Ministers from 164 WTO nations meet in Geneva

The head of the World Trade Organization predicted challenges ahead as the trade body opened its highest-level meeting in 4-1/2 years Sunday.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala hopes the meeting involving more than 120 ministers from the organization's 164 member countries yields progress toward reducing inequality and ensuring fair and free trade.

She pointed to the food emergency caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where blockaded ports have impeded exports of between 22 million to 25 million tons of grain from a key European breadbasket.

They also will decide whether to support the UN’s World Food Program get supplies to feed needy countries around the world. The WTO hasn’t produced a major trade deal in years.