San Francisco Frontiers - WTO deals still within sight after all-night arm-twisting

Ministers were trading concessions with just hours to go before the scheduled closing ceremony at the World Trade Organization's first conference in nearly five years.

The global trade body's 164 members added on an extra fifth day of talks to try to break the deadlock at the WTO headquarters in Geneva -- and emerge with deals that would prove the organisation still has a role to play in tackling big global challenges.

But despite relaxing their original Wednesday deadline, countries were trading concessions right through past dawn to cobble together a wide-ranging set of results.

"The negotiations have been going on all night and they are still going on. And we are still optimistic that we can have some really positive outcomes," New Zealand's trade minister Damien O'Connor told AFP.

"There is a lot of commitment to try and move things forward and it's encouraging.

"We have seen a huge amount of flexibility from all parties, in a spirit of cooperation. Of course, there'll be some issues that are hard to resolve.

"I have been encouraged by that flexibility from our perspective, but there'll be continue to be bilaterals and other discussions."

Ministers have been trying to secure deals on curbing harmful fishing subsidies; a temporary waiver on Covid-19 vaccine patents; food security; agriculture; e-commerce; the WTO's response to pandemics; and reform of the organisation itself.

- Out of juice -

Countries hit a brick wall late Wednesday trying to secure each separate deal on its own merits, so they spent the night making tit-for-tat offers in an attempt to keep them all afloat.

"They're looking at a broad package: what can be achieved, trade-offs in different areas," a Geneva trade official told reporters.

"It's basically, 'what can I get here, (in exchange) for this'," the official said.

"We're into the real bargaining part of the meeting. This is where all the action is happening and hopefully where some deals are going to be struck."

US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Britain's Geneva ambassador Simon Manley both tweeted pictures of first light emerging over Lake Geneva.

"And there we were at dawn, as a long night turned to early morning," Manley said.

Giant trays of sandwiches kept delegates going through the night after they drank the building dry of fruit juice.

A.Smith--SFF