The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) ministerial conference will run over into a fifth day on Thursday in the hope of striking thus-far elusive deals on fishing subsidies, food security and combating Covid-19.

On Wednesday, the gathering of trade ministers at the WTO’s headquarters in Geneva was due to wrap up, with the global trade body hoping to prove it still has a role to play in tackling big global challenges.

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But WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said landmark deals were within reach if ministers ploughed on. “Progress is being made but it needs a little more work and more time,” the director-general said.

“It requires that we work and work nights; whatever it takes.”

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She said countries “feel that we really can cross the line on some of these things if we gave it a bit more time”.

The last WTO ministerial conference, that took place in December 2017 in Buenos Aires, was widely considered a flop, closing without a major agreement.

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The global trade body only takes decisions by consensus among all 164 members.

Okonjo-Iweala, who took office in March 2021, is keen to make the WTO a relevant player on the international stage. Ministers are discussing the possibility of imposing a temporary waiver on Covid-19 vaccine patents.

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But serious objections remain from some countries that host major pharmaceutical companies, like Britain and Switzerland, notably on the scope of the proposals.

Civil society activists staged a “die-in” protest in the WTO’s atrium, accusing the EU, Britain, Switzerland and the United States of scuppering a meaningful Covid intellectual property waiver.