Ottawa – Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, today participated in a virtual meeting of WTO trade ministers hosted by the United Arab Emirates. The ministers discussed key priorities and solutions aimed at producing a strong outcome at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13), scheduled for February 26 to 29, 2024.
At today’s meeting, Minister Ng emphasized that Canada remains strongly committed to working with its WTO partners on agriculture trade issues to help ensure food security while enhancing the sustainability and resiliency of global agriculture and agri-food systems. Minister Ng and her counterparts discussed next steps in the implementation of the fisheries subsidies agreement agreed to at the 12th Ministerial Conference. She highlighted that Canada will continue to work with partners on solutions to protect global fish stocks and the world’s oceans.
Minister Ng reaffirmed the importance of supporting the predictability of the rules-based trading system by ensuring that the WTO has a fully functional dispute settlement system that is accessible to all.
The minister also reaffirmed Canada’s strong support for renewing the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and advancing the Work Programme on E-Commerce, and encouraged others to do the same to provide a stable and predictable digital trading environment for consumers and businesses of all sizes.
“When we provide our businesses with predictability and fairness, our multilateral relationships grow. That is why a rules-based multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core, is essential to ensuring sustainable, resilient and inclusive global economic prosperity. Canada will continue to work with our WTO partners to deliver a strong outcome at the upcoming 13th WTO Ministerial Conference and to support trade that creates good jobs and more opportunities for our businesses.” – Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development