Press Releases
State Minister for Foreign Affairs HORII’s Attendance at the Informal Gatering of WTO Ministers hosted by Australia (Results)
On June 4, commencing at 2:30 a.m. (7:30 p.m. on June 3, local time) for approximately two hours, Senator the Hon Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism and Special Minister of State, hosted the Informal Gathering of WTO Ministers at the OECD headquarters in Paris. From Japan, Mr. HORII Iwao, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Mr. INO Toshiro, State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, attended the meeting. This meeting is held each year on the occasion of the Meeting of the Council at Ministerial Level (MCM) of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), with relevant countries and WTO Secretariat invited by Australia.
- At the meeting, active discussions were held among participants on decision-making of the WTO and members’ priorities for new or updated rules.
- State Minister HORII called for moving into substantive discussions on WTO reform, building on the discussions at the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) held in Cameroon in March 2026.
- In addition, State Minister HORII highlighted the importance of finding a better way of making decisions in an outcome-oriented manner as WTO members seek to make the necessary updates of the WTO system.
- The participating ministers confirmed that they would continue to deepen discussions on decision-making and priorities for new or updated rules.
(Reference) Participating members (total of 22 countries/regions/ organizations)
Australia (Chair), Brazil, Canada,Chile, China, Costa Rica, EU, Gambia, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, WTO