WT/MIN(22)/ST/30  
12 June 2022 
(22-4466) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 2022  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MS MARIAM YALWAJI KATAGUM  
MINISTER OF STATE FOR INDUSTRY,  
TRADE AND INVESTMENT  
NIGERIA 
I bring you warm greetings from His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR and the entire 
people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  
 
From the outset, let me heartily congratulate you, on your election, as the Chairman of the Twelfth 
World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference (MC12).  
 
Let me also congratulate the Government and People of Kazakhstan for Co -Hosting the  MC12; the 
Government and People of the Swiss Confederation; and the WTO Secretariat, for the excellent 
preparations for this Conference.  
 
This Conference is taking place at a very difficult time for national economies and the international 
trading system.  Over the past decade, we have continued to experience the adverse effects of 
growing trade and geo -political tensions, which have now been exacerbated by the challenges arising 
from the health, economic and social impacts of the COVID -19 pandemic, as well  as the ongoing 
war between Russia and Ukraine.  
 
Trade has been hard hit by COVID and conflicts. Many economies, including Nigeria, are painfully 
adjusting to the collapse of external receipts. There is also the challenging issue of unequal access 
to vacci nes needed to combat COVID, which continues to threaten the lives of our citizens. The 
adverse impact of climate change also has negative effects on our key economic sectors, such as 
agriculture, fisheries, and forestry.  
 
In spite of these challenges, Nig eria strongly believes that international trade and the WTO constitute 
veritable platforms for the realisation of its overarching development objectives of structural 
transformation, industrialisation and economic diversification. This is why the Administr ation of 
President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, launched, last year, the Medium -Term National Development 
Plan 2021 -2025, aimed at implementing core reforms that would improve institutional and 
regulatory frameworks, enhance the business environment and promote  competitiveness, as well as 
attract sustainable investments, increase productive capacity and generate employment and 
alleviate poverty.  
 
We believe these reforms are key, if we are to reap economies of scale or other market efficiencies 
under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as well as from our participation in the 
Multilateral Trading System.  
 
Nigeria believes that for the WTO to remain relevant, it must deal concurrently with longstanding 
issues on the negotiating agenda of the O rganization, together with commercially meaningful issues 
that are of priority to its members. It is, in this context, that I now wish to address some of the 
important issues before us.  
 
On process , Nigeria welcomes and commends Director -General, Dr. Ngozi  Okonjo -Iweala, on the 
structured "Modalities of Sessions ", as contained in document WT/MIN (22)/INF/9 dated 
23rd May 2022. We believe that this provides Members with a constructive way of engagement on WT/MIN( 22)/ST/ 30 
 
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  the identified priority areas, inter alia, WTO Respon se to the Pandemic and TRIPS Waiver; 
Food Crisis; Fisheries Subsidies; Agriculture Reform; and WTO Reform.  
 
On substance , Nigeria wishes to, first, reiterate and affirm its well -known positions on agricultural 
trade reform , especially with respect to the key areas of Domestic Support, Market Access, Public 
Stockholding for Food Security Purposes (PSH), Cotton and the Specia l Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) 
for developing countries. Nigeria' s interest in the negotiations on Agriculture is underscored by its 
critical need for food security, livelihood security and rural development. In view of the various 
programmes and huge investm ents in the sector by Government, the importance of adequate policy 
space as well as special and differential treatment cannot be over -emphasized. Development must 
also remain at the heart of any future work programme.  
 
Regarding WTO Response to the Pandem ic, we need to deliver outcomes geared towards 
addressing the food and livelihood difficulties faced by emerging economies, through provisions that 
would foster economic recovery and the building of resilient health and economic sectors.  
 
The outcome shoul d sufficiently underpin global efforts to ramp up and diversify the global 
production of vaccines and promote equitable access to vaccines. Such outcomes should effectively 
address IP issues, and foster access to technology and know -how, as well as provide  for effective 
technical assistance and capacity building. We therefore call on Members to be flexible and to seek 
a middle ground to enable us reach an agreement on this important issue.  
 
On WTO Reform , we must develop an institutional framework that wou ld foster discussions towards 
the delivery of outcomes that would address the needs of members. However, any discussions on 
WTO reform would need to adhere to the principles of transparency, inclusiveness, fairness and 
equity within the balance of the righ ts and obligations of all Members under the covered Agreements. 
To that end, we welcome the progress that has been made in the Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs), 
which have remained open to the participation of all Members.  
 
In conclusion,  I wish to recal l that Nigeria had the honour of successfully chairing the 8th WTO 
Ministerial Conference in 2011, where Members had agreed to "… make progress where progress 
can be made ". This commitment, no doubt, significantly contributed to the successes that were 
recorded at both MC9 in Bali and MC10 in Nairobi. Nigeria, therefore,  calls on the membership to 
ensure that any future discussions on reform focus on reaffirming and strengthening the 
multilateral character  of the WTO. Similarly, any outcome document at MC12  should be 
consensual and contain a clear Work Plan for decisions on the identified outstanding issues by the 
Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13).  
 
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