WT/GC/233  
 
11 June 2021  
(21-4806) Page: 1/6 
General Council  Original: English  
 
 
G7 TRADE MINISTERS ' COMMUNIQUÉ  
The following communication, dated 10 June 2021, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the United Kingdom.  
 
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1. We, the G7 Trade Ministers, stand united in our commitment to free and fair trade as 
foundational principles and objectives of the rules -based multilateral trading system, as well 
as to the moderni zation of international trade rules.  
Free and Fair Trade  
2. We reaffirm the vital role trade plays in ensurin g we build back better from the COVID -19 
pandemic and in contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We agree on the 
need for the world 's leading democratic nations to unite behind a shared vision to ensure the 
multilateral trading system is reformed to be free and fair for all, more sustainable, resilient 
and responsive to the needs of global citizens. We strongly support the WTO Director -General 
in her efforts to moderni ze the World Trade Organization (WTO). We welcome further 
cooperation on  this work through the G20 and with the wider WTO membership to make 
significant progress on WTO reform and to ensure the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) 
delivers the tangible results our citizens expect.  
Market -Distorting Policies and Practices  
3. Recalling the G7 Leaders Statement at Charlevoix in 2018, we, the G7 Trade Ministers, 
reaffirm our commitment to open -markets and a global trading system that should not be 
undermined by unfair trade. We remain concerned by the increased use of non -market po licies 
and practices. These distort competition and reduce fairness and trust in the system. 
Fundamentally, we note that they are a threat to the integrity and sustainability of the rules -
based multilateral trading system. In this respect, we note the disc ussions on level playing 
field that have taken place at the G20 and look forward to working cooperatively with all G20 
members on this important issue.  
4. We recogni ze that concerns about market -distorting practices centre around their harmful 
impacts on cit izens and businesses. These practices create unfair competitive conditions, 
hindering the development and use of innovative technologies and undermining the proper 
functioning of international trade. Of particular concern are harmful industrial subsidies, 
including those that lead to severe excess capacity, a lack of transparency regarding the 
state's role in the economy and the role of state enterprises in unfair subsidisation, and forced 
technology transfer.  
5. We reaffirm the importance of the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity (GFSEC) as a forum 
that can help address the issue of global steel excess capacity in a multilateral framework. We 
believe that dialogue, transparency, and cooperation at a global leve l represent a crucial 
means to address the imbalances created by worsening excess capacity. We deem it 
paramount that the GFSEC can count on the active participation of all major producer states.  WT/GC/233  
 
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  6. We welcome the OECD paper for the G7 on economic resilience  and its wider work on market -
distorting practices. This work has helped advance the evidence base on the scale, 
opaqueness, and impact of market -distorting policies and practices and we encourage the 
OECD to continue to progress this work. We also note th e OECD 's excellent recent research 
on the use of below -market financing. This research found that there appears to be a 
relationship between government support in the form of below -market financing and excess 
capacity in several sectors, and raised signifi cant concerns about a lack of transparency.  
7. We call for the start of negotiations to develop stronger international rules on market -
distorting industrial subsidies and trade -distorting actions by state enterprises. We will 
continue our efforts to tackle u nfair practices that force companies to transfer technology to 
the state or to competitors. We recogni ze the critical importance of engaging with other WTO 
Members on these issues.  
Transparency  
8. We note that the evidence base is negatively affected by the opaqueness of market -distorting 
policies and practices. Deeper and more thorough evidence and transparency will improve 
global understanding of the problem and build pressure on all nations to play by the rules. To 
this effect and to maintain momentum, we commit to devoting necessary resources to conduct 
the needed technical work in this area including considering further ways in which 
transparency can be strengthened and where improvements can be made. We look forward 
to continuing our dialogue and conside ring further joint action as appropriate.  
9. We are committed to working together, and with the wider WTO membership, to reinforce the 
fundamental principle of transparency in all respects which is at the core of the WTO. In this 
spirit, we remain committed to upholding our notification obligations in a timely manner and 
call on the wider WTO membership to do the same. We agree to continue working closely 
together on the notification proposal in the WTO Council for Trade in Goods aimed at improving 
compliance , including actively seeking to bring more WTO Members on board, and advancing 
the proposal 's pathway to MC12.  
WTO Dispute Settlement  
10. We engaged in frank and constructive discussions regarding reform of the WTO Dispute 
Settlement System, and committed to continuing these discussions ahead of our meeting in 
October.  
Special and Differential Treatment  
11. Highlighting that full implementation of WTO rules contributes to economic growth and 
development, we consider that Special and Differential Treatment (SDT) i s and should 
continue to be a tool to achieve WTO objectives, supporting Members with demonstrable needs 
to participate in WTO agreements, while also reflecting developments in the global economy. 
We stress that SDT is aimed at helping the poorest and leas t integrated WTO Members to 
implement WTO rules and to make commitments commensurate with their needs and 
economic capacities.  
12. Restoring the credibility of the WTO as a negotiating forum requires a new approach to SDT. 
Such an approach should combine a mo re targeted focus on how to support the integration of 
Least Developed Countries and low -income developing countries into the trading system, as 
well as greater differentiation in the measures provided based on specific, identified needs. 
Against this back ground, we call on advanced WTO Members claiming developing country 
status to undertake full commitments in ongoing and future WTO negotiations. We applaud 
the fact that some WTO Members have indicated their intention to do so.  
Plurilaterals  
13. We recogni ze the significant value that plurilateral initiatives and agreements have brought to 
the WTO, including the ongoing Joint Initiative discussions launched at the 11th WTO Ministerial 
Conference that have provided a means of making progress on 21st century iss ues.  WT/GC/233  
 
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  14. Recent plurilateral discussions have brought much -needed energy and dynamism to the WTO, 
enabling a significant proportion of the membership to make vital progress on areas where 
new rules and commitments are urgently needed to demonstrate the Organi zation 's credibility 
and relevance in addressing the needs of workers and businesses. These discussions provide 
a forum for negotiation among WTO Members in a way that is consistent with the rights and 
obligations of WTO Members and the core functions of t he WTO under the Marrakesh 
Agreement. We underline the importance of ensuring existing, ongoing, and future plurilateral 
initiatives remain inclusive, transparent, and open to all WTO Members.  
15. We further look forward to making substantial progress this ye ar in the ongoing negotiation 
under the Joint Statement Initiative on E -commerce. We note the work undertaken towards 
the conclusion of the negotiations under the Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic 
Regulation by its participants.  
16. We will cont inue our discussions on WTO reform during this G7 Presidency and look forward 
to engaging more widely with WTO Members on the reform agenda to build common ground.  
Forced Labour  
17. We reaffirm our obligations under international human rights law, and those deriving from the 
International Labour Organization (ILO) membership, especially the ILO Declaration on 
Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow Up. We underline our commitment 
to meaningful implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Bu siness and Human Rights, on 
the 10th anniversary of their unanimous endorsement by the UN Human Rights Council. We 
also reaffirm our support for efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  
18. We recall the commitments made by G7 Leaders i n Elmau, 2015, to foster sustainable supply 
chains and by the G7 Social Ministers in Paris, 2019, to promote decent work, responsible 
business conduct and human rights due diligence in global supply chains and by G20 Labour 
and Employment Ministers in Mend oza, in 2018, to eradicate child labour, forced labour, 
human trafficking, and modern slavery.  
19. We will continue to work together to protect individuals from forced labour, including 
mitigating the risks of forced labour in global supply chains. We task ou r officials to convene 
a technical discussion to share data and evidence and develop recommendations based on 
best practices to prevent, identify, and eliminate forced labour in global supply chains.  
Moderni zing Trade  
20. We recogni ze that the multilateral tr ading system is in need of moderni zation to reflect 
changes in the global economy as we build back better from the COVID -19 pandemic. We 
agree to advance key issues including trade and the environment, trade and health, and digital 
trade and to ensure that  global trade serves as an engine for inclusive economic growth.  
Trade and the Environment  
21. 2021 is a crucial year to accelerate international efforts to address climate change, including 
through the UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26). We  agree that global 
problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss require coordinated solutions. The G7 
has the opportunity to make trade part of the solution through coordinated action. We 
recogni ze that the structured discussions at the WTO on tra de and environmental 
sustainability are an opportunity to build momentum in this regard.  
22. As the world transitions to net zero, we acknowledge the risk of carbon leakage to 
decarbonisation goals, and the potential impact it could have on those countries th at have 
adopted rigorous approaches to reduce carbon emissions, and agree that countries should 
work collaboratively to address this risk.  
23. The G7 has a key role in promoting, enabling, and supporting the transition to sustainable 
commodities markets and s upply chains, and as G7 Trade Ministers we are committed to 
playing our part. Deforestation is a global threat to our climate, biodiversity, food security, WT/GC/233  
 
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  and livelihoods. Around 80% of global deforestation is due to change of land use for 
agriculture, a significant proportion of which is for the production of a specific group of 
internationally traded agricultural commodities.  
24. We commit to work through the WTO and other fora to develop trade policy approaches that 
support sustainable supply chains for forest and agricultural commodities.  
25. We look forward to the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) dialogue and the 
work of the International Tropical Timber Organization, in order to discuss a set of shared 
global principles as well as a common roadmap to global sustainable supply chains, helping to 
conserve and sustainably manage forests and other ecosystems, while promot ing trade and 
development.  
26. We commit to continue efforts with consumer and producer markets and the private sector to 
support sustainable supply chains that decouple agricultural production from deforestation 
and forest degradation. We commit to work with  environment and other relevant ministries, 
domestically, bilaterally and in multilateral fora, including in the context of trade agreements 
as appropriate, to share best practices and consider any appropriate domestic actions that 
support this aim.  
Fishe ries subsidies negotiations  
27. We recogni ze the importance of a meaningful outcome in the WTO negotiations on fisheries 
subsidies to the health of the world 's oceans, the livelihoods of our fishers and other workers, 
and the functioning of the rules-based multilateral trading system. We express full support for 
the WTO Director -General 's efforts to reach a conclusion this summer, ahead of MC12. We will 
continue to seek effective disciplines on harmful fisheries subsidies, with limited or no 
exceptions, to protect our environment and the sustainability of global fisheries resources. We 
encourage the wider WTO membership to engage positively on this and other issues to reach 
a meaningful agreement as soon as possible.  
Women 's economic empowerment  
28. We acknowledge that advancing women 's economic empowerment and participation in trade 
requires action in many areas of our domestic and regional economies, and complementary 
trade and domestic policies that will ensure women, as workers, business owners, and 
consumers, can participate in and benefit from trade. We therefore recogni ze the importance 
of developing a strong evidence base and welcome the collection and analysis of gender 
disaggregated data and the development of tools, such as, for instance, t he SheTrades 
Outlook. We commit to reviewing our trade policy to ensure it supports women 's economic 
empowerment and we will further our efforts to promote gender equality and equity in bilateral 
and multilateral settings.  
29. We will contribute to discussion s under the WTO Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender 
to share experiences that advance women 's economic empowerment through trade, including 
but not limited to, issues regarding Aid for Trade and the development of comparable data on 
women in trade.  
Trade and Health  
30. We are deeply saddened by the scale of human tragedy that COVID -19 presents to all peoples 
across the world. Trade makes an invaluable contribution to fighting the pandemic. We 
underline the importance of prioritising global health, now more than ever and welcome the 
principles of the Rome Declaration adopted at the G20 Global Health Summit. We are united 
as the G7 with the aim of delivering as many safe and effective vaccines as fast as possible, 
to as many people as possible across the world.  
31. We will prioriti ze discussions and support work at WTO in identifying solutions to expand global 
vaccine production and distribution. Working with industry, the COVAX Manufacturing 
Taskforce and the ACT -A Manufacturing Working Group, we will scale up capacity and engage 
on forward supply planning in order to accelerate the progress of vaccination programmes WT/GC/233  
 
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  across the world. We welcome the commitments made in the G7 Foreign and Development 
Ministers ' Equitable Access and Collaboration Statement, inc luding support for production 
enablers on voluntary and mutually agreed terms such as: licensing, technology and know -
how transfers, contract manufacturing, transparency, and data sharing, public -private costs 
and risk sharing. We also support strategic in vestments to diversify production bases, working 
with industry, international organisations, regional bodies, and other governments to target 
funding effectively.  
32. We support open, diversified, secure, and resilient supply chains in the manufacture of COVID-
19 critical goods and vaccines and their components, as well as broad global availability, and 
welcome the development of initiatives to promote this such as the proposed COVAX 
marketplace platform for supply inputs.  
33. To meet the unprecedented challenge of ensuring availability of safe and effective COVID -19 
critical goods, including vaccines, we must enhance our cooperation and better anticipate 
coming challenges. We invite WTO Members to continue to work in partnership to formulate 
pragmatic, effective,  and holistic solutions to support trade in health ahead of and at MC12.  
34. We continue to support the recovery of international trade and investment as agreed at the 
G20 and welcome the progress achieved. In particular, we welcome the termination of many 
trade restrictive measures and the implementation of trade facilitation measures. We reiterate 
the importance that any trade measures designed to tackle COVID -19, if deemed necessary, 
are targeted, proportionate, transparent, temporary, reflect our interest in protecting the most 
vulnerable, do not create unnecessary barriers to trade or disruption to global supply chains, 
and are consistent with WTO rules.  
35. We reaffirm our commitments to reducing unnecessary barriers at the border and along our 
transport rou tes, in line with the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), making an 
important contribution to the timely flow of safe and effective medical, pharmaceutical, and 
essential goods. This includes accelerating implementation of the TFA, increasing the use o f 
electronic documentation and streamlining processes where possible, endeavouring to 
enhance custom cooperation internationally and encourage the sharing of best practices.  
Digital trade  
36. We believe that digital trade must be at the service of our people . Building on our discussions 
in March, we agree that global digital markets must be open, so that entrepreneurialism and 
innovation can thrive. We are united in our opposition to digital protectionism. We agree on 
the importance of data free flow with tru st, and in this regard, we welcome and support the 
OECD 's work on digital trade and data flows. We recogni ze that data localisation can impact 
data flows, with possible consequences for businesses, particularly micro, small, and medium -
sized enterprises. W e recogni ze the importance of unlocking the power of data in our 
economies and our societies, while continuing to address challenges related to privacy, data 
protection, intellectual property rights, and security.  
37. We believe that digital trade should be u sed to support jobs, raise living standards, and 
respond to the needs of consumers. Businesses must have a secure digital trading 
environment, with the highest standards of cybersecurity and robust defences against illicit or 
malign activity. We recogni ze that digitisation can make trade faster and more secure, so we 
resolve to use technology to cut red tape and simplify cross -border trading processes. We 
support a permanent prohibition of customs duties on electronic transmissions. Furthermore, 
we reaffirm  our belief in fair and inclusive global governance for digital trade. We are 
committed to negotiating the E -commerce Joint Statement Initiative in an open, inclusive, and 
transparent way. We want the outcome to benefit workers, consumers, and businesses i n 
developing economies, as well as those in developed economies. We will continue discussing 
these issues in the coming months, and we will adopt the G7 's Digital Trade Principles at the 
Trade Ministers ' Meeting in October.  WT/GC/233  
 
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  Closing Remarks  
38. We are committ ed to continuing our collective work to drive forward global trade in support 
of the global recovery efforts from the COVID -19 pandemic. We task our trade officials to 
coordinate and ensure G7 cooperation on responses to key issues, and to report back to u s 
ahead of our G7 Trade Ministers ' Meeting in October 2021.  
 
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