May 2024 – Trade β Blog
2 posts published by Peter Ungphakorn during May 2024| Trade β Blog
Speaking in the WTO General Council, Brazil also condemned “an extremely dangerous shift towards the use of tariffs as a tool to interfere in the domestic affairs of third countries”| Trade β Blog
This is a temporary post created to allow a notification to be sent by email to subscribers. July 16, 2025 World Trade Organization delegations in Geneva start a second round of consultations today with Norway Ambassador Petter Ølberg. In his email inviting them to the July 16–18 informal talks, the WTO General Council’s “facilitator” called … Continue reading "Subscriber alert. Round 2 of ‘WTO reform’ talks starts today"| Trade β Blog
Despite overwhelming support for his draft, departing chair Gunnarsson sees little chance of quick agreement as a few members drag the talks backwards| Trade β Blog
Neither the fault nor the solution lies in Geneva. Perhaps it’s time for activist ministers and their officials to rally political concern for multilateral trade| Trade β Blog
The biggest problem is not institutional. It’s about fundamental disagreements among WTO member governments| Trade β Blog
Norwegian ambassador lists points where members agree and where their views diverge widely on what they believe needs to be reformed| Trade β Blog
The EU Commission president called the WTO “defunct”. And German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said “The WTO hasn’t worked for years.” Both are wrong| Trade β Blog
The paper and accompanying data appendix focus largely on the clout of emerging economies in the WTO, the main arena where global power in trade can be assessed| Trade β Blog
102 members have ratified. 63 members still have not. 9 more are needed to activate the agreement in ratifying countries. Those subsidies are still not being curbed. Who’s to blame?| Trade β Blog
This is a temporary post created to allow a notification to be sent by email to subscribers. Added June 14, 2025REACTIONSTrade experts had mixed reactions to Ølberg’s appointment and to his questio…| Trade β Blog
7 posts published by Peter Ungphakorn during February 2025| Trade β Blog
Petter Ølberg has asked members three questions, but it’s unclear whether the answers will extend to the fundamental problems in capitals| Trade β Blog
The claim will be challenged since the 2022 agreement is not in force anywhere and it omits the key point of Target 14.6: overcapacity and overfishing| Trade β Blog
It might be a silly formula but it’s also a wrecking ball knocking down the pillars of the trading system| Trade β Blog
China and the US exchange strong words, and Brazil, Canada and the EU lead concerns about damage to the system| Trade β Blog
10 posts published by Peter Ungphakorn during February 2024| Trade β Blog
It would be impossible for India to make a case for what ‘compensation’ it is owed in return for more commitments undertaken by others — Hamid Mamdouh| Trade β Blog
In a blow to hopes that plurilateral talks can keep WTO rule-making alive, a handful of members hold out against adding investment and e-commerce agreements to the rules| Trade β Blog
The ruling allows the agreed text to be found officially in a single document, and suggests the more complicated changes that held up 60 certifications were unnecessary| Trade β Blog
That was June 2022. This is late 2024. And the agreement still isn’t in force anywhere in the world. Speaks volumes for governments’ commitment to sustainability| Trade β Blog
The cast-aside draft Article 5 on subsidies causing overcapacity and overfishing, with the chair’s commentary| Trade β Blog
Timeline with links to some key documents and news. From 2024| Trade β Blog
I used to work at the WTO Secretariat (1996–2015), and am now an occasional freelance journalist, focusing mainly on international trade rules, agreements and institutions. (Previously, analysis fo…| Trade β Blog
The talks’ chair asked members ‘whether continuing our negotiations in the same way as we have been doing over the last several years, and grounded in the MC12 mandate, will lead us to success’…| Trade β Blog
Three critical papers from India suggest consensus is still as elusive as it was in Abu Dhabi, despite efforts to conclude before the summer break| Trade β Blog
They say the proposed changes “result in a more balanced, preferable and more viable text” and join 28 others in pushing for a deal next month| Trade β Blog
Timeline with links to some key documents and news, 2020–2023| Trade β Blog
For the up-coming General Council, deadlock in current negotiations and at the recent Abu Dhabi Ministerial Conference have triggered a renewed focus on an old problem| Trade β Blog
Lots to think about as WTO delegations pick up the pieces from Abu Dhabi and look ahead to the next conference in two years’ time and beyond| Trade β Blog
The misleadingly-named “public stockholding” (“PSH”) could be more correctly called “(over-the-limit) Price support in food Stock-Holding”| Trade β Blog
We’d better be prepared for little or nothing substantial when ministers meet in Abu Dhabi at the end of the month| Trade β Blog
