   
  
WT/L/1061  
 
24 May 2019  
(19-3612) Page: 1/1 
  Original: English/ French  
 
SUMMARY OF THE OTTAWA GROUP MINISTE RIAL MEETING , PARIS , 23 MAY 2019  
SUMMARY FROM CANADA  
The following  summary , dated 24 May 2019, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of 
Canada.  
 
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This morning, Ministers and Heads of Delegation from the Ottawa Group met to continue our 
discussions on the state of play at the World Trade Organization, including efforts to strengthen and 
enhance the organization. With work underway on multiple fronts, today 's meeting was an important 
check-in and exchange of views on outcomes achieved to date.  
 
WTO Director -General Roberto Azev êdo underlined the need for concerted action and engagement 
by all WTO Members in order to address the challenges facing the organization. Inaction is not an 
option : the WTO must reform in order to remain credible and relevant in the 21st century.  
 
Good progress has been made in enhancing the day -to-day functions of the organization. Work 
continues apace on developing concrete proposals to be brought forward for con sideration by the 
wider membership. Officials should continue to work quickly and diligently and begin similar 
initiatives in other WTO bodies in the coming months.  
 
Recognizing its importance to the future functioning of the organization, we discussed how  best to 
pursue the development dimension in the context of WTO rule -making. Ministers appreciate 
Norway' s leadership, including its discussion paper, which lays out the context on development 
concerns and serves as a useful basis for continued dialogue at  the WTO. We agreed that further 
outreach to the broader membership is required. In addition, Ministers were grateful for Brazil' s 
impressions of the recent ministerial meeting for developing countries hosted by India.  
 
The Ottawa Group discussed ongoing w ork including on the Joint Statement Initiatives, in particular 
e-commerce, transparency and notification obligations, and industrial subsidies . We welcomed 
Chile's update on the recent successful APEC Trade Ministers meeting. We further discussed Japan 's 
plans for considerations on WTO reform under its G20 presidency.  
 
The Ottawa Group encourages all WTO Members to constructively engage in negotiations to achieve 
a comprehensive and effective agreement on fisheries subsidies in 2019. We reiterate the need  for 
collective action to safeguard and strengthen the WTO dispute -settlement mechanism and to resolve 
the current impasse in appointments to the WTO Appellate Body.  To further reinvigorate the 
negotiating function, we urge all Members to work toward s addressing pending and unfinished 
business, including market distortions caused by subsidies and other instruments.  
 
The group continues to welcome opportunities to engage with the broader WTO membership on 
pragmatic proposals to advance WTO reform.  
 
We have directed officials to intensify their work on all aspects of WTO reform and we look forward 
to reviewing progress when we meet again in late 2019.  
 
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