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TWN Info
Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct20/31) Geneva, 28 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) – The United States has apparently said that it cannot join the consensus over Nigeria’s former finance minister Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who appears to have secured the largest support from members to be the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization. Speaking at an informal General Council meeting on 28 October, the US trade envoy Ambassador Dennis Shea reminded members that the WTO is a member-driven organization and it is for us, the members, to decide who the next Director-General is going to be, adding that it is not for the three individuals (the GC chair, the DSB chair and the TPRB chair) to decide. “I would like to assure members that the WTO is a consensus-based organization and the consensus principle permeates everything we do here, including the DG selection process,” Ambassador Shea said, adding that the selection process is opaque and the US cannot join the consensus. The chair of the WTO’s General Council had announced on 28 October that Nigeria’s former finance minister Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has the best chance of attracting consensus to be the new director-general of the 164-member multilateral trade body, said people familiar with the development. In the third and final round of the process for selecting the new director-general, the former Nigerian finance minister secured maximum support among developed, developing, and least-developed countries as well as geographically over her rival Ms Yoo Myung-hee from South Korea, said people, who asked not to be identified. Ms Ngozi (if selected) will be the first African lady candidate to lead the global trade body that is facing the worst existential crisis largely created by the United States, said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted. At the informal heads of delegation (HoD) meeting, which was delayed by 15 minutes due to technical glitches, the General Council (GC) chair, Ambassador David Walker from New Zealand, informed members of the outcome of his consultations held during 19-26 October. He thanked his two facilitators in the selection process – the Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), Ambassador Dacio Castillo from Honduras and the Chair of the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB), Ambassador Harald Aspelund from Iceland. Ambassador Walker explained that each member was asked “what is your preference”, suggesting that no negative preferences were accepted. The United States appears to be not on board, said a trade official, who asked not to be quoted. Ms Ngozi appears to have secured the “largest support”, said the GC chair, without divulging the number of preferences she received. The chair said he is convening a special General Council meeting on 9 November to take a formal decision on the appointment of Ms Ngozi. Ms Ngozi appears to have secured more than 100 preferences largely from Africa, parts of Asia, and the Caribbean countries, while Korea’s Ms Yoo managed to get massive support from Asia, the United States, and Mexico among others, said a person, who asked not to be quoted. The European Union with its 27 votes and China, the world’s second largest economy, and even Japan are understood to have declared their support for Ms Ngozi, said trade envoys, who asked not to be quoted. The selection of Ms Ngozi in leading the WTO, in which the African Union and particularly South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, played a major role, marks an important turning point as the glass ceiling for women candidates is finally broken. Ms Ngozi, who is endowed with a rich background in global development and finance issues as a managing director at the World Bank, and later in global health issues as the chair of the board of directors of the Geneva-based Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), is not a hard-core trade person like her rival from Korea, said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted. If confirmed by the General Council within ten days, she will step into a maze of existential challenges, including the very survival of the WTO, particularly the restoration of the two-stage dispute settlement mechanism that has been made dysfunctional by the largest member of the global trading system, the envoy said. Further, she would have an important role to play in bringing to resolution the TRIPS waiver from provisions concerning copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information, said a TRIPS negotiator, who asked not to be quoted. During the second round of the DG selection process, three candidates – Ms Amina Mohamed from Kenya, Mr Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri from Saudi Arabia and Mr Liam Fox from the United Kingdom – were eliminated on grounds that they would be “least likely to attract consensus,” said trade envoys, who asked not to be identified. In the first round of the selection process held last month, three other candidates – Dr Jesus Seade Kuri from Mexico, Mr Abdulhameed Mamdouh from Egypt and Ambassador Tudor Ulianovschi from Moldova – were eliminated from the race.
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