The United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization stated that he could not accept a draft plan to reform the trade body ahead of a critical ministerial meeting in Cameroon. A group of countries, led by Norway, has engaged in months of intensive negotiations to prepare a position paper on reforms for the trade ministers' conference scheduled for March 26-29 in Cameroon, where WTO modernization is a central topic. This dispute arises amid growing concerns that if the 30-year-old global trade watchdog does not undergo timely reforms, future global trade rules risk being established outside its framework. In a statement issued on Friday, U.S. Ambassador Joseph Barron said, "We cannot accept a work plan that, in our view, undermines our collective efforts to move forward." He added that the discussions remain premature and that the draft position paper contains ambiguities. The objections raised by the United States during meetings in Geneva this week prevented the conference from reaching a consensus on reforms, as the WTO requires all 166 members to agree for any decision to be adopted. Barron emphasized that the U.S. administration has an ambitious reform agenda and expressed anticipation to hear the positions of other nations.