: At a meeting of the WTO Committee on Agriculture on 24-25 September, WTO members addressed matters raised regarding implementation of their commitments and members' specific notifications. They also discussed a counter-notification submitted by Australia on India's support policies for sugar and heard a briefing on the global state of farming from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). This was the first meeting under the new Chair, Mr William Horgan of
: WTO members shared their views on the state of agricultural negotiations and discussed how best to move talks forward on 9 July at the WTO Committee on Agriculture in Special Session in Geneva. It was the first meeting of the WTO's agricultural negotiating body since the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Cameroon earlier this year, at which WTO members were unable to reach a consensus outcome on
: A first-ever report by the WTO Secretariat on the resolution of trade concerns related to market access highlights the effectiveness of the organization's committee work in helping members settle their differences without resorting to dispute settlement. The report was presented at a 12-13 October meeting of the WTO's Committee on Market Access (CMA). The committee also reviewed a record 36 trade concerns raised by members at its meeting, eight of which were raised for the first
: Co-sponsors of the E-Commerce Agreement (ECA) met on 9 June to discuss preparations for ratifying the world's first baseline set of global digital trade rules. The ratification process forms part of the interim arrangements adopted by over 60 members at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), pending incorporation of the ECA into the WTO
: At a meeting on 1 October 2026, WTO members participating in the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) held the first substantive round of discussions across four areas of work: circular solutions to plastics pollution; waste-management technologies; single-use plastics; and trade-related plastics measures. Building on the DPP's outcomes from the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in March 2026 and earlier technical work, the discussions were aimed at moving towards more focused and practical work in the lead-up to
: When I took up the position of WTO Chief Economist in January 2026, I knew that the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference, known as MC14, would be important for the future of the organization. Held at the end of March in Yaoundé, Cameroon, MC14 was my first Ministerial and therefore my first opportunity to see, at close range, how members would use this moment not only to negotiate, but also to take stock of the institution itself. I returned from Yaoundé with a clearer sense of where the institution now
: At a meeting of the Committee on Government Procurement on 14 October, parties to the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) 2012 welcomed Timor-Leste's submission of key documents required to kick off its negotiations on acceding to the Agreement. The Committee also reviewed regulatory developments, heard updates on the accession process of other members, and for the first time conducted a dialogue with the private sector on the significance of the Agreement in a changing trade