5.9 Geneva – International Organisations

5.9 Geneva – International Organisations

The work of the WTO is guided by Ministers who meet every two years. The next Ministerial Conference is expected to be held in late 2021.

International Organisations, in particular under the auspices of the UN, play an important role in ensuring political and economic stability, which in turn allows international trade and investment to grow. In addition, specialist organisations develop international legal rules and standards that facilitate the flow of trade and investment. The Department has a number of members of staff currently seconded to Ireland’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations (PMUN), based in Geneva, to promote Ireland’s interests at such International Organisations, principally, the World Trade Organisation, the International Labour Organisation and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

Decisions taken at Ministerial Conference are implemented through the WTO’s General Council and various implementing and negotiating bodies which meet regularly in Geneva.

At the WTO, the Department’s officials represent Ireland’s interests at various EU and WTO meetings across a broad range of sectors and current negotiating topics including: e commerce; facilitation of investment; trade participation of small and medium enterprises; regulation of trade in services; agricultural supports and restrictions; fisheries subsidies; trade and health; trade and development of developing countries, and; trade and the environment.

Our officials also participate at WTO Committees that monitor compliance with the rules that govern the world trading system such as legally bound tariff levels, nontariff barriers, regulatory standards, trade facilitation practices and subsidies, as well as dispute settlement cases that impact on Ireland.

Ireland became a member of the ILO in 1923, the first international organisation which the new State joined. Ireland’s links with the ILO can be traced back to Edward Phelan, a Waterford born civil servant, who became the ILO’s first official, and went on to lead the ILO as Director-General from 1941-1948. It has ratified 73 ILO conventions out of a total of 189, including the 8 fundamental conventions. In June 2017 Ireland was elected to a Titulaire (speaking and voting) seat on the ILO’s Governing Body for the first time. Ireland’s annual contribution to the ILO in 2019 was €1.09m. In addition, Irish Aid has a four-year (2017-2021) development cooperation partnership with the ILO, with a commitment to provide approx. €2 million per year.

Networking with the major players at the WTO, as well as with like-minded members from across the globe, and analysing developments in the negotiations, is critical to promoting Ireland’s interests directly in Geneva, as well as informing Ireland’s input to the development of EU trade policy in Brussels.