{"id":70572,"date":"2026-03-31T18:29:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T12:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=70572"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:45:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T13:15:21","slug":"wto-mc14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/31-03-2026\/wto-mc14","title":{"rendered":"14th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization concluded in <strong>Yaound\u00e9<\/strong> without consensus on extending the e-commerce duty moratorium.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is the E-commerce Moratorium?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>WTO members agreed in<strong> 1998<\/strong> not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions, which include:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Digital goods<\/strong> such as e-books, software, music, and video games.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Services<\/strong> delivered electronically such as streaming platforms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The moratorium has been <strong>renewed biennially <\/strong>at successive Ministerial Conferences. Its expiry on March 31, 2026 allows countries to impose tariffs on digital trade.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Issues at Ministerial Conference (MC14)<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lack of Consensus on Extension: <\/strong>Developed countries such as the U.S., EU, and Japan supported a long-term or permanent extension.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Developing countries<\/strong>, including India, <strong>opposed the extension<\/strong> due to concerns over revenue loss and reduced policy space in the digital economy.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disagreement over duration <\/strong>(2 years vs. 5 years) led to a negotiation deadlock.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>TRIPS Non-Violation Moratorium:<\/strong> It led to the<strong> expiry of the safeguard against non-violation complaints <\/strong>under the TRIPS Agreement,\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The safeguard since <strong>1995<\/strong> has protected the policy space of developing countries. Without it, even <strong>WTO-compliant measures, such as compulsory licensing,<\/strong> can be challenged by developed countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For India, this increases the risk of disputes over <strong>Section 3(d)<\/strong> of the <strong>Indian Patents Act, 1970,<\/strong> which restricts patents for already-known drugs unless the new claims are superior in terms of efficacy. It curbs the evergreening of patents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fisheries Subsidies:<\/strong> Members celebrated the <strong>entry into force<\/strong> of the<strong> 2022 Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, <\/strong>which bans support to illegal fishing, to the fishing of already depleted stocks without efforts to restore them, and to unregulated fishing on the high seas.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However the agreement <strong>does not cover subsidies causing overcapacity and overfishing.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The members agreed to continue negotiations on fisheries subsidies to address unresolved issues at the <strong>15th Ministerial Conference.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Core Principles Advocated by India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Development-Centric Multilateralism: <\/strong>India stressed the importance of an open trading system and reiterated the principle of non-discrimination, as embedded in the <strong>Marrakesh Agreement.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public Stockholding (PSH) for Food Security: <\/strong>India demanded a permanent solution on Public Stockholding (PSH). It argued that:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A large proportion of Indian farmers are small and resource-constrained.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Minimum Support Price (MSP) system is essential for ensuring income security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Special and Differential Treatment (S&amp;DT):<\/strong> India emphasised the need for effective Special and Differential Treatment provisions for developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to address structural inequalities in global trade.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dispute Settlement Mechanism: <\/strong>India stressed the need to restore a fully functional, automatic, and binding dispute settlement system.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The current <strong>paralysis of the Appellate Body<\/strong> undermines the credibility of the WTO.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p><strong>World Trade Organization (WTO)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>WTO<\/strong> is the international organization that deals with the rules of trade between countries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>History:<\/strong><strong>WTO <\/strong>is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) established in the wake of the Second World War.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Marrakesh Agreement<\/strong> establishing the World Trade Organization was signed by 123 countries in 1994, leading to the birth of the WTO on 1 January <strong>1995.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Headquarters:<\/strong> Geneva, Switzerland<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Member: <\/strong>The WTO is run by its 166 members.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mandate: <\/strong>Its aim is to promote free trade, which is done through trade agreements that are discussed and signed by the member states.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The preamble<\/strong> of the Marrakesh Agreement accords primacy to the developmental objectives of this organization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Organizational Structure of WTO<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Ministerial Conference: <\/strong>The WTO\u2019s apex decision-making body is the Ministerial Conference, which usually takes place every two years.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>All members of the WTO are involved in the Ministerial Conference and they can take decisions on all matters covered under any multilateral trade agreements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>General Council: <\/strong>It is just below the Ministerial Conference that meets several times a year at the WTO\u2019s headquarters in Geneva.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It meets as the <strong>Trade Policy Review Body<\/strong> and the <strong>Dispute Settlement Body.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Council: <\/strong>It is for the Goods, Services, and Intellectual Property, and it reports to the General Council.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/business\/Industry\/wto-meet-concludes-no-consensus-on-extension-of-e-commerce-duty-moratorium\/article70802293.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization concluded in Yaound\u00e9 without consensus on extending the e-commerce duty moratorium. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What is the E-commerce Moratorium? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> WTO members agreed in 1998 not to impose customs duties on electronic transmissions, which include: <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Digital goods such as e-books, software, music, and video games. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Services delivered electronically such as streaming platforms. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/31-03-2026\/wto-mc14 \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70572"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70575,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70572\/revisions\/70575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}