First casualty of Omicron: WTO indefinitely postpones Geneva conference

In the first international event casualty of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19, the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva has been indefinitely postponed with no date now being set for the rescheduling of the Ministerial Conference.

The MC12 was due to start on November 30 and run until December 3.

“But the announcement of travel restrictions and quarantine requirements in Switzerland and many other European countries led General Council Chair Amb. Dacio Castillo (Honduras) to call an emergency meeting of all WTO members to inform them of the situation. Given these unfortunate developments and the uncertainty that they cause, we see no alternative but to propose to postpone the Ministerial Conference and reconvene it as soon as possible when conditions allow," Castillo told the General Council, as per the WTO.

This marks the second time that the pandemic has forced a postponement of the 12th Ministerial Conference. The meeting was originally due to take place in June 2020 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

“Further to the urgent Informal General Council meeting this evening, 26 November 2021, we would like to confirm that given the serious epidemiological situation, holding MC12 as previously agreed will regrettably no longer be feasible. We will reconvene it as soon as conditions allow,” the WTO has informed all the heads of delegations.

As per a CNBC-TV18 report, all eyes at the MC12 were to be on India, which seeks to address a raft of critical issues such as special and differential treatment to developing countries, patent waiver for COVID-19 vaccines and public procurement for food security. One of the priority areas that India was expected to fight for at MC12 is the temporary waiver on WTO agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to get equitable access to vaccines, as per the CNBC report.

The ministerial conference is WTO’s highest decision-making body which sets the rules of trade across the globe. The meeting will be attended by trade ministers and senior officials from 164 member countries and is held once in two years.

A WTO statement quoted Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala saying the travel constraints meant that many ministers and senior delegates could not have participated in face-to-face negotiations at the Conference. This would render participation on an equal basis impossible, she said. “She pointed out that many delegations have long maintained that meeting virtually does not offer the kind of interaction necessary for holding complex negotiations on politically sensitive issues. This has not been an easy recommendation to make … But as Director-General, my priority is the health and safety of all MC12 participants – ministers, delegates and civil society. It is better to err on the side of caution," she said, noting that the postponement would continue to keep the WTO in line with Swiss regulations.

The Director-General and Castillo urged delegations to maintain the negotiating momentum that had been established in recent weeks. "This does not mean that negotiations should stop. On the contrary, delegations in Geneva should be fully empowered to close as many gaps as possible. This new variant reminds us once again of the urgency of the work we are charged with," the DG said, as per a WTO statement.