Antigua and Barbuda formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on April 3, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 95. The WTO needs 16 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.

World Trade Organization members on April 1 appointed Pakistan's Ali Sarfraz Hussain the new head of the Committee on Agriculture in a special session, the WTO announced. Hussain will lead agriculture talks with the goal of achieving a "meaningful outcome" at the 14th Ministerial Conference, which is set for March 26-29, 2026, the WTO said. Hussain takes over for Turkey's Alparslan Alcarsoy. The new chair will also head the Committee on Agriculture's special session subcommittee on cotton and will meet with "delegations and group coordinators over the coming days." After these meetings, Hussain said he will invite members to an informal special session meeting and dedicated sessions on "public food stockholding and the 'special safeguard mechanism' in the third week of April."

Costa Rica and Albania edged closer to acceding to the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Government Procurement after members of the Committee on Government Procurement "welcomed the market access offers recently submitted" by the two nations, the WTO said. During a March 26 meeting of the committee, WTO members acknowledged the final market access offers from Costa Rica and Albania, which were submitted in January. WTO members also agreed to boost access to historical government procurement agreement documents.

Trade lawyer Iain Sandford has joined Foley Hoag in the Paris office of the firm's international litigation and arbitration practice, where he will work on issues related to the World Trade Organization and trade law. Sandford, a former legal officer under the WTO Secretariat and diplomat for the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, joins Foley Hoag from Sidley Austin.

The U.S. has halted contributions to the World Trade Organization, Reuters reported. The global trade body has a $232.06 million annual budget, 11% of which is set to come from the U.S. based on a fee system that requires payment proportionate to a member country's share of global trade, the report said. A U.S. delegate reportedly told the WTO that payments for 2024 and 2025 are on hold pending a review of contributions to international organizations.

The World Trade Organization members adopted a decision on the transparency of tariff rate quotas and completed the third triennial review of the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition during the March 24-25 meeting of the Committee on Agriculture. The Nairobi Decision review included a review report and a "decision on comprehensive export competition notification requirements and formats," which will streamline the notification requirements and integrate the export competition questionnaire from the Nairobi Decision, the WTO said. The decision adopted regarding TRQ administration says that members agreed to use a "modified format" for making notifications and that members with TRQ commitments should make a one-off notification with key information and subsequent notifications based on any changes to their TRQs.

Canada requested dispute consultations at the World Trade Organization with China regarding Chinese duties on Canadian agricultural and fishery products, the WTO announced on March 24. Canada alleged that the measures violate the WTO's Understanding on the Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994.

The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body on March 24 heard a request from China to establish a panel in its dispute against the EU's countervailing duties on new battery electric vehicles from China. The DSB "took note" of statements made by China and the EU and said it would "revert to this matter should a requesting member wish to do so."

Ethiopia hopes to join the World Trade Organization by the 14th Ministerial Conference, which will take place in March 2026, the WTO said. During a March 19 meeting of the WTO Working Party on Ethiopia's accession, the country said "its goods offer commits the country to bound rates -- maximum tariffs -- lower than those" found in the benchmark for least developed countries for the agricultural sector.

Pakistan formally accepted the World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies on March 20, bringing the number of countries that have accepted the deal to 94. The WTO needs 17 more countries to accept to get to two-thirds of the membership, the threshold for the agreement to take effect.