Home ›› 14 Jul 2022 ›› Editorial
Bangladesh needs to be committed to developing capacities for a multilateral trading system. A specific task force can be framed for better preparation for future
Geneva package has been agreed upon after long and painful debates and sleepless nights overrunning more than forty-eight hours on June 17, 2022. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala termed it as an unprecedented package of deliverables. The outcome document emphasized the need for the proper functioning of WTO, reaffirms its fundamental principles and envisioned reforms to improve its functions. The document may provide a fresh lease of life to the resurrection of a multilateral trading system. However, expectations of graduating LDCs remained almost unmet.
The 2nd part of the Geneva Package contains nine declarations, those are; agreement on fisheries subsidies, work programme on electronic commerce, Covid-19 pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics,
TRIPS agreement, food purchases exemption from export prohibitions or restrictions, emergency response to food insecurity, Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Declaration, TRIPS-non violation and situations complaints and a work programme on small economies.
Services waiver and improved data on LDCs services export, services suppliers and consumers of LDC services in the markets of Members who notified preferences, were discussed and the General Council will report to the next Ministerial.
Similar is the case for preferential Rules of Origin and the implementation of the Nairobi Ministerial decision, it instructed, the Committee on Rules of Origin to report to the General Council ahead of MC13. In regard to the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement all members were called upon to assist LDCs and meeting their definitive category C deadlines. The trade facilitation committee will review it on an annual basis.
Members acknowledged the environmental challenges and climate change implications and endorsed the importance of the contribution of the multilateral trading system to the UN 2030 and sustainable development goals.
LDCs need support for technological innovation and in that respect role of Trade and Environment as a standing forum dedicated to dialogue among members to understand the relationships between trade measures and the environment, is crucial.
Fisheries subsidies, the most debated issue, agreed to prohibit granting subsidies to the vessels engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, overfishing, and other subsidies relating to fishing outside the jurisdiction of a coastal member or a non-member and outside the purview of Regional Fisheries Management Organization/Arrangement. The agreement is meant specifically for marine wild capture fishing and fishing-related activities at the high sea and does not concern aquaculture and inland fishing.
Developing countries have been granted 2 years after entry into force and LDCs will get further extended time for notification obligation.
About 30 per cent of the estimated annual global catch (109 million MT annually) remain unreported. FAO estimated that 70 per cent of the fish population is fully used, overused or in crisis. Among all the countries, China catches the most fish. FAO also mentioned that one-third of the world’s assessed fisheries are currently pushed beyond their biological limits. Developing countries requested 25 years of transition. LDCs exemption can be continued for some more years, meaning graduating time plus 25 years.
Developed countries were extending subsidies for fishing– fuel, vessels and many other areas for long, amounting to trillions of dollars. However, the text does not specify disciplines on certain forms of fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. In regard to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing some agreement has come. However Article 12 of the agreement has given a deadline of four years after it enters into force to agree upon the above comprehensive discipline, and unless otherwise decided by the general council, the agreement shall stand immediately terminated.
Decision on the TRIPS waiver to be used by the eligible developing countries authorize the use of certain patented COVID19 related products without the prior consent of the right holder, to address the COVID19 pandemic( COVID Vaccines), COVID19 diagnostics and therapeutics are not eligible. The waiver is agreed for five years, irrespective of whether a compulsory license regime is in place. The authorizing members may allow the resulting products to be exported to other developing countries eligible for TRIPS waiver. The importing countries will prevent re-export unless for exceptional humanitarian and not-for-profit purposes. The transparency mechanism is included to communicate any measures related to the implementation of the decision to the TRIPS Council. Some developing countries like India with the capacity of producing vaccines will be benefitted. Bangladesh has better capacities in the pharmaceutical sector, however, in producing vaccines, so far substantial efforts have not been visible.
The decisions for not imposing WTO-inconsistent export prohibitions or restrictions on agri-food trade and ensuring that any emergency measures to address food security will be ensured. For electronic commerce, the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until MC13 will remain, however, if MC13 be delayed beyond 31 March 2024, the moratorium will expire on that date unless Ministers or the General Council take a decision to extend the time frame.
The SPS committee will continue to undertake valuable work, and members remain committed to the continued enhancement of the implementation of the SPS agreement. The SPS committee will report to MC13 on the essential findings and actions undertaken.
WTO has a significant role to deal with challenges of trade-related issues. A number of countries have been pre-empting and establishing rules which are sometimes beyond WTO rules, such as e-commerce, leaving others having genuine development concerns. The outcome document remains silent in this respect.
Extension of LDC exemption even after graduation was the number one agenda for graduating LDCs. The USA outright rejected the demand while DG, WTO seems to be a bit more patient in the town hall meeting. Bangladesh would need to handle these issues bilaterally before any multilateral negotiation, which is not easy, but possible. For dispute settlement issues to safeguard the interest of a country’s trade-related legal capacities to work as a practitioner, and professionalism in trade law has to be developed. Bangladesh needs to be committed to developing capacities for a multilateral trading system. A specific task force can be framed for better preparation in future.
The writer is CEO, BUILD – a Public Private Dialogue Platform which works for private sector development. She can be contacted at ceo@buildbd.org
