Problem: How do you ensure that your country’s consumers are being supplied with food that is safe to eat — “safe” by the standards you consider appropriate? And at the same time, how can you ensure that strict health and safety regulations are not being used as an excuse for protecting domestic producers?

An agreement on how governments can apply food safety and animal and plant health measures (sanitary and phytosanitary or SPS measures) sets out the basic rules in the WTO.

The Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement aims to ensure that technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures are non-discriminatory and do not create unnecessary obstacles to trade. At the same time, it recognises WTO members' right to implement measures to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as the protection of human health and safety, or protection of the environment. The TBT Agreement strongly encourages members to base their measures on...

"The report comes out at an opportune time. The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked the deepest economic recession of our lifetimes. Recent WTO analysis shows that women risk losing some really hard-won progress towards greater gender equality because of this crisis. Looking forward, I have no doubt we need to lay the foundations for a strong, sustainable, and inclusive economic recovery. To build back better, we need to ensure that women are able to benefit from trade," DG Azevêdo said at the launch.

"Although this research was done before the global pandemic, its conclusions are more relevant than ever. Gaining a better understanding of how women are affected by trade will be essential as countries develop and the global economy recovers from the pandemic. I hope the discussion today can help policy makers identify the potential opportunities that trade can provide for women and businesses and buttress support for a more inclusive rules-based trading system," Ms...

Given the ongoing lack of agreement among WTO Members regarding the filling of Appellate Body vacancies, there is no Appellate Body Division available at the current time to deal with the appeal.

Further information is available in document WT/DS578/5

Transparency is a core principle in the WTO. According to Article 7 of the SPS Agreement, members shall notify changes in their sanitary or phytosanitary measures and shall provide information on their sanitary or phytosanitary measures in accordance with the provisions of Annex B. This page contains all the relevant information for members’ transparency work in SPS.

There has been discussion on starting to produce vaccines in every country. I think the fact that vaccines were dealt with at a truly international level is the reason we got vaccines as fast as we did. There, the avoidance of autonomy has been very important.

Jacob Wallenberg, European RoundTable of Industrialists 6 July 2021

The draft text sets out suggested ministerial decisions on 7 agriculture negotiation topics: domestic support, market access, export restrictions, export competition, cotton, public stockholding for food security purposes, and a special safeguard mechanism; and one cross-cutting issue, transparency.

In her introductory remarks, the Chair said the draft text was an attempt to reflect the collective efforts made by members over the past year through various informal and formal processes. It builds upon the Chair's report and the reports of the Chair facilitators (who assisted the Chair's work on each topic) and drew inspiration from members' submissions, including those submitted in  recent weeks.

¨The text takes into account the range of views that have been expressed by Members and seeks to chart a way forward with this in mind. It represents my honest effort to identify potential 'landing zones'. It's not meant to be perfect or summarize all views. But...

The International Monetary Fund, World Bank Group, World Health Organization and World Trade Organization have joined forces to accelerate access to COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics by leveraging multilateral finance and trade solutions, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

The aim is to vaccinate at least 40 percent of people in every country by the end of 2021, and at least 60 percent by mid-2022.  The effort will track, coordinate, and advance delivery of COVID-19 vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, working with governments and partners at the global and local levels to address finance and trade barriers to ensure that vulnerable populations have access to these life-saving tools. It supports the goals of the ACT-Accelerator and complementary initiatives.

The Task Force members are mobilizing critical financing, with a focus on grants and concessional lending; helping to remove barriers to...

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on health systems and caused enormous disruption to the global economy, the report notes.  Governments took measures to contain the spread of the virus, including travel restrictions, lockdowns, social distancing, and other safety protocols. Production and trade in agri-food products was scaled back, resulting in huge economic losses around the world that continue to be felt today.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the STDF adapted quickly across all its workstreams and kept delivering strong results in 2020, making efforts to understand the new realities on the ground and continuing to provide vital assistance to strengthen food safety, animal and plant health systems in developing countries.

Digital opportunities and solutions to support economic recovery and longer-term resilience against future shocks featured strongly in STDF's project work. Strengthening SPS capacity, as a global public good,...

to the global economy, the report notes.  Governments took measures to contain the spread of the virus, including travel restrictions, lockdowns, social distancing, and other safety protocols. Production and trade in agri-food products was scaled back, resulting in huge economic losses around the world that continue to be felt today.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the STDF adapted quickly across all its workstreams and kept delivering strong results in 2020, making efforts to understand the new realities on the ground and continuing to provide vital assistance to strengthen food safety, animal and plant health systems in developing countries.

Digital opportunities and solutions to support economic recovery and longer-term resilience against future shocks featured strongly in STDF's project work. Strengthening SPS capacity, as a global public good, is critical for developing countries to recover from shocks, such as COVID-19, and to become...

The WTO members and observers represented are Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Uganda and Zambia.

In his opening address to the participants, Jorge Castro, the Training Section Head of the WTO's Institute for Training and Technical Cooperation (ITTC), said on behalf of the ITTC Director, Bridget Chilala: “I am very pleased to see that despite these challenging times, you have chosen to participate in this course and increase your knowledge of international trade and the work of the WTO. This affirms your commitment to the multilateral trading system. … This course takes place at a critical moment for global trade. … You picked an opportune time to learn more about the WTO, what it stands for, and to explore together the challenges and opportunities that the multilateral trading system and WTO agreements provide.”

Organized by the ITTC and the University of...

The WTO Secretariat is organized into divisions. These are normally headed by a director who reports to a Deputy Director-General or directly to the Director-General. The Appellate Body has its own Secretariat.