Elizabeth Morgan | WTO DG at CARICOM Heads – Making the WTO more development-oriented

The Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was a special guest at the recent 44th CARICOM Heads of Government Conference in The Bahamas. In my view, her address requires more attention than it has been given.

The Director General informed CARICOM Heads that the GATT/WTO was intended to be more development-oriented, considering the needs of people by aiming to raise living standards, create employment, and support sustainable development. However, over the years, WTO members did not accord it the priority it deserved. The DG suggested that this was changing under her stewardship.

She believes that the CARICOM region is an important source of leadership on the complex intersection between sustainable development and the current polycrises. The international community must recognise the vulnerability of CARICOM states and put in place systems to support their immediate recovery and future resilience. This includes financing for climate loss and damage.

She saw trade as a shock absorber, and trade and the WTO must be instruments for addressing vulnerability in small economies, such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The aim is now to have the WTO play a role which is more beneficial to SIDS, by placing greater emphasis on development. A well-functioning, rules-based multilateral system is important for small states.

DG Okonjo-Iweala informed that things are now being done differently at the WTO. Citing outcomes from the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), she stated that CARICOM members had played an important role in delivering the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement. This is an important agreement for CARICOM which will discourage illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. CARICOM should be able to double fisheries exports in an industry of such importance to the region. She urged CARICOM members to ratify this agreement.

You may recall from my previous articles on WTO MC12, that the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement has some issues. The negotiations were not fully completed; there is to be a part two to the negotiations. Governments now have to review the existing agreement for a decision on ratification.

Other important MC12 decisions for CARICOM included the compromise on the TRIPS waiver for COVID-19 vaccines, and the decision on therapeutics and diagnostics. These are matters on which the DG felt CARICOM should be engaged and which should be beneficial to the region. I think the CARICOM ministries of health and the Caribbean Public Health Agency would need to weigh in on these also.

Another subject she highlighted which should have CARICOM’s attention is e-commerce. This is the future. Digital trade was worth US$3.7 trillion in 2021 and grew by 14 per cent annually since the start of the pandemic. CARICOM could gain a lot from digital trade, but the DG noted that none of CARICOM’s members were participating in the plurilateral e-commerce negotiations in progress. She urged heads to examine this and consider their participation.

Elaborating on her earlier reference to climate change, she said trade should also play a major role in climate change mitigation and adaptation – promoting green technology and goods and services for disaster preparedness and rebuilding. National climate change action plans should reflect trade measures. This touches on trade mainstreaming and policy coherence.

CRITICAL PRIORITY

The DG also saw socio-economic inclusion as a critical priority. She urged CARICOM to examine how the region could benefit from re-thinking on globalisation as it relates to supply chains. It seems that she was suggesting that the region could benefit from near-shoring activities. She saw that the WTO negotiations on investment facilitation could be of benefit, but noted that only five CARICOM countries were participating.

There was need to look at connecting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

The DG also spoke to preparations for the upcoming WTO MC13 in the United Arab Emirates in February 2024, which, in her view, should make further progress on development issues.

She also raised the matter of the representation of CARICOM members in Geneva, Switzerland. CARICOM members participate actively, but their missions have human resource challenges. The DG’s observations are not new. CARICOM’s capacity constraints in Geneva have been raised before. CARICOM missions are very small and function on overload. They cover at least 12 multilateral organisations based in Geneva, including the WTO. They also have non-resident bilateral accreditations. This is a superhuman task. CARICOM governments need to review their representation in Geneva and prioritise.

I am not sure that many WTO members are as committed to development as the DG has stated. WTO reform remains a contentious issue. Nevertheless, the issues she raised in her speech to CARICOM heads need attention at the national and regional levels.

Elizabeth Morgan is a specialist in international trade policy and international politics. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.