WTO Ministerial Conference fails to adopt organization reform plan, postpones negotiations to Geneva
MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in Yaounde, Cameroon failed to adopt a final declaration due to persistent disagreements on a number of issues, including the organization's reform plan, an agreement on electronic commerce and the extension of a moratorium on imposing duties on electronic transmissions on digital goods and services.
Initially, the conference was scheduled from March 26 to the morning of March 29, but the final session was postponed to the late evening of March 29, during which WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala announced the postponement and continuation of negotiations at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, in order to approve the conference's package of documents at the upcoming WTO General Council meeting (held every two months).
"We are very close to a Yaounde package of agreements that would be important for Members and the future of the organization. But we're not all the way there yet," the WTO director-general said in a published statement. Under the circumstances, the WTO believes it would be advisable to preserve the important texts it has developed here and use them as the basis for finalizing the agreements in Geneva at the next General Council meeting, she said.
The package of documents that members will bring to Geneva specifically includes the draft Yaounde Ministerial Declaration on WTO reform and work plan and the draft ministerial decision on electronic commerce.
"The conference showed that WTO members understand the need to advance reforms. They practically prepared a draft work plan outlining the relevant work, which provides for the phased consideration of various reform issues so that by the 15th conference, which will be held in two years, WTO members could complete work on this plan and give recommendations to ministers," Maxim Medvedkov, an advisor at the Center for Expertise on WTO Issues and the chief negotiator for Russia's accession to the WTO, told Interfax regarding the outcomes of the ministerial conference.
"In addition, a draft decision on electronic commerce was prepared. Sixty-six countries agreed on the draft of this agreement, but the problem is that several countries refused to consent to this package becoming part of the WTO agreement. As a result, the countries that agreed on this draft decided to provisionally apply this agreement in trade with each other," Medvedkov said.
"Once again, the extension of the moratorium on applying customs duties to electronic transmissions was discussed. But Brazil and the United States did not reach an agreement on the duration of this moratorium. Brazil advocated for a significant reduction in the duration of this moratorium, as the U.S. refused to consider their proposals regarding agriculture. As a result, no agreements have been reached yet," he said.
"Discussions on agricultural issues were blocked by the United States, so there was no progress there either. Regarding the second agreement on fisheries subsidies, an agreement was reached that negotiations would continue with the aim of signing it at the next ministerial conference," Medvedkov said regarding the negotiations concerning agriculture and fisheries subsidies.
On the issue of restoring the functioning of the Appellate Body within the trade dispute settlement mechanism, there was also no progress, as the United States continues to block its operation, he said. "There was a call to use the interim appeal mechanism [Russia does not participate in it]," Medvedkov said.
"Despite the fact that the final declaration was not adopted, agreements on most issues are very close. The WTO has a good chance to move forward in the next two or three months," he said.
