Amb. Amina C. Mohamed

WTO Director-General Selection Process — this week candidates meet WTO Members in a General Council meeting

· July 14, 2020 · Selection of WTO Director-General · , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , · No Comments

As reviewed in a post last week, this Wednesday-Friday (July 15-17) the eight candidates for the Director-General position have their meetings with WTO Members in a General Council meeting. Each candidate has 90 minutes before the General Council and will meet the press immediately afterwards. See WTO Director-General selection process – next steps, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/07/11/wto-director-general-selection-process-next-steps/. After the meeting with the General Council this week, candidates and their goverments will have until September 8 to do outreach to WTO members in their efforts to get candidates known and build support for the particular candidate.

Not surprisingly, a lot is being written about the candidates. Candidates who were nominated early have already done press interviews or been interviewed on webinars by different organizations. See, e.g., Nikkei Asian Review, Good listener or strong negotiator? WTO candidates make case for top job, https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/Interview/Good-listener-or-strong-negotiator-WTO-candidates-make-case-for-top-job; Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, Egyptian DG candidate: WTO approaching point of no return, June 24, 2020, https://insidetrade.com/trade/egyptian-dg-candidate-wto-approaching-point-no-return; Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, Seade: WTO needs ‘respectful’ but ‘assertive’ leader, July 7, 2020, https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/seade-wto-needs-%E2%80%98respectful%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98assertive%E2%80%99-leader; Yonhap News Agency, Seoul’s trade minister vows to make WTO more responsive if elected head, July 13, 2020, https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200713001800320. The interest from the media and various trade groups will only grow over the next two months.

Each candidate and his/her nominating government are already doing outreach to other WTO Members seeking to build a base of support for the candidate. Moreover, in the case of Mexico’s Jesus Seade, Mexico has signaled that it will not seek another term for Angel Gurria heading the OECD to bolster the chances of Jesus Seade to head the WTO. Yahoo News, Mexico gives up OECD in campaign to head World Trade Organization, https://news.yahoo.com/mexico-gives-oecd-campaign-head-184513923.html.

And, of course, WTO Members without candidates of their own will be evaluating all candidates against what they perceive to be the best qualities for the next Director-General. Various articles have both described possible characteristics of importance and challenges for candidates from regional rivalries and possible proxy wars. See, e.g., The Wire, In WTO’s Search for its Next Director-General, a Tale of Proxy Wars and Regional Rivalries, July 11, 2020, https://thewire.in/economy/wto-next-director-general; Washington Post, Who Will Lead the WTO and Help It Avoid Collapse?, July 11, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/who-will-lead-the-wto-and-help-it-avoid-collapse/2020/07/10/c2676476-c2d3-11ea-8908-68a2b9eae9e0_story.html.

The European University Institute recently released a working paper reviewing Stakeholder Preferences and Priorities for the Next WTO Director-General based on a survey of academics, government officials, private sector (companies and business associations), staff of international organizations and NGOs, labor unions, think tanks. https://cadmus.eui.eu//handle/1814/67635. Those who responded to the survey ranked preferred characteristics of the next Director-General with experience in managing organizations receiving the highest ranking followed by political experience, economic training and Experienced WTO negotiator. Of far less significance were whether the candidate was from a developing or developed country, from a region that had not yet had a Director-General and the gender of the candidate, although some of the latter characteristics were more important to those responding from certain areas (e.g., Africa). Id at 2-4. Of course, it is the characteristics of importance to WTO Members that matters, not what academics or others would find of value. While Geneva Missions obviously have input in the process and will be handling this week’s General Council meetings, for many Members, the decision will come from the capital.

As an aid to those monitoring the selection process, I have put together a chart (see below) which presents a number of characteristics that may be relevant to WTO Members.

Dr. Jesus Seade has deep WTO and trade experience, has worked at high levels in all three Bretton Woods organizations, and has working relationship with both the U.S. and China. He is an economist by education and training. North America has never had a Director-General at the WTO, although Mexico is a Latin American country, a group within which Brazil (current Director-General’s country) is part.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, while not having a trade background has extensive managerial experience from her time at the World Bank and political experience from her time as Minister of Finance in Nigeria. She has a PhD in Economics. She is one of three candidates from Africa, a continent that has never had a candidate selected as Director-General of the WTO.

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh has extensive experience with the WTO based on his time within the Secretariat. Egypt is a country in Africa and also part of the Middle East. There has not been a WTO Director-General from either area.

Mr. Tudor Ulianovschi was Moldova’s Ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein and Permanent Representative to the WTO. He has also served as Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Minister Yoo Myung-hee has been very active in trade and other issues for her government in Korea. Asia has had one Director-General (Thailand), though Korea has not had a candidate serve as the Director-General.

Amb. Amina C. Mohamed has a very extensive trade background for Kenya both in Geneva at Kenya’s Mission to the WTO and back in country as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and chaired the WTO’s 10 Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. She has had other government posts in Kenya and some experience in one of the UN organizations, UNEP. She is the third candidate from Africa.

Mr. Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri is a candidate from Saudi Arabia and is its current Minister of Economy and Planning. Saudi Arabia is in western Asia but also part of the Middle East. There has never been a Director-General selected from the Middle East, with just one from Asia.

Dr. Liam Fox from the United Kingdom has a long and distinguished political career and has served in a number of high political offices in different UK Administrations including Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for International Trade.

A very important opportunity for all eight candidates will be their 90 minutes before the General Council as each candidate will not only be able to provide an overview of their vision on leading the WTO but also be able to respond to a broad cross-section of questions from Members. For WTO Members, the General Council meetings provide the Geneva Missions with their only opportunity to evaluate candidates against each other in a common setting, even if the candidates meet individually with some or many of the Geneva Missions before or afterwards.

Conclusion

We are six days into the two-month Phase 2 of the WTO Director-General selection process. The next three days are a very important period for each candidate to articulate his or her vision for the WTO going forward and provide information to WTO Members’ Geneva Missions that will help the Missions understand why the particular candidate is the best fit for the Organization for the next four years.

The eight candidates make for an interesting group with differing experiences and presumably different visions for moving the WTO forward. The road from eight candidates to the new Director-General continues tomorrow as the General Council hears from each candidate.

The WTO is in crisis on various fronts. With the current Director-General stepping down in 48 days, who emerges as the next Director-General may have an important role in whether the WTO can regain its importance for global trade. Good luck to all of the candidates.

WTO Director-General Selection Process — Next Steps

· July 11, 2020 · Selection of WTO Director-General · , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , · No Comments

With the current WTO Director-General, Robert Azevedo, stepping down at the end of August, the WTO is a little more than one month into the selection process for a new Director-General. The process is envisioned normally to take nine months of which six months deal with nominations, candidate outreach to WTO Members, and consultations by the WTO’s Chair of the General Council (with the assistance of the Chairs of the Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Body) with WTO Members to find a candidate for whom consensus is possible and a General Council meeting to confirm the selection of a new Director-General. Because of the approaching departure of the current Director-General, the WTO is examining whether the process of selecting a new Director-General (“DG”) can be accelerated. To the extent the process is not concluded before DG Azevedo departs, the WTO will select an acting Director-General from among the four Deputy Directors-General.

Phase 1, Nominations

Phase 1 of the WTO Director-General selection process came to an end on July 8, one month after the process started on June 8 as the window for WTO Members to nominate candidates from their country/territory came to an end at the close of business on July 8th. Eight WTO Members provided nominations to the WTO. The Member and candidate in the order of nomination at the WTO are reviewed below along with the date that the WTO posted a press release on the nomination (with official bio submitted).

The Chair of the General Council released a consolidated list of candidates whose nominations had been received by the WTO on July 9, embedded below. WT/GC/INF/30.

WTGCINF30

Phase 2, Candidates Making Themselves Known to the WTO Members

After the close of the nomination window, normal procedures provide three months for candidates to “make themselves known to Members”. This phase 2 of the selection process starts with a WTO General Council meeting at which each candidate is given time to make an opening statement and for Members to ask questions and receive answers. The General Council meeting is followed and preceded by candidates and their nominating governments doing outreach to WTO Members in Geneva and in capitals around the world.

A. General Council meeting

In the 2012-2013 selection process, the General Council meeting took three days and occurred 29-31 days after the close of the nomination phase. Each candidate had 15 minutes for an opening statement followed by 75 minutes of questions and answers with the last five minutes of the 75 minutes reserved to the candidate to make a summing up if desired. Members wishing to ask a question notified the WTO in advance for each candidate for which they wished to be considered to ask a question and their names were included in a box from which names were drawn. Questions were limited to one minute maximum, with no follow-up questions allowed. Each candidate was offered the opportunity to meet with the media immediately after the meeting with the General Council.

In the current selection process, the WTO is proceeding in the same manner with the same time allocations and same opportunity to meet press, though the timing of the General Council meeting has been moved up as part of a process to expedite the overall selection process. The General Council will meet 7-9 days after the close of the nominating period, the meetings being over three days, July 15-17.

On Friday, the specific schedule was announced. Candidates are heard in the order in which their nominations were received by the WTO. Below is the schedule of meetings for candidates with the General Council (each meeting is 90 minutes) followed by a press conference, assumed to occur within 15 minutes of the close of the meeting with the General Council. The press conferences will be webcast live on the WTO website and will be archieved, as they were in 2013.

CandidateDate at GCTimePress Conference
Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico)July 1511:15 13:00 (est.)
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)July 1515:0016.45 (est.)
Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mumdouh (Egypt)July 1516:3018:15 (est.)
Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi (Rep. of Moldova)July 1611:0012:45 (est.)
H.E. Yoo Myung-ee (Rep. of Korea) July 1615:0016:45 (est.)
Amb. Amina C. Mohamed (Rep. of Kenya)July 1616:3018:15 (est.)
Mr. Mohammad Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)July 1710:0011:45 (est.)
Dr. Liam Fox (United Kingdom)July 1711:3013:15 (est.)

B. Length of period of outreach by candidates

The Chair of the WTO’s General Council on the 10th of July announced that Members had agreed to truncate the phase 2 outreach by candidates from three months to two months, ending September 7. See General Council Chair Walker announces timelines for next stages of DG selection process, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_10jul20_e.htm.

Phase 3, Consultations with WTO Members on Candidate Best Placed to Attract Consensus

The final phase of the selection process is one in which the WTO’s Chair of the General Council along with the Chairs of the Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Body consult with all WTO Members “to assess preferences and seek to determine which candidate is best placed to attract consensus support.” Id. This phase is to be completed within two months with a General Council meeting to consider and (hopefully) adopt the recommendation of the candidate put forward by the General Council Chair (by November 7 in the current selection process).

In 2013, when there were nine candidates, the consultation process involved three rounds of consultations, with those candidates with the least likelihood of generating consensus being asked to withdraw after each round so a recommendation could be made.

With eight candidates in the current selection process, multiple rounds of consultations will almost certainly be needed. It is unlikely that the process will be completed significantly in advance of the two month deadline.

The procedures adopted in 2002 provide for the option, if needed, to go to voting, though that is a last resort and has not been used to date.

Hopefully, resolution of the selection of the next Director-General will happen by early November. While the procedures for selection envision a three month period after selection before the new Director-General assumes his/her position at the WTO, the three months is premised on there being a Director-General whose term ends in three months. In the current situation where the Director-General departs at the end of August, the new Director-General will presumably take office immediately and General Council adoption of his/her nomination.

Need for an Acting Director-General for the Period September 1 – early November

According to the Procedures for the Appointment of Directors-General adopted by the General Council on 10 December 2002 (WT/L/509, para. 23),

“In the event of a vacancy in the post of Director-General, the General Council shall designate one of the existing Deputy Directors-General to serve as Acting Director-General until the appointment of a new Director-General.”

As this post is being written, there are just 51 days until there is a vacancy in the post of Director-General. Since the timing for completion of the selection process will run several months past the departure of Director-General Azevedo, the General Council has in front of it the additional need to designate one of the existing Deputy Directors-General to serve as the Acting Director-General.

The four existing Deputy Directors-General are Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria), Karl Brauner (Germany), Alan Wm. Wolff (United States) and Yi Xiaozhun. Information on the four Deputy Directors-General is contained in various WTO website listings. See The Deputy Directors-General, https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/dg_e/ddg_ra_e.htm; Understanding the WTO The Organization, the Secretariat, https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/org4_e.htm#agah. Embedded below is the page on the Deputy Directors-General.

WTO-_-Deputy-Directors-General

While the 2002 procedures for designating an acting Director-General have not been used before now, it is understood that the Chair of the General Council is consulting with Members now on the issue and will likly include the topic in the agenda for the General Council meeting scheduled for July 22-23. Selection of an acting Director-General is presumably done by consensus as well.

While the role of an acting Director-General is understood to be largely administrative (being available to pay bills, manage Secretariat issues, keep the organization functioning while awaiting the completion of the selection process) and even though Deputy Directors-General act independent of their national origin, it is unclear how political considerations will be at play in the designation of an acting Director-General. For example, with three candidates from African countries for the post of Director-General (including one from Nigeria) would the designation of Yonov Frederic Agah (a Nigerian) as acting Director-General be viewed as harmful or helpful to the chances of the one or more of the African candidates since an African would be serving in the acting position? Similarly, with the differences in views of the WTO’s path forward between the U.S., China and Europe, will one ore more of the three other Deputy Directors-General be viewed as unacceptable to one or more of the majors? If there are political complications affecting the designation of an acting Director-General, what spillover effects will such tensions on the acting designation have in achieving a smooth resolution on the selection process of a new Director-General? We will likely find out whether the designation process is smooth or complicated in the next several weeks.

Conclusion

The selection process for the next WTO Director-General is in a very active stage. The Chair of the General Council has worked with the WTO Members to expedite the process to the extent acceptable to Members. Such expedition will result in at least one month cut off of the six month period from the start of nominations to the selection of a new Director-General, with resolution due by November 7 at the latest.

All of the eight candidates will be in Geneva next week for their meetings with the General Council during July 15-17. There is a shortened period for candidates to do outreach to WTO members so the rest of July, all of August and the first week of September will be hectic for the candidates and their governments with some in person meetings and many virtual meetings during this time.

When Phase 3 kicks in in early September, the General Council’s Chair along with the Chairs of the Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Body will be involved in the time-consuming task of consultations with Members as they work to find a consensus candidate for the Director-General post. In 2013, those efforts took three rounds of consultations to go from nine candidates to one who was recommended to the General Council and accepted by consensus. It is assumed this year, the challenges will be comparable and will likely take three rounds (8 candidates to 4 to 2 to recommendation may be the path consultations take).

Because the current Director-General, Roberto Azevedo, will be stepping down on August 31, the WTO, for the first time since the General Council adopted procedures for selecting new Directors-General at the end of 2002, will need to designate an acting Director-General from the four existing Deputy Directors-General. While the designation process may prove to be uneventful, in a time of significant dysfunction within the WTO because of dramatically different views of the operation of the WTO and reform needs by many Members, there is at least the chance for the designation process to become complicated and to make more difficult the ability to reach consensus on a new Director-General.

Considering the severe challenges facing the WTO and the complications flowing from the COVID-19 pandemic, selecting a strong Director-General in a process that flows without major incident is an important hoped-for outcome in the remainder of 2020.

WTO Director-General nominations — Kenya puts forward Amb. Amina C. Mohamed as a candidate

· July 7, 2020 · Selection of WTO Director-General · , , · No Comments

It is understood that the Republic of Kenya forwarded to the WTO on July 7 its nomination of Amb. Amina C. Mohamed as a candidate for the Director-General position of the World Trade Organization. It is understood that Amb. Mohamed’s nomination will be reflected in a press release tomorrow, July 8.

There had been early speculation that Amb. Mohamed would be nominated. She has served as Kenya’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister for the period 2013-2018 and chaired the 2015 WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. Amb. Mohamed also served as Kenya’s Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the WTO during the period 2000-2006. While serving as Kenya’s Ambassador to the WTO, she served as Chairperson to the General Council (2005), the Dispute Settlement Body (2004) and the Trade Policy Review Body (2004). She also had been a candidate in 2012-2013 for the Director-General position, a position that ultimately went to Roberto Azevedo of Brazil. In a thumbnail evaluation, Amb. Mohamed is a candidate from an African country (Africa has never had a Director-General at the WTO), one with significant trade, WTO and high political office experience. She is reportedly well respected by WTO Members for her efforts over the last two decades.

With the submission by Kenya of Amb. Mohamed’s nomination, there are now six candidates who have been put forward. She is the third candidate from Africa. The other candidates are Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt), Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova) and Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea).

Below is the current biography of Amb. Mohamed.

The concern amongst some WTO watchers has been that too many candidates from Africa would result in divided loyalties of WTO African Members during the DG selection process which would harm the likelihood of any of the African candidates being selected as the consensus choice for Director-General. Time will tell whether the nomination of three candidates from African countries has the effect of reducing support for any of the three or results in the Director-General not being chosen from one of the three African country nominations.