A/HRC/33/40 Negotiation, ratification and implementation process 5. How and to what extent can all stakeholders participate in the negotiation, ratification and implementation of WTO agreements, for example the TRIPs Agreement, to ensure that ecosystems are preserved and human rights are respected, protected and fulfilled in this regard, and that food security and access to generic drugs are promoted and not delayed or undermined. Please include best practices and recommendations for meaningful consultation and participation in these processes. 6. Numerous States and non-governmental organizations have criticized a lack of transparency and inclusiveness during the WTO Nairobi Ministerial Conference. What procedures should be put in place so that Ministerial Conferences do not end up presenting what is effectively an ultimatum text at the final hour with no opportunity for the majority of delegations to negotiate but merely an option to give an up or down vote? How can the negotiating texts be responsive to the concerns of the majority of WTO Members and not just the powerful? 7. The WTO Doha Round remains on-going as there was no consensus to close it in Nairobi. Heads of States at the 2015 Sustainable Development Summit agreed to “promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda” (target 17.10).b Is your government supporting the implementation of the Doha Development Agenda? If not, why not? Conflict of laws 8. Bearing in mind that the UN Charter is akin to a world constitution, and that Article 103 of the Charter is effectively a supremacy clause, any conflict with other treaties must give precedence to the UN Charter. However, WTO law operates outside the UN system. There is therefore an incoherence that needs to be addressed so that WTO rules are fully compatible with UN constitutional law. Would your government support the primacy of human rights law over trade agreements? How can WTO ensure that State measures taken for poverty alleviation, employment, food security, enjoyment of economic, cultural and social rights, health and environmental protection are not delayed or undermined by trade “imperatives”. Should this issue of priorities be raised by the international community, e.g. in the UN General Assembly or before the International Court of Justice by advisory opinion? 9. Please explain what are the pros and cons of incorporating WTO into the UN family and making it work in tandem with the Purposes and Principles of the UN (Articles 57 and 63, UN Charter)? Dispute Resolution 10. A WTO Panel recently ruled that local content requirements maintained by India for solar cells and modules violate India’s national treatment obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs). This decision marks the first time that a WTO Member has sought to justify a departure from WTO practice by reference to its international obligations on climate change. The argument was rejected by the WTO panel, although India invoked b GE.16-11938 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/topics/sustainabledevelopmentgoals. 27