WT/MIN(22)/ST/10  
12 June 2022 
(22-4446) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 2022  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H ON. MR ALAN GANOO  
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, REGIONAL INTEGRATION  
AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE  
MAURITIUS  
At the outset, let me thank Switzerland for the excellent arrangements made for the holding of this 
Ministerial Conference and the WTO Secretariat for the work they continue to do for us.  
 
Chairperson, I would like to express our appreciation and gratitude to the WTO Secretariat for 
facilitating this Ministerial Conference.  
 
Chair, I want to re -emphasize the strong  and unequivocal commitment of Mauritius to the objectives 
of this organisation and to the multilateral trading system.  Mauritius remains fully committed to a 
fair and equitable rules based multilateral trading system, and to deeper economic integration, 
bilaterally, regionally and globally.   
 
We meet after five years during which our lives have undergone significant change and confronted 
us with new realities. The unprecedented disruption in the global economy and global supply chains 
caused by the COVID -19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine is not likely to ease up so soon. Everyone 
has been impacted upon, some more severely than others such as Small Island Developing States 
(SIDS) and Net -Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDC 's).  
 
The World is in the f ace of four intertwined challenges: high inflation, an escalating energy crisis, 
food insecurity and the devastating impact of climate change which is more and more visible every 
single day.  
 
What can the WTO do in the face of these challenges?  
 
i. The WTO can provide a response to the Pandemic that will democratize the production 
of vaccines and allow our peoples to be more self -reliant in the face of future 
pandemics;  
ii. (The WTO can build confidence that trade rules support sustainability by concluding a  
Fisheries Agreement that can stand up to scrutiny;  
iii. Concretise short and long term measures that may be used to respond to the Food 
Security crisis that is looming;  
iv. Fourth, we need to reset the pace for the multilateral trading system to effectively 
contri bute to the economic development of all the members through the elaboration 
of equitable, fair and development -friendly rules.  
We must reform WTO and we all agree on that but we must remember that in the evolution of GATT 
to the WTO, the rules were set by  a few. Interests are now wide ranging and diverse and the positions 
of countries stem from different realities. To bring these together will require that we look beyond 
the question of how to clamp the competitiveness of our competitors and seek to enact solidarity 
that will help the whole world grow and be safe.  
 WT/MIN( 22)/ST/ 10 
 
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  Hence, a multilateral outcome on trade and health remains a priority at MC12.  We need a credible 
and comprehensive WTO response to the pandemic that includes the TRIPs waiver, substantive 
commitm ents to support health and global recovery that will make a real difference to manufacturing 
and distribution of Covid -19 critical goods and vaccines.  
 
A prompt and practical response to growing levels of food insecurity is essential. Commodities that 
have been most affected are wheat, maize, edible oils and fertilizers. Food prices are also likely to 
remain high for the foreseeable future and are expected to push millions of additional persons into 
acute food insecurity and cause social unrest.  
 
We theref ore look forward to the WTO to taking urgent action to address food insecurity, to keep 
trade open and to address the vital issues of PSH, SSM and domestic support, amongst others.  
Export restrictions on staple food should be lifted expeditiously.  
 
I wish to emphasize that Mauritius is a vulnerable NFIDC isolated from our main markets.  The impact 
of the current global economic disruptions on our economy has only enhanced our vulnerability to 
external shocks and threatened our food sec urity. It is therefore essential to build consensus and 
commitment to avoid export restrictions that increase global food prices.  
 
On fisheries subsidies, Chair, our interest here is two -pronged, that is, on the one hand ensuring the 
sustainability of our  fisheries resources and, on the other hand, obtaining adequate policy space for 
future development of our fisheries sector.  We are confident that, in a spirit of compromise, we will 
manage to strike a deal that addresses these crucial imperatives.  
 
I hope  that MC12 would provide the necessary guidance for the setting up of a fully functional and 
consolidated WTO with a reconstituted Appellate Body.  Mauritius also believes that any WTO reform 
must promote inclusiveness, be development oriented and contribut e to the effective integration of 
African economies and in particular small vulnerable economies in global trade.  
 
I want to underscore the devastating impact of the pandemic on our economy with a contraction of 
our GDP by 15% in 2020.  It is a testimony of  the high degree of vulnerability of the SIDS to shocks 
and frictions in the world economy, and is yet another justification why this group of countries 
deserve special consideration at the WTO.  We therefore reiterate our call on the Secretariat to set 
up a special desk for SIDS as a starting point to undertake specific analysis and to frame adequate 
responses to their concerns.  
 
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