Spain joins Russia's isolation at the World Trade Organisation

Among them is the announcement of the EU's suspension of Russia's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The Most Favoured Nation clause implies that every WTO member must guarantee other members equal treatment, a condition that the EU has decided it can no longer grant Russia after its attack on Ukraine. This is to prevent Russia from continuing to reap the benefits of being part of the multilateral trading order while violating international law with its aggression against Ukraine. Canada was the first to initiate this process on 2 March and the US followed on 11 March (Friday) following the G7's announcement to this effect.

Most Favoured Nation treatment is a basic principle of the WTO, included in the commitments of the agreements covering the three main trade areas of competence of the Organisation (trade in goods regulated by the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, GATT; the General Agreement on Trade in Services, GATS; and the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, TRIPS) and its withdrawal from Russia is therefore exceptional. The suspension of Most Favoured Nation treatment would be based on the exception provided for in WTO law to allow for the protection of the essential security interests of WTO members.

The practical implementation of the declaration will be done by the EU through restrictions on the import and export of goods and services and investments.

The EU and other countries are already isolating Russia in WTO discussions (both in ongoing negotiations and in meetings of the dispute settlement body), so that de facto Russian aggression is jeopardising the smooth preparation of the 12th Ministerial Conference scheduled for June.

Spain is thus backing a call for increased isolation of Russia in multilateral fora, as it did last week with the request for an extraordinary assembly of the World Tourism Organisation to suspend Russia.

Non official translation