The World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting held in the UAE concluded with the adoption of a ministerial declaration.
The WTO's trade-related dispute resolution system continues to be dysfunctional, and this meeting did not bridge the gap between countries' opinions.
The WTO Ministerial Meeting, attended by 164 countries and regions, was held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, from February 26th to the early hours of March 2nd, and concluded with the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration.
In the WTO, in order to resolve disputes over trade, there is a procedure consisting of a "first instance" and a "final instance," which play a role similar to a court. Opposed and dysfunctional.
At this meeting, the focus was on reforming this system in order to find a way out of the situation.According to the announcement, it was reaffirmed that the aim was to ``realize a fully functioning system by the end of the year.'' =The gap in opinion between the European Union and the United States and other countries has not been bridged, and no concrete progress has been made.
However, as of December last year, there had been 24 cases of disputes that had been appealed to the final court and had become so-called "salted," so they agreed to work towards resolving these issues.
In addition, at this meeting, the membership of East Timor and Comoros, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, was officially approved, marking the first new member countries in about eight years.