   
  
JOB/GC/253  
 
29 March 2021  
(21-2540) Page: 1/2 
General Council  Original: English  
 
THE MC -12 PACKAGE: MOVING THE WTO FORWARD  
The following communication, dated 28 March 2021, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Brazil . 
 
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1.1.  Designing the MC -12 package early on will be fundamental for the success of the 12th Ministerial 
Conference and the revitalization of the WTO.  
1.2.  Brazil proposes a package agenda centered on key deliverables that will secure substantial 
outcomes in our common objective of promoting international trade a nd prosperity in a time of global 
pandemic, of fostering sustainable development and reducing poverty, and of strengthening the 
rules-based multilateral trading system by promoting incremental reforms.  
1.3.  In Brazil 's perspective, the MC -12 package should cont ain 9 components:  
(1) A Ministerial Understanding on the role and procedures of the AB. We need to restore the 
multilateral integrity of the dispute settlement system, preserving the negative consensus and 
two levels of adjudication with a reformed Appella te Body.  
 
(2) A Ministerial Declaration on trade and health. The pandemic has shown that international trade 
and supply chains are vital for the production of vaccines and the cross -border flows of medical 
supplies. The WTO should foster coordination and t ransparency in international trade, taking 
into consideration the imperatives of public health. An initiative on trade and health should be 
balanced, comprehensive and flexible enough to safeguard public health needs and maintain 
supply chain flows.  
 
(3) WTO architecture: a flexible geometry for plurilateral negotiations. We need to agree on a 
pathway that leads to the flexible geometry of plurilateral negotiations at the WTO. Those that 
are willing to advance negotiations at different speeds should co unt with the institutional 
framework to do so at the WTO. Plurilateral and multilateral formats should complement and 
reinforce each other.  
 
(4) Deliverables on subsidies across all sectors: agriculture and industrials, taking into 
consideration the fundam ental principle of market -economy conditions.  
 
(5) In agriculture domestic support, MC -12 must deliver a framework for capping and 
proportionally reducing trade -distorting domestic support along with a working program 
clearly defined for MC -13. 
 
(6) A Mini sterial Declaration on SPS.  
 
(7) The conclusion of fisheries subsidies negotiations with the highest possible sustainability 
component, including rules to effectively reduce the amount of fisheries subsidies.  
 
(8) The conclusion of negotiations on investment facilitation and domestic regulation, a 
multilateral outcome on MSMEs, as well as a stock -taking declaration on e -commerce and its 
way forward.  
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  (9) An agreement on enhanced transparency and notifications, essen tial for the proper 
assessment of Member 's current and future commitments.  
 
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