WTO Official Discusses Fisheries Agreement, Dispute Settlement Reform
World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard spoke about a range of trade issues this week, including the fisheries deal struck at the 12th Ministerial Conference and ongoing reform efforts surrounding the dispute settlement panel.
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Ellard, speaking during a Feb. 13 virtual conference hosted by the Washington International Trade Association, said she hopes more members will "quickly" accept the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies reached during the 12th Ministerial Conference. Bemoaning the difficulties of passing such an agreement through a national legislature, Ellard noted that the deal can only take effect if two-thirds of WTO members actually enact the agreement. The deputy D-G highlighted the importance of Switzerland and Singapore becoming the first two countries to do so, with Singapore passing the deal last week (see 2302100024).
Ellard also said the WTO's dispute settlement reform efforts need "to be accelerated and enhanced, and it has to evolve into more concrete proposals and ideas that could be endorsed, so there is a tough road ahead." She noted the informal gathering of ministers that took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January as well as the U.S.-led informal process to bring members together to talk reform. Since these talks wrapped up a few weeks ago, many members are now "eager to start the next step," Ellard said.
Ellard also touched on the potential environmental goods and services agreement, adding that the deal could help both developing and developed nations address the effects of climate change. Negotiating this agreement could be "an opportunity to allow countries with these technologies and manufacturing abilities to be able to make their products and services more readily available to developing countries, because they don't have to pay so much for them if the taxes aren't there and if regulatory barriers or non-tariff barriers are removed."
Ellard also talked about the role of non-market economies in the WTO. The WTO has worked with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank to issue a report on how to better collect facts about the impact of subsidies, particularly from NMEs, she said. "The next steps after getting the facts would be to see what kinds of things the members want to do," Ellard added. "We're a member-driven organization. So if the members can find consensus on something, then that is the goal."