The eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) closed on 13 December 2017 and decisions were issued on some issues.

Fisheries Subsidies

The WTO members agreed to pursue negotiations with the objective of reaching agreement by the next Ministerial Conference in 2019. They aim to reach an agreement that would prohibit some forms of fishery subsidy that contribute to overcapacity and overfishing. They also aim to include in their eventual agreement a provision to eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Target 14.6 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals gives a deadline of 2020 by which IUU subsidies should be eliminated and fisheries subsidies that lead to overcapacity and overfishing should be prohibited, however the target allows special treatment to be agreed for developing and least developed countries.

Electronic Commerce

The Work Programme on Electronic Commerce will be continued and the General Council will hold periodic reviews in its sessions of July and December 2018 and July 2019, based on reports submitted by relevant WTO bodies. A report will then be made to the next WTO Ministerial Conference. The WTO members have also agreed that the practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions will continue for another two years.

Work Programme on Small Economies

Ongoing work is continuing on the Work Programme on Small Economies. The Ministerial Conference noted the work done since 2015 on challenges and opportunities faced by small economies when linking into global value chains as part of the global trade in goods and services. The Ministerial Conference requested that work should continue on the challenges experienced by small economies in attempting to reduce trade costs, with a focus on trade facilitation.

Other Issues

No agreement was reached at the Ministerial Conference on public stockholding for food security purposes or on some other agricultural issues. Negotiations are to move forward on the relevant issues including work on the three pillars of agriculture (domestic support, market access and export competition); non-agricultural market access; services, development, aspects of trade related intellectual property rights (TRIPS); and issues concerning trade and the environment.