-and-cents and regulatory commitments count, while global solidarity matters only on issues concerning the pandemic, particularly the TRIPS waiver, said people, who asked not to be quoted. “Our ailing world, and the people we serve need us to deliver now,” the GC chair and the DG said in their letter. If that be the case, it is time to conclude the decision on the TRIPS waiver before any other issue. Interestingly, the DG made a similar request at the virtual ministerial meeting on fisheries subsidies on 15 July for delegating ministerial powers to trade envoys but it failed to materialize, according to people familiar with the development. In short, many trade ministers may not prefer to delegate their ministerial powers to their trade envoys, said people, who asked not to be quoted.
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