Kazakhstan called the WTO Members for concrete outcomes by the 12th Ministerial Conference

Kazakhstan called the WTO Members for concrete outcomes by the 12th Ministerial Conference

9-11 December 2019, in Geneva at the headquarters of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the General Council conducted its final meeting in 2019. At the meeting, the Members discussed the WTO reform and state of play of the negotiations to be considered at the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference in Nur Sultan in June 2020.

The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN and other International Organizations at Geneva, Ambassador Zhanar Aitzhanova highlighted the importance to deliver multilateral endeavor in the negotiating pillars of the WTO. The Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan proposed that at the next WTO General Council meeting each country should report on what has been done both at the country level and within the WTO negotiating groups in order to achieve progress on current unresolved issues, including the Organization reform and on the process of multilateral negotiations.

On negotiations, the necessity to complete negotiations on fishery subsidies before the 12th Ministerial Conference was noted. In addition, Ambassador Aitzhanova expressed expectations on achieving potential results in plurilateral negotiations on new rules related to domestic regulation of services, e-commerce and investment facilitation.

Looking ahead to the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO Director General R.Azevedo urged members to focus on what is realistic and doable, both in terms of prospective outcomes at the next Ministerial Conference and guidance for post-ministerial work. He noted that achieving meaningful substantive outcomes will demand flexibility, contributions, and political will on the part of all members.

On the issue of WTO Appellate body consensus was not reached therefore, the Director-General announced the launch consultations under his auspices to resolve problems with the functioning of the body.  

At the conclusion, the WTO Members approved the decisions to extend two moratoriums related to the initiation of “non-violation” complaints under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and customs duties on electronic transmissions until the 12thMinisterial Conference.