WTO Reform: Assessment of the Facilitator’s Communication and Process Ahead of the 4 November 2025 Plenary
An Informal Note Reviewing the Reform Tracks and Process in Advance of the 4 November Plenary, 2 November 2025
By Vahini Naidu, Trade for Development Programme, South Centre
This note provides an analytical assessment of the Facilitator’s Communication and process ahead of the WTO reform plenary held on 4 November 2025. It highlights the growing procedural opacity surrounding the reform process, characterised by informal, facilitator-led configurations that lack clear mandates, participation criteria, or official records of discussions. These methods have blurred the lines between Member-driven deliberation and Secretariat-managed processes, creating uncertainty over accountability, legitimacy and inclusiveness.
Substantively, the Facilitator’s synthesis elevates certain reform tracks, notably decision-making and level playing field, as forward-looking agendas, while confining the Development and S&DT track to a diagnostic or exploratory stage. This imbalance risks entrenching asymmetries rather than addressing them. By conflating S&DT with the broader development mandate, the Communication effectively narrows the systemic development agenda of the Marrakesh Agreement to a limited discussion of differentiation and eligibility.
Read together, the procedural and substantive dynamics reveal a process that is fragmented, imbalanced and at risk of being shaped by informal interpretations rather than by Member-driven decisions. The note calls for restoring transparency, reaffirming the primacy of consensus and re-centring development as the organising principle of WTO reform.
Gamani Corea and his Enduring Legacy for the Global South
By Danish
Gamani Corea was an intellectual giant of the global South, with a long and illustrious career spent in strengthening multilateralism and advancing the common interests of developing countries. On the occasion of Gamani Corea’s birth centenary on 4 November 2025, this paper revisits some of his most notable contributions in the different domains where he played important roles, and examines their relevance for addressing contemporary challenges facing the global South. It further explores his vision and impact as part of the South Commission and in establishing the South Centre. Amidst weakening multilateralism and rising geo-economic turmoil, this paper explores how Gamani Corea’s legacy offers both inspiration and practical insights for developing countries in reshaping global governance. His ambition to strengthen Southern solidarity and collective action at the multilateral level continues to provide essential guidance for developing countries to accelerate sustainable development and ensure that no one gets left behind.
The WIPO Patent Agenda: The Risks for Developing Countries
by Carlos M. Correa and Sisule F. Musungu
This paper is aimed at assessing some of the implications of the WIPO Patent Agenda, in the context of the ongoing debates on the benefits and costs of intellectual property protection for developing and least developed countries. The main aim of the paper is to provide an overview of the processes under the Patent Agenda, to identify and examine the main issues that are under discussion and to underscore the importance of these issues for developing and least-developed countries.
Building Up a Balanced Global Intellectual Property System: Report of the WIPO Assemblies’ Sixty-sixth Series of Meetings
Health, Intellectual Property and Biodiversity Programme, South Centre
This report reviews the key discussions and outcomes of the 66th Series of Meetings of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Assemblies held in July 2025. The Assemblies addressed important governance, oversight, and norm-setting issues. Key developments included the launch of the process to appoint a new Director General, decisions on committee compositions and approval of the 2026/27 Program and Budget. Developing countries advocated for more inclusive participation in governance, balanced priority setting on norm-setting work, and stronger implementation of the Development Agenda.
Future of the UN Tax Committee under the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation
By Aisha Aize Isa, Sabrine Marsit, Abiodun Adewale Adegboye, Nyatefe Wolali Dotsevi, Anne Wanyagathi Maina and Abdul Muheet Chowdhary
The global tax governance landscape has recently undergone major shifts and is now at a pivotal momentum where demands of inclusivity, transparency and an equitable tax system are increasingly growing amongst countries. Central to this pivotal momentum is the creation of the United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation (UNFCITC), mandated by United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution 78/230 (December 2023). The UNFCITC’s objective is to establish an intergovernmental platform for governance and cooperation in international taxation. This report aims at exploring the possible role of the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (UNTC) within the merging architecture of the UNFCITC, drawing on past lessons of efforts to democratize international tax governance.
The BBNJ Will Enter into Force in January 2026: Summary of PrepCom II Outcome
By Ningxiner Li
The BBNJ Agreement enters into force on January 2026. Read the PrepCom II outcomes on developing country priorities: equitable governance, a demand-driven Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM), and accessible funding. There is critical work ahead before PrepCom III (March 23-April 2, 2026) and COP1.
Implementing the 2024 AMR Political Declaration: Industry Accountability and Equity in Agrifood Sector Transformation
By Dr. Viviana Munoz Tellez
On 2 July 2025, at the sides of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference, a high-level dialogue on AMR was held, co-organized by the Governments of Kenya and the United Kingdom (co-chairs of the Group of Friends of AMR), the South Centre, FAO, and the AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform. The event took place at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, with in-person participation and webcast. Ambassadors and senior officials of Kenya, South Africa, India and Brazil, among others, made interventions in the high-level segment. The South Centre was also part of the panel.
The theme of the event “Industry Accountability and Equity in Agrifood Sector Transformation” provided an opportunity for forward-looking dialogue on the urgent need to transform how antimicrobials are used in agrifood systems, and the government’s required leadership in developing and implementing national policy frameworks that are adapted to national contexts, priorities and needs to address AMR and in adopting measures to incentivize responsible practices in the agrifood sector.
South Centre Inputs on 2025-2029 Work Program of the UN Tax Committee
25 September 2025
The United Nations (UN) Secretary-General appointed a new Membership of the UN Tax Committee to hold office from 2025-2029. This includes Members nominated by Brazil, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, India, Jamaica, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone (all of them are members States of the South Centre). The Committee will hold its first meeting in October in Geneva, Switzerland, and will decide, among other things, the issues they should work on during the tenure of the new members. The Committee also issued a call for inputs to stakeholders to help shape this agenda.
To ensure that the four-year agenda contains topics of importance to South Centre Member States and developing countries more generally, the South Centre made a submission to the Committee which is reproduced below.
Working Document – Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System
3 September 2025
This document is a work in progress intended to assist in the understanding of the ongoing negotiations in the WHO | IGWG for the establishment of a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System as an Annex of the Pandemic Agreement, as described in Article 12.
WTO Reform: Rewriting Trade History – The United States as Architect and Beneficiary of the Multilateral Trading System
A Working Paper on Elements of WTO Reform, 1 September 2025
By Vahini Naidu, Trade for Development Programme, South Centre
This paper examines the revisionist trade narrative advanced by the United States, which portrays multilateral rules as disadvantageous and seeks to justify unilateral tariffs and coercive bilateral arrangements. It demonstrates that the principles of non-discrimination and reciprocity pre-date Bretton Woods and were embedded in the multilateral system through U.S. initiatives from the 1930s through the creation of GATT in 1947. Far from being disadvantaged, the U.S. has consistently shaped and benefitted from the system, including through the Uruguay Round’s expansion of enforceable rules on services, intellectual property, and investment. The analysis shows that the shift toward what has been termed the “Turnberry system” risks fragmenting global markets, eroding the MFN principle, and deepening structural asymmetries that leave developing countries more vulnerable to exclusion. By correcting historical records, the paper underscores the importance of defending multilateral guarantees of equal treatment while building institutional capacity and strategic coordination to better safeguard development priorities in an increasingly contested global order.
Submission on the Work Programme of the High-Level Champions and the Marrakech Partnership (CHLC/MP) 2025 and the Global Climate Action Agenda
South Centre
August 2025
Voluntary action is no longer enough. The South Centre submission to the UNFCCC calls for transforming the climate agenda to ensure true inclusivity, tackle harmful lobbying, and create accountability mechanisms and policy gaps.
To honour the South Centre’s 30th Anniversary, we are pleased to feature reflections on the South Centre’s work over the years. We invited entities and individuals to share brief remarks on how the South Centre has contributed to support development efforts or, specifically, to their own work—whether through the Centre’s policy support, technical assistance, capacity-building, or advocacy. These reflections highlight the strength of South-South solidarity and the impact of our collective efforts over the years. We were grateful to receive the remarks compiled in this document and deeply appreciate the contributions to this celebration of the South Centre.
