The WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) was held between 12 and 16th June 2022 at WTO headquarters in Geneva.
Trade Ministers of the 164-member organisation met for the first time after almost 5 years, the Conference having been postponed twice due to the restrictions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Conference was co-hosted by Kazakhstan and chaired by Mr Timur Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of Staff of Kazakhstan’s President.
The topmost decision-making body of the WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years.
Key outcomes
- 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.
- MC12 finally ended with deals on a global intellectual property rights (IPR) waiver for Covid vaccines and fishing subsidies to protect ocean resources.
- Agreement allows for the swift manufacture and export of COVID-19 vaccines without the consent of the patent owner.
- The agreement on fisheries is currently limited to illegal, unreported, unregulated fishing. The discussion on extending this to all government subsidies will take place going forward.
- No subsidies to be given for fishing in areas outside EEZ or RFMOs.
- Currently, there are no restrictions on government subsidies. Instead, the WTO has cognizance of India’s demand that nations that have consistently supported illegal deepsea fishing be regulated.
- An agreement was reached to extend the moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce until the next WTO Ministerial.
- The WTO members had agreed to not impose customs duties on electronic transmissions since 1998 and the moratorium has been periodically extended at successive ministerial conferences.
- However, India has increasingly become a strict opponent of the move and initially blocked the continuation of the moratorium at MC12.
- As regards the World Food Programme (WFP), there would be no export restrictions on WFP purchases for food security in other countries; However, domestic food security will take priority.
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