WT/MIN(22)/ST/33  
12 June 2022  
(22-4469) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12-15 June  2022 Original: Spanish  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR JOSÉ MIGUEL AHUMADA  
UNDER -SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS  
CHILE 
Almost five years have passed since the last Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires and new 
challenges have been added to our trade agenda.  
During this time, the multilateral trading system has faced complex moments, and the circumstances 
require that we work with commitment and dedication in order to strengthen the current rules and 
deliver on the promise of greater prosperity and equality among our countries. International trade 
is a tool for development and has proven, when complemented by industrial, s ocial and labour 
protection policies, to be a vehicle for growth, job creation, innovation and food security in our 
countries.  
While significant progress has been made in these areas since the creation of the WTO, the current 
multilateral rules have proven  to be insufficient to meet the complex and diverse challenges that we 
currently face.  
Inertia and the repeated postponement of decisions will only lead to the disintegration of the 
common institutional framework created over 25 years ago.  
The WTO is its 164 Members; it answers to us and it is up to us to transform this Organization into 
a relevant actor.  
Today, it is not enough for this multilateral trading system to be rules -based, transparent and non -
discriminatory, it must also promote productive, sust ainable and inclusive development, with greater 
space for national policies, as well as creating prosperity in an equitable manner and raising people's 
standards of living, as stated in the preamble to the Marrakesh Agreement . 
Chile arrives with the hope a nd conviction that by the end of this Ministerial Conference we will 
emerge with a strengthened multilateral trading system.  
This is why we hope to have a Declaration that will enable us to launch a formal process for 
substantive reform of the WTO, and that strengthens and modernizes the Organization across its 
three work pillars: negotiation, the deliberative and monitoring function, and the dispute settlement 
system. We call for this WTO reform process to be open and transparent, and to promote the 
participation of civil society, the business community, trade unions, academia, and all those who 
wish to contribute to the consolidation of a stronger multilateral trading system and that emphasizes 
support for the developing world.  
In the field of health , the WTO must contribute to the search for a solution to the pandemic, even 
more so knowing the role that international trade has played in facilitating access to vaccines and 
medical products. Members have had to overcome a series of trade barriers that have  affected both 
supply chains and the transit of these products. The pandemic is a global crisis and requires a global 
response. For this reason, Chile supports a comprehensive trade response to this health crisis, in 
which we undertake to facilitate trade,  to not impose export restriction s or any measure that 
prevents the free flow of essential medical supplies, including vaccines, and to be transparent about 
the measures applied. In addition, in the context of the waiver negotiation s, Chile will support a WT/MIN(22)/ST/33  
 
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  consensus solution that fulfils the objective of improving the production and equitable distribution 
of COVID -19 vaccines around the world.  We should draw lessons from  this health crisis in order to 
be better prepared to deal with the next ones that arise.   
With regard to fisheries subsidies , we hope to be able to achieve a substantive and balanced 
outcome that multilaterally prohibits those harmful fisheries subsidies that contribute to illegal, 
unreported and undocumented fishing, to overfishing and overc apacity, which significantly affect the 
availability of these products for future generations. Achieving an outcome in these negotiations is 
a central element in protecting our oceans and attaining the United Nations Sustainable Development 
Goals.  
With res pect to agriculture, Chile will continue to promote agricultural trade reform  so as to be 
able to reduce trade -distorting support, promote small -scale family farming and boost production 
systems that yield more and better food. Food insecurity , on the rise  as a result of the current 
deplorable armed conflict, requires us to take meaningful measures aimed at facilitating the free 
flow of food around the world, reducing trade distortions and international price volatility. To this 
end, Chile calls for a decis ion to be reached that will curb the application of restrictions on food 
exports, especially those for the United Nations World Food Programme.  
We can strengthen the negotiating function of the WTO, move forward with outstanding issues on 
the agenda and r espond to the economic and trade realities of the 21st century.  
We therefore support the agreement reached in December 2021 on services domestic regulation . 
We also draw attention to the progress made to date on e -commerce, a fundamental issue for 
economic recovery and the construction of an environment conducive to business and development. 
In this connection, during the Ministerial Conference, Chile will s eek the multilateral renewal of the 
moratorium on the application of customs duties on electronic transmissions . With respect 
to investment facilitation for development , an initiative that Chile has been proud  to coordinate, 
we are pleased that, over the c ourse of almost two years of negotiations, we have achieved 
substantive progress, that more than two thirds of the Members have participated, and that we have 
reinforced our commitment to achieving an outcome by the end of 2022.  
Lastly, Chile considers it  a priority to move towards the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable 
multilateral trade agenda that, on the one hand, is able to incorporate those actors that have not 
benefited from international trade and, on the other hand, ensures that internat ional trade is 
conducted in harmony with the environment and is an instrument, a tool for the productive 
development of nations. Chile thus reiterates its support for the ongoing work on the economic 
empowerment of women  and on MSMEs , through work programm es that enable us to put these 
issues in a multilateral context with specific tools to promote internationalization. The inclusion of 
sustainable development  is another key issue that must have greater visibility on the trade 
agenda today, and this is why Chile has joined the discussions on trade and environmental 
sustainability, plastics and fossil fuel subsidy reform.  
Today we face a complex international situation, but this is also an opportunity to build a WTO that 
plays a more important role in the in ternational order, that is able to meet the current challenges 
and to adapt to the changes demanded by the economy of the 21st century. We call on all Members 
to show pragmatism and flexibility to ensure the success of the Twelfth Ministerial Conference.  
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