At its 11th Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires in December 2017, the World Trade Organization launched the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment, which 118 WTO members and observers endorsed. Scroll reported that India voted against it. No official Indian explanation for that vote is established in the reporting or WTO material available, so any stated reason for India’s position would be speculation.
What the title gets right, and where it needs care
The headline’s verb, “passes,” suggests a binding WTO decision. The declaration was not that. It was a statement of cooperative intent endorsed by its proponents, and it created no new WTO rule, obligation or enforcement mechanism. Its value lies in the joint activities it describes, not in legal force.
The vote count is also worth stating precisely. The figure of 118 members and observers belongs to the 2017 launch. A later WTO page on the working group lists 127 endorsers, so the two numbers should not be combined or used interchangeably.
What members agreed to work on
The declaration set out a list of cooperative commitments among its proponents. According to the WTO’s declaration page, these include:
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- making trade and development policy more gender-responsive;
- sharing examples and best practices from members’ own policy work;
- improving gender-based analysis and monitoring of trade outcomes;
- sharing methods for collecting gender-disaggregated trade data;
- working together within the WTO to remove barriers to women’s economic empowerment; and
- ensuring that Aid for Trade supports gender-responsive policy work.
The declaration’s own wording for the central aim reads: “Working together in the WTO to remove barriers for women’s economic empowerment and increase their participation in trade.” That is an agreed statement of collaboration among the endorsers, not a personal quotation from any official.
India’s reported vote and the critics’ argument
Scroll reported that India voted against the declaration. The same reporting describes opponents who argued that the declaration did not address the adverse effects that WTO rules can have on women. That is an argument made by critics. It is not a statement of India’s rationale, and it should not be read as an explanation of India’s vote.
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Readers looking for India’s own reasoning should be cautious with any account that attributes a motive. Based on the available reporting and WTO documents, the reason for India’s vote is not established.
The barriers the WTO identified
The WTO’s December 2017 news item on its report points to several areas for attention: trade barriers, access to trade financing, women’s participation in public procurement, the collection of gender-disaggregated economic data, and women’s participation in the economy more broadly.
The same item says female business ownership could dip as low as 3–6% in some developing countries. This is a figure the WTO reported in 2017 for some developing countries. It is not a global rate, and it does not describe women’s trade participation in general.
A separate WTO state-of-play briefing lists further barriers women may face: legal restrictions on economic participation, discrimination in access to finance, the gender digital divide, and knowledge gaps about trade and trade rules.
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What happened afterward
The declaration’s follow-up work has continued through WTO institutions. The table below separates the three dated or countable milestones so they are not confused with one another.
| Milestone | Date | What it establishes | Participants or count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buenos Aires Declaration launched at MC11 | December 2017 | Cooperative commitments on gender-responsive trade policy and barriers to women’s participation | 118 members and observers endorsed it at launch |
| Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender established | September 2020 | Follow-up work on the 2017 declaration | Not stated in the WTO material reviewed |
| WTO working-group page (later update) | Date of count not stated | Describes later MC13 work and the group’s activities | 127 endorsers listed |
The Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender
According to the WTO, the group was established in September 2020 as a follow-up to the 2017 declaration. Its stated work includes:
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- It can be a gift option
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- Helpful in various ways
- exchanging best practices among members;
- considering a gender lens in WTO work;
- reviewing WTO Secretariat analysis; and
- discussing how women may benefit from Aid for Trade.
The group’s existence shows that the 2017 commitments were carried forward into an ongoing institutional process. It does not change the declaration’s non-binding character.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why this matters for personal finance readers
The barriers the WTO identified are closely tied to money management. Discrimination in access to finance, limited access to trade financing, and the gender digital divide each affect whether women can start, grow and fund a business that trades across borders. The 3–6% figure, though specific to some developing countries, is a useful reminder that business ownership itself is an area where gaps exist. For readers managing their own finances, the practical takeaway is to check whether their business or income relies on any of these channels, and to treat the declaration as a record of stated intent rather than a change in the rules that govern lending or trade.
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