The topmost decision-making body of the WTO, the guardian of the rules-based world trade system, the Conference is made up of representatives of all member countries, usually the ministers of trade or their equivalent.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, February 28, 2023 (IICA)– A mission of highly experienced specialists from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) is taking part in the 13th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
The topmost decision-making body of the WTO, the guardian of the rules-based world trade system, the Conference is made up of representatives of all member countries, usually the ministers of trade or their equivalent.
IICA regards the event, held at least once every two years, as key for promoting smooth, obstacle-free international agrifood trade as a tool to foster global food security and the economic and social development of rural communities in the Americas and the rest of the world.
The IICA delegation in Abu Dhabi is composed of Deputy Director General Lloyd Day; the advisor to the General Directorate and former Minister of Agriculture of Costa Rica, Gloria Abraham; and International Trade Specialist Adriana Campos.
WTO Ministerial Conferences are crucial to the functioning of the multilateral trading system, providing a forum for negotiating and resolving trade disputes, and advancing the global trade agenda.
It is an opportunity for ministers to make decisions on various issues related to international trade, including market access, trade barriers, sustainable development, and the legal aspects of agreements. Decisions in the WTO are taken by consensus among all members, which means that each country has a say in the process.
Advancing the negotiations for the benefit of all people
IICA took part in the inaugural session of the Conference, in which the speakers underscored the importance of advancing the negotiations on crucial agricultural and food security issues, such as fisheries subsidies, WTO reform, trade-related measures introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, trade and environment, and digitalization and e-commerce.
During the opening ceremony, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala urged members to show leadership, flexibility, and commitment to delivering decisive outcomes at the Conference for the benefit of all people and the planet.
Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that international trade is key for the countries. She called on members to seize the full potential of the multilateral system, so that it provides benefits to people by accelerating the green transition and fostering socioeconomic inclusion throughout the world.
Last December, Okonjo-Iweala and Lloyd Day signed a memorandum of understanding between the WTO and IICA during the Dubai Climate Change Conference (COP 28), which reinforced the joint work that the two organizations have been carrying out in support of member governments on agriculture issues and sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
In the agreement, IICA and the WTO identified areas of common interest to help develop the trade capacity of Latin American countries through a variety of actions, including the organization and implementation of specific training activities to improve their ability to participate effectively in WTO debates and negotiations on agriculture.
The aim is to foster a fairer agricultural system while addressing new challenges affecting trade and food and agriculture markets, including food security, environmental sustainability, and innovation.
“IICA is at the Conference as part of the memorandum of understanding signed with the WTO Director-General designed to enable us to work together to build the capacity of our Member States to participate fully in the WTO negotiations for the benefit of agriculture in the Americas, and to export our agricultural products around the world,” Lloyd Day said.
He added that: “The Americas account for 25 percent of global production and a third of the world’s agricultural exports. A predictable, transparent and rules-based multilateral trading system is of vital interest to IICA’s Member States, so that it can serve as a guarantor of global food security.”
The Chair of the Abu Dhabi Conference is Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the Minister of State for Foreign Trade of the United Arab Emirates.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
comunicacion.institucional@iica.int
