Colombia leaded several topics at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi

MADRID, March 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- At the World Trade Organization's Thirteenth Ministerial Conference Colombia was a part of several highly relevant deliberations.

For example, the country played a key role in securing the extension of the moratorium preventing the "Non-Violation and Situation Complaints" under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, which was extended until the next Ministerial Conference in 2026.

This extension means that none of the WTO's 164 member countries can make complaints against those who uphold measures defending their citizens' wellbeing in terms of rights granted in the field of intellectual property, even if it reduces benefits for the complaining country.

Minister of Trade, Industry, and Tourism Germán Umaña Mendoza was in charge of making this request. Minister Umaña Mendoza said that "although the results of the Ministerial Conference are bittersweet and highlight current challenges related to multilateralism, this extension of the moratorium is an important step forward."

Likewise, Colombia led the declaration issued by 69 developing countries that expressed inconformity regarding the TRIPS Agreement on intellectual property, which was not reviewed in this Ministerial Conference in order to make concessions in favor of human health, life, and biodiversity and not examined in relation to the Convention on Biological Diversity and the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore.

Minister Umaña Mendoza expressed his inconformity because the topic of the environment was only tangentially addressed at the Ministerial Conference. Therefore, Colombia and several other countries signed a declaration calling on WTO members to have greater transparency with respect to environmental measures.

As for the Declaration of Ministers—and in response to the lack of consensus to include the possibility of suspending the application and implementation of intellectual property rights for medicines, vaccines, and health technologies—Colombia and other countries requested the inclusion of a section regarding the response to future pandemics, which was granted.

As a result, this urges the WTO to review and take advantage of all the lessons learned and the challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to employ effective and rapid solutions in the event of future pandemics.

While highlighting the aforementioned agreements, Minister Umaña reiterated that the progress made during the 13th Ministerial Conference was not ideal, because other issues relevant to global trade were postponed until the 2026 Ministerial Conference. 

As for industrial policies (including subsidies), there was no ministerial consensus to begin reviewing them at the global level, despite Colombia and other countries' great interest in this topic.  This is due to the WTO's narrow definition of subsidies, which currently limits discussions on the new forms of market distortion that we are witnessing.

In the end, the Minister pointed out, "We managed to reach a consensus regarding some points of interest for Colombia, while other important points were postponed to the 2026 Ministerial Conference. However, at the multilateral level, the reality is that results are more negative than positive, urging a more in-depth review of the WTO's structure and content."