WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION's update

 

17 Dec 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM General Council Chair welcomes “significant progress” in dispute settlement reform talks The General Council Chair, Ambassador Petter Ølberg of Norway, has welcomed the “significant progress” made in the ongoing negotiations on dispute settlement reform, which is taking place under the purview of the General Council. He said he would be consulting with members early next year on how to further advance the reform work. Speaking at the last General Council meeting of the year on 16-17 December, Ambassador Ølberg thanked Ambassador Usha Dwarka-Canabady of Mauritius for her important contributions as facilitator of the talks over the past six months. News item   ⟶

NEWS ITEM Programme on subsidies notifications for government officials completes first phase A total of 17 government officials from developing and least-developed WTO members successfully concluded a three-day workshop on subsidies notifications at the WTO on 12 December. For the next six months, participants will draft their countries’ subsidy notifications with support from the WTO Secretariat. In mid-2025, they will reconvene at the WTO for an exchange of experiences and best practices. News item   ⟶

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION's latest

 

16 Dec 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM MC14 host Cameroon formally accepts Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Cameroon, host of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in 2026, deposited its instrument of acceptance of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on 16 December. Ambassador Salomon Eheth presented Cameroon's instrument of acceptance to Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the General Council meeting in Geneva. News item   ⟶

NEWS ITEM WTO advanced trade policy course concludes in Geneva A total of 27 government officials from developing and least-developed WTO members and observers completed on 6 December at the WTO the final Advanced Trade Policy Course to be held in 2024. This advanced training course enhanced participants’ expertise in WTO-related work through an intensive learning programme and case-based training. News item   ⟶

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION:Merchandise trade continues to expand in third quarter of 2024

 

13 Dec 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM Merchandise trade continues to expand in third quarter of 2024 World merchandise trade volume rose 1.1% quarter-on-quarter and 3.3% year-on-year, on a seasonally adjusted basis, in the third quarter of 2024, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of moderate trade expansion. News item   ⟶

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION's latest

 

12 Dec 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM Digitalization takes centre stage in MSME Group discussions The Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) on 10 December discussed how digitalization can reduce business costs for MSMEs, mitigating risks and supporting small businesses in engaging in international trade. News item   ⟶

NEWS ITEM Regional trade policy course concludes in Saudi Arabia The eight-week Regional Trade Policy Course for Arab and Middle Eastern WTO members and observers concluded on 5 December in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A total of 22 government officials from the region deepened their understanding of WTO agreements and key trade policy issues in Arab and Middle Eastern countries during the course, the first to be organized in partnership with King Saud University. News item   ⟶

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION's update

 

11 Dec 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM WTO report shows increase in trade restrictions against backdrop of unilateral policies The WTO Director-General's annual overview of global trade developments shows a sharp rise in the coverage of trade-restrictive measures by WTO members between mid-October 2023 and mid-October 2024, compared to the last Trade Monitoring Report in November 2023. While the report, presented at an 11 December meeting of the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB), also points to WTO members’ introduction of a substantial number of trade-facilitating measures, there is increasing evidence of inward-looking trade policies which could generate further uncertainty for the world economy. News item   ⟶

NEWS ITEM Trade Policy Review: Solomon Islands The fourth review of the trade policies and practices of the Solomon Islands takes place on 11 and 13 December 2024. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of the Solomon Islands. TPR documents   ⟶

NEWS ITEM Fish Fund Steering Committee endorses 2025 budget and workplan, readies call for proposals The Steering Committee of the WTO Fish Fund on 11 December approved the 2025 budget and workplan to support developing and least-developed country (LDC) members’ implementation of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies once it enters into force. The first call for funding applications for technical assistance and capacity building is expected to be issued in early 2025. News item   ⟶

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION:Formal TPRB meeting — WTO trade monitoring report

 SPEECHES — DG NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

Formal TPRB meeting — WTO trade monitoring report

Remarks by DG Okonjo-Iweala


Thank you, Ambassador H.E. Dr. Adamu Mohammed ABDULHAMID (NIGERIA) for your introductory remarks.

Excellencies, ladies, and gentlemen. I am pleased to join you today to discuss the latest WTO-wide Trade Monitoring Report and take stock of recent trade policy developments.

You all will have seen my Report which was circulated to Members on 20 November, in document WT/TPR/OV/27 and its Addendum.

You are all familiar with how the Report is prepared and our efforts to ensure inclusiveness and transparency in delivering this factual overview of trade policy developments over the past 12 months. The Trade Monitoring exercise is there to assist you, the Members, to get a sense of developments in the trading system that stand out, to understand emerging trends, and to undertake a constructive, non-legal peer review on matters of shared concern.

You have seen the Report, so I will not list its findings - I am more interested in hearing what you have to say and listening to you engage on the substance of the trends and developments identified since October 2023. However, allow me to share with you a few of my main take-aways.

Let's start by acknowledging something we all know, which Ambassador Adamu just referred to: the global trading environment appears increasingly fragile, uncertain and precarious.

But to be clear, trade has shown resilience to all the shocks of recent years, to Members' benefit. And I really want to stress this: amidst all the difficulties we have, and this is what I have been saying as I have travelled around, let us also remember that trade has shown quit a bit of resilience. In October, our economists reported that the volume of world merchandise trade had expanded at a moderate 2.3% year-on-year pace in the first half of 2024, on track to grow by a projected 2.7% for 2024 as a whole, and 3.0% in 2025. This represents an improvement over the 1.1% decline in merchandise trade volumes seen in 2023. And these projections are in line with the projections for global GDP growth. Normally, trade grows faster than GDP and this time we are growing in tandem.

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION's interesting latest news

 

09 Dec 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM Goods barometer shows moderate trade growth as policy uncertainty looms Global goods trade continued to expand at a moderate pace in the fourth quarter of 2024 according to the latest WTO Goods Trade Barometer. However, prospects for trade in 2025 are uncertain as they may be affected by possible trade policy shifts. News item   ⟶

NEWS ITEM DDG Paugam: Trade is key to food and nutrition security Speaking on behalf of Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at a virtual agriculture symposium on food and nutrition security organized by the WTO on 9 December, Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam underscored the critical role of open trade in achieving food and nutrition security. He emphasized that WTO rules are essential for facilitating the exchange of food and ensuring positive nutrition outcomes globally. He also stressed the importance of updating the WTO rulebook, noting “DG Okonjo-Iweala stated last week that agricultural negotiations are a top priority of her second term.” News item   ⟶

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION's update

 

06 Dec 2024 Latest news

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NEWS ITEM Chair urges WTO members to forge a new path for agriculture talks Members should not lose time on process and swiftly resume substantive talks in the new year, said the Chair of the agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy of Türkiye, in year-end meetings on 4 December. The African Group and the Cairns Group of agricultural exporting countries reported progress in their bilateral discussions, aiming to present a comprehensive package of modalities for agricultural reform before the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14). News item   ⟶   NEWS ITEM Fisheries subsidies chair circulates revised text before December General Council meeting The chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, on 29 November circulated a revised draft text on Additional Provisions on Fisheries Subsidies to facilitate a possible conclusion of negotiations by the December General Council meeting. The chair also circulated a work schedule for the next two weeks. News item   ⟶

WTO update

 

29 Nov 2024 Latest news

Dear maria CHADZIDAKIS VAVOURANAKIS, Below are the news items published today on the WTO public website which match with your news preferences.

NEWS ITEM EU initiates dispute complaint against China regarding Chinese duties on brandy The European Union has requested WTO dispute consultations with China regarding China’s imposition of provisional anti-dumping duties on imports of brandy originating in the EU. The request was circulated to WTO members on 29 November. News item   ⟶