Address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the WTO Mini-Ministerial - Paris, June 7, 2023

Paris, June 7, 2023

Dear Minister Farrell,

Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,

Fellow Ministers,

I wish to thank Australia for providing us with this opportunity to talk and share priorities ahead of the MC13. As a developing country, Brazil wants a strengthened and modernized WTO that fully incorporates development and SDGs in its agenda. 

The goal for the MC13 is to have a WTO fit for new challenges, without neglecting longstanding promises, such as agriculture. Dispute settlement reform is also a priority. To achieve this by 2024, we must focus on the issues needed for a permanent solution.

On Fisheries, Brazil is ready to contribute in a “second wave” of negotiations to have a comprehensive and complete agreement by MC13. As we look ahead, environmental sustainability is a key issue, but it cannot be used as a cover for protectionism, which is rising worldwide.

We must promote sustainable development objectives while safeguarding a fair and non-discriminatory Multilateral Trading System. To ensure a truly sustainable future, developing countries must be included in the technological and production revolutions necessary for the transition; and not be relegated once again to mere exporters of raw materials.

There is much the WTO can do. Intellectual Property Rights can be tools to fight climate change. Multilateral negotiations on industrial and agricultural subsidies can support needed transformations in global production and trade patterns.

Moreover, agricultural reform goes hand in hand with food security. We need increased food production and participation in global food trade, especially from LDCs. This cannot be achieved when very large players have access to effectively unlimited subsidization.

Dear friends,

Annual WTO Ministerial Conferences would enable us to better engage collectively in response to longstanding and emerging trade issues, contributing to rebuilding much needed trust among Members.

Brazil is ready to discuss this and any other reform proposals and to work with all WTO members to build a more equitable and sustainable Multilateral Trading System, to the benefit of the international community as a whole.

Thank you.