Turkey will appeal a World Trade Organization dispute panel finding against its retaliatory duties on certain U.S. goods, the WTO announced Jan. 31. Because the Appellate Body is nonfunctional as the U.S. prevents vacancies from being filled, the appeal goes "into the void." As a result, Turkey's tariffs may stand without further rebuke from the WTO.

The sixth iteration of a draft consolidated text on World Trade Organization reform was circulated to WTO members on Jan. 29, the global trade body announced. WTO members were briefed on the latest updates regarding informal talks on dispute settlement reform during a Jan. 26 meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, and the WTO said it expects final comments on the text will be incorporated the week of Feb. 5. A final draft text is expected by Feb. 9.

Cape Verde formally accepted the agreement on fisheries subsidies Jan. 26, the World Trade Organization announced. Fifty-six members have now accepted the deal, which is just over half the number needed to make a two-thirds majority for ratification.

The U.S. will make a statement in the dispute on the U.S. origin marking requirements for goods from Hong Kong during the World Trade Organization's Jan. 26 dispute settlement body meeting, the WTO said. A dispute panel ruled against the U.S. national security defense of its trade measure requiring goods from Hong Kong to be labeled as being made in China (see 2212220029).

Expect new EU action at the World Trade Organization in 2024, four Akin attorneys said in a Jan. 23 blog poost. With the exceptions of 2023 and 2007, the EU has filed at least one complaint every year since 1995, and is expected to "go back on the offensive" by starting at least one or two WTO spats this year, the attorneys said.

Turkey's Alparslan Acarsoy, chair of agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organization, told negotiators to focus "more specifically and concretely" on outcomes for the 13th Ministerial Conference, set to be held Feb. 26-29, the WTO said. Reporting on consultations with WTO members during the Jan. 16-17 agriculture talks, Acarsoy said that most members think they will not be able to agree on "modalities" laying out formulas for new commitments, and that the ministerial rather stands as a stepping stone for the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference. But results on agriculture from MC13 are still attainable in the form of an "acknowledgment of the work undertaken in the agriculture negotiations so far, including recent submissions, as a basis for work after MC13," he said. General objectives and timetables could also surface that will stand as achievements for MC13.

World Trade Organization members on Jan. 15 agreed that as the basis for talks in the run-up to the 13th Ministerial Conference, they would use the most recent draft text on addressing subsidies promoting overcapacity and overfishing, the WTO announced. Iceland's Einar Gunnarsson, chair of the fisheries subsidies talks, said members over the next four weeks will use the draft to finalize a "clean" text for MC13, which will be held Feb. 26-29 in the United Arab Emirates. The WTO said members will hold meetings from Jan. 15 to Feb. 9 to "go through the whole text." This period is being dubbed "Fish Month" at the WTO.

World Trade Organization members will vote on the accession of Timor-Leste to the global trade body during the Feb. 26-29 Ministerial Conference, the WTO announced. Talks pertaining to Timor-Leste's accession wrapped up in just over seven years, which is a record for the accession of a least-developed country, the WTO said.

World Trade Organization members attending the 13th Ministerial Conference Feb. 26-29 will vote on Comoros' accession to the global trade body. Members agreed on the terms of Comoros' membership on Jan. 9, the body announced. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stressed the importance of least-developed nations, like Comoros, joining the WTO.