As President of the G7, the UK will use the meeting to
push for the reform of the WTO, so the organisation is
fit to challenge unfair trading practices as well as
ensuring trade helps tackle climate change.
Trade Ministers from the member countries of Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, US, UK and the EU, will
be joined at the virtual meeting by the newly-appointed
Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO),
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The UK will encourage G7 partners to develop a set of
principles for digital trade, underlining the common
goals of Trade Ministers around open digital markets
and the fight against protectionism.
The UK will also seek to champion the cause of
values-driven free trade and work with G7 partners to
challenge practices that distort markets. The group
will also discuss how to make global trade greener.
International Trade Secretary said:
2021 is the year that we need to grip WTO reform: the
organisation has fresh impetus under the dynamic
leadership of Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, who has the resolve
and energy to drive forward the reforms we need to
global trade, and a newly-independent Britain is
ready to work with democracies from across the world
to ensure trade helps the world build back better
from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our G7 alliance of like-minded democracies is united
not just in its fundamental values, ranging from
freedom and fairness to the environment and
innovation. It is also united in its fierce belief
that the best way forward for us all lies in trade.
But people cannot believe in free trade if it is not
fair. Public trust has been corroded by pernicious
practices, from the use of forced labour to
environmental degradation and the stealing of
intellectual property.
That is why the UK will strive with its G7 partners
to restore trust in the global trading system by
leading the charge for a better WTO which is fit for
the 21st century, with a rulebook that keeps pace
with modern opportunities and challenges. We can no
longer be held back by outdated rules, some of which
have barely moved on from 1995.
As well as reform, the Trade Secretary will also be
working with G7 partners, including new US Trade
Representative Katherine Tai, and WTO Director-General
to fight for more women to be represented in trade.
The next G7 Trade Ministerial meeting is due to take
place in-person in May where the UK will be looking to
strengthen our dialogue and further advance our shared
agenda with our G7 partners.
