International trade has progressed enormously since the founding of the WTO in 1995. The world trades a lot more – from just over 5 trillion dollars' worth of goods in 1995 to more than 22 trillion dollars in 2021. The world also trades in new ways - e-commerce accounts for more than 20 percent of total retail sales worldwide. Supply chains have also revolutionized trade, leading to the rise of products made "in the world".Despite this radical transformation, the WTO and the rules of trade remain largely unchanged. Ambassador Didier Chambovey of Switzerland, the General Council Chair, and the WTO's Joan Apecu talk about the efforts to keep the organization fit for purpose and ready to respond to the realities of 21st century commerce.

“Today's event marks an important milestone. It's an opportunity to take stock of our achievements, and also to look ahead at the next quarter-century of work,” said DG Okonjo-Iweala in her opening remarks.

The DG stressed that the Committee on Agriculture was set up to allow WTO members to exchange views about compliance with rules in the Agreement on Agriculture. It also provides a forum to address disagreements about members' agri-food trade measures and to help “nip trade irritants in the bud”, she added.

The Committee has also proved it can adapt to changing times, the DG said, pointing to its active role in implementing the Nairobi Ministerial Decision on eliminating agricultural export subsidies and in addressing export restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DG Okonjo-Iweala said she is confident that the Committee will help members address new challenges in the future and work towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She...

In an intensive, one-week programme, delivered by expert speakers with different backgrounds and expertise, participants will examine the role that multilateral trade agreements play as part of the wider efforts to meet increasingly urgent public health needs. Participants will also engage in targeted practical case studies designed to examine key policy tools and effectively apply them to foster public health outcomes. An outline of the draft programme is enclosed.

In an intensive, one-week programme, delivered by expert speakers with different backgrounds and expertise, participants will examine the role that multilateral trade agreements play as part of the wider efforts to meet increasingly urgent public health needs. Participants will also engage in targeted practical case studies designed to examine key policy tools and effectively apply them to foster public health outcomes. An outline of the draft programme is enclosed.

“The information I gained will facilitate me in my day-to-day duties, not only to improve my country’s presence, but also to explore trade opportunities in the different sectors for other countries on the global market” says Ms. Ralseia Rosanda Glasgow, a Trade Policy Officer in the Ministry of International Trade, Industry, Commerce and Consumer Affairs in Saint Kitts and Nevis and a participant in the course. She added that her take away from the course is navigating the WTO's portal websites such as e-Ping, Market Access Map (MAcMap), Integrated Trade Intelligence (I-TIP), knowledge which is extremely valuable in the digital era.

Miss. Maseline Athiambo Kamasara, Senior Trade Development Officer at Kenya's Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, said the ATPC's incorporation of simulations of negotiations was an impactful tool. “These simulations gave me deeper insights into the multi-layered intricacies of multilateral negotiations as...

The package of agreements secured at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) held in Geneva on 12-17 June was the culmination of efforts by WTO members to provide concrete trade-related responses to important challenges facing the world today. The outcomes reached on fisheries subsidies, the WTO response to the pandemic, food insecurity, e-commerce and other issues demonstrate that the multilateral trading system can respond to some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

In welcoming the final "Geneva Package" delivered after five and a half days of marathon talks, the Director-General said the deal showed to the world that "WTO members can come together, across geopolitical fault lines to address problems of the global commons, and to reinforce and reinvigorate this institution."

Participation at the Forum is free of charge. Travel and accommodation costs are to be borne by participants.

Those interested in attending the Forum should complete the online registration form no later than 7 September 2022.

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Technical assistance activities aim to help developing countries take full advantage of the multilateral trading system. Within the WTO Secretariat, these activities are coordinated by the Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC), based on technical assistance and training plans. The Committee on Trade and Development regularly oversees all Trade-Related Technical Assistance activities.

The WTO's technical assistance and training plans contain detailed information on all of the WTO Secretariat's Technical Assistance “products” as well as on individual activities. The WTO responds to specific national and regional needs in line with its Progressive Learning Strategy, which provides graduated levels of training to course participants. A results-based management approach is used to monitor and evaluate these activities and to further develop the assistance provided.

The changing needs of WTO members continue to determine the type of assistance...

The WTO Stats Dashboard allows users to filter and change displayed information. Depending on the graph, data can be explored by reporting economy, trade flow, period (annual, quarterly, monthly), trade category, and product or sector breakdown.

Data sets available on the WTO Stats Portal are presented visually in the new tool via three distinct dashboards. The Merchandise Trade Dashboard provides a global overview of merchandise trade values via a global map, as well as regional breakdown and trends over time that can be explored by reporting economy and time period. This dashboard also presents merchandise trade indices in graphical form.

The Commercial Services Trade Dashboard presents published data on trade in commercial services by sector. Information on values and shares is presented with easy-to-follow colour coding. This dashboard also visualises the WTO-OECD Balanced Trade in Services (BaTiS) dataset, which uses both official statistics and...

The workshop is part of the existing collaboration framework between the three organizations, as highlighted by their Directors-General on 15 June. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Daren Tang and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala agreed the three agencies will collaborate on the organization of practical capacity-building workshops at the technical level to enhance the flow of updated information on current developments in the pandemic and responses to achieve equitable access to COVID-19 health technologies. The aim of these workshops is to strengthen the capacity of policymakers and experts in member governments to address the pandemic accordingly.  

The first in the series of workshops will address technology transfer and licensing. It will convey information to enhance knowledge and understanding of how IP, know-how and technology transfer work in practice, not only vis-à-vis medical technologies but also for related products and services.

Participation is...

"The UN resolution on World Cotton Day recognizes the importance of cotton for millions of people and acknowledges the work undertaken in the WTO since the launch of the cotton initiative in 2003. It is also a recognition of the excellent cooperative spirit between all the international, regional and national partners involved," said WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

"The UN resolution should help catalyse progress in the WTO's work on cotton, including the ongoing trade negotiations and the other initiatives on cotton in the run-up to the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference at the end of this year. I am convinced that these can deliver concrete positive results for millions of cotton producers, especially in least-developed countries. Celebrations marking 7 October can also foster sustainable trade policies for cotton and enable least-developed countries (LDCs) to benefit more from every step along the extensive cotton value chain," she added.

On 30...

The Task Force members noted that, despite adequate total global vaccine production in the aggregate, the doses are not reaching low- and lower middle-income countries in sufficient amounts, resulting in a crisis of vaccine inequity. The Task Force encouraged countries that have contracted high amounts of vaccine doses, and vaccine manufacturers, to come together in good faith to urgently accelerate COVID-19 vaccine supplies to COVAX and AVAT, two multilateral mechanisms that are crucial for equitable distribution of vaccines. 

Task Force members welcomed the willingness of the CEOs to work collectively with them to end vaccine inequity and their readiness to form a technical working group with the Task Force to exchange and coordinate information on vaccine production and deliveries.

The Task Force stressed that if the 40% coverage threshold is to be reached in all countries by the end of 2021, the following actions need to be taken immediately by...