WTO Trade Ministers Meeting to Be Held... Discussion on Restoring Multilateral Trade

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Meetings are being held consecutively to seek ways to overcome COVID-19 and restore the multilateral trading system.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced that the WTO Ottawa Group Ministerial Meeting and the WTO Major Economies Ministerial Meeting will be held virtually on the 20th and 21st.

This meeting was promoted to bring together trade ministers from major countries to discuss ways to restore the multilateral trading system after the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC-12) and the Davos meeting, which were scheduled for the end of last year, were postponed. The agenda includes ▲pandemic response (trade and health) ▲fisheries subsidies negotiations ▲WTO reform ▲agriculture negotiations.

WTO member countries are discussing countermeasures such as minimizing export restrictions on essential medical supplies to overcome COVID-19, enhancing transparency related to trade measures, and sharing cases of trade facilitation. Discussions on intellectual property (IP) related to medical supplies, including vaccines, are also underway.

Regarding the fisheries subsidies negotiations, the only multilateral negotiation involving all 164 WTO member countries, further negotiations are expected. The fisheries subsidies negotiations aim to protect global fishery resources facing depletion by addressing issues such as banning subsidies for illegal fishing, restricting subsidies for overfished species, and limiting subsidies that cause overfishing. There are differences of opinion among member countries on key issues such as the method of subsidy prohibition and special treatment for developing countries.

Additionally, the WTO is discussing ways to timely regulate emerging agendas such as digital and environmental issues and to more effectively ensure compliance with these regulations. Efforts are also underway to normalize the dispute settlement system, which has been suspended since December 2019 due to the U.S. opposition to appointing Appellate Body members.

Yeo Hangoo, Director-General for Trade Negotiations at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, stated, "The schedule for the ministerial meeting must be confirmed promptly to maintain momentum for various achievements at the WTO level," and "the WTO's role should be strengthened to expand vaccine production and rapid distribution, focusing on facilitating trade of vaccine raw materials, minimizing export restrictions, and discussions on temporary waivers of intellectual property rights."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.