Geneva/Brussels, 26 February 2016
2016 Annual Session of the
Parliamentary Conference on the WTO
Dear Madam President,
Dear Mr. President,
Since 2002, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament have jointly
organized the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organization (WTO) - a
permanent mechanism of parliamentary oversight of this inter-governmental body, its
de facto parliamentary dimension. The main objective of the Conference is to
enhance transparency of the WTO and hold it accountable to legislators as elected
representatives of the people.
We are pleased to inform you that the next session of the Parliamentary Conference
on the WTO will take place on
13 and 14 June 2016.
As in 2015, the session will be
held on
WTO premises,
Centre William Rappard in Geneva. Your parliament is
invited to send a delegation to this important event which will come at a moment when
the multilateral trading system is facing new powerful challenges.
As on past occasions, the forthcoming session of the Parliamentary Conference on
the WTO is intended primarily for
parliamentarians who specialize in matters of
international trade
in their respective parliaments. The session will provide them
with an opportunity to obtain first-hand information on recent developments in the
th
Doha Round, including the outcomes of the 10 WTO Ministerial Conference in
Nairobi, interact with government negotiators and WTO officials, exchange views and
experiences with colleagues in other parliaments, and engage in a dialogue with civil
society representatives.
We very much hope that your parliament will participate in the forthcoming session of
the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO and look forward to receiving the names of
your delegates in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Saber Chowdhury
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Martin Schulz
President of the European Parliament