WT/GC/W/841  
 
31 January 2022  
(22-0769) Page: 1/2 
General Council  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT ON IMMEDIATE ACTION TO SUPPORT THE MULTILATERAL TRADING  
SYSTEM  IN PREPARATION FOR A SUCCESSFUL MC12  
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA; BRAZIL; CANADA; CHILE; COLOMBIA; COSTA RICA; 
DOMINICAN  REPUBLIC; ECUADOR; EUROPEAN UNION; GUATEMALA; HONDURAS;  
HONG KONG, CHINA; ICELAND; ISRAEL; JAPAN; KAZAKHSTAN; KENYA;  REPUBLIC  
OF KOREA;  LAO P EOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC ; LIECHTENSTEIN;  MEXICO;   
REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA; MONGOLIA; MONTENEGRO; MOROCCO;  NEW ZEALAND;   
NORWAY; PANAMA; PERU; PHILIPPIN ES; QATAR;  SINGAPORE;  SWITZERLAND;   
THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN,  PENGHU,  KINMEN AND MATSU;  
THAILAND; TURKEY; UKRAINE;  UNITED KINGDOM;  URUGUAY  AND VANUATU  
The following communication, dated 31 January 2022, is being circulate d at the request of the 
delegations of  Australia; Brazil; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; 
European Union; Guatemala; Honduras; Hong Kong, China; Iceland; Israel; Japan; Kazakhstan; 
Kenya; Republic of Korea; Lao People's Democratic Republic; Liechtenstein; Mexico; Republic of 
Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; New Zealand; Norway; Panama; Peru; Philippines; 
Qatar; Singapore; Switzerland; The Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and 
Matsu; Thailand; Turkey; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Uruguay  and Vanuatu . 
 
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We, a group of developing and developed Members, confirm our commitment to a successful Twelfth 
WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) and hope that it will be convened as soon as feasible in 2022 . 
We regret that the MC12 had to be postponed due to the epidemiological situation.  
 
We are conscious of the critical contribution that the WTO must provide to address the pandemic. 
The spread of COVID -19 has led to a de vastating human tragedy and responding to this global health 
crisis remains a priority of our respective governments. Our focus continues to be on efforts to 
protect human life. Now more than ever is the time for the international community to step up 
cooperation, coordination and solidarity.  
 
A predictable, transparent, non -discriminatory , rules -based  and open multilateral trading system 
will be essential for broad -based and sustainable economic recovery. The WTO continues to be an 
essential tool for Membe rs to achieve inclusive and sustainable global growth and development, 
including through the further integration of developing country Members  and LDCs into world trade.  
 
We urge Members  to sustain momentum and to build on progress achieved to date with a view to 
reaching pragmatic and tangible outcomes in all areas as soon as possible.  
 
In this regard,  
 
We are committed to continuing our work to develop a tangible and effective  WTO response both to 
the current pandemic and future ones to ensure that multilateral trade rules, including the 
intellectual property system, support international efforts to ramp up and diversify the global 
production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagn ostics as well as to promote their development and 
equitable distribution;  
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  We are committed to reaching a meaningful agreement on harmful fisheries subsidies, in line with 
SDG 14.6, which would respond to the imperative of sustainability of our oceans, se as and marine 
resources ;  
 
We are committed to continuing the reform process under Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture 
with a view to making progress on multilateral agriculture negotiations, in a manner that truly 
supports food security and encourage s sustainable agriculture and food systems ;  
 
We believe that reform of the WTO 's negotiating function, dispute settlement function, and 
monitoring and deliberative function is necessary and urgent. We acknowledge the need to ensure  
the WTO 's prop er functioning , including a fully and well -functioning dispute settlement system 
accessible to all Members . We commit to begin work on reform  in all three areas immediately and 
to do so in an open -minded manner that considers all options, that is inclusive , and that takes in to 
account the needs of Members at all levels of development . 
 
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