World Trade Organization

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with the President of Comoros, Azali Assoumani, on 12 June at the WTO. The President announced that his country had taken the first step to ratify its imminent WTO membership, which was approved at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in February. Both leaders subsequently discussed next steps for the entry of Comoros into the WTO.

The deadline for submitting proposals for this year’s Public Forum — entitled “Re-globalization: Better Trade for a Better World” — has been extended to 21 June 2024. Individuals interested in organizing sessions at the Forum, to be held on 10-13 September, are invited to complete an online application form.

The sixth review of the trade policies and practices of Iceland takes place on 12 and 14 June 2024. The basis for the review is a report by the WTO Secretariat and a report by the Government of Iceland.

The Committee on Market Access held on 11 June a first exploratory session on “greening” the Harmonized System (HS), the system used to classify traded goods, and how this relates to the work of the WTO. The session featured presentations from the WTO Secretariat, World Customs Organization (WCO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) Secretariat, and the Government of Ecuador on how the HS could be adapted to help WTO members achieve their environmental objectives.

Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard thanked the WTO’s former staff for their service at a meeting of the Retirees Association General Assembly on 11 June. She also updated retirees on the outcomes from the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi and the organization’s work plan post-MC13.

In a keynote speech delivered at the opening of the worldsteel annual Open Forum in Brussels on 11 June, Deputy Director-General Jean-Marie Paugam underlined the importance of the WTO and the multilateral trading system in achieving global climate change objectives. A “fragmented system of uncoordinated environment-related trade policies will only hinder decarbonization efforts, contrary to our shared goals,” he declared. The text of his remarks is below.

The WTO hosted on 10 June the third session in its webinar series on trading goods in the digital era, showcasing the transformative potential of digital technologies in customs operations and the need for continued innovation and collaboration.

The WTO opened its doors to the public on 9 June to welcome visitors and thank its host city Geneva for many years of support. Around 4,000 people came to explore the WTO’s headquarters and learn about the organization’s role in facilitating trade and building global prosperity.

At its meetings on 4-7 June, the Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) finalised a good practice guide to support members wishing to comment on other members’ proposed TBT regulations before they are finalised. The Committee also considered 38 proposals regarding the on-going triennial review of the TBT Agreement. Members raised 61 trade concerns at the meeting, of which seven were raised for the first time.

Government officials from 26 WTO members and observer governments concluded a four-day advanced course in Geneva from 4 to 7 June on analysing trade in services. The training programme focused on using the analytical tools available for policymaking and research on trade in services.