The 12th Ministerial WTO Conference: Powerful economies would dominate and weaker economies would be at a disadvantage – Min Todd

The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) was held from June 12 to 16, 2022, in Geneva, Switzerland. MC12 was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan’s President, the Honourable Timur Suleimenov.

Guyana’s delegation to MC12 was led by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd and accompanied by Director of Foreign Trade (ag) Bevon McDonald and Trade Advisor within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Paul Kalekyezi along with Kerrlene Wills, Chargé d’Affaires ai, and Colin Luckie, Second Secretary, Guyana’s Mission in Geneva.
MC12 focussed primarily on thematic discussions, which included agriculture, the draft agreement on fisheries subsidies, response to pandemics, trade and food security, and the reform of the WTO.
Minister Todd in his capacity as the Caricom Spokesperson on WTO matters delivered statements on behalf of the Region. In addressing the Informal Session on the challenges facing the Multilateral Trading System, Minister Todd noted that the multilateral trading system and the WTO have not been immune to the crises of these recent years.

Thus, he advanced that “many developing countries, including small vulnerable economies (SVEs), continue to have concerns about certain imbalances in the WTO Agreements, they value the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core. As small economies, we in Caricom assign great importance to our ability to participate in deliberations and decision-making in the WTO on matters that affect not only our interests but the entire membership. We recognise that without this rule-based system, the most powerful economies would dominate, and weaker economies would be the most disadvantaged”.
Regarding agriculture, Minister Todd noted that whilst the agriculture agenda is “one of the most important aspects of the WTO work programme, unfortunately, apart from the decision made in Nairobi on the elimination of export subsidies, there has been little to show since the Agreement on Agriculture was approved”. Minister Todd also highlighted the need for meaningful special and differential treatment in all future agreements and the plight of Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs) and mostly Net Food Importing Developing Countries.
In addressing the area of fisheries, Minister Todd noted that Caricom “appeals for decisive action to curb harmful fisheries subsidies published by Prime Ministers from our Region.” Minister Todd also conveyed the Region’s preference for a definition of “fish that excludes mammals and aquatic plants” and our willingness to support efforts to address this.
On the question of WTO Reform, Minister Todd, in addressing the Ministerial Conference on behalf of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), noted that the reform of the organisation has been on the agenda for many years and the OACPS are in support of the reform. However, he said that the process must address the blockages with the Appellate Body and must see the maintenance of the two-tiered dispute settlement system. It should ensure that the system is member-driven, structured, inclusive, transparent and development-oriented. Further, Minister Todd noted that “it should also advance the interests of the developing and least developed countries through the application of special and differential treatment in all the WTO Agreement … and promote their integration into global value chains”.
Owing to deadlocks, MC12 was extended to June 16, 2022, to facilitate continued deliberations and consensus on several critical issues. The decisions of the 12th Ministerial Conference include the MC12 Outcome Document, the Ministerial Declaration on Food Insecurity, Ministerial Declaration on the World Food Programme, Ministerial Declaration on the WTO response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics, Ministerial Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement, the Work Programme on e-commerce, and Fisheries Subsidies.
The Ministerial Conference is the highest decision-making body of the WTO and comprises the Ministers with responsibility for International Trade among each of its members. The Ministerial Conference usually meets biennially and can take decisions on all matters under any of the multilateral trade agreements. The last Ministerial Conference (MC11) was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 10-13, 2017. It is anticipated that the next Ministerial Conference (MC13) would be held during the first quarter of 2023.