WTO Members Shoot for Mid-2023 to Finalize Investment Facilitation Negotiating Text
World Trade Organization members are looking to finalize a negotiating text on investment facilitation for development by the middle of 2023, the WTO said following a round of consultations and a March 3 plenary meeting. In the consultations, members restated their support for the "sunset approach," which would set a deadline to discard certain issues that don't have wide backing.
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Some members also said they didn't support a proposed carve-out that would exclude "measures adopted or maintained by a Member affecting electronic commerce." The exception will be dropped at the next round of talks, set for early April.
Many members also questioned the need for a proposal to define the term "enterprise," and the proposer withdrew the submission, the WTO said. Many delegations also said they supported a proposal on the “movement of business persons” that would require information to be made public “on the entry and temporary stay of natural persons." The topic was pushed to the April meeting after a member asked for more time.
"Finally, delegations committed to work between sessions to bridge their differences and resolve the fourth remaining open issue -- a proposal to exclude 'non-discriminatory measures of general application in the pursuit of monetary and related credit policies or exchange rate policies,'" the WTO said.