WTO conference ends without final declaration

The 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) concluded early today without any final declaration, except promises to work further to reach a consensus on disputed issues among member countries.

Members debated key issues such as e-commerce and WTO reform over the last four days since the beginning of the event on March 26 in Yaounde, Cameroon.

The conference, attended by nearly 2,000 officials, including over 90 ministers, was supposed to conclude on Sunday, but it was dragged past midnight to reach a consensus on these issues.

While Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including Bangladesh and Brazil, sought a five-year extension of the moratorium on e-commerce, 66 nations agreed to an interim deal pending ratification.

The moratorium, set to expire on March 31, remained the most contentious issue.

At the end of the summit, Cameroon’s Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, the Chair of MC14, said ministers worked to conclude as many issues as possible across the various areas of negotiation.

Nevertheless, he admitted, “we ran out of time” with regard to several outstanding issues such as the WTO’s work programme on electronic commerce, the continuation of existing moratoriums on customs duties for electronic transmissions, and non-violation complaints under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed progress in discussions on a work programme for advancing ongoing talks on WTO reform, the decision to advance work on further disciplines on harmful fisheries subsidies, and other issues.

MC14 outcomes

Ministers agreed to continue engaging in negotiations on fisheries subsidies, with the aim of making recommendations to the 15th Ministerial Conference to achieve comprehensive disciplines on fisheries subsidies, the WTO said in a statement.

Ministers also adopted two MC14 decisions that were endorsed earlier by members in Geneva: improving the integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system, and enhancing the precise, effective and operational implementation of special and differential treatment provisions in the Agreements on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT).

The WTO Director-General said members would bring back to WTO headquarters in Geneva the draft Yaoundé Ministerial Declaration on WTO Reform and Work Plan, the draft Ministerial Decision on Electronic Commerce, the draft Ministerial Decision on the Moratorium on TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints, and the LDC package.