Commissioners Malmström and Hogan to participate in the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference
Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström and Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan will travel this weekend to Buenos Aires (Argentina) for the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The Conference that brings together on biannual basis trade leaders from all WTO states will focus on several areas on which multilateral negotiations have been ongoing. These include farming and fisheries subsidies, regulations on services and e-commerce, transparency between the administrations of WTO members, benefits for SMEs as well as issues related to horizontal subsidies. Commissioner Malmström said: “This is an opportunity for all 164 members of the WTO to push the global multilateral trade agenda forward. The realities of trade are quickly changing, so the WTO needs to be able to work for joint solutions to emerging issues. At a moment when international cooperation is facing unprecedented challenges, the EU will continue to vigorously defend a productive way forward for the WTO.” Commissioner Hogan said: “We made great progress at the last WTO Ministerial in Nairobi in 2015, where the EU led the charge on eliminating export subsidies. Now, the EU, along with our allies, will look for a positive outcome at the Buenos Aires Ministerial on domestic support. We also hope for incremental progress on other issues of relevance to global agricultural trade.” On the sidelines of the informal WTO ministerial meeting, Commissioners Malmström and Hogan will hold a number of bilateral meetings meet with representatives of several WTO member countries.
