24th July, 2018. Remember that date.

Well, it is happening.  The UK and EU have formally started splitting WTO membership agreements.    

So, what happened?  First of all, a reminder that the WTO has 164 nations as members.  Virtually the whole world. 

In two confidential draft membership agreements they began the processes of  separating Britain’s rights and obligations in merchandise trade from the EU’s.    A separate split of services trade is expected to follow.   

Have you heard about this?  Did you hear the British Ambassador Julian Braithwaite talk about it when he said: “It seeks to replicate the concessions and commitments applicable to the UK as part of the EU today.  An important milestone as we prepare for our departure from the EU”.       

So, where does it go from here?  Well, “WTO members will have three months to review the schedule, which will be considered to be approved if there are no objections from other members”.  So said the WTO.      

What does that mean? Well, until now the EU has represented Britain at the WTO, and Britain’s membership rights were not set out distinctly, even though Britain was always a WTO member in its own right. The UKs June 2016 decision to leave the EU meant disentangling their trade rules to allow Britain to act independently. That is now what is happening.   Officially.  At the WTO level.  And, unlike the tortuous conversations with the EU, this will be pretty simple.   And yet it’s more important than the negotiations with the EU as this is about our global opportunities, not our involvement in a declining EU.    

So when key WTO members including the United States, Canada and Australia pour scorn on Chequers they are reminding Mrs May that in the real world over 60% of our trade already goes outside the EU.      

This will force Britain into a wider negotiation, said David Henig, a former British trade official who now leads the UK Trade Policy Project at the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE).     

So Mrs Mays dilemma is simple.  Does she do a restrictive trade deal with the EU and be tied into the ECJ rulings or find opportunities on the growing world stage.    

“As the UK’s first serious trade negotiation in years, many will be watching to see how the UK government performs in negotiating at the WTO, and how they handle the debate domestically,” said Mr Henig.      

“At this stage we see a stuttering start, but this could ironically be the opportunity needed to get on the right track and set a positive path for our future trade policy.”      

My question is, why has this far more important set of negotiations not being talked about in the main stream media?