Geneva: The World Trade Organization (WTO) members agreed have agreed on a decision to be submitted to trade ministers for approval at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) at the end of November to help further the integration of small economies into the world trading system.
Adopted at a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development’s Dedicated Session on Small Economies, it is the first decision proposed for MC12 where consensus has been forged.
Submitted by the WTO’s Group of Small, Vulnerable Economies, the proposed decision calls for WTO members to address the issue of integrating small economies into post COVID-19 economic recovery by looking at the impact of the pandemic and the underlying challenges and opportunities faced by small economies. The chair, Ambassador Muhammad Mujtaba Piracha of Pakistan, praised WTO members on the outcome of their discussions: “This is a moment to celebrate because, for this Ministerial Conference, it is the first text to be consensually agreed by all members of the WTO.” The 12th Ministerial Conference will take place in Geneva from 30 November to 3 December.
The proposed decision also calls on the Dedicated Session on Small Economies to continue monitoring the progress of the small economies’ proposals in WTO bodies and negotiating groups. In addition, the decision requests ministers to take note of the work undertaken to date in the Work Programme on Small Economies.
A decision on small economies was adopted by trade ministers at the 11th Ministerial Conference held in Buenos Aires in 2017. The objective of the Work Programme on Small Economies is to frame responses to the trade-related issues regarding the integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system.
Small economies face specific challenges in participating in world trade due to lack of economy of scale or limited natural resources, for example. The Doha Declaration mandates the General Council to make recommendations as to what trade-related measures could improve the integration of small economies into the multilateral trading system, without creating a separate category of WTO members.
– global bihari bureau
