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ON SEPTEMBER 1, Ambassador Roberto Azevêdo of Brazil officially took the helm of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as its sixth director general.
While an inaugural speech is due only on the 9th, there is a welcoming message from Azevêdo on the WTO site.
From what I can tell, he is committed to moving the Doha Round forward, feeling that it has been a great source of frustration to trade negotiators which has led some governments to explore alternative avenues for opening trade and developing new rules.
Why might Azevêdo succeed where Lamy failed? The world is different now and the 159 WTO members have identified some important areas of the Doha Round where agreement is within reach.
Although this constitutes only a small part of the overall Doha package, agreement on these issues will firstly provide an opportunity to help unblock other areas of the negotiations and secondly, give negotiators much-needed confidence in multilateral negotiations.
The WTO and the multilateral trading system it supports are as important today as they have ever been, evidenced most recently by the global economic crisis that struck in 2008.
With growth currently encumbered, the WTO is focusing on the 9th Ministerial Conference, which will be held in Bali from December 3-6, to help break the deadlocks.
The areas of particular interest in Bali will be “trade facilitation” and measures to streamline customs procedures globally, on some agriculture issues and on areas of importance to developing countries.
Progress in these areas, Azevêdo feels, would bring significant economic and development gains and would have profoundly positive systemic consequences.
While governments will always have the option of regional or bilateral trade negotiations, a global deal through the WTO - which encompasses more countries and more segments of economic activity than any regional accord could possibly deliver - is ideal.
In the coming four years, Azevêdo will be supported by (first four are deputy director generals):
i) Mr Yi, an experienced senior trade official in China’s Ministry of Commerce;
ii) Dr Brauner, a senior officer in the Federal Department of Economics and Technology (Germany);
iii) Mr Agah, from Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment;
iv) Mr Shark, the US Deputy Permanent Representative to the WTO since 2000; and
v) Chef de Cabinet Tim Yeend, the Australian ambassador to the WTO for the last three years.
Let’s hope that they get it right.
- Fin24
*Geoffrey Chapman is a guest columnist and trade policy expert at the SABS. Views expressed are his own.
While an inaugural speech is due only on the 9th, there is a welcoming message from Azevêdo on the WTO site.
From what I can tell, he is committed to moving the Doha Round forward, feeling that it has been a great source of frustration to trade negotiators which has led some governments to explore alternative avenues for opening trade and developing new rules.
Why might Azevêdo succeed where Lamy failed? The world is different now and the 159 WTO members have identified some important areas of the Doha Round where agreement is within reach.
Although this constitutes only a small part of the overall Doha package, agreement on these issues will firstly provide an opportunity to help unblock other areas of the negotiations and secondly, give negotiators much-needed confidence in multilateral negotiations.
The WTO and the multilateral trading system it supports are as important today as they have ever been, evidenced most recently by the global economic crisis that struck in 2008.
With growth currently encumbered, the WTO is focusing on the 9th Ministerial Conference, which will be held in Bali from December 3-6, to help break the deadlocks.
The areas of particular interest in Bali will be “trade facilitation” and measures to streamline customs procedures globally, on some agriculture issues and on areas of importance to developing countries.
Progress in these areas, Azevêdo feels, would bring significant economic and development gains and would have profoundly positive systemic consequences.
While governments will always have the option of regional or bilateral trade negotiations, a global deal through the WTO - which encompasses more countries and more segments of economic activity than any regional accord could possibly deliver - is ideal.
In the coming four years, Azevêdo will be supported by (first four are deputy director generals):
i) Mr Yi, an experienced senior trade official in China’s Ministry of Commerce;
ii) Dr Brauner, a senior officer in the Federal Department of Economics and Technology (Germany);
iii) Mr Agah, from Nigeria’s Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment;
iv) Mr Shark, the US Deputy Permanent Representative to the WTO since 2000; and
v) Chef de Cabinet Tim Yeend, the Australian ambassador to the WTO for the last three years.
Let’s hope that they get it right.
- Fin24
*Geoffrey Chapman is a guest columnist and trade policy expert at the SABS. Views expressed are his own.
