UAE delegation concludes participation in 11th WTO Ministerial Conference

UAE has concluded participation in the 11th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, which was held in the Argentinian capital over the past four days.

The UAE delegation to the event was led by Abdullah bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, and included representatives of several government authorities.

Juma Mohammed Al Keet, Assistant Under-Secretary for Foreign Trade Affairs at the Ministry of Economy, stated that the conference had achieved progress on certain issues, subject to negotiations, and a future work plan was approved, in order to reach an agreement.

He also highlighted the decisions made during the conference related to fishing, and the approval of previous decisions related to e-commerce, as well as non-violation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS Agreement.

Al Keet explained the decision related to fishing, which reinforces an agreement by WTO member countries to continue constructive negotiations for reaching an agreement during the upcoming Ministerial Conference in 2019 on regulations that prohibit specific types of fishing subsidies that cause overfishing, and cancelling subsidies that cause illegal and unorganised fishing, while considering effective and preferential treatment for developing countries, to enable them to become an integral part of these negotiations.

Although the decision has yet to be implemented, a commitment has been made to adopt a final decision in the upcoming ministerial conference, Al Keet added.