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Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct21/09) Geneva, 6 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) – Trade ministers and senior officials on 5 October have apparently echoed divergent messages and discordant notes on what can be achieved on the issues of fisheries subsidies, the WTO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, agriculture, and proposed WTO reforms, at the WTO’s 12th ministerial conference (MC12) scheduled to begin in Geneva from 30 November . At an informal ministerial meeting in Paris, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ambassador Katherine Tai appears to have remained silent on the need to have any outcome on fisheries subsidies and agriculture, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Ambassador Tai, however, mentioned Washington’s priority areas including the WTO’s response to the pandemic and a ministerial decision on commencing work on WTO reforms to be concluded at the WTO’s 13th ministerial conference, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Significantly, the USTR called for an “enhanced TRIPS waiver” as a response to the pandemic, said people, who asked not to be quoted. WTO DG’S ASSESSMENT At the closed-door dinner meeting that lasted late into the night at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris on 5 October, the WTO director-general Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala appears to have admitted that members have not arrived at a common ground o n fisheries subsidies, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Trade ministers/senior officials from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Costa Rica, the European Union, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States took part in the meeting along with the WTO DG. The DG apparently said that she has heard from members that the revised text issued by the chair of the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations is not balanced, said people, who preferred not to be quoted. Ms Okonjo-Iweala said members present at the meeting need to take hard decisions on fisheries subsidies – both political and technical – with policy space for the future, people said. Ms Okonjo-Iweala is understood to have said that the WTO’s 11th ministerial conference held in Buenos Aires, in December 2017, was not successful. She emphasized at the meeting that members need to deliver outcomes at MC12 that is scheduled to begin on 30 November. She urged the more than two-dozen participants to deliver realistic outcome s on three or four “deliverables” at MC12, underscoring the need to focus on solutions. However, she did not elaborate on these three or four “deliverables” that need to be agreed to at MC12. Speaking on the issue of the WTO’s response to the pandemic, she said members need to strengthen cooperation among international organizations. She highlighted “deliverables” that include: (1) keeping supply-chains open ; (2) finding solutions on technology transfer; and (3) including intellectual property (IP) and the IP waiver as a pragmatic solution at MC12, according to people familiar with the discussions. On agriculture, the DG emphasized on the need to have an agreement on a permanent solution for public stockholding programs for food security, suggesting that some members want an outcome on domestic support, transparency-related issues, and a decision on exempting the World Food Programme purchases from export restrictions. On the two-stage dispute settlement system, which has been derailed by the United States in December 2019, the DG highlighted the need for a “resolution and shared understanding”. Ms Okonjo-Iweala suggested a post-MC12 work program to address issues such as special and differential treatment (S&DT). The DG also echoed her assessment on global subsidies in agriculture which, according to her, amounted to more than $700 billion. She also touched on t he need to address industrial subsidies. Ms Okonjo-Iweala also talked about her oft-repeated priority area on the plurilateral Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) on digital trade, investment facilitation, disciplines on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and trade and gender. FOUR AREAS OF DISCUSSIONS – FISHERIES SUBSIDIES After the participants read out their brief statements, the chair of the meeting, Australian trade minister Dan Tehan, apparently structured the discussions on four areas among ministers. They include: (1) fisheries subsidies; (2) agriculture; (3) WTO’s response to the pandemic; and (4) WTO reforms. On fisheries subsidies, ministers/senior officials largely stuck to their positions. The big subsidizers such as the European Union, Canada, Norway, Japan, and Korea among others largely sided with the chair’s revised text. Norway and the European Union spoke about the need to have substantive outcomes in fisheries. Australia said we need common ground and focus on sustainability issues. Several countries that support the chair’s text argued that the fisheries subsidies negotiations were going on for the past 20 years, suggesting that the time has come for concluding the negotiations at MC12, said people, who asked not to be identified. In sharp contrast, India, South Africa, and Mauritius spoke about their concerns over the lack of balance in the text. They demanded robust special and differential treatment based on the framework of common but differentiated responsibilities. They called for “policy space” to develop their fishing sector. They also called for substantial changes to bring balance to the text. One country said it is futile to talk about the delay of 20 years in the negotiations when there is no balanced text on the table as mentioned by the DG, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Indonesia, which had a bilateral meeting with the USTR hours before the dinner meeting, said it is ready to show flexibility. More importantly, the Indonesian minister suggested that he is ready to play the role of a bridge-builder between the two sides on the divide over fisheries subsidies. The USTR Ambassador Tai held a bilateral meeting with Indonesia hours before the ministerial meeting in which the two sides “discussed shared areas of interest, including World Trade Organization negotiations on fisheries subsidies and the upcoming WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference agenda.” The USTR also held another bilateral meeting with Korea in which she said that the US wants a “meaningful” agreement on fisheries subsidies. Yet, it is puzzling as to why the USTR chose not to say anything on fisheries subsidies at the ministerial meeting, said people, who asked not to be quoted. WTO’S RESPONSE TO THE PANDEMIC During the discussion on the WTO’s response to the pandemic, several countries of the Ottawa Group led by Canada highlighted their proposal on trade and health. The Ottawa Group’s proposal largely focused on trade liberalization measures, including trade facilitation and the removal of export restrictions and other barriers, while remaining silent on the TRIPS waiver. While the Canadian minister Ms Mary Ng said around 23 countries supported t he trade and health proposal, one of the co-sponsors of the TRIPS waiver proposal said it is unfortunate that despite support from 64 members for the TRIPS waiver, there has been refusal to enter into text-based negotiations. The temporary TRIPS waiver seeks to suspend certain provisions relating to copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information for ramping-up global production of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines across countries to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The USTR called for an “enhanced TRIPS waiver”, but the contours of the demand are unclear, said people, who asked not to be quoted. AGRICULTURE On agriculture, Mauritius, on behalf of the African Group, India and South Africa called for a permanent solution on public stockholding programs for food security. The three countries emphasized that they will not accept any tinkering of Article 6.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA). That Article deals with the “development” box that exempts developing countries from any commitments on irrigation and fertilizer support. For the past six years, the United States and the Cairns Group of farm exporting countries have raised the issue of addressing Article 6.2 of the AoA. Chad, which is the coordinator for the least-developed countries (LDCs), Mauritius, and South Africa demanded an outcome on cotton subsidies. The Cairns Group led by Australia made a strong pitch for an outcome on domestic support, including on the need to have a detailed work program. The EU also concurred on the need to agree on a work program on agriculture . At the meeting, several Cairns Group members called for an agreement on transparency-related issues and exempting the World Food Programme purchase s from any export restrictions. WTO REFORMS During the discussion on WTO reforms, the USTR spoke at the end for 15 minutes in which she appears to have demanded a robust work program that would be concluded by the end of the 13th ministerial conference. Ambassador Tai apparently complained that people are not talking to us, suggesting that there are many visions on WTO reforms. Without naming them, the USTR said that some countries are uncomfortable with the JSIs. To the USTR’s complaint about lack of communication, the DG apparently said that a lot of time was sought to start discussions after which there was no engagement, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Ms Okonjo-Iweala said there is a lot of interest in WTO reforms, suggesting that there is no clarity yet on the proposed reforms. She is also understood to have said that there has to be clarity as to what the US needs on WTO reforms, said people, preferring anonymity. Many members called for addressing the crisis over the two-stage dispute settlement system. China, which supported the Ottawa Group’s trade and health proposal, remained silent on agriculture. Australia concluded by saying that they will have to enhance the dialogue with ministers and not leave it to the ambassadors with less than 42 working day s left to MC12.
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