Director-General cites concerns with pace of negotiations as chairs report on state of play

In her opening remarks as chair of the TNC, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged she had heard from several members about the need to generate greater momentum in the WTO's negotiating work post MC14. She stressed that the negotiating function remains essential alongside ongoing WTO reform efforts.

"We all recognize that, since MC14, the overall pace of negotiating activity has been relatively modest," DG Okonjo-Iweala said. "Today’s meeting therefore provides an opportunity for all heads of delegation to exchange views on where we stand and, importantly, on how we can advance our negotiating work."

Reports from chairs of negotiating bodies

The chairs of five negotiating bodies established by the TNC reported to members on the latest developments in their respective negotiations.

Reporting in his capacity as the chair of the negotiations on additional provisions for the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, Ambassador Leslie Ramsammy (Guyana) said discussions at a first round of "Fish Week" negotiations the previous week as well as bilateral consultations the chair held with 24 members and groups of members made him "cautiously optimistic that we are moving towards a viable path forward."

Ambassador Ramsammy said he was encouraged by the sense of urgency members continue to attach to these negotiations as well as the strong momentum among the membership to return to text-based negotiations as soon as possible.  While the question remains on what basis those negotiations should resume, no member suggested that discussions should start from scratch or that the substantial body of work developed over many years should be discarded, he said.        

More information on the fisheries subsidies negotiations is available here.