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Judging by the Chairpersons’ Summary circulated at the end of the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) on 24 October, attempts appear to be underway to transform the World Trade Organization (WTO), a multilateral trade body, into a plurilateral organization at the upcoming WTO’s 13th ministerial conference (MC13).

While the chair of the World Trade Organization’s General Council (GC) and the WTO Director-General said on 24 October that the two-day Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) ended on an optimistic note with clear guidance going forward, the Chairpersons’ Summary issued by them has raised some serious questions.

See full report for further details on Dispute settlement, TRIPS, Agriculture, Development, Fisheries subsidies, WTO reform, JSIs

Geneva, 24 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) -- The high-profile meeting of capitalbased senior officials on 23 October apparently failed to decide on any deliverable in agriculture for the World Trade Organization’s 13th ministerial conference (MC13), to be held in Abu Dhabi in February next year, as seemingly deep differences came into the open on food security, the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries, and domestic support, said participants familiar with the discussions

The United States has announced that it is withdrawing its proposals on cross-border data flows, location of computing facilities, and source code from the Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) negotiations on electronic commerce.

The United States, the European Union, and several South American countries allegedly blocked attempts by the Chair of the Doha agriculture negotiations to kick-start discussions on the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security.

Most commodity-dependent developing countries (CDDCs) appear to be trapped in a state of commodity dependence, with diversification eluding the majority of these countries for decades, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

For centuries, colonialism has shaped global healthcare, leaving behind a legacy of disparities and injustices between the Global North and Global South that continues to exert a profound influence on the health and well-being of marginalised and indigenous populations across the globe.

Today, colonialism’s legacy is being challenged by a growing movement to decolonise the healthcare sector by shifting power to marginalised communities and empowering them to design and deliver their own care.

At a recent panel discussion hosted by the Global Health Centre of the Geneva Graduate Institute, in collaboration with Medicus Mundi, experts from across the health spectrum discussed practical steps to decolonise global health governance and give marginalised communities a greater voice and agency in their own healthcare systems.

Industry pans it, developing countries say draft “unbalanced” with a one-sided focus on prevention, falling short on obligations on response.

After more than two years of discussions on what countries would like to see in a Pandemic Accord, the Negotiating Text from the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body set up to broker this new instrument, has sought to strike a balance to in order to first draw countries into negotiations – but is being perceived as unbalanced and one-sided with a focus on prevention relative to obligations on response, diplomats said.

From suggesting provisions on pathogens access and the sharing of benefits, to language on One Health, from a new financing mechanism, to sustainable production, the draft might be able to get countries to begin text-based negotiations. Some developing countries hope to add text to strengthen the draft so that they can begin negotiations, diplomatic sources told Geneva Health Files.

 The draft negotiating text on the pandemic instrument released by the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) is unbalanced, essentially serving the interest of developed countries without any concrete deliverables on equity.

This draft text is to be considered by the 7th meeting of the INB for conversion into a formal negotiating text. The 7^th meeting of INB is to be held at the WHO Headquarters, Geneva from 6-10 November.

Article 2 Objectives

1. The general objective of this Protocol is to support the attainment of the objectives of the AfCFTA, stipulated in Article 3 of the Agreement, by establishing harmonised rules and common principles and standards that enable and support digital trade for sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development and the digital transformation of the continent.

2. The specific objectives of this Protocol are to:

a. promote and facilitate intra-African digital trade by eliminating barriers to digital trade among State Parties;

b. establish clear, predictable and transparent harmonised rules, and common principles and standards for digital trade;

c. create a transparent, open, predictable, secure, and trustworthy digital trade ecosystem for businesses and consumers;

d. enhance cooperation among State Parties on matters related to digital trade;

e. establish an institutional framework for the implementation and administration of this Protocol;

f. promote common and open standards to enable the interoperability of frameworks and systems to facilitate cross-border digital trade;