WTO accuses countries of deliberately refusing to resolve trade disputes
2022.12.20 06:09
WTO accuses countries of deliberately refusing to resolve trade disputes
Budrigannews.com – On Monday, the head of the World Trade Organization criticized nations for stalling negotiations due to disagreements over who should lead them.
A series of agreements, including a fisheries agreement, were signed at a major trade conference in Geneva in June, breaking a drought that had lasted for several years. Delegates stated that a deadlock over who should chair the talks on agriculture and fisheries has prevented much from transpiring since then.
Due to the fact that key aspects of the fisheries deal, which aims to cut billions of dollars in subsidies that are killing marine life in the ocean, remain unresolved, the decision is significant.
According to statements relayed by the organization’s spokesperson, “Six months of not negotiating is not acceptable” was what WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said to countries during a closed-door meeting of its General Council on Monday.
She was referring to the time period from the June package all the way up to the present, which includes the summer break and the months since the chairs left. Okonjo-Iweala wants to make more deals before the next ministerial meeting in February 2024 in the United Arab Emirates.
According to delegates, India and Pakistan rejected a proposal to have the ambassadors of Turkey and Norway lead the agricultural and fisheries negotiations.
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Dan Pruzin, a spokesperson for the World Trade Organization, told journalists that selecting negotiation chairs is “never easy,” but that this case was proving “particularly difficult,” without going into detail.
The impasse occurs at the same time that the 164 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are unable to reach an agreement on whether or not to extend a temporary intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines to drugs.
