Time is Running Out to Reach Credible Outcomes at MC12, WTO DG – One More Day for Meet

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called on 14 June, 2022 on members to go the extra mile to find convergence on the various issues at stake at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) and to be mindful that time is running out to conclude meaningful agreements. On the third day of the ministerial gathering, WTO members continued efforts towards reaching a long-awaited agreement on curbing harmful fisheries subsidies and reaffirmed their intention to pursue convergence on texts related to agriculture.

With less than 24 hours left before the scheduled closing of MC12, the DG told members at a meeting of Heads of Delegations (HoDs) that a great amount of hard work has been going on in each and every negotiating process but that more time might be needed in order to come to a conclusion.

Timur Suleimenov, First Deputy Chief of Staff of the President of Kazakhstan and MC12 Chair, said: “I think this is something that we need to consider, and we will come back to this issue tomorrow.”

Mr Suleimenov stressed that additional meetings will continue in various configurations and reiterated the sense of urgency. “This is crunch time obviously. And regardless of whether we will have an extra day or not, we need to utilize the time remaining to the fullest extent,” he added.

A total of 67 members took the floor during the fisheries thematic session, which was preceded by a press conference to introduce the fisheries funding mechanism.

Minister Johnson Smith will update members at the thematic session on this issue on 15 June, where she will present a report on the intensive consultations that she has been conducting in various configurations over the past few days.

Finally, the MC12 Chair told members about his efforts related to some outstanding matters in the MC12 outcome document. His consultations focused on the three paragraphs that are still bracketed, indicating lack of consensus, and presented separately at the end of the text, as put forward by proponents.

These are related to women's economic empowerment, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and environment. “I understand that there is large support to remove the brackets around these paragraphs, but so far, regrettably, no consensus has emerged,” he said