WTO ministers reach deals on fisheries, food, COVID vaccines

By JAMEY KEATEN
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) — World Trade Organization members have reached a string of deals and commitments aimed to limit overfishing, broaden production of COVID-19 vaccines in the developing world, improve food security and reform a 27-year-old trade body that has been back on its heels in recent years. WTO Director-General Nzogi Okonjo-Iweala concluded the organization’s ministerial conference Friday by trumpeting a new sense of cooperation at a time when the world faces crises like Russia’s war in Ukraine and a once-in-a-century pandemic that has taken millions of lives. She says the agreements will make a difference in people’s lives and demonstrate the WTO’s capability to respond to emergencies.