GENEVA – This week, Ambassador María Pagán and the U.S. delegation participated in ongoing drafting sessions on declaration language for the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13). The United States has actively and constructively engaged with others WTO Members to find common ground and to reflect shared priorities.
On February 14, Ambassador Pagán participated in the General Council meeting, where she thanked the chairs and facilitators of various work streams, in particular the chairs of the agriculture and fisheries subsidies negotiations. Regarding the fisheries subsidies negotiations, Ambassador Pagán reaffirmed U.S. support for a more bespoke approach to flexibilities that exclude large fishing economies and large subsidizers of fisheries industries.
At the meeting of the General Council, Ambassador Pagán also spoke to the progress report provided by the chair of the Dispute Settlement Body. She affirmed U.S. support for the interest-based discussions on dispute settlement reform and thanked the facilitator for his thoughtful and effective efforts in leading the discussions.
Ambassador Pagán participated in three informal, open-ended meetings of the Committee on Agriculture Special Session convened to continue efforts at streamlining the draft MC13 text on agriculture.
The U.S. delegation participated in the closing plenary of the WTO’s “Fish Month” as well as held several bilateral meetings to continue efforts to reach agreement on disciplines for harmful fisheries subsidies that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing.
The U.S. delegation participated in a formal meeting of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council.
The U.S. delegation participated in a meeting of the Work Program on E-Commerce.
The U.S. delegation comprises Washington and Geneva based officials and is supported in its work in Geneva by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington, D.C. and a range of other U.S. agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, and Department of the Treasury. The delegation engaged in 59 additional bilateral and plurilateral meetings during the week across a wide range of issues.
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