The World Trade Organization General Council will hold a special meeting Nov. 28-29 to confirm Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to a second term, General Council Chair Petter Olberg announced. The move comes after no other candidates joined the race by the Nov. 8 nomination deadline. Okonjo-Iweala will present her vision for the WTO on Nov. 28 followed by a question-and-answer segment. A vote on the term extension is scheduled for Nov. 29.
The EU and Taiwan settled the EU's dispute at the World Trade Organization on Taiwan's offshore wind auctions, the bloc's Directorate-General for Trade announced Nov. 8. The EU said Taiwan committed to "introducing greater flexibility in the way the winning projects from the latest auction are taken forward."
China formally filed a dispute at the World Trade Organization on Nov. 6 challenging the EU's definitive countervailing duties on new battery electric vehicles from China. The request for consultations continues a dispute China started on the EU's provisional CV duties on Chinese EVs (see 2408140010).
China said it will continue its challenge at the World Trade Organization against the EU's countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles. The nation's Ministry of Commerce said on Nov. 4 it believes the EU's duties "lack both factual and legal grounds," violate WTO rules and stand as a "pretext for trade protectionism," according to an unofficial translation.
The Philippines opened a preliminary safeguard investigation on cement Oct. 31, it told the World Trade Organization's Committee on Safeguards on Nov. 4. The Philippines said interested parties should submit comments to the Bureau of Import Services within five days of Nov. 4.
The Informal Working Group on Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises at the World Trade Organization conducted discussions under its work programme on Oct. 18 centering on business support organizations' role in helping small businesses take advantage of international trade opportunities, the WTO said. The session was held in response to a U.S. proposal that suggested "exploring how small businesses are linked to the mechanisms that shape trade policy through local chambers of commerce, trade associations, and/or other local business support organizations."
Kuwait formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Oct. 22, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 86. The WTO needs 25 more to reach the two-thirds of the membership threshold for the agreement to take effect.
Burkina Faso formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies Oct. 16, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 85. The WTO needs 26 more to reach the two-thirds membership threshold for the agreement to take effect.
World Trade Organization members need to ramp up discussions in the coming weeks to have a "fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system" by the end of the year, said Mauritius' Usha Dwarka-Canabady, facilitator of the WTO's dispute settlement reform talks.
China opened a dispute at the World Trade Organization Oct. 11 against Turkey's 40% import duties on Chinese electric vehicles, the WTO announced. The complaint said the rate is greater than the duty rate laid out in Turkey's schedule of concessions and higher than duties on EV imports from other nations.