Opinion

When WTO trade ministers finally meet, will they agree on anything?

Name: Omicron confirmed in 24 countries as new Covid-19 variant continues to spread
Uploaded: 2021-12-02T14:00:26.000Z
Duration: 2 min 35 s
Description: Omicron confirmed in 24 countries as new Covid-19 variant continues to spread

Even before the postponement of the 12th Ministerial Conference due to the Omicron variant, the WTO was facing major gridlocks on years-long debates

To reach consensus on issues ranging from tackling climate change to providing Covid-19 vaccines, deep-seated changes are needed within the organisation

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A worker removes fences near the entrance of the WTO headquarters in Geneva on November 27. In-person talks were postponed at the last minute due to the new Omicron Covid-19 variant. Photo: AFP

Jayant MenonandRichard Pomfret

Published: 10:00pm, 2 Dec 2021Updated: 1:59am, 3 Dec 2021

The World Trade Organization was supposed to have gone into critical talks this week at the 12th Ministerial Conference in Geneva. The conference, slated for November 30 to December 3, would have been the first since 2017.

A last-minute postponement of the in-person meetings due to the new Omicron variant has compounded the WTO’s woes. Even before the postponement, countries were already bracing themselves, with a crowded agenda and deep divisions on major issues.

It is not certain when the in-person meetings will resume. When they do, the odds will remain stacked against significant breakthroughs. To begin with, there has been no major agreement since the 2015 ban on agricultural export subsidies, leading some observers to warn that this is a make or break moment for an organisation that has succumbed to gridlock.

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Omicron confirmed in 24 countries as new Covid-19 variant continues to spread

Director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was hoping for “at least one or two” tangible outcomes. Southeast Asian countries had hoped that a plurilateral agreement on services would be one, as well as progress on e-commerce.