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WTO tackles food, vaccines, fishing subsidies

Hunger, vaccine patents and fishing subsidies top the agenda as the global trade body holds its first ministerial conference in four and a half years.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala answers questions at a press conference
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala answers questions at a press conference (AN/WTO)

GENEVA (AN) — Food shortages, global access to vaccines and environmentally harmful fishing subsidies top the agenda as the World Trade Organization holds its first ministerial conference in four and a half years.

Equally on the agenda, though not literally: the future relevance of the global trade body itself. The chair of the four-day conference, Kazakh politician Timur Suleimenov, acknowledged as much as it opened on Sunday. He promoted the 164-nation WTO as a global tool in need of reform but still vital to reduce "uncertainties" through more stable, predictable markets.

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