WTO - Roadmap to MC 13

The Chair of the World Trade Organization's General Council, Ambassador Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme of Botswana, has laid out a comprehensive roadmap for the organization's 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) which is set to be held in Abu Dhabi in February 2024.

During consultations held with members, the GC chair said “Calls were also made to focus work on mandated issues in our rulemaking work (negotiations),” adding that members took stock of these at last week's Trade Negotiations Committee meeting.

Ambassador Molokomme said, “I also heard the call to focus our efforts on regular work – where we have the opportunity at today's meeting for a stocktake under respective agenda items, including this one.” 

The GC chair said “repeatedly mentioned was that efforts needed to be stepped up to build a deliberative pathway, including more safe spaces – not only amongst Geneva Ambassadors and delegations, but also at the Senior Officials' and Ministerial level – including at MC13.”

• Reform Ministerial

Ambassador Molokomme suggested that “the prevailing global situation of polycrisis, and the challenges faced by the WTO itself, including with respect to dispute settlement, demanded genuine WTO Reform. This is why some suggested that MC13 needs to be a genuine ‘Reform Ministerial.’”

The specific themes she heard for “deliberation included:

• a. trade and industrial policy; b. trade and climate as well as sustainability issues; c. inclusiveness – MSMEs, women and youth; d. global industrial and supply chains; e. food security; f. resilience-building, and g. incorporation of JSIs into the WTO architecture.

Issued taken up at the July GC and TNC meetings, according to the GC chair included: the second wave of the fisheries subsidies negotiations and the ratification of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies; agriculture reform – domestic support, PSH, SSM, cotton, export competition, export restrictions, market access; and the G-90 Agreement Specific Proposals.

 Without naming countries, the GC chair says she heard “calls for me to appoint facilitators or friends of the chairperson to assist Members with some of these efforts on which I am continuing to reflect.”

The African Group has raised concerns about the facilitators being appointed for some of the major issues. “I am here to facilitate deliberations including responding to requests for safe spaces,” the GC chair said. She stressed that “ given the WTO's Member-driven nature, the onus is also on the proponents to reach out to delegations to initiate these discussions, provide clarity on what they want to be discussed and move these discussions forward.”

The roadmap, presented at the General Council meeting, includes seven key stations:

1. Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Meeting (20 July): Members called for MC13 to be a genuine 'reform Ministerial' given the current global crises and challenges faced by WTO, including dispute settlement issues.

2. Informal Meeting on WTO Reform (25-26 September): Focusing primarily on trade and industrial policy, this meeting is intended to address the needs of the African Group and the European Union. Other potential discussions could include trade and climate, and trade and inclusion.

3. Joint Informal Heads of Delegation Meeting (10 October): The aim here is to finalize preparations for the senior officials meeting. This includes informing officials about the modalities for the meeting and their expected contributions.

4. Senior Officials Meeting (23-24 October): This station aims to allow senior officials to take decisions on ripe issues, acknowledge progress, endorse deliberative pathway targets, deliberate on pressing global issues, and provide political guidance on possible solutions.

5. Meetings of the TNC and General Council (November): The goal is to build on the progress made at the senior officials meeting and expand on matters where political guidance was received.

6. Meeting of the General Council (mid-December): This meeting should focus on crystallizing the outcomes and matters to be put forward at MC13.

7. MC13 in Abu Dhabi (26-29 February 2024): The final station, where the results of the WTO's deliberative reforms will be presented. Some members suggested that a second senior officials meeting may be required before MC13 to iron out any remaining issues.

Ambassador Molokomme emphasized the need for a pragmatic approach to avoid overcrowding of issues and to ensure achievable outcomes on the key topics.  She pointed out that “despite this long wish list, I did hear many Members call for pragmatism, realism, prioritization and avoiding a ‘Christmas tree’ approach, where we have an overcrowding of issues such that we are unable to register achievements on any of them.”