The World Trade Organization’s 12th ministerial conference held in Geneva June 12-17 yielded the first multilateral deal in many years, including significant commitments on such areas as e-commerce, fisheries subsidies, compulsory licensing waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, food safety and agriculture, and WTO reform. Some of the most relevant commitments included in the “Geneva Package” are summarized below.
E-commerce. WTO ministers agreed to extend the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions and to continue examining important issues related to digital trade. This moratorium has been extended until the next ministerial conference, which should normally be held by Dec. 31, 2023, although if the ministerial conference is delayed the moratorium would expire March 31, 2024, unless the ministers or the General Council decide to extend it.
COVID-19 Vaccines. Eligible WTO members will be able to limit patent rights as regards the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines without the consent of the right holder to the extent necessary to address the pandemic, subject to certain conditions. A decision will also be made within six months on whether to extend this waiver to cover the production and supply of COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics.
While all developing country members are deemed to be eligible members, the ministerial decision encourages developing country members with existing capacity to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines to make a binding commitment not to avail themselves of this flexibility.
Fisheries Subsidies. A new agreement on fisheries subsidies seeks to end subsidies to vessels and operators engaged in illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing or fishing related activities in support of IUU fishing, as well as subsidies for fishing or fishing related activities regarding an overfished stock.
Food Insecurity and Humanitarian Food Purchases. Concrete steps will be taken to facilitate trade and improve the functioning and long-term resilience of global markets for food and agriculture, including cereals, fertilizers, and other agriculture production inputs. WTO members would have to ensure that any emergency measures introduced to address food security concerns minimize trade distortions as far as possible, be temporary, targeted, and transparent, and be notified and implemented in accordance with WTO rules.
WTO members also committed to not impose export prohibitions or restrictions on foodstuffs purchased for non-commercial humanitarian purposes by the World Food Programme.
Pandemic Response and Preparedness. Relevant WTO bodies will continue or initiate work as soon as possible to analyze lessons learned and challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, including on matters related to balance of payments, development, export restrictions, food security, intellectual property, regulatory cooperation, services, tariff classification, technology transfer, trade facilitation, and transparency.
The importance of pursuing collaborative initiatives with the World Health Organization and other international organizations on an international pandemic response related to goods and services that are essential to respond effectively to COVID-19 and future pandemics, including activities such as expeditious matching of supply to demand, mapping manufacturing capacities and demands, matchmaking to cater to such demands, and mutual recognition norms, was also emphasized.
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Matters. A new work program will seek to identify challenges in the implementation of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the mechanisms available to address them as well as the impacts of emerging challenges on the application of that agreement. Themes to explore include facilitating global food security and more sustainable food systems; supporting basic measures on scientific evidence and principles; enhancing safe international trade in food, animals and plant products; encouraging cooperation with observer organizations; and increasing participation of and support for the special needs of developing and least-developed countries.
WTO Reform. Members committed to a reform process that improves all functions of the WTO. Work on this process will be member-driven, open, transparent, and inclusive, and must address the interests of all members, including development issues, with any decisions to be submitted to the next ministerial conference.
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