Participants in the talks on domestic regulation in services explored at a virtual meeting on 4 March equivalent disciplines in regional trade agreements, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The disciplines under negotiation at the WTO and the RCEP regulatory disciplines...
Deputy Director-General Yonov Frederick Agah welcomed 36 new interns from developing countries and least-developed countries (LDCs) at a virtual ceremony on 5 March. The interns are taking part in the Netherlands Trainee Programme and the French-Irish Mission Internship Programme, allowing them to...
At a meeting of the Council for Trade in Services on 5 March 2021, WTO members agreed to organize a virtual workshop to share information and experiences with least developed country (LDC) services suppliers and to raise awareness of the preferences notified by WTO members under the LDC Services...
On the occasion of 2021 International Women's Day on 8 March, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened inequalities of every kind. But perhaps no divide has deepened more than that between men and women."
The participants in the negotiations for an agreement on investment facilitation for development held another negotiating meeting on 8-9 March 2021, which saw steady progress and a high level of engagement in the discussions. The progress laid the ground for the coordinator, Ambassador Mathias...
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on 9 March called on COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers to do more to ramp up production in developing countries to combat the vaccine supply shortage that is excluding many lower-income nations from access. In remarks to an event hosted by the UK think tank Chatham...
Members continued discussions on the role of intellectual property amid a pandemic and how the WTO and other stakeholders can engage to ensure secure and rapid access to vaccines and other medical products needed to combat COVID-19. At a meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of...
After falling sharply during the global pandemic, world services trade appears to be in a recovery phase, according to the WTO's Services Trade Barometer, which has recently risen firmly above trend. However, continued weakness in some sectors and an uneven distribution of COVID-19 vaccines cast...
The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 19 March 2021, of the Dispute Settlement Body, which consists of all WTO members and oversees legal disputes among them. The meeting notice is circulated in the form of a document officially...