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STORY: WTO / MC11 WRAP
TRT: 3 :49
SOURCE: WTO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /SPANISH /NATS
DATELINE: 13 DECEMBER 2017, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA
1.Areal shot, conference venue, Hilton Hotel, Buenos Aires
2. Wide shot, Hilton Hotel, Buenos Aires
3. Med shot, entrance with banners, Hilton Hotel
4. Wide shot, final Heads of Delegations meeting
5. Various shots, delegats
6. Wide shot, Susana Malcorra and Roberto Azevêdo take seats on podium
7. Wide shot, participants taking seats
8. SOUNDBITE (English), Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, WTO:
“What we've seen over the last three days is the hard grind of multilateralism. 164 countries working together, engaging and debating. We have made important progress in some areas. In most it did not prove possible. Members did not manage to agree final, substantive agreements this time.”
9. Wide shot, podium
10. SOUNDBITE (English), Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General, WTO:
“In the plenary hall we heard repeated, clear, strong support for the system. What's disappointing is that this support did not translate into action. If we really all support the WTO, we have to bear in mind that multilateralism doesn't mean we get what we want. It means we get what is possible. It's not compatible to expect multilateralism to work and at the same time to expect to walk out with everything you wanted.”
11. Pan right, podium
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish), Susana Malcorra, Chairperson of the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference:
“The 11th ministerial conference has reached its ending but our work definitely does not end here. The decisions taken in Buenos Aires will guide the work in Geneva for the following years. On many occasions, it has been manifested that the international trade system is at a roads crossing. This makes it necessary to recreate trust and to find common spaces to advance on pending agendas. In Buenos Aires we understood that dialogue, not only negotiation, is part of our job. We need to commit to these instances of reflexive dialogue that will enable us to find solutions to advance in all areas of interest. It’s our shared responsibility that all members give each other the space to dialogue. Let Buenos Aires be remembered as the place where we initiated that dialogue.”
13. Various shots, delegates
14. Med shot, Susana Malcorra and Roberto Azevêdo embrace
15. Med shot, participants applauding
16. Close up, Susana Malcorra, final gavel
17. Med shot, Susana Malcorra and Roberto Azevêdo, final gavel
18. Wide shot, participants applauding
The eleventh Ministerial Conference (MC11) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ended Wednesday (13 Dec) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with commitments to move forward on key issues. However, members did not manage to reach “final, substantive agreements this time,” according to the WTO Director-General.
The eleventh Ministerial Conference ended with a commitment to secure a deal on fisheries subsidies by the end of 2019 and to improve the reporting of existing fisheries subsidy programs.
Ministers also agreed to renew the WTO's existing moratorium regarding customs duties on electronic transmissions and "non-violation" complaints in intellectual property.
They were were unable to reach agreement and provide guidance for the future direction of ongoing talks on agriculture, development, and the domestic regulation of services, as well as new proposed work programs on electronic commerce, investment facilitation and micro, small and medium-size enterprises (MSMEs).
In closing, Roberto Azevêdo, Director-General of the WTO said “what we've seen over the last three days is the hard grind of multilateralism. 164 countries working together, engaging and debating. We have made important progress in some areas. In most it did not prove possible. Members did not manage to agree final, substantive agreements this time.”
Director-General stressed that “if we really all support the WTO, we have to bear in mind that multilateralism doesn't mean we get what we want. It means we get what is possible. It's not compatible to expect multilateralism to work and at the same time to expect to walk out with everything you wanted.”
The meeting in the Argentine capital brought together nearly 4000 ministers, senior trade officials and other delegates from the WTO's 164 members and observer as well as representatives from civil society, business and the global media.
