The World Trade Organization's Committee on Trade and Environment during its June 19 meeting agreed to center upcoming "thematic sessions" on "trade-related climate measures, technology transfer, and sustainable agriculture," the WTO announced. The selection of the three themes were made in light of Trade and Environment Week, which the committee chair confirmed will take place Oct. 7-11. The environment week will feature a thematic session and "other events," the WTO said.
South Africa requested the establishment of two dispute panels to review EU restrictions on South African citrus fruit at the June 24 Dispute Settlement Body, marking the first time South Africa has used the dispute settlement system, the World Trade Organization announced. The measures are import restrictions to control the spread of the false coding moth and a fungus called the "citrus black spot."
Mauritius' Usha Dwarka-Canabady, facilitator of the WTO's dispute settlement reform talks, briefed WTO members on June 20 regarding the start of the formal negotiations process, the WTO announced. Dwarka-Canabady said that after she presented the "work plan on the dispute settlement reform process," members backed the idea of focusing first on appeals and reviews of dispute settlement decisions, then pivoting to the entire package and other issues.
The World Trade Organization's published agenda for the Dispute Settlement Body's June 24 meeting 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; and Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act. Status reports also are 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.
Montenegro formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies June 14, bringing to 77 the number of countries that have accepted the deal. The WTO requires 33 more to reach the two-thirds threshold needed for the agreement to be able to enter into force.
World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on June 5-6 to discuss the nation's accession to the WTO, the trade body said.
The World Trade Organization on June 7 said it upgraded its "e-GPA Gateway," its online platform on trade and government procurement, to provide "more user-friendly access to information" related to parties to the Agreement on Government Procurement 2012. The platform now includes a "tool to browse each party's market access commitments," reporting tools on the "thresholds set by each GPA party above which public contracts can be granted," an advanced search engine allowing searches of specific parties and products, a tool to search for "modifications of coverage," and greater access to data on current procurement opportunities.
The Biden administration's proposed Section 301 tariff hikes on various Chinese goods (see 2405220072) would continue to skirt World Trade Organization commitments and strip the global economy of international tribunals, which are key to curbing "persistent protectionism," said George Washington Law School professor Steve Charnovitz in comments on the proposed tariffs.
The EU on May 31 opened compliance proceedings against Colombia regarding the South American nation's alleged failure to comply with World Trade Organization rulings regarding its antidumping duties on frozen fries from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, the EU's Directorate-General for Trade announced.
World Trade Organization members last week agreed on chairpersons for 13 of the body's subsidiary committees for 2024, the WTO announced: