World Trade Organization not delivering what world urgently needs: a strong fair rules-based and multilateral trading system

In response to the recent World Trade Organization deal made in Nairobi, Oxfam International's Director of Advocacy & Campaigns, Celine Charveriat, said: "Due to the intransigence of rich countries, influenced by powerful corporate interests, the deal reached at the WTO’s Nairobi Ministerial meeting is not delivering what the world urgently needs: a strong and fair rules-based multilateral trading system. Worse, the US and the EU are continuing to push for regional trade agreements, such as TPP and TTIP, whose unfair rules would threaten any prospect for the implementation of sustainable development goals. "While there is some modest progress on a number of issues, such as export competition in agriculture and market access for Least Developed Countries, this deal leaves the vast majority of farm subsidies untouched, which will continue to undermine the ability of the world's poorest farmers to make a living (According to the OECD, $41bn for the US and euro 86bn for the EU in 2014). Moreover, these subsidies fuel a carbon-intensive agriculture model, which is incompatible with the ambition of the Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. "WTO members must come back to the negotiating table and start negotiating 21st century trade deals that put people and the planet first."