…Proposes waiver to cover qualifying public stockholding programmes

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has called on the World Trade Organization (WTO) to end the 13-year delay in reaching a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security.

Kalu made the call on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, during the 57th Session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (PCWTO), with WTO Director-General, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, as a special guest.

He warned that prolonged delays in resolving critical trade issues were eroding confidence in the multilateral trading system, particularly among developing countries.

The session, jointly organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament, was co-chaired by Hon. Bernd Lange of the European Parliament and IPU Secretary-General, Ms. Anda Filip.

The committee reviewed developments in multilateral trade negotiations, follow-up actions from the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference and outcomes of the PCWTO session held in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

Discussions also focused on implementing the Yaoundé recommendations, strengthening engagement with parliamentary trade committees, increasing participation in PCWTO activities and improving cooperation with businesses and civil society.

Kalu, while acknowledging progress on fisheries subsidies and development issues, said the WTO’s credibility would ultimately be judged by its ability to deliver outcomes for developing countries.

He expressed concern that members had yet to agree on a permanent solution to public stockholding for food security, 13 years after the commitment made at the 2013 Bali Ministerial Conference.

The Deputy Speaker said Nigeria had co-sponsored the demand by the African Group, African, Caribbean and Pacific Group and the G33 for a permanent solution to the matter.

“Thirteen years cannot be explained as an ordinary negotiating delay. Behind every delayed outcome are farmers, workers and families living with the consequences of decisions we defer,” Kalu said.

As an interim measure, he proposed that WTO members consider a waiver under Article IX:3 of the Marrakesh Agreement to cover qualifying public stockholding programmes.

He argued that the consensus principle should not make an explicit treaty mechanism permanently unusable in the face of pressing food security needs.

Kalu also raised concerns about the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement, saying its implementation had been stalled despite overwhelming support because of a single formal objection.

He called for greater accountability from national parliaments, proposing that participating legislatures submit reports on concrete actions taken to advance PCWTO and WTO outcomes ahead of each Steering Committee meeting.

According to him, such reports should identify the responsible authority, action taken, government position and the current status of each issue.

“Too often, our discussions focus on what Geneva has or has not done. We should devote equal attention to what our own governments and legislatures have done since the last meeting. Accountability must run in both directions,” he said.

Kalu also cautioned that improving parliamentary attendance at WTO-related meetings alone would not address the problem of parliamentary relevance in trade governance.

He noted that many legislatures were briefed only after governments had finalised their negotiating positions.

To address the gap, he proposed that future PCWTO sessions focus on specific economic issues, including public stockholding, investment facilitation, the e-commerce moratorium and digital trade rules.

Such an approach, he said, would enable parliamentarians to transmit clear conclusions and areas of divergence to trade ministers ahead of negotiations.

Kalu, who joined the PCWTO Steering Committee in February 2025, also secured a reaffirmation from the IPU Secretary-General of the Union’s commitment to work with him towards the successful hosting of a PCWTO event scheduled for Abuja in 2027.

He reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to a fair, credible and development-oriented trading system.

“Nigeria is not here to add to the diagnosis. We are here to help restore that trust,” Kalu said.

In her address, Okonjo-Iweala presented an update on WTO reforms covering decision-making, development, special and differential treatment, fairness and dispute settlement.

She noted that while consensus ensured equal voice for all members, its application as unanimity had allowed single objections to block outcomes enjoying broad support.

The WTO Director-General urged parliamentarians to move beyond criticism and propose practical solutions to rebuild confidence in the organisation.

She identified transparency and improved notifications as possible confidence-building measures and invited written submissions from parliamentarians on WTO reforms.

Okonjo-Iweala also supported deeper engagement between parliamentarians and Geneva-based actors, including national WTO representatives, the Chair of the General Council, reform facilitators and committee chairs, to give legislators a more direct role in the reform debate.

She stressed, however, that the WTO remained a member-driven organisation.

The WTO chief acknowledged that the trading system had not served many developing and poorer countries effectively, while defending the continued relevance of special and differential treatment.

She called for a more credible framework that takes into account varying levels of development among member countries.

Okonjo-Iweala also underscored the importance of investment facilitation for developing economies and confirmed that restoring an effective two-tier dispute settlement system remained on the reform agenda, even if its eventual design differed from the previous arrangement.