Voorbereiding EU-standpunt door Raad Buitenlandse Zaken voor WHO ministersconferentie (en)

European Union Ministers of Trade on December 3 in Bali, Indonesia, will prepare the EU position in the run up to the 9th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference to be held on December 3-6.

Chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius, the Foreign Affairs Council on trade issues will take stock of the latest developments in the negotiations on the main elements of the Bali package. The Council is then expected to adopt Council conclusions setting out the overall EU position on the possible deal. “The Council has repeatedly stressed the importance of the ambitious and binding Trade Facilitation Agreement in Bali which would ensure tremendous economic benefits to all WTO members, including the poorest ones. Every effort should be made to reach the agreement in Bali,” said Minister Linkevičius. The main outcome of the Conference should be a WTO agreement on trade facilitation which would streamline customs procedures, cut red tape, fight corruption, and cut costs for business. Cutting the cost of trade just by 1 per cent could bring over €30 billion to the world income and two thirds of this would go to the developing countries. The WTO ministers are also expected to make decisions on the proposals for food security, tariff rate quota administration, export competition, as well as specific deliverables for developing and least developed countries. The decision on the accession of Yemen is also expected to be taken at Ministerial Conference. WTO Ministerial Conference will also approve a number of issues outside of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) such as extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and non-violation and situation complaints of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. WTO Ministerial Conference is being held every 2 years. The results of the 9th Ministerial Conference are expected to define how the multilateral system develops in the coming years. "The decision on the Bali deal would have to be adopted by consensus among the ministers of 159 WTO members. Successful outcome of the Conference would be very important to the world trade and provide the necessary impetus for renewing the WTO negotiating agenda", said Minister Linkevičius.