MC12 outcomes

The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization was held in Geneva from 12–17 June 2022, having been twice postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was chaired by Kazakhstan's Timur Suleimenov, and was the first ministerial since MC11 in Buenos Aires (2017). The outcomes are collectively referred to as the Geneva Package and were notable because many observers had expected deadlock; instead, members produced several consensus deliverables under Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

Key elements of the package include:

• Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, the WTO's first multilateral agreement focused on environmental sustainability, prohibiting subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and for fishing of overfished stocks. A second wave of negotiations on overcapacity and overfishing was left for follow-up.
• A Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement, providing a targeted waiver allowing eligible developing-country members to authorize the use of patented subject matter required for the production and supply of COVID-19 vaccines without the right holder's consent, for five years.
• A Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics.
• A Ministerial Decision on World Food Programme Food Purchases Exemption from Export Prohibitions or Restrictions, shielding humanitarian food purchases from export bans.
• A Ministerial Declaration on the Emergency Response to Food Insecurity, reflecting concerns triggered by the war in Ukraine.
• An extension of the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions until MC13, alongside continuation of the work programme on e-commerce.
• A commitment to WTO reform, including work toward restoring a fully functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024.

MC12 is widely cited as evidence that the WTO's negotiating function, dormant since the Bali and Nairobi ministerials, could still produce results, though critics noted the TRIPS decision fell short of the broader waiver originally proposed by India and South Africa in October 2020.