Cuba defends fair and equitable trade at WTO conferenceHavana, Cuba.- Cuba defended the right of countries to fair, equitable and non-discriminatory trade during the 12th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to a government source.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Déborah Rivas said that the island is committed to a multilateral system that allows reducing existing asymmetries and promotes the sustainable development of peoples.

According to the ministry’s Twitter account, Rivas pointed out the challenges faced by the WTO, some of them prior to the multidimensional crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the increase and intensification of the application of unilateral and non-tariff measures.

He also mentioned the paralysis of the Doha Development Round and the blockage of the selection process for new members of the appellate body, which in practice causes the dispute settlement system to function as a single instance: the panel.

He said that any reform of the WTO must be based on consensus, inclusion, transparency and the effective participation of all Member States, and that the transformation of this organization cannot accept inherited inequalities or proposals that aggravate imbalances. He also warned about the intention of some developed countries to limit the principle of special and differential treatment, or to grant it selectively, an issue that constitutes a historical right and, therefore, must be preserved and focused on the fair integration of economies into the flow of international trade.