WTO 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13)

Context: The World Trade Organization’s apex decision-making body concluded its latest meeting with minimal progress on crucial global trade issues, despite an extra day of deliberations.

About WTO 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13)

Global Trade Challenges

• Recent global events have significantly impacted the trading architecture, including conflicts, disruptions in critical shipment routes, and supply chain recalibrations to lessen dependency on single suppliers like China.
• A trend towards isolationist, tariff-heavy trade policies contradicts the WTO’s goal of promoting open trade for all.
• The Abu Dhabi declaration acknowledged challenges like the need for open, inclusive, and resilient supply chains but offered little concrete action.
• Divergences between the WTO’s 164 member countries persisted on most issues carried forward from Geneva (MC12), including areas of particular interest to India, such as a permanent solution in agriculture for public stock holding to ensure domestic food security or subsidies to the fisheries sector.

E-commerce and Dispute Resolution

• The exemption from customs duties on e-commerce will continue for at least two more years, despite India’s concerns over its impact on national revenue.
• Prospects for reviving the WTO’s defunct dispute resolution body remain low, despite commitments to restore it by 2024.

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Achievements and Future Challenges

• India, in collaboration with South Africa, successfully blocked an attempt led by China to introduce an investment facilitation pact into the WTO framework.
• India needs to continue advocating for policy space in sensitive sectors, particularly agriculture.
• The WTO must intensify efforts to remain relevant in a polarised global context, moving beyond declaring biennial meeting failures as successes.

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