Geneva/Brussels, 19 October 2018
2018 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
6 and 7 December 2018.
As in the past, this session
will take place on the premises of the WTO, at Centre William Rappard in Geneva.
Your parliament is invited to send a delegation to this important event which will be
held in a context of tough but manageable challenges the global trading system is
facing.
As on past occasions, the forthcoming annual session of the Parliamentary
Conference on the WTO is intended primarily for legislators who are involved in
parliamentary activities dealing with international trade in their respective parliaments.
This session will provide them with an opportunity to obtain first-hand information on
th
recent developments in the Doha Round, and the outcomes of the 11 WTO
Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, interact with government negotiators and
WTO officials, exchange views and experiences with other parliamentary colleagues,
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,
Gabriela Cuevas Barron
President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union
Antonio Tajani
President of the European Parliament