A general view of the room during World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s speech at the opening ceremony of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), at the World Trade Organization, in Geneva, Switzerland, June February 12, 2022. Martial Trezzini/Pool via REUTERS

GENEVA, June 16 (Reuters) – Negotiations at the World Trade Organization aimed at reaching agreements on food security, fisheries and vaccines entered their final hours on Thursday after talks that lasted all night, some Trade sources hoped efforts to circumvent Indian opposition would succeed.

Ministers from more than 100 countries are meeting at the headquarters of the global trade watchdog in Geneva this week for the first time in more than four years to hammer out new trade rules – a feat many doubt in a time of strong geopolitical tensions. Read more

All 164 members of the body must agree for new global trade rules to pass, meaning one member can block deals.

At the June 12-15 meeting of this week extended to Thursday afternoon, that member was India. New Delhi, which has a history of blocking multilateral negotiations, has stuck to long-standing demands to maintain fisheries and agriculture subsidies and pushed for additional exclusions, trade sources say.

Statements by Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed these claims.

“India strongly represents its point of view at the WTO

to protect the future of every Indian and that of the marginalized,” he said on Twitter.

For a box on the WTO negotiations, see here: find out more

However, sources familiar with the talks were more optimistic on Thursday morning and said a package deal with compromises on the issues was possible. “It looks better, but it’s too early to tell if it’s building up or falling apart,” a WTO delegate said.

Negotiators, including US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, sat in talks in the WTO’s so-called “Green Room” for most of the night, trying to hammer out deals. She tweeted a photo of Lake Geneva at sunrise without giving an update on the talks. Negotiations resumed around 0700 GMT and are continuing, trade sources said.

One of the possible outcomes of the talks is a slimmed down version of an agreement to cut fishing subsidies that cause overfishing, according to a document seen by Reuters. Another is a waiver of intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and promises to alleviate the food security crisis.

WTO officials maintained throughout the meetings that deals could be reached, saying the talks often seemed hopeless until a final agreement was reached.

“We are still hoping for a result,” said WTO spokesman Daniel Pruzin.

Observers expressed frustration with the process.

“The ministerial (conference) laid bare the growing dysfunction that hampers collective action at the WTO,” said Jake Colvin, chairman of the National Trade Council, adding that members should not reward “filibuster “.

Reporting by Emma Farge; additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington and Phil Blenkinsop in Brussels; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan

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