The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called on parliamentarians to increase their support for multilateralism and ongoing WTO reform efforts. In her opening remarks at the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Geneva, Okonjo-Iweala highlighted the recent entry into force of the WTO’s Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. She described this as a significant step for sustainability, noting: “Yesterday, we witnessed a historic occasion, the coming into effect of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, doing away with about 22 billion in harmful subsidies that lead to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. The reason it’s important is because you worked so hard for it, supporting us in getting your parliaments and governments to back this Agreement.”
Despite recent challenges from new unilateral tariffs and broader tariff uncertainty, Okonjo-Iweala said that most global trade continues under WTO rules. “Prior to the tariffs, 80% of world trade was taking place on WTO most favoured nation terms. Now, we are down to 72%, so you can see it’s undoubtedly had an impact. But almost three-quarters of world goods trade is still taking place on WTO terms,” she stated.
Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that reforms are needed within the organization. She pointed out issues such as outdated rules, decision-making gridlock, and persistent problems with dispute settlement reform. “This is now a golden opportunity to use this crisis as an opportunity to reform the system and do the necessary reforms to reposition it to deliver for the future,” she said.
The Parliamentary Conference serves as a main platform for legislators to engage with WTO matters and exchange views across political lines. The Steering Committee session allowed participants to review recent developments in trade and discuss progress on WTO reform ahead of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), scheduled for March 2026 in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
Okonjo-Iweala emphasized that MC14 will be a critical moment for advancing reform efforts. She noted that ambassadors in Geneva are working on a reform agenda with Norwegian Ambassador Petter Olberg leading discussions but stressed that broader political involvement is required: ministers and parliaments must actively contribute well before MC14.