Noting that World Trade Organisation (WTO) members have failed to arrive at a consensus in the selection process for vacancies in its appellate body, representatives from 17 nations attending the two-day WTO Ministerial Meeting of Developing Countries in New Delhi said the impasse threatens to paralyse the weakened dispute settlement system by December.

The participating ministers and officials urged all WTO members to engage constructively to address this challenge without delay, while continuing discussions on other issues related to the functioning of the dispute settlement mechanism, according to an official release from the Indian Government.

The participating countries were Egypt, Barbados, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Jamaica, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, China, Benin, Chad, India, Indonesia, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Oman.

The process of WTO reform must keep development at its core, promote inclusive growth, and fully take into account the interests and concerns of developing members, including the specific challenges of graduating least developed countries (LDCs), the participants felt.

The way forward must be decided through a process that is open, transparent and inclusive. The participants agreed to work collectively with the aim to develop proposals to ensure that our common interests are reflected in the WTO reform process.

Some WTO agreements, for example the Agreement on Agriculture, contain imbalances and inequities that prejudice the trade and development interests of developing members. There is a need to provide adequate policy space to the developing members to support their farmers through correcting the asymmetries and imbalances in this agreement on priority, they felt. (DS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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