WTO MC14: what happened and what does it mean

Articles by the OWINFS Network

Introduction:

WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, between 26 - 30th March 2026. On the agenda was the so-called WTO reform which was presented as the new WTO for the future. The ministerial ended in the middle of the night or morning the 30th with no outcome. The ministers decided to move the negotiations to Geneva. This no-outcome led to two moratoriums expiring (since no agreement to extend them); one was the prohibition on duties on electronic transmissions, and the other was that no country can sue others over TRIPS non-violation complaints. Both moratoriums expiring have huge consequences, which you can read about in the below articles from the OWINFS Network.

Overall analysis:

• The WTO’s MC14 ended not with a deal, but with a walkout. Here is what that means”, by Fernando Hernandez, Head of Trade and Investment Policy, Both ENDS, 30 March 2026
• Inside the WTO, a global trade body on the precipice, by Jane Kelsey, Published in Newsroom, 7 April 2026.
• Os resultados da 14 Conferência Ministerial da OMC (in Portuguese). Written by Adhemar Mineiro, 10 April 2026. Published in Terapia Politica, 10 April 2026.

E-commerce:

• The night Brazil said no to Trump (and changed the internet forever), by: Sofia Scasserra, researcher TNI, advisor OWINFS. Published at TNI, 2 April 2026.
• La noche en que Brasil le dijo que no a Trump (y cambió el internet para siempre), escrito por: Sofia Scasserra, TNI Publicado en Transnational Institute (TNI), 2 de abril de 2026 (Español).
• The e-commerce plurilateral reveals the backdoor strategy to adopt JSIs, Professor Emeritus Jane Kelsey, University of Auckland, New Zealand. 21 April 2026.

Fisheries:

• Fisheries subsidies at MC14, analysis, by Adam Wolfenden, Campaigner, Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), 10 April 2026.

Agriculture:

• MC14, Concerns of Indian Farmers. Permanent Solution to PSH, by K V Biju, National Coordinator, Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh.

Civil society repression:

• Civil society participation at MC14 was sidelined by the secretariat, by Anniken Storbakk, Co-facilitator, OWINFS, 13 April 2026.