The six co-cordinators of the World Trade Organization's Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade outlined several "trade-related actions" countries should take to address the environmental, health and economic impacts of plastics pollution, the WTO announced Feb. 27. The co-coordinators -- Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco -- released the text as part of the 13th Ministerial Conference.

The Philippines accepted the World Trade Organization's agreement on fisheries subsidies, the WTO announced this week. Seventy members have accepted the deal, which is 40 shy of the two-thirds mark needed for full adoption.

Eight more World Trade Organization members accepted the fisheries subsidies agreement at the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference this week, the WTO said. Sixty-nine members have so far accepted the deal and 40 more are needed for ratification; the WTO said one more member is expected to accept the deal during MC13. The newest countries to adopt the agreement are Brunei, Chad, Malaysia, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Togo and Turkey. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said negotiations also are ongoing on a second fisheries deal, adding that passing both agreements would "really put WTO members at the forefront of action on sustainability of our oceans and would safeguard the livelihoods of the 260 million people who depend on these oceans."

All World Trade Organization members accepted the WTO membership terms of Comoros and Timor-Leste at the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference this week, the WTO announced. Both nations will now send their protocols for ratification to their legislative assemblies and will officially become members within 30 days of submitting notice of ratification to the WTO. After this is completed, 166 nations will belong to the WTO, with 22 more nations seeking to join, "including a sizeable contingent from the Arab world," the WTO said.

The majority of World Trade Organization members issued a joint declaration Feb. 25 to mark the "finalization of the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) Agreement," the WTO announced at the start of the 13th Ministerial Conference. The 123 ministers who issued the declaration represent three-quarters of the WTO membership.

Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, chair of the fisheries subsidies talks at the World Trade Organization, circulated a draft text on the second fisheries negotiations on Feb. 16, the WTO announced. The text covered subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing and was released in the run-up to the 13th Ministerial Conference, which is set to be held Feb. 26-29.

Haiti formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Feb. 21, the World Trade Organization announced. Sixty-one member countries have now accepted the deal, which is 55% of the way to the two-thirds threshold of members needed for the agreement to enter into force at the WTO.

Morocco launched a safeguard investigation on coated fiberboard on Feb. 20, it told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards, the WTO announced. Morocco said interested parties have 30 days from the start of the investigation to comment on the proceeding.

Four World Trade Organization members -- Barbados, Dominica, Senegal and Uruguay -- formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Feb. 14, the WTO announced. Sixty member countries have now accepted the deal, which is 55% of the way to the two-thirds threshold of members needed for the agreement to enter into force at the WTO.

World Trade Organization members during the Feb. 13 meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights adopted two reports developed by the committee's chair, Thailand's Pimchanok Pitfield, to allow for work to be done during the 13th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. MC13 is set to take place Feb. 26-29.