FOREIGN Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd recently led a delegation to the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, where he highlighted the imbalances in WTO agreements which affect small, vulnerable economies.

The MC12 meeting, which was chaired by Timur Suleimenov, Kazakhstan’s Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, was held from June 12 to 16.

Minister Todd, who presented as the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) spokesperson on WTO matters, said “many developing countries, including small, vulnerable economies (SVEs), continue to have concerns about certain imbalances in the WTO Agreements.

“They value the rules-based multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core,” Minister Todd was quoted in a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) statement, adding: “As small economies, we in CARICOM assign great importance to our ability to participate in deliberations and decision-making in the WTO on matters that affect not only our interests, but the entire membership.

“We recognize that without this rules-based system, the most powerful economies would dominate, and weaker economies would be the most disadvantaged.”

Turning his attention to agriculture, the MoFA release continued, Minister Todd recognised this as “one of the most important aspects of the WTO work programme.”

The release quoted Minister Todd, adding: “Unfortunately, apart from the decision made in Nairobi on the elimination of export subsidies, there has been little to show since the Agreement on Agriculture was approved.”

Minister Todd also highlighted the need for meaningful, special and differential treatment in all future agreements and the plight of SVEs and mostly Net Food Importing Developing Countries.

The delegation to the MC12 in Geneva included MoFA’s Foreign Trade Director (ag), Bevon McDonald; Trade Adviser, Paul Kalekyez; Chargé d’Affaires a.i., Kerlene Wills; and Second Secretary of Guyana’s Geneva Mission, Colin Luckie.

“MC12 focused primarily on thematic discussions, which included agriculture, the draft agreement on fisheries subsidies, response to pandemic, trade and food security, and the reform of the WTO,” the release said.