Before ministers gather around the negotiating table, parliaments have chosen to speak first. Yaoundé is this week at the centre of a significant moment in the global trade calendar, as the Cameroonian capital hosts the 56th session of the Steering Committee of the Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation, a two-day preparatory meeting held at the Senate ahead of the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference officially opening on 26 March.

The session was presided over by Senate President Aboubakary Abdoulaye, who in his opening address underscored the importance of these preparatory deliberations as a means of ensuring that the concerns of ordinary citizens find their way into international trade negotiations. It was a pointed reminder that trade policy, however technical it may appear, has consequences that reach into the daily lives of populations across the globe.

The meeting brought together parliamentarians and experts from a wide range of countries, all gathered around a shared objective : to define and consolidate parliament's collective contribution to the ministerial discussions that begin the following day. At the close of proceedings on the first day, IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong Pukwareke expressed satisfaction at the progress made, highlighting in particular the adoption of a key text designed to represent the position of the world's parliaments at the 14th WTO Ministerial Conference. He described the exercise as a concrete expression of the determination of parliamentarians to influence the direction of global trade before decisions are made rather than after.

The significance of holding this session in Yaoundé should not be understated. Cameroon's Senate, under its newly elected president, is playing host to an event that places the country at the intersection of parliamentary diplomacy and multilateral trade governance at a particularly consequential moment for the global trading system.

Discussions continue on Wednesday, with all eyes turning toward the official opening of the WTO Ministerial Conference the following day. The text adopted by the Steering Committee will serve as the parliamentary world's opening statement to that process.

 It appears, parliament is no longer content to ratify what ministers decide. They want a seat at the table before the decisions are made.