World Trade Organization members on Jan. 27 appointed new chairs for the Negotiating Group on Rules and the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session, the WTO announced. Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson will chair the rules group and Turkey's Alparslan Acarsoy the agriculture committee. Gunnarsson will head the "second wave" of fisheries subsidies talks following the fisheries agreement at the 12th Ministerial Conference. Acarsoy will "steer the process to build momentum on agriculture negotiations," the WTO said.

Switzerland became the first World Trade Organization member to submit its acceptance of the fisheries subsidies agreement struck at the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced Jan. 20. The agreement bars subsidies to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and bans subsidies for fishing overfished stocks and for fishing on the unregulated high seas. To take effect, the deal requires two-thirds of WTO members to accept it.

The EU and South Korea should continue discussions with the U.S. over industrial subsidies rather than turn to the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said during a Jan. 19 interview with Bloomberg TV. Speaking between events at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Okonjo-Iweala addressed the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which has sparked criticism from the EU over the bill's climate policies.

The World Trade Organization published the agenda for the Jan. 27 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. It includes U.S. status reports on the implementation of DSB recommendations on antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; antidumping and countervailing measures on large residential washers from South Korea; certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China; antidumping and countervailing duties on ripe olives from Spain; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. A status report also is expected from Indonesia on measures related to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products; and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products, and on safeguard measures on certain steel products.

Countries participating in the Joint Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation submitted improved schedules of commitments to the World Trade Organization for certification of a set of disciplines meant to cut trade costs for service providers, the WTO said Dec. 20. The commitment schedules are the final step needed to give the disciplines legal effect. In all, 59 participants submitted new schedules of service commitments "accounting for" 87% "of world services trade." WTO members have 45 days to review the schedules.

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala touted the recent circulation of a draft negotiating text on investment facilitation for development (IFD) as evidence of an impending agreement, the WTO said. Okonjo-Iweala said the circulation of the text is a "major breakthrough towards concluding an Agreement that will attract and retain more and higher quality investment, taking into account the respective development priorities of members."

The United Arab Emirates and Cameroon will host the next two World Trade Organization Ministerial Conferences, the WTO announced. Per the deal, the UAE will host MC13 the week of Feb. 26, 2024, and Cameroon will host MC14 on a date not yet set.

China officially requested dispute consultations with the U.S. at the World Trade Organization Dec. 15 over American export controls on certain semiconductors, the WTO announced. China, which announced the move earlier in the week (see 2212120061), said the restrictions violate Article XXII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (GATT), Article XXII of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, Article 8 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures and Article 64.1 of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.

After two days of feedback from delegations at the World Trade Organization, as part of a regular trade review (see 2212140071), Ambassador Maria Pagan said she was glad that many are appreciating the discussions American diplomats are having with their counterparts on dispute settlement reform.

Ambassador Maria Pagan, who leads the U.S. delegation at the World Trade Organization, defended the U.S. during the two-day session in Geneva that began Dec. 14. All countries in the WTO must answer questions about their policies every few years.