Trade ministers from Japan, the U.S., the EU, the U.K., France, Canada, Germany and Italy said they will work to reach an agreement on World Trade Organization reform "with the view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024." The binding appellate level of dispute settlement at the WTO has been defunct since late 2019, because the U.S. blocked all appointments to the appellate body.

The World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards discussed ways to improve the committee's functionality during an Oct. 25 meeting, the WTO said. The committee adopted a report it sent to the Council for Trade in Goods in which it "outlined the efforts made in this area and the issues on which agreement was reached," the WTO said. Negotiations will continue regarding a joint proposal from various members, and the committee agreed on an update of the format of its annual report to boost transparency, the WTO added. During the meeting, members also discussed a host of legislative notifications of members' new or amended safeguard regulations as well as specific notifications of safeguard actions.

A World Trade Organization panel will review U.S. antidumping duties on oil country tubular goods from Argentina after Argentina's request for a dispute panel was granted by the Dispute Settlement Body, the WTO announced. Argentina's request was the second in its case arguing that the duties violate WTO rules and that the U.S. illegally cumulated imports in assessing injury caused by the subject imports.

World Trade Organization members discussed a host of new proposals on agriculture topics during Oct. 19-20 agriculture negotiation meetings, including on export restrictions, domestic support, food security and food bought at minimum prices for public stocks, the WTO said.

Senior trade officials met at the World Trade Organization Oct. 23 and 24 to "take stock of progress on issues on the negotiating agenda" in the run-up to the 13th Ministerial Conference, the WTO said. On Oct. 23, WTO members adopted a decision to aid least-developed countries in graduating from LDC status and broke out into sessions on agriculture, trade and development and dispute settlement reform. The next day, breakout sessions covered trade and industrial policy and trade and environmental sustainability.

Fiji formally accepted the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies deal Oct. 24, making it the 52nd WTO member to do so. The announcement comes a day after seven other member countries also accepted the agreement, pushing it nearly half-way to the two-thirds threshold needed for full ratification. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala welcomed the development, noting that Fiji "is the first Pacific Island developing nation to do so, and we are confident it will not be the last. We hope this action will encourage not only the Pacific but also all other members that have not yet deposited [an instrument of acceptance] to do so.”

The European Council adopted the "Anti-Coercion Instrument" Oct. 23 -- a trade tool meant to disincentivize the use of coercive trade and investment measures "through dialogue." Should the dialogue fall through, the instrument allows for the EU to impose countermeasures, including trade restrictions, via "increased customs duties, import or export licences, restrictions on trade in services or access to foreign direct investment or public procurement."

Australia and China officially agreed to resolve World Trade Organization disputes over Chinese duties on Australian wine and Australian duties on Chinese wind towers, China’s Commerce Ministry said Oct. 22. The two sides “conducted friendly consultations under the WTO framework on WTO dispute” and “have reached consensus on properly resolving them,” a ministry spokesperson said, according to an unofficial translation. “We are willing to work with Australia to continue to meet each other halfway through dialogue and consultation, and jointly promote the stable and healthy development of bilateral economic and trade relations.”

Seven World Trade Organization member countries formally accepted the fisheries subsidies agreement on Oct. 23, pushing the number of WTO members to have done so to 51. This number is 46% of the total number needed for the agreement to take effect, the WTO said. In all, Albania, Australia, Botswana, Cuba, Cote d'Ivoire, South Korea and St. Lucia accepted the deal as part of a two-day meeting of senior officials Oct. 23-24 in Geneva. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, noting that Fiji is expected to accept the deal soon, said the announcement "represents a leap in the right direction."

World Trade Organization members participating in the Information Technology Agreement and the ITA Expansion Agreement on Oct. 19 approved Timor-Leste's bid to participate in the agreements, the WTO announced. As a result, the ITA Schedules will be incorporated into Timor-Leste's WTO goods schedule, making up a part of the nation's "final WTO accession package." Per the ITA commitments, after Timor-Leste joints the WTO, the country will eliminate duties on 242 products, amounting to 64% of its ITA-related tariff lines, the WTO said, and the duties on the remaining 114 ITA products will be scrapped on Jan. 1, 2027. As for the ITA Expansion Agreement, Timor-Leste will drop import duties on 240 of 488 tariff lines upon accession, with another 333 tariff lines reduced to zero after three years.