WTO General Council October 2025: UK Statement
UK Statement at the World Trade Organization's General Council in Geneva.
Item 6
We’d like to thank the LDC group for the efforts that they’ve made in finding alternative text which attempts to address all Members’ concerns, and want to acknowledge the compromises that they have made in doing so. The current draft appears unable to secure consensus from the membership, so clearly further work will be required. The UK remains committed to working with all members to try and help find a solution that is acceptable to all. Thank you.
Item 13
The UK welcomes China’s commitment to no longer seek Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT) in new WTO agreements. It’s an important step, a step that we hope will create positive momentum in the ongoing discussions on WTO reform. We know that country classification and S&DT are key cornerstones of this organisation, but there are long-standing calls for reform from developed and developing countries which need to be addressed. We hope that China’s announcement will create positive momentum and we encourage China and others to continue to think ambitiously about further steps that can be taken to progress WTO reform and strengthen the multilateral trading system. Thank you.
Item 14
Business voices at this year’s Public Forum were clear: the Agreement on Electronic Commerce will provide the predictability and stability that they need and will make trade cheaper, faster, fairer and more secure. Recent analysis by the OECD and the WTO has shown that the implementation of the deal can increase global trade by 2.3%, an increase of up to 8.7 trillion US dollars by 2040, with lower and middle income countries set to benefit most. The evidence also shows that each year that the implementation of the deal is delayed, 159 billion US dollars of foregone trade is being left on the table. And yet, while the support and evidence is clear, more than one year on from the conclusion of the negotiations we’ve been unable to incorporate the agreement into Annex 4. We’re open to engaging with all WTO members to ensure that we can all benefit from the agreement as soon as possible, and we hope that our request in December will be considered faithfully. We’ve already missed out on a year’s worth of economic benefits. We shouldn’t delay further.
And before I give up the floor, I also pass on my heartfelt thank you to Jeremy from Australia who’s personally played such a big role in this agreement. We will really miss his wisdom and his guidance on this and so many other issues. Thank you.
Item 17
Thank you, Chair. We would like to thank India for their interest and engagement from the UK’s Article XXVIII process, which concluded on the 1st of October. The UK issued eight extensions to the process over a seven-year period to allow time to address Members’ concerns, resolve negotiations and finalise administrative processes. We are ready to engage India bilaterally and in the most appropriate WTO forums on this matter. Thank you.