WTO members considered the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Singapore and the Free Trade Agreement between Peru and Australia at the 22 March meeting of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). The Committee was also informed of the considerable increase in the number...
As part of her outreach to WTO members aimed at encouraging results-oriented compromises in ongoing negotiations, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala spoke to ministers from the Ottawa Group of WTO members on 22 March.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, joined by five heads of international organizations, stressed the need to keep global trade flows open to ensure that developing and least-developed countries have access to essential medical goods to control the spread of COVID-19 and are able to use trade...
African economies have been hit hard by the downturn in global trade triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new WTO publication launched on Day 1 of the Aid for Trade Stocktaking Event taking place online from 23 to 25 March. The publication entitled "Strengthening Africa's capacity to...
The government of Finland has provided EUR 2 million to the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for 2021-2022 to help least-developed countries (LDCs) use trade to combat poverty and recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finland confirmed the contribution at a signing ceremony...
The WTO and the Enhanced Integrated Framework EIF announced today (24 March) the winner of the "Trading during the COVID-19 pandemic" photo contest launched in February. The winning photo, submitted by Andrey Rojas Corrales from Costa Rica, was revealed at a session on Day 2 of the Aid for Trade...
Key trade negotiators, decision makers and private sector representatives from Arab and Middle Eastern countries discussed contemporary trade policy issues in the region, including the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, in a roundtable discussion held online on 24 March. The debate was organized as...
The WTO Secretariat has circulated a meeting notice and list of items proposed for the next meeting, on 26 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...
The second training course on trade in services for WTO acceding governments took place virtually from 15 to 26 March 2021. Seventy-six officials from 15 governments participated in this activity.