  
  
WT/MIN(22)/ST/20  
12 June 2022 
(22-4456) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 2022  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR  MARTIN KOCHER  
FEDERAL MINISTER OF LABOUR AND FEDERAL MINISTER FOR 
DIGITAL AND ECONOMIC AFFAIRS  
AUSTRIA  
First and foremost, I would like to convey my deep gratitude to Kazakhstan for chairing this Twelfth 
WTO Ministerial Conference and to Switzerland for hosting this important political event in Geneva. 
I may also express my deep appreciation to the Chair of  this Ministerial Conference, H.E. Timur 
Suleimenov, Deputy Chief of the President and the President 's Envoy for International Trade of 
Kazakhstan, whose able leadership will guide us in our work.  
 
I welcome our new Director -General Dr Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala,  whom I wish all the best in her 
demanding post. I also owe my thanks to the WTO Secretariat and its skilled staff for its valuable 
assistance in preparing this Ministerial Conference.  
 
This Twelfth Ministerial Conference is taking place under the extraor dinary and, in recent times, 
unprecedented circumstances of a global pandemic, of sharply rising food prices and of severe 
uncertainties on future food markets and supplies.  
 
Today, while still tackling the global pandemic, the global trade world is not th e same as it used to 
be. In many aspects, a new trading environment has emerged on top of a rulebook that needs urgent 
adaptation to current challenges. Therefore, the WTO must deliver answers to burning systemic 
questions and respond to legal gaps in the rule book.  
 
First, concluding the negotiations on Fisheries Subsidies is an important step to preserve the 
relevance of the WTO.  
 
Second, international trade shall develop means to overcome the current pandemic and future 
pandemics. Therefore, the WTO must  develop a common approach on trade and health, allowing for 
a swift and unhindered global distribution of vaccines, medical goods and necessary technological 
information across borders for the sake and well -being of all people.  
 
The proposed Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the Pandemic is a comprehensive 
response to the current and future pandemics, secures overall crisis preparedness and enhances 
Members ' resilience.  
 
Third, the need for a reform of the WTO as a negotiating for um and of its capability to update the 
WTO-rulebook to the needs of the 21st century is obvious. A priority must be the re -institution of the 
dispute settlement system by a binding two -tier, independent and impartial adjudication of trade 
disputes and on t he basis of the negative consensus principle.  
 
Fourth, plurilateral initiatives have become a means of expanding the rulebook for those willing to 
go further and with the aim of multilateralization as soon as possible. The ongoing initiatives 
launched at M C11 respond to the current challenges and developments in the international trading 
system and these negotiations have clearly made significant progress. Beyond that, the WTO cannot 
ignore the new area of digital trade which already bears a significant imp act on all sectors of trade 
and which demands a set of globally binding rules.  
 WT/MIN( 22)/ST/ 20 
 
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  In order to react to the challenges of climate change, new plurilateral initiatives have the potential 
to contribute to an environmentally friendly and resilient global economy . To this effect, the 
statement on Environmental Sustainability aims at launching a discussion on trade -related climate 
measures and policies with the possibility to start mandated negotiations at MC13. The same applies 
to the proposed statement on Fossil Fuel Subsidy Reform and the statement on Plastics Pollution 
and Sustainable Plastics Trade.  
 
This Ministerial Conference is bound to deliver. A failure is not affordable. We must seize this 
opportunity and bring the WTO back on track as a rule maker and b ack to relevance as a key 
regulator within the multilateral trading system . 
 
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