The World Trade Organization (WTO) will hold its 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi from February 26-29. Priority items on the agenda are likely to include the reform of the WTO’s dispute settlement function; new disciplines to eliminate fisheries subsidies that encourage overfishing and overcapacity, to complement the multilateral Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies adopted at MC12 in June 2022 and currently under ratification; the integration of the plurilateral Investment Facilitation Agreement into the WTO legal architecture; and the extension of the e-commerce moratorium.
United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai will be in Abu Dhabi for the conference. Ambassador Tai will be joined by Deputy United States Trade Representative María Pagán and Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip.
