WTO strikes global trade deals after 'roller coaster' talks

FILE PHOTO: Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the opening ceremony of the 12th Ministerial Conference, at the World Trade Organization, in Geneva, Switzerland, June 12, 2022. Martial Trezzini/Pool via REUTERS/

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization agreed on the first change to global trading rules in years on Friday as well as a deal to boost the supply of COVID-19 vaccines in a series of pledges that were heavy on compromise.

The deals were forged in the early hours of the sixth day of a conference of more than 100 trade ministers that was seen as a test of the ability of nations to strike multilateral trade deals amid geopolitical tensions heightened by the Ukraine war.