Consensus must be sought on key WTO issues to make its Abu Dhabi conclave count

News Snapshot:

In the wee hours of 17 June 2022, as 164 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) forged a nail-biting finish to the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC-12) in Geneva, there was a whiff of optimism in the air for the relevance of multilateralism in an increasingly fragmented world. The previous two ministerial conferences had demonstrated growing fissures between WTO members. Nairobi’s MC-10 Ministerial Declaration referred to differences of views between members. At Buenos Aires, MC-11 failed to produce any Ministerial Declaration. It was in this context that the MC-12 Outcome Document, as a statement of solidarity and unanimity among...