Thirteen trade ministers representing all regions of the world met in Ottawa on Thursday to come up with proposed reforms to the troubled global trading system. Canada hosted officials from Australia, Brazil, Chile, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, and Switzerland for the talks
Thirteen trade ministers representing all regions of the world met in Ottawa on Thursday to come up with proposed reforms to the troubled global trading system.
Canada hosted officials from Australia, Brazil, Chile, the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, and Switzerland for the talks.
The United States and China, however, were not at the table.
“The problems facing the multilateral trading system were not created by any one WTO member,” Canada’s Trade Minister Jim Carr said in his opening remarks.
“They are not new and they cannot be solved by any one member.”
The failure to adjust global trade rules in the last two decades, particularly in agriculture and services, has undermined the potential to boost growth and reduce poverty, according to a joint report by the International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization and World Bank released September 30.
