US to join WTO gender equality pact at ministerial meeting: USTR office

The United States will join the WTO gender equality pact at the organization's ongoing ministerial meeting in Switzerland, the Office of the USTR said

The United States will join the World Trade Organization's (WTO) gender equality pact at the organization's ongoing ministerial meeting in Switzerland, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) announced.

"The Office of the United States Trade Representative today announced the United States' intention to join the Joint Declaration on the Advancement of Gender Equality and Women's Economic Empowerment Within Trade for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference," the USTR said in a statement on Thursday.

The announcement reflected the Biden administration's commitment to its guiding slogan "Build Back Better" by advancing gender equity, the statement said.

It was also consistent with the Biden-Harris administration's strategy of advancing "the full participation of all people - including women and girls - in the United States and around the world," the statement added.

The WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference is being held between November 30 and December 3 in Geneva, Switzerland.