The Egyptian Trade and Industry Minister Nivine Gamea hailed the declaration issued by the World Trade Organization (WTO) for swift response to the food security crisis.
The WTO members successfully concluded the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Geneva, securing multilaterally negotiated outcomes on a series of key trade initiatives.
The “Geneva Package” confirms the historical importance of the multilateral trading system and underlines the important role of the WTO in addressing the world’s most pressing issues, especially at a time when global solutions are critical.
The “Geneva Package” contains a series of unprecedented decisions on fisheries subsidies, WTO response to emergencies, including a waiver of certain requirements concerning compulsory licensing for COVID-19 vaccines, food safety and agriculture, and WTO reform.
“The package of agreements you have reached will make a difference to the lives of people around the world. The outcomes demonstrate that the WTO is, in fact, capable of responding to the emergencies of our time,” said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
“They show the world that WTO members can come together, across geopolitical fault lines, to address problems of the global commons, and to reinforce and reinvigorate this institution. They give us cause to hope that strategic competition will be able to exist alongside growing strategic cooperation.”
DG Okonjo-Iweala expressed her conviction that “trade is part of the solution to the crises of our time” and noted that the WTO “can and must do more to help the world respond to the pandemic, tackle environmental challenges and foster greater socio-economic inclusion.”
The package adopted by members include a Ministerial Decision on World Food Program (WFP) Food Purchases Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions); a Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics; a Ministerial Decision on the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights; and a Decision on the E-commerce Moratorium and Work Program.
It also included an Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.
