OTTAWA: Canada is working on a project for reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and aims to organize international talks on the subject next month, Canadian sources said on Friday (Saturday in Manila) as US pressure on the body mounts. A spokesman for Canada’s Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr said that they recognize the challenges at the heart of the WTO and believe it is necessary to find the means to do the necessary work to advance reforms. A small group of like-minded trade ministers will gather in Ottawa October 24-25 “to discuss WTO reform,” a Canadian government source told Agence France-Presse, requesting anonymity given the sensitivity of the discussions. The group will “identify concrete means of improving the WTO over the short, mid and long term,” the source said, adding preparatory work has already begun. Australia, Brazil, Chile, the European Union, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland will be part of the working group, the official said.

Source: Manila Times September 15, 2018 16:41 UTC