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Global Business Statement: Revitalizing the Multilateral Trading System at MC14
With rising trade barriers, unilateral measures and growing systemic dysfunction undermining trade, investment and jobs, ICC is leading a Global Business Statement in line with their MC14 Call to Action.
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We, the undersigned business organizations from across the world, urge Ministers at the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to adopt a reform plan to revitalize the global trading system.
For 30 years, the WTO has provided the stability and predictability that enable businesses of all sizes to trade, invest, and create jobs around the globe . Its 166 Members represent 98% of global trade, and its rules underpin everything from customs procedures and product standards to intellectual property. Businesses rely on this framework every day to facilitate cross border flows of goods and services and operate with predictability in global markets.
Today, that foundation is under unprecedented strain. The rise of unilateral ism, protectionism, and the inability of the WTO to address the challenges of the 21st century and level the playing field have undermined confidence in the global trading system . Analysis by Oxford Economics commissioned by ICC shows that the loss of a functioning WTO could permanently reduce developing economy GDP by over 5 percent. No country would be spared.
Fragmentation is already a reality. The proliferation of regional and bilateral trade agreements has created a “spaghetti bowl” of overlapping rules that raise costs and uncertainty for business, particularly for MSMEs. These agreements facilitate commerce among subsets of countries, but they cannot replace a coherent and interoperable global trading system. International business needs a strong, reformed WTO to ensure the consistency and scale needed for trade to work for everyone.
MC14 offers a historic opportunity to meet this demand . We call on Ministers to launch a time-bound reform round of negotiations that restores the WTO’s capacity to negotiate, deliberate, and settle disputes, ensuring the global system remains relevant to twenty -first-century trade realities. If consensus is elusive, a coalition of willing Members should lead the way forward.
Such reform must deliver tangible economic benefits: restoring business confidence, encouraging investment, strengthening competitiveness and creating jobs. Reform must allow plurilateral coalitions of WTO members to negotiate and implement agreements on new issues . It must also ensure structured private sector engagement as an integral part of the reform process, leveraging the expertise of businesses as the end users of the trading system.
Above all, it must ensure that micro, small, and medium -sized enterprises (MSMEs), the backbone of every economy, can trade and grow under stable, predictable, and transparent global rules.
As an immediate confidence-building step, we also urge WTO Members to commit to a standstill, refraining from any restrictive trade measures during reform negotiations and renew the Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions. Allowing the moratorium to lapse would inject new uncertainty into global markets and risk fragmenting digital trade just as e-commerce is enabling MSMEs to reach new markets.
Business stands ready to support governments in building a stronger, more transparent, and more predictable trading system, one that empowers enterprises to invest, creates employment , and drive s prosperity in every economy.
Now is the time for leadership to revitalise the system that safeguards opportunity, jobs, and growth worldwide.
Sincerely,
International Chamber of Commerce
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Advertising Association
Africa ICT Alliance – AfICTA
Ajman Chamber
Alaşehir Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasi
Alberta Chambers of Commerce
American Chamber of Commerce – Qatar
Antalya Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Antalya Commodity Exchange
Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services
Asociación Costarricense de la Cámara de Comercio Internacional
Association for Competitive Technology
Association of South African Chambers
Associazione Italiana Commercio Estero – Italian Association of Foreign Trade (AICE)
Associazione Nazionale Centri di Assistenza Doganale (ASSOCAD)
Athlone Chamber of Commerce
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ)
Aydin Chamber of Industry
Aydin Commodity Exchange
Aydın ticaret odası
Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Ballyhaunis Chamber
Bandirma Ticaret Borsasi
Bangladesh Association of Banks
Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA)
Barcelona Official Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Services and Navigation
Batman Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasi
Belgian Chambers
Board of Trade of Thailand
Border -Kei Chamber of Business
Borderless Alliance
Bremen Chamber of Commerce – CCI for Bremen and Bremerhaven
British Chambers of Commerce
BusinessEurope
CAINCO Cámara de Industria Comercio Servicios y Turismo
Cámara de Comercio Exterior de Santa Fe
Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato e Agricoltura di Genova
Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato e Agricoltura Riviere di Liguria
Çarşamba Ticaret Borsasi
CCI Aix Marseille Provence
Çerkezköy Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Berlin
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Southern Sweden
Chambre de commerce et d’industrie Paris Île -de -France
Circle of Global Business Women
Coalition of Services Industries
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Confederation of Danish Industry
Confederation of Egyptian European Business Associations
Confederation of Swedish Enterprise
Confederazione Generale Italiana dei Trasporti e della Logistica (CONFETRA)
Consumer Technology Association (CTA)
Çorlu Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Çorlu Ticaret Borsasi
Council of Polish Global Entrepreneurs
County Carlow Chamber of Commerce
County Tipperary Chamber
County Wexford Chamber
Credimpex Italia
Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts
CropLife International
Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Denizli Chamber of Industry
Denizli Commodity Exchange
Drogheda and District Chamber
Dublin Chamber, Ireland
Dungarvan & West Waterford Chamber
Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry
East Sweden Chamber of Commerce / Östsvenska handelskammaren
Emirdağ Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasi
European Services Forum
Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce
Federation of Enterprises in Belgium
Federation of Palestinian Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (FPCCIA)
Federation of Small Businesses
Fethiye Ticaret ve Sanayi Odasi – Fethiye Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Fingal Chamber
Finland Chamber of Commerce
Fulda Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK Fulda)
Galway Chamber
German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK)
Global Shipping Business Network Limited
Handelskammaren Värmland
Handelskammer Hamburg – Hamburg Chamber of Commerce
IHK Darmstadt Rhein Main Neckar
Industrie – und Handelskammer zu Koblenz
Information Technology Industry Council (ITI)
Iskenderun Commodity Exchange
Italian Chamber of Commerce in Argentina
İzmir Chamber of Commerce
İzmir Commodity Exchange
Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Kayseri Chamber of Industry
Kayseri Commodity Exchange
Kayseri Ticaret Odasi
Keidanren – Japan Business Federation
Keşan Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce
Kocaeli Chamber of Commerce
Kocaeli Chamber of Industry
Kosovo Chamber of Commerce
Kozan Commodity Of Exchange
Krajowe Zrzeszenie Producentów Rzepaku i Roślin Białkowych (KZPRiRB)
Kütahya Ticaret Borsasi
l’Afep (Association of large French companies)
Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI)
Laois Chamber Alliance
Leathergoods And Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB)
Make UK
Malkara Commodity Exchange
Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Morang Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF)
National Association of Business Women Malawi
National Clothing Retail Federation (NCRF) of South Africa
National Federation of International Freight Forwarding Companies – Fedespedi
National Federation of Poultry Breeders and Egg Producers
National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC)
National Poultry Council – Chamber of Commerce
NECA’s network of Entrepreneurial Women
New Zealand Chambers of Commerce
Norrbotten Chamber of Commerce
Northern KZN Chamber of Business
Nuremberg Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Organisation of Women in International Trade
Organisation of Women In International Trade (OWIT) Ghana
Organisation of Women In International Trade (OWIT) Lake Geneva – Switzerland
Organisation of Women In International Trade (OWIT) Lilongwe
Organisation of Women in International Trade (OWIT) Nigeria
Organisation of Women In International Trade (OWIT) Zimbabwe
Organisation of Women in International Trade, UK Chapter
Organization of Women in International Trade – Ottawa Chapter (OWIT -Ottawa)
Organization of Women in International Trade Brussels powered by IBA
Oudtshoorn Business Chamber
Pacific Basin Economic Council Limited
Papua New Guinea Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Pietermaritzburg & Midlands Chamber of Business
Polish Agricultural Federation (Polska Federacja Rolna)
Polish Association of Beef Cattle Breeders and Producers
Polish Chamber of Commerce
Polish Confederation Lewiatan
Polski Związek Hodowców i Producentów Trzody Chlewnej (POLSUS)
Qatar Chamber of Commerce & Industry
Samsun Ticaret Borsası
Samsun Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası
Sanliurfa Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Santa Catarina Industry Federation
scienceindustries – Swiss Business Association of Chemistry Pharma Life Sciences
Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Singapore Business Federation
Sivas Commodity Exchange
Sligo Chamber of Commerce
Slovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Söke Commodity Exchange
South Dublin Chamber
Southeast Alberta Chamber of Commerce
Stockholm Chamber of Commerce
Tarsus Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Technology Industries of Sweden
Technology Trade Regulation Alliance (TTRA)
Tekirdag Ticaret Borsasi
Tekirdağ Ticaret ve Sanayi Odası
The Chambers of Commerce of Ireland
The Croatian Chamber of Economy
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI)
The Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand (JFCCT)
The National Association of Employers – Pig Producers POLPIG
The Netherlands Polish Chamber of Commerce
The Thai Chamber of Commerce
Trade Partners Sweden
Türkiye Odalar ve Borsalar Birliği
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Union of African Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Agriculture and Professions
Union of Mediterranean Confederations of Enterprises (BUSINESSMED)
US Council for International Business
Van Ticaret Borsasi
Vasterbotten Chamber of Commerce / Västerbottens Handelskammare
Voka Chamber of Commerce MK
Waterford Chamber of Commerce
West Sweden Chamber of Commerce / Västsvenska Handelskammaren
Westport Chamber
Zile Ticaret Borsas
Other Publications
Our Call For a Renewed Multilateral Trading System
Our Submission As Part of the HUMA Study on the Definition of “Work” and the Use of Section 107
