Want to receive this newsletter every weekday? Subscribe to POLITICO Pro. You'll also receive daily policy news and other intelligence you need to act on the day's biggest stories. TAI WANTS WORKER RIGHTS ON THE WTO AGENDA: In her speech, Tai also issued a call for a more expansive WTO agenda going forward. "We believe members must engage in honest conversations about the role of the WTO in development, the risks of widening inequality, fundamental worker rights and employment and the role of trade to be part of the solution in addressing climate change," she said. Tai's call for the WTO to address workers rights was a bit of an echo from the 1999 ministerial conference in Seattle, when then-President Bill Clinton caused an uproar by suggesting that WTO broaden its workload to include labor and environmental concerns. Developing countries have traditionally been wary of addressing labor and environmental issues at the WTO because of concern it could lead to rules that hurt their exports. Speaking more broadly, Tai said it would be a mistake to pursue an "overly prescriptive" reform process that sets goals for what should be done. "Good ideas come from everywhere. The process must be owned by the members," Tai said. US SAYS FISHING SUBSIDY DEAL HAS TO BE 'MEANINGFUL': As mentioned above, the United States is taking a hard line in the talks on curbing harmful fishing subsidies. "We continue to work for a meaningful outcome — and I want to stress meaningful outcome — in the negotiations on fisheries subsidies," a senior USTR official told reporters on Friday. "What we want to see [are] disciplines that actually change the status quo, change the bad behavior that currently happens." The United States is concerned that giving major fishing nations like China, India and even some countries in the EU too many "flexibilities" in how they implement their commitments will undermine the purpose of the agreement, which is to protect ocean resources. "China is a very large fishing nation, the largest in the world," the official said. "We don't think that they need any flexibilities." The agreement also has to address the use of forced labor in the fishing industry, the official added, referring to a proposed provision opposed by China that would require countries to annually report on vessels and operators that use forced labor. New fishing subsidy text: The chair of the fishing subsidy talks, Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia, released a new draft text that requires ministers to make some tough final decisions. Members did reach a break-through on the issue of territoriality, or "how to ensure that a WTO panel would not decide who had jurisdiction over disputed or overlapping territorial claims" Wills said. But key issues mentioned by the senior USTR official on Friday remain unresolved. Not sitting on the sidelines: The senior USTR official pushed back on reports that the United States has not been actively engaged in preparations for MC12, including in the intense talks over a waiver of intellectual property rights protections for Covid-19 vaccines. "We're exercising our leadership. We are engaging, trying to find solutions" in all areas, including the unresolved vaccine discussions, the official said. E-commerce moratorium a priority: The senior USTR official also confirmed that renewing the 24-year-old moratorium on the collection of duties on e-commerce transmission was a high priority for the U.S. at the MC12 meeting. "We are continuing to push for that and we hope to see that delivered," the official said, referring to a threat by India and South Africa to block its renewal. Food security: The U.S. also hopes for a strong statement on the role trade plays in boosting food security, along with an agreement that countries not restrict exports of commodities used by the UN's World Food Program, the official said. EU TRADE & HEALTH GRUMBLES: There's some tension on the EU side about how the bloc has been playing its cards on the two key trade and health files at the WTO, namely the vaccine patent waiver and the trade and health declaration to limit trade restrictions on health products. Although Brussels moved towards India and South Africa on the TRIPS waiver text, it hasn't gotten that much out of the trade and health declaration coordinated by Ambassador Dacio Castillo of Honduras, according to several Geneva-based trade diplomats. Negotiations softie: The Castillo text so far is a "huge disappointment" for the EU, one of those diplomats said. The EU tactic of making concessions in the vaccine IP discussions in the hope of obtaining strong provisions to reduce export barriers failed because no one believed it would hold up an overall package to get what it wanted, those diplomats said. A EU commission spokesperson defended the bloc's approach to negotiations. The "EU's leadership and constructive role in the context of the MC12 is widely recognized by all key players. We aim to achieve meaningful outcomes to show that the WTO remains relevant at the heart of the multilateral trading system," the spokesperson said. U.S. hardball: On the outside, Washington seems relatively quiet on their IP stance, with the single tweet by USTR Katherine Tai back in May of last year. But behind the scenes, Washington is a tough negotiator — on June 3, the U.S. negotiator stormed out of the TRIPS talks after bawling out the Sri Lankan ambassador, who had tried to push for an automatic trigger of the TRIPS waiver whenever there's a new health crisis, according to a Geneva-based trade diplomat HOW THE MEETING WILL WORK: Ministers kicked off MC12 with an opening ceremony followed by a session about tensions in the world trading system that gave ministers an opportunity to vent about the war in Ukraine and longer-standing concerns. The WTO also will hold seven "thematic" sessions over the next three days to discuss key topics, including the institution's response to the pandemic; agriculture; food security; the WFP export ban proposal; fishing subsidies; WTO reform; and the e-commerce moratorium. However, most of the negotiating is expected to take place in smaller groups, outside of those big formal meetings.
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