The World Trade Organization extended the 12th Ministerial Conference until June 16, to "facilitate outcomes on the main issues under discussion," the WTO announced June 15. The closing session will now begin at 3 p.m. Geneva time June 16. Delegations are trying to reach agreement on fisheries subsidies, a COVID-19 intellectual property waiver and a continuation of the moratorium on e-commerce duties.

A top official in the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said that opposition to extending a moratorium on tariffs on sales of intangible goods has surfaced before, but that the e-commerce moratorium has been renewed at every World Trade Organization ministerial conference since 1998. "There are a few countries, despite benefiting from e-commerce and digital trade, who continue to resist an extension of the moratorium," she said, but most countries, including in the developing world, see the tariff-free status as important.

The Philippines and Thailand signed a bilateral "Understanding on Agreed Procedures Towards a Comprehensive Settlement of the Dispute in Thailand -- Customs and Fiscal Measures on Cigarettes from the Philippines (DS371)," the World Trade Organization announced. The document marks the success of a facilitator-aided process that kicked off in 2021 and reflects both countries' will to bring their customs valuation practices into compliance with WTO and domestic law commitments.

World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said members of an agriculture negotiating meeting for delegation chiefs should adopt three draft texts ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. The texts contain agricultural trade reforms, a draft ministerial declaration on trade and food security, and a draft ministerial declaration exempting food bought by the U.N.'s World Food Program from export bans. With the MC12 looming -- set to be held June 12-15 -- Okonjo-Iweala said the delegations should target their suggestions on key elements of the texts to allow for the committee's quickest adoption.

A week before U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai heads to Geneva for the World Trade Organization's ministerial conference, she said she's excited for what the meeting could bring, though she avoided predicting that either an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines would be approved, or that the 20-year fisheries negotiations would be closed.

Madagascar started a safeguard investigation on paints, the country told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards June 3, the WTO announced. Madagascar said parties wishing to request a questionnaire to participate in the investigation must request one from the ANMCC, the country's trade remedy regulator, within 30 days from the June 1 start date of the investigation. The deadline for responses to the questionnaire and comments is July 12.

World Trade Organization members adopted two panel reports at the May 31 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, the WTO said May 31. The reports concern Mexico's challenge to Costa Rica's restrictions on fresh avocado imports from Mexico and Turkey's challenge to the EU's safeguard measure restricting certain steel product imports. Neither report is being appealed to the defunct Appellate Body.

The World Trade Organization published the agenda for the May 31 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body. It includes U.S. status reports on the implementation of recommendations adopted by the DSB on the following: 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; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. A status report is also expected from Indonesia on measures relating to the import of horticultural products, animals and animal products, and from the EU on measures affecting the approval and marketing of biotech products.

Almost 90 trade associations, including the U.S. Council for International Business and the Semiconductor Industry Association, released a statement May 17 urging World Trade Organization members to renew the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions until the next ministerial conference. The trade associations said that continuing the moratorium is key to the COVID-19 recovery and to "supply chain resilience for manufacturing and services industries in the COVID-19 era." Lifting the moratorium would jeopardize all of these benefits since it would disrupt cross-border access to knowledge and digital tools, the statement said.

Since the last World Trade Organization Committee on Customs Valuation meeting, Bolivia and Georgia have submitted new notifications about their customs legislation, the WTO announced. Relaying the details of the May 17 committee meeting, the WTO said members also reviewed notifications of national customs legislation. Bolivia's and Georgia's updated legislation was noticed in the committee's status of notifications of national legislation on customs valuations. The next committee meeting is Oct. 24.