On 17 September 2024, the Ambassador of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva, Ivars Pundurs, presented his credentials to the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. In a conversation during the accreditation ceremony, the Ambassador addressed latest developments in preparations for the Fourteenth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cameroon.
Ivars Pundurs reaffirmed Latvia’s support for the multilateral trade system with the WTO at its core. The Ambassador highlighted Latvia’s interest in the WTO reform by resuming a two-tier mechanism for dispute settlement. He underlined that Latvia would prefer that the e-commerce customs duty moratorium be retained.
Background information
The World Trade Organisation is an international organisation and a forum for multilateral negotiations between its member states on global trade rules, their administration and application.
The WTO is the only international body that formulates and maintains a set of foreign trade rules binding on its member states, monitors compliance and assists the member states with resolving trade disputes. The WTO currently has 166 members. Latvia has been a member of the WTO on 10 February 1999.