The WTO agreements are lengthy and complex because they are legal texts covering a wide range of activities. They deal with: agriculture, textiles and clothing, banking, telecommunications, government purchases, industrial standards and product safety, food sanitation regulations, intellectual property, and much more. But a number of simple, fundamental principles run throughout all of these documents. These principles are the foundation of the multilateral trading system.| www.wto.org
Forty-six women-led businesses in Mongolia have been selected as beneficiaries of the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, which was launched by the WTO Secretariat and the International Trade Centre in 2024. The latest cohort of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises was announced at an event in Ulaanbaatar on 25 August in partnership with the Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI).| www.wto.org
The Framework will bring together a wide range of capacity building efforts to support developing and LDC Members’ participation in the E-Commerce JSI and to harness the opportunity of digital trade. Available modalities include:| www.wto.org
Ministers of Australia, Japan and Singapore — co-convenors of WTO e-commerce negotiations — have welcomed the substantial progress made in the initiative in a statement issued on 14 December.| www.wto.org
On 5 April 2018, China requested consultations with the United States concerning certain duties that the United States had imposed on imports of steel and aluminium products.| www.wto.org
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the seventh Director-General of the WTO. She took office on 1 March 2021, becoming the first woman and the first African to serve as Director-General. Her term of office will expire on 31 August 2025.| www.wto.org
At the close of the sixth Fish Week of the year held on 9-13 October, the chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, lauded members’ efforts in completing the first line-by-line reading of the draft text on disciplines to curb fisheries subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing. The chair said that the resulting compilation of members’ suggested adjustments to the draft text should help members to analyse the remaining divergences a...| www.wto.org
The WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, adopted at the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) on 17 June 2022, marks a major step forward for ocean sustainability by prohibiting harmful fisheries subsidies, which are a key factor in the widespread depletion of the world’s fish stocks. The Agreement represents a historic achievement for the membership as the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to be fully met, the first SDG target met through a multilateral agreement, the first WTO...| www.wto.org
The chair of the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Einar Gunnarsson of Iceland, introduced a draft text on curbing subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing at the opening of the fifth “Fish Week” on 18 September, drawing from previous negotiating texts and proposals. The chair explained that his intention is for the text to serve as a common starting point for members as they seek to deepen discussions and complete substantive work on the second wave of fisheries ...| www.wto.org
Global trade - The World Trade Organization (WTO) deals with the global rules of trade between nations. Its main function is to ensure that trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible.| www.wto.org
