Geneva (TIP)- In a landmark decision, more than 160 member countries of the World Trade Organization on Friday, June 17, agreed on deals curbing harmful fishing subsidies, waiving COVID-19 vaccine patents temporarily and tackling food insecurity following two nights of hectic negotiations. “Not in a long while has the WTO seen such a significant number of multilateral outcomes,” the global trade body’s director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said after the package of measures was passed by 164 members at its headquarters in Geneva.
“The package of agreements you have reached will make a difference to the lives of people around the world,” she said. “The outcomes demonstrate that the WTO is in fact capable of responding to emergencies of our time,” she added. The talks at the global trade body’s Geneva headquarters began Sunday and were due to wrap up on Wednesday. However, the discussions went through into Friday, finally concluding at around 5:00 am (0300 GMT).
A formal announcement on all these issues is likely to be announced anytime soon. According to reports, for the first time, subsides on overfishing, deep sea fishing and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing has been addressed through the proposed pact.
Negotiations toward banning subsidies that encourage overfishing and threaten the sustainability of the planet’s fish stocks have been going on at the WTO for more than 20 years.
Some delegations accused India of being intransigent on every topic under discussion at the WTO — where decisions can only pass with the agreement of every member.
But Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal insisted, “India is not a roadblock on anything… People are realising that we were the ones who actually helped create the sole consensus.”
The second major issue on the table was the plan for a COVID-19 vaccine patents waiver.
Some countries that host major pharmaceutical companies, like Britain and Switzerland, were finding some of the draft wording problematic, while big pharma feared a deal that would strangle innovation.
But Britain’s ambassador in Geneva, Simon Manley, told Okonjo-Iweala late Thursday that after clarification and improvements were achieved, London was “now ready to join the consensus”.
Success for India at WTO ministerial conference: Piyush Goyal
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on June 17 said that India has achieved spectacular success at World Trade Organization (WTO)’s ministerial conference (MC12) in Geneva, Switzerland. Goyal had led India’s delegation to the four-day global summit which was extended for two additional days after differences among member nations on key issues, led to intense negotiations. “India is 100% satisfied with the outcome of WTO’s MC12 conference. India was successful in ensuring the livelihood of its farmers and fishermen,” Goyal said. He further added that India was successful in convincing all nations to ensure a patent waiver for the manufacturing of Covid vaccines.
Goyal was speaking to the press after the once-in-two-year mega meeting of trade ministers from all 162 WTO member nations concluded in the early hours of Friday.
While India had pushed for more comprehensive measures in these areas, as well as for talks on agriculture, the final outcome has been backed by New Delhi as promising.