The Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, reporting in her capacity as Chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), made a strong appeal to World Trade Organization (WTO) members. She urged them to adopt a spirit of compromise and engage in genuine negotiation to overcome differences and reach agreements on several key issues at the upcoming General Council meeting on July 22-23.
“Now is the time to walk the talk and move from reflection and brainstorming to action,” Okonjo-Iweala stated. “To not only take, but to be prepared to give. To compromise, be flexible and open-minded. To reach out to others, to understand their concerns and find mutually agreeable ways forward.”
Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that while there is engagement, it is not necessarily negotiation. “If we are to remain resilient at the WTO and responsive in a changing world, then we must remain faithful to the organization’s negotiating DNA,” she added.
Before the Director-General’s report, members at the TNC meeting received updates from the chairs of negotiations on various topics, including trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights, agriculture, development, and fisheries.
Agriculture Negotiations
Ambassador Alparslan Acarsoy (Türkiye) reported on the ongoing efforts to define a roadmap for the continuation of agriculture negotiations. He highlighted several member-led initiatives, such as the Brazil-led process aiming for a decision at the General Council meeting, and contributions from the African Group and the Cairns Group of agricultural exporting countries. Ambassador Acarsoy expressed his intention to wait for the outcome of these efforts before resuming the negotiation process after the summer break.
Development Discussions
Ambassador Kadra Hassan (Djibouti) noted her collaboration with facilitator Mr. Jia Jie Loh of Singapore on advancing work based on the Ministerial Declaration at MC13. This includes implementation of special and differential treatment provisions in the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement. Hassan emphasized the importance of building on the current momentum to conclude these longstanding negotiations.
Fisheries Subsidies
Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson (Iceland) shared his progress on the Additional Provisions on Fisheries Subsidies. He noted that a revised draft text was circulated on July 10, and small group meetings were held to assess member positions. While an overwhelming majority see the text as a basis for consensus, fundamental issues raised by a few members may hinder final agreement.
“If members are to succeed in the coming days, they must find a way to address these differences and work in earnest to find a middle ground,” Gunnarsson concluded.
More than 50 members took the floor to comment on the reports, with several speaking on behalf of groups. General Council Chair Petter Ølberg (Norway) expressed optimism about the upcoming meeting. “It shows we have work to do, we have a really busy week ahead of us, but it’s doable,” he said. “Let’s do it.”
In her closing remarks, Director-General Okonjo-Iweala delivered what she described as an “impassioned plea” for members to negotiate in good faith with the common good in mind. She called on members to embrace the spirit of compromise to deliver on critical issues such as agriculture and fisheries subsidies at the General Council meeting.
“Together, we must stand up for the politics of hope, for the dream that is a fair and just global trade system,” Okonjo-Iweala concluded.
