WT/MIN(24)/ST/132  
26 February 2024  
(24-1807) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Thirteenth Session  
Abu Dhabi, 26 -29 February 2024  Original: Spanish  
 
  
STATEMENT BY H.E. MS PATRICIA FRUTOS  
VICE -MINISTER FOR ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND INTEGRATION  
PARAGUAY  
1. The world is paying close attention to the WTO and the multilateral trading system. For 
Paraguay, as a landlocked developing country, the answer is simple: more trade and less 
protectionism , through an inclusive multilateral system that supports sustainabl e development in 
its three pillars – economic, social and environmental – while ensuring  that the gains from trade 
benefit EVERYONE.  
 
2. Our expectations for the Ministerial are clear: after 28 years of negotiations, we are seeking  
agricultural trade refor m and a reformed WTO  that is able to address the challenges of the 
21st century.  
 
3. We firmly believe that through the reform process set out in Article 20 of the Agreement on 
Agriculture, the WTO can and MUST contribute to achieving the sustainable devel opment that is so 
sought after. This means protecting and preserving the environment, as well as ensuring global food 
security. The reform must ensure fairer and more sustainable trade in which distortion and protection 
are substantially and progressively reduced.  
 
4. It is vital not to forget that achieving the food security objectives of some Members must not 
compromise the food security of others. We consider that the increase in trade - and 
production -distorting subsidies endangers the agricultural secto rs of developing countries, as well 
as the sustainability of production systems.  
 
5. We therefore firmly believe that improving market access conditions for agricultural products, 
together with limiting and substantially and progressively reducing domestic  support, will enable us 
to move closer to achieving our global goals under the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.  
 
6. Thirty years have passed since the adoption of the Marrakesh Agreement, and it is imperative 
that this Organization, like any other, ad apts to change. Failing to do so means that it risks becoming 
irrelevant.  
 
7. Paraguay is convinced that international trade can make a positive contribution to the 
achievement of environmental goals, and that a rules -based, open, transparent, fairer and 
non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its centre, is the means to achieve 
this. 
 
8. The best way the WTO can contribute to this goal is by strengthening and deepening its rules 
rather than with exceptions to these rules, preventing  the adoption of unilateral, trade -related 
environmental measures implemented by some WTO  Members, which frag ment international trade.  
 
9. Paraguay is committed to working with all Members to restore the dispute settlement system  
to its fully functioning state , improve transparency and make special and differential treatment more 
operational so that it serves as a catalyst for development.  
 WT/MIN(24)/ST/132  
 
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  10. We welcome the conclusion of the negotiations on the Investment Facilitation for Development 
Agreement and services domestic regulation, which we believe will contribute to creating a 
favourable environment for at tracting investment into our country. We also welcome the accession 
of two new Members to the WTO family: Comoros and Timor -Leste.  
 
11. The future is digital. We will therefore continue to support the discussions on e -commerce, 
with the development dimensi on at their core, women's economic empowerment and better 
integration of MSMEs into international trade, with the aim of ensuring that the WTO, through 
trade, benefits all Paraguayans.  
 
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