Participants in the talks on domestic regulation in services explored at a virtual meeting on 4 March equivalent disciplines in regional trade agreements, such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The disciplines under negotiation at the WTO and the RCEP regulatory (...)
Parties to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) initiated negotiations on 3 March on Brazil’s accession to the GPA at a virtual meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement. This was the Committee’s first meeting since Brazil circulated in February its initial market access offer, a (...)
The WTO Committee on Trade Facilitation on 3 March adopted a roadmap for the first ever review of progress made in implementing the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA). Under the Agreement, members committed to review the operation and implementation of the TFA four years from its entry into (...)
The third review of the trade policies and practices of Saudi Arabia takes place on 3 and 5 March 2021. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Saudi Arabia.
Mendy Lerato Lusaba, founder of the Domestic Workers Association of Zimbabwe and winner of the ILO Skills Innovation Challenge, has big plans to improve the life of domestic workers in her country. Read her story on our new Voices multimedia (...)
WTO members have agreed that the organization’s Twelfth Ministerial Conference (MC12) will take place in the week of 29 November 2021 in Geneva, Switzerland. The timing and venue were endorsed at a meeting of the WTO’s General Council on 1 (...)
Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed civil society’s plea for a successful conclusion to the fisheries subsidies negotiations, illustrated through a fish ice sculpture set up by a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in front of the WTO headquarters on 1 March. Dr (...)
Speaking at a General Council meeting on 1 March, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff welcomed Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her first day as Director-General. He said that 2021 holds great promise for the WTO and looked forward to a very positive future for the organization under DG Okonjo-Iweala’s (...)
Addressing the WTO General Council immediately after taking office on 1 March, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on members to “do things differently” to achieve reforms necessary to keep the WTO relevant, starting with swift action to curb harmful fisheries subsidies, and to help scale (...)
Speaking to heads of WTO member delegations on 25 February, Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff urged them to build on their warm welcome for incoming Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala by working with her to deliver much-needed reforms to the WTO. “Enthusiasm, optimism and hope need to be (...)