Malaysia lauds the key issues addressed at the recent 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation that was held in Geneva, members exercised their utmost flexibility in the difficult areas resulting in a historic deal on key deliverables, particularly the response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics.
In Covid response, members agreed on Emergency Response to Food Insecurity; the World Food Programme (WFP) Food Purchases Exemptions from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions; the long-awaited Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies; the extension of e-commerce moratorium for the cross-border transaction, as well as a waiver of certain provisions in the Trade-related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) Agreement to address vaccine inequality.
After more than 20 years of negotiating the disciplines to curb harmful fisheries subsidies, the world saw the first much-anticipated agreement in the WTO which will soon come to life with ocean sustainability at its heart. Malaysia has welcomed the conclusion of this agreement which prohibits support for Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing; bans support for unsustainable fishing in overfished stocks; as well as curbs subsidies in overcapacity and overfishing areas by ending subsidies for fishing in the unregulated high seas. It is hoped that with this agreement, Malaysia will be able to manage the depleted marine resources, in line with the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals 2030. This, in the long-term, could benefit our fishing industry.
In response to the increased level of global hunger exacerbated by the pandemic and food security crisis looming over the world, Malaysia also welcomed Members’ commitment to making trade in food and agriculture inputs more predictable and the prices less volatile, with the adoption of the Ministerial Decision on World Food Programme (WFP) Food Purchases Exemption from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions, and the Ministerial Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity.
Trade Minister, Dato Azmin Ali has urged WTO Members to “make concrete progress towards achieving a fair and market-oriented agriculture trading system”, during the first day’s Thematic Session on the WTO’s Response to Emergencies. Malaysia also supports the Ministerial Decision to maintain the current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13).
In view of this, Members have agreed to reinvigorate the work under the Work Programme on e-Commerce to promote digitalisation and adoption of digital solutions in light of the challenges posed by the pandemic. This decision values the pertinent role of WTO in sending a positive signal to the business community.
