The WTO has opened the accreditation process for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) wishing to attend the 12th Ministerial Conference, which will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 30 November to 3 December 2021.
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid to the WTO on 7 June. The two discussed the state of play of trade negotiations at the WTO, the challenges ahead of the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference and the importance of empowering women in trade.
Marking World Ocean Day on 8 June, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, and Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, called on WTO members to deliver a long-awaited agreement to curb funding for harmful fishing. The opportunity to find compromise...
The WTO's Technical Assistance Annual Report, released on 8 June, reveals how WTO capacity-building support continued to be provided to government officials from developing and least-developed countries in 2020 in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. The WTO's programmes have helped beneficiaries to...
At a meeting of the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) on 2-4 and 9 June, WTO members discussed 20 proposals submitted under the Triennial Review of the TBT Agreement. The review will now move to a second phase, with the preparation of a draft report based on the 31 proposals received....
WTO members moved closer to a text-based process to address the proposals put forward by delegations aimed at improving the international response to COVID-19 and achieving the common goal of providing global equitable access to vaccines and other medical products. At the formal meeting of the...
On 9 June, the Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, welcomed the Head of Government of Tunisia, H.E. Mr. Hichem Mechichi, to the WTO. Discussions focused on access to and production capacity for vaccines, challenges in the run up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference, and the importance of...
The government of Finland is contributing EUR 1,025,000 (over CHF 1,100,000) in 2021 and 2022 to help developing countries and least-developed countries (LDCs) advance their expertise across various trade-related areas and ramp up their participation in multilateral trade negotiations. Finland's...