Barbados needs the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and is committed to “working constructively” with all of the institution’s members to strengthen it.

Senior Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Senator Christopher Sinckler said that “access to a predictable rules-based multilateral trading system is vital not only for our economic survival but also for our food security and broader developmental goals”.

He was delivering Barbados’ statement to the WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference, which started on Wednesday and was scheduled to conclude in Yaounde, Cameroon, recently.

Sinckler, who led this country’s delegation to MC14, told delegates that “Barbados, as a small island developing state and a small and vulnerable economy, has long valued the multilateral trading system and the work of the WTO”.

“For economies like ours, the WTO remains a cornerstone of our economic security and sustainable development,” he said.

“Barbados reaffirms its commitment to working constructively with all WTO Members to strengthen the institution.

“Let us use this Ministerial Conference to reaffirm our collective commitment to multilateralism and to ensure that global trade works for all – especially the small and vulnerable economies that depend on it most.”

The minister said MC14 took place “at a very crucial time” for global trade.

“The very foundations of the multilateral trading system have been shaken. Heightened geopolitical tensions, rising trade barriers and ongoing supply chain disruptions, and the climate crisis continue to impact small, open economies the greatest,” he stated.

“We are at an inflection point and it is important we commit to a WTO reform agenda that values consensus decision making, sustainable development and treaty bound right of special and differential treatment, especially for the most vulnerable.”

Sinckler highlighted the climate crisis, which “remains one of the most significant threats to our economic resilience”, as an issue pertinent to the WTO’s mission.

“Extreme weather events can wipe away years of development progress in a single season, infrastructure These risk marginalising if left “The to discuss and the transparency promote “The is no can discuss rules season, disrupt trade flows, and damage the infrastructure essential to our export sectors.

These challenges exacerbate trade costs and marginalising small developing economies left unaddressed,” he said.

The WTO is an appropriate place for us discuss the links between trade, climate the environment including around transparency of border measures that seek to promote sustainability.

The WTO must be safeguarded. There other platform where 166 members discuss trade issues, negotiate trade or engage in a discourse on the issues of our time.”

He said the WTO was also about development and applauded the organisation’s “ongoing work on trade and development, including Aid for Trade initiatives, technical assistance and capacity building, the Small Economies Work Programme, the Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, and other development-focused discussions”.

“We also welcome other important initiatives such as, but not limited to, the Trade in Services for Development Initiative, Development week, and the Trade and Environment Week. These are crucial in order to maximise the capacity of developing countries to further integrate into the multilateral trading system,” Sinckler said.

“We also emphasize the importance of advancing negotiations on agriculture and fisheries subsidies, particularly through the Fish II negotiations and the support of the Fish Fund.

“Barbados supports rules that discipline harmful subsidies while ensuring support for our artisanal fisher folk through appropriate Special and Differential Treatment measures.”

The Senior Minister said Barbados’ position was that “every member of the WTO can play a leading role in the Organisation”, using his homeland as an example.

“To this end, my country leads the Informal Working Group on MSMEs, co-coordinates the Dialogue on Plastics Pollution and Environmentally Sustainable Plastics Trade, and chairs the Working Party on the Accession of Curaçao to the World Trade Organisation,” he reminded.

“Barbados also participates in the Working Group on Trade and Gender, Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions and supports the incorporation of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement into the WTO rule book.

“In October 2025, Barbados participated in its first meeting of the WTO Committee on Government Procurement as an observer and has become a recent member of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law showing our commitment to a rules based system with a working dispute settlement architecture.”

Sinckler also said that Barbados “has had the privilege of coordinating the activities of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) in Geneva since September 2024”.

“I am pleased that the Group continues to maintain active participation in the negotiations at the WTO.

“In addition to the ambitious Ministerial Declaration of the ACP Group on the occasion of MC14, written proposals were made in the area of WTO reform and electronic commerce among others,” he added