On 27 March 2026, the European Union notified the WTO’s Committee on Safeguards that it had initiated, on the same day (27 March 2026), a safeguard investigation on imports of grain-oriented electrical steel.

27 March 2026

The government of Australia has committed an additional AUD 2 million (approximately CHF 1.2 million) to the WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism, known as the Fish Fund, to assist developing and least-developed members in implementing the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. This contribution builds on Australia's earlier contribution of AUD 2 million in May 2023.

27 March 2026

Investment in the cotton, textiles and garments sector can help transform economic development in Central and West Africa, said speakers at a high-level event on the eve of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on 25 March and at the opening ceremony on 26 March. Ministers, heads of international agencies, development finance institutions, private sector partners and FIFA representatives highlighted the opportunities for Africa to weave its way up the value chain to accelerate economic growth.

27 March 2026

In two separate contributions, the government of China has pledged USD 1.1 million (close to CHF 900,000) for 2026 to support the WTO’s Least-Developed Countries (LDCs) and Accessions Programme (also known as the China Programme) as well as the general fund that supports WTO technical assistance.

26 March 2026

The United Kingdom has contributed GBP 500,000 to the WTO's Global Trust Fund and GBP 1 million to the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) — support totalling approximately CHF 1.56 million — to enhance the capacity of developing economies, including least developed countries (LDCs), to participate in the multilateral trading system.

26 March 2026

At the opening of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé on 26 March, parliamentarians and business leaders handed over two documents to the MC14 Chair, Cameroon’s Minister of Trade Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana, and WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala calling for urgent reform of the multilateral trading system.

26 March 2026

The WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, opened on 26 March with concerns about geopolitical strife and the future of the organization weighing on WTO members. Nevertheless, Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said she was hopeful the gathering of trade ministers would find the political will to overcome differences and advance work on important topics on the MC14 agenda.

26 March 2026

On 26 March, the opening day of the 14th Ministerial Conference (MC14), the six co-coordinators of the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade (DPP) — Australia, Barbados, China, Ecuador, Fiji and Morocco — presented a ministerial statement and a package of five technical documents. Together, they reflect the progress achieved by participating members since MC13 and set out a forward-looking roadmap for trade-related cooperation to address plastics pollution.

26 March 2026

At a high-level event on women and trade held on 25 March in advance of the WTO's 14th Ministerial Conference, trade officials marked the progress made in enhancing women entrepreneurs' access to international markets. We are no longer just talking; we are delivering, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the event in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The programme featured the work of the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, the WTO informal working groups on trade and gender and on small enterprises, and the International Trade Centre's SheTrades Initiative.

25 March 2026

Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called for strong partnerships to meet the objectives of Phase Three of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a mechanism aimed at leveraging and coordinating support for trade and investment priorities in least-developed countries (LDCs). The new phase was launched on 25 March at a side-event to the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC14) in Yaoundé co-organized by Cambodia, the United Arab Emirates and the EIF Executive Secretariat. The EIF also received new contribution pledges from Germany, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

25 March 2026