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On 27 November 2014, WTO announced that the General Council voted on and approved the following draft agreements approved in Bali: • the draft Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, contained in document WT/GC/W/688; The vote puts the WTO back on track. At a press conference, DG Azevêdo explained that since July there has been an impasse in the implementation of the Bali issues which has had a paralyzing effect on negotiations in all areas. The impasse related to the political link between two of the Bali decisions — the decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes, and the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The vote resolved this impasse. The first decision clarified the Bali Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes. It makes clear that peace clause which was agreed in Bali will remain in force until a permanent solution is found. It also states that Members shall make all efforts to negotiate a permanent solution by 31 December 2015. This is an advance on the original target date, which was the 11th Ministerial Conference in 2017. If no solution is reached by this new target date in December 2015, the peace clause will simply remain in place and in effect until negotiations do conclude and a permanent solution is adopted. The second decision adopts the protocol of amendment which formally inserts the Trade Facilitation Agreement into the WTO rulebook. This clears the path for the Trade Facilitation Agreement to be implemented and come into force — with all the well-documented economic benefits that this will bring for developed and developing countries alike. Members will now go ahead and ratify the Agreement, following their domestic procedures. This decision also means that the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility is now operational. This Facility is designed to ensure that LDCs and developing countries get the help they need to implement the provisions of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and of course to reap its benefits. The WTO has already received a great deal of support and interest from donors on this initiative — and have built strong partnerships with a number of organisations in support of this work, including the World Bank. The third decision taken today concerns the WTO’s post-Bali work. With this decision Members committed that this work will resume immediately and that they will engage constructively on the implementation of all the Bali Ministerial Decisions, including the work programme on the remaining DDA issues. Members also agreed that the deadline for agreeing the work program will now be July 2015. And they reaffirmed the priorities for this forward work as outlined in the Bali Declaration. According to the Director General, this is a very important moment for the WTO. He said, “By agreeing these three decisions we have put ourselves back in the game. We have put our negotiations back on track.” |
