WT/MIN(22)/ST/114  
12 June 2022 
(22-4554) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 2022  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY HON. MR FREDERICK M. SHAVA  
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE  
ZIMBABWE  
On behalf of the Government of the Republic of Zimbabwe let me thank the Chairperson and the 
Secretariat, for all their efforts in organising and convening this Ministerial Conference.  
 
Already long –delayed, our MC 12 takes place in a most challenging environment: one in which 
current geo -political factors threaten to dominate our deliberations and detract our collective 
attention awa y from other issues of critical concern and importance to the members of the WTO -most 
especially those of us in the developing and least developed member categories. These issues 
include;  
 
• The unequal and disparate pace of recovery from the Covid -19 pande mic, 
• The ever -more visible and increasingly dangerous impact of climate change,  
• The global food crisis, and,  
• The stasis which appears to have grasped our Organisation over the past two decades and 
somehow prevented it from fulfilling its mandate . 
 
This i s not to say that we should not be alive to current geo -political tensions: nor to the serious 
implications, for many developing and least developed countries, of any prolonged crisis. We are all 
aware of all the challenges; and the extent to which they ha ve exacerbated an already precarious 
situation for the less strong and more vulnerable states - which as we know, constitute the vast 
majority of the membership of this Organisation.  
 
As Ministers, we have not met for some 5 Years. That fact, and the consequent lack of direct political 
impetus may well have contributed to the lethargic performance and lack of progress on already 
long – mandated negotiation areas; areas that are of absol ute critical importance to the Global South 
– and which are today, even more critical as we strive to rebuild economies and livelihoods so 
devastated by the pandemic and the impact of Climate Change.  
 
So, it is good that we are meeting today.  
 
Our agenda is tight, and that should spur us to work hard to narrow our differences.  
 
It is encouraging that consensus or near consensus appears to have been reached on a way forward 
in some areas. For this, we commend the negotiators and the facilitators for their e fforts. We know 
it has not been easy.   
 
In other areas, an agreed way forward still remains elusive.  Most disappointing to ourselves, is the 
lack of momentum on agriculture, including on cotton and the lingering reluctance by some, to 
seriously address the  issue of trade distorting subsidies, and other imbalances, which continue to 
undermine the competitiveness and viability of agricultural production across the Global South - 
including in Zimbabwe.  
 
Similar imbalances, subsidies and unfair practices contin ue to undermine nascent fishing industries 
in developing and least developed countries and pose an existential threat to small scale artisanal 
fishing communities in those countries.  
 WT/MIN( 22)/ST/ 114 
 
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  On the WTO Response to the Pandemic, allow me to once again stress the c ritical importance to 
African and other developing countries, of an effective, practical outcome, from MC12, on the 
proposed temporary IP waiver for vaccine manufacture and, down the line, on therapeutics and 
diagnostics.  
 
The WTO has suffered from many mi ssed deadlines and we cannot leave Geneva without agreeing 
a way forward on these issues; or on how we would wish to see our Organisation reformed and 
fit-for-purpose . 
 
Zimbabwe looks forward to an outcome which sends a strong message to the World. A messa ge that 
unequivocally says that the WTO is united in its ambition to achieve world progress through the 
creation of a truly balanced, inclusive, equitable and development oriented multilateral trading 
system. A message that says that the Organisation is co mmitted to the fulfilment of the principles 
and objectives enshrined in the Marrakesh Agreement. We, as always, will play a constructive role 
towards such a noble objective.  
 
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