WTO Conference postponed over Omicron Covid Strain

The World Trade Organization postponed its in-person ministerial conference in Geneva as Switzerland tightened travel restrictions over new South Africa covid variant, which poses greater risks than delta, which is the world's most prevalent variant and has fuelled relentless waves of infection on every continent. WTO members took the decision at an emergency meeting held on Friday night to discuss possible alternative arrangements for their ministerial conference. The conference will be convened as soon as conditions allow, General Council Chair Dacio Castillo said in a statement.

The Swiss government announced a ban on all direct flights from southern Africa after the World Health Organization said new, potentially riskier strain named omicron is a variant of concern. Beginning Friday all people entering Switzerland from southern Africa, Hong Kong, Israel and Belgium must present a negative Covid-19 test and go into quarantine for 10 days, according to a statement from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.This marks the second time the pandemic has forced a postponement of the 12th Ministerial Conference. The meeting was originally due to take place in June 2020 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

Approximately 4,000 trade officials were planning to travel to Geneva for the WTO’s 12th ministerial conference, a gathering of the organization’s highest decision-making body. The meeting, which was scheduled to take place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, presented a rare opportunity for governments to deliver real outcomes that impact the lives of everyday people. The European Union’s international trade office’s Twitter page said the conference “is postponed for now – a difficult but wise decision by @wto given the epidemiological situation.”