Commissioners Malmström and Hogan at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference
The EU and the WTO | Brussels, 11 December 2017
Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan are in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Conference, that brings together trade leaders from all WTO states on a biennial basis, will focus on several areas on which multilateral negotiations have been ongoing. These include farming and fisheries subsidies, regulations on services and e-commerce, transparency between the administrations of WTO members, benefits for small and medium-sized companies as well as issues related to horizontal subsidies.
In addition, on Sunday 10 December Commissioner Malmström formally announced a €1 million donation to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund in a ceremony with WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo. This year, the contribution is aimed at ensuring that fairness and inclusiveness of trade are high on the agenda, including for the first time an explicit focus on gender issues. The Commissioner also confirmed the EU's strong support for the Declaration of Trade and Women's Economic Empowerment, to be announced on Tuesday 12 December and supported by a large number of other WTO members.
Commissioner Malmström said: "This is an opportunity for all 164 members of the WTO to push the global multilateral trade agenda forward. The realities of trade are quickly changing, so the WTO needs to be able to work for joint solutions to emerging issues. At a moment when international cooperation is facing unprecedented challenges, the EU will continue to vigorously defend a productive way forward for the WTO."
She added: "All members have to be able to participate if we are to achieve truly global solutions to today's trade issues. On top of our latest contribution to the WTO's trust funds, this week we will pledge to make trade more inclusive also by addressing the gender gap in trade. Supporting women's economic empowerment can be a powerful lever for development and will have a positive effective on growth and reduction of poverty."
Commissioner Hogan said: "We made great progress at the last WTO Ministerial in Nairobi in 2015, where the EU led the charge on eliminating export subsidies. Now, the EU, along with our allies, will look for a positive outcome at the Buenos Aires Ministerial on domestic support. We also hope for incremental progress on other issues of relevance to global agricultural trade."
On the sidelines of the informal WTO ministerial meeting, Commissioners Malmström and Hogan will hold a number of bilateral meetings meet with representatives of several WTO member countries.
Over the past 15 years the EU has committed over €20 million (over CHF 21 million) to WTO trust funds, in addition to the significant contributions made by individual member states. The donation will finance trade-related technical assistance and capacity building activities for officials of developing countries.
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