World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala voiced the WTO's support of the Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches, the WTO said. Speaking Feb. 9 at the forum's launch at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the DG said the global trade body is ready to aid the new initiative and ensure a wide group of stakeholders join together to address climate change.

World Trade Organization Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard spoke about a range of trade issues this week, including the fisheries deal struck at the 12th Ministerial Conference and ongoing reform efforts surrounding the dispute settlement panel.

Singapore became the second country to formally accept the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, reached during the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. Singapore submitted its instrument of acceptance Feb. 10. To come into effect, the agreement requires two-thirds of WTO members to accept it.

Japan became the first country to contribute to the World Trade Organization's Fisheries Funding Mechanism to help developing countries implement the fisheries subsidies agreement struck at the 12th Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. Japan's Kazuyuki Yamazaki presented the $686,000 contribution to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Feb. 8.

The World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system should be "fully functioning" by the end of 2024, U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Maria Pagan told Reuters. Pagan made the remarks as the U.S. is heading into a third phase of negotiations with other WTO members about how to reform the global trade organization after the Appellate Body has been hobbled for years by U.S. unwillingness to seat members on the body.

World Trade Organization members agreed at a Feb. 1 meeting to a ramped up negotiating schedule for talks on investment facilitation for development, with the goal of finalizing the negotiating text by mid-year, the WTO announced. The negotiations are based on a December draft IFD agreement, in which participating members agreed to hold six negotiating rounds from January to July with the goal to "maintain momentum" after the progress made during talks in 2022.

World Trade Organization members on Jan. 31 held a knowledge building workshop to "inform the second wave of negotiations on fisheries subsidies," the WTO said. The workshop centered on data related to the state of marine resources and fisheries subsidies. Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard said that during a fisheries subsidies retreat held in October 2022 WTO members discussed wanting to wrap up the second round of negotiations by the 13th Ministerial Conference, which is set to take place in late February 2024.

The U.S. expressed some positive views on the first decision of the World Trade Organization's multiparty interim appeal arbitration arrangement (MPIA) concerning Colombia's antidumping duties on frozen fries from various EU countries. Speaking during the Dispute Settlement Body's Jan. 27 meeting, the U.S. said it welcomes the MPIA's "willingness to adopt an interpretation" it sees as consistent with the Anti-Dumping Agreement, "even and especially if the interpretation differs from the Appellate Body's erroneous views."

The U.S. will appeal a World Trade Organization dispute panel ruling that found its origin marking requirement for goods from Hong Kong violated global trade rules. Submitting its notification of appeal during the Jan. 27 meeting of the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body, the U.S. said it was taking the matter to the defunct Appellate Body concurrent with separate panel rulings that said the Section 232 national security tariffs also violated WTO commitments.

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.