Several news stories on the WTO website today, some from meetings late last week. Here are 3.

1. Today's meeting. Director-general @NOIweala said the most feasible priorities for delivery at the year-end ministerial conference were emerging.

1/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
Today's meeting was both a formal Trade Negotiations Committee and informal heads of delegations—unclear how that works since "formal" is on the record with minutes and "informal" is off the record with no minutes.

2/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
The "concrete deliverables": curbing fisheries subsidies; agricultural issues; and trade, health and the COVID-19 pandemic

On fisheries subsides the news story is not specific, except she spoke of "light at the end of the tunnel" and a deal by July

3/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
Agriculture: @NOIweala envisages a "food security package"—"public stockholding", exempting @WFP from export restrictions, curbing domestic support. Plus maybe cotton subsidies, "special safeguard mechanism"

Agreeing all of that will take a miracle

4/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
Trade/health: her comments cover: not restricting exports; boosting vaccine production; praise for countries supporting India and a call to keep that spirit for others; and the proposed waiver on intellectual property protection related to COVID-19

5/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
@NOIweala did not see a solution to the problem of appeals in dispute settlement at the conference, but hoped members could "reach a shared understanding on the types of reforms needed".

The story contains a lot of details on other issues too.

6/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
2. A summary of the agriculture negotiations, April 23 and 28, contains a lot of detail and quotes some members suggesting the ministerial conference could be a mix of agreements on some issues and decisions to guide negotiations in other issues

7/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
For those interested in the geopolitics: the US is active in these negotiations. It was under the Trump administration and now with Biden.

The news story contains a lot of detail, including links to several new papers

8/11

wto.org/english/news_e…
9/11

Personally, I think agreement on a package of the issues by Nov-Dec is going to be very difficult.

Domestic support is really difficult, with such a wide gap in positions between eg US versus China/India.

See also (i) Special safeguard mechanism: tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2020/08/30/rhe…
10/11

(ii) "Public stockholding", already shielded from litigation, and more to do with the purchase price than actual stocks or food security as such—as @Larsbrinkcanada helpfully reminds me regularly 😉🙏🏽

tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2020/08/24/rhe…
3. Finally a news story on the regular committee meeting on anti-dumping—a pretty technical subject involving exporting at abnormally low prices ("dumping"). But it is important politically because this is seen as unfair competition.

Read on

11/11

wto.org/english/news_e…

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More from @CoppetainPU

4 May
Thanks, but I have reservations.

I'm happy to read about where policies might be going wrong, to discuss whether the characterisation of the ideologies behind trade liberalisation are correct.

But is the WTO is only of that ideology? The leap to "WTO reform" is illogical

1/5
1. It's false to assume that "rules-based" (p8) means the same as "liberalisation". You can have "rules-based" trade barriers and indeed the WTO agreements allow for many. Some argue that having predictable rules is more valuable than lowering tariffs that are already low.

2/5
2. Which highlights the fact that WTO agreements—the outcome of negotiations—are a compromise between different interests and different ideologies. The WTO system does not come from just one ideology.

That makes the paper's notion of "WTO reform" quite off target.

3/5
Read 5 tweets
1 May
COVID-19 IN SWITZERLAND. Week to 01.05.2021—flat/slightly better

Last easing April 19

Per 100K pop, total & last 2 weeks
● cases—7634 & 210⬇️
● in hospital—317 & 9 —
● deaths—116 & 1.1⬆️

R(e): down—0.98
Vaccinations: 2.6m (930K 2nd doses)

FOPH covid19.admin.ch/en/overview?ov…

1/10 Screenshot of box on lab-confirmed cases with data and chartScreenshot of box on lab-confirmed hospitalisations with datScreenshot of box on lab-confirmed deaths with data and charScreenshot of box on reproductive number Re (lag in calculat
AND FOR THE PAST FORTNIGHT, R(e) since Sep28

covid19.admin.ch/en/overview

Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Not yet approved: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people

2/10 Screenshot of box on lab-confirmed cases (past fortnight) wiScreenshot of box on lab-confirmed hospitalisations (past foScreenshot of box on lab-confirmed deaths (past fortnight) wScreenshot of Reproductive number since 28.09.2020
VIRUS VARIANTS detected

UK variant dominant

Public Health Office: covid19.admin.ch/en/epidemiolog…
Science Task Force: sciencetaskforce.ch/en/nextstrain-…

3/10 Screenshot of list of variants and numbers identified (PubliScreenshot of graph of estimated proportion of relevant variScreenshot: Task Force graph of estimated percentage of B.1.Screenshot: Task Force graph of estimated percentage of S.50
Read 10 tweets
30 Apr
RECAP, IN A THREAD—TRADE TRANSPARENCY

1/17 THE MEANING isn’t so clear

With the clamour for reform, #WTOtransparency needs re-examining. @wto and its members should do better

A 4-part analysis with @BobWolfeSPS (+ great photos by @JayLouvion) #WTOreform

tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…
2/17 Should @wto members pay more attention to external transparency?

Our recommendations are in tweet 16. Our reasons are in the rest of this thread, and the linked pieces.

#WTOtransparency #WTOreform

SHORT VERSION: tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…
3/17 TRANSPARENCY

A WTO aim—reliable info about governments’ rules and practices reduces uncertainty about trade.

Also makes taxpayers’ money accountable.

But *occasionally* too much public info can impede work in the WTO

#WTOtransparency #WTOreform

tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…
Read 17 tweets
26 Apr
NEW with @BobWolfeSPS

Short and long reads on WTO and transparency as part of #WTOreform

It all be began light-heartedly here on trade Twitter. But digging deeper into the topic reveals the complexity. Transparency is more than it seems.

SHORT READ: tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…
NEW: WTO, trade and transparency, with @BobWolfeSPS

“We have a particular interest in the prospects for successful reform of the WTO and its negotiations. Would more transparency help? Would less?”

LONG READ PART 1 tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…
…One minister insisted the draft mustn’t be released until approved. Next moment, delegates from that country were in the press room giving copies to favoured journalists…

What does this say about #WTOtransparency? And leaks?

Part 2 tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2021/04/26/wto…

With @BobWolfeSPS
Read 4 tweets
24 Apr
COVID-19 IN SWITZERLAND. Week to 24.04.2021—cases up, deaths down

Last easing April 19

Per 100K pop, total & last 2 weeks
● cases—7479 & 326⬆️
● in hospital—311 & 9⬇️
● deaths—115 & 0.9⬇️

R(e): down—1.0
Vaccinations: 2.3m (823K 2nd doses)

FOPH covid19.admin.ch/en/overview?ov…

1/10 Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on reprod...
AND FOR THE PAST FORTNIGHT, R(e) since Sep28

covid19.admin.ch/en/overview

Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Not yet approved: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people

2/10 Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of Reproductive ...
VIRUS VARIANTS detected

UK variant dominant

Public Health Office: covid19.admin.ch/en/epidemiolog…
Science Task Force: sciencetaskforce.ch/en/nextstrain-…

3/10 Screenshot of list of varia...Screenshot of graph of esti...Screenshot: Task Force grap...Screenshot: Task Force grap...
Read 10 tweets
17 Apr
COVID-19 IN SWITZERLAND. Week to 17.04.2021—cases up, deaths down

Next easing April 19

Per 100K pop, total & last 2 weeks
● cases—7315 & 306
● in hospital—305 & 10
● deaths—114 & 1.1

R(e): up—1.14
Vaccinations: 2.0m (733K 2nd doses)

FOPH covid19.admin.ch/en/overview?ov…

1/10 Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on reprod...
AND FOR THE PAST FORTNIGHT, R(e) since Sep28

covid19.admin.ch/en/overview

Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna mRNA vaccinations ongoing. J&J approved, not ordered. Supply picking up. Approval waiting: AstraZeneca, Curevac and Novavax. Switzerland has ordered over 30m doses for 8m people

2/10 Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of box on lab-co...Screenshot of Reproductive ...
VIRUS VARIANTS detected

UK variant ~80%

Public Health Office: covid19.admin.ch/en/epidemiolog…
Science Task Force: sciencetaskforce.ch/en/nextstrain-…

3/10 Screenshot of list of varia...Screenshot of graph of esti...Screenshot: Task Force grap...Screenshot: Task Force grap...
Read 10 tweets

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