Egypt

WTO Dispute Settlement in 2022 — to date (April 5, 2022) European Union is only WTO Member to file new disputes

With 2022 more than one quarter over, the European Union remains the only WTO Member to file a new WTO dispute this year, and it has filed five requests for consultation. The United States has spent the first fifteen months of the Biden Administration seeking resolution to long-standing disputes but to date has filed no new cases (2021-2022). China had filed a number of disputes in 2021 and is the subject of various disputes filed in the 2021-2022 including two of the EU cases this year.

Two of the five cases filed in 2022 by the EU were against China and are reviewed in prior posts. See February 21, 2022:  The European Union’s February 18, 2022 request for consultations with China over China’s “anti-suit injunctions” in intellectual property disputes and its failure to publish decisions and respond to EU inquiries, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2022/02/21/the-european-unions-february-18-2022-request-for-consultations-with-china-over-chinas-anti-suit-injunctions-in-intellectual-property-disputes-and-its-failure-to-publish-decisions-and-respond/; January 27, 2022:  The European Union requests consultations with China at the WTO for restrictions on Lithuanian goods imposed by China, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2022/01/27/the-european-union-requests-consultations-with-china-at-the-wto-for-restrictions-on-lithuania-goods-imposed-by-china/. On the intellectual property dispute, Japan, United States and Canada have requested to join the consultations. On the EU’s challenge to China’s actions on goods from Lithuania, six other Members have sought to join the consultations — Australia, Taiwan, Japan, United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.

The other three requests for consultations filed by the EU this year include one filed with the Russian Federation (DS608) concerning the exportation of wood products, one with Egypt (D609) concerning registration requirements relating to the importation of certain products and the latest one with the United Kingdom (DS612) concerning measures relating to the allocation of contracts for difference in low carbon energy generation.

The case against the Russian Federation deals with the termination of tariff-rate quotas on exports of wood products, other increases in export duties on wood products, reduction of the number of border crossing points for the exportation of wood products and the introduction of export restrictions or prohibitions on certain wood products by the Eurasian Economic Union. WTO inconsistencies alleged by the EU include Art. I:1, II:1(a), XI:1, XIII:1 of GATT 1994 and Paragraph 2, second sentence, of the Protocol on the Accession of the Russian Federation in conjunction with paragraphs 638, 668, and 1450 of the Report of the Working Party. WT/DS608/1/Rev.1, G/L/1434/Rev.1 (27 February 2022).

The request for consultations with Egypt involves challenges to Egyptian measures that apply to EU companies wishing to export to Egypt where registration requirements exist (29 categories of goods “including agricultural and food products, cosmetics, toys, textiles, garments, household appliances, furniture and ceramic tiles.”). The requirements are alleged to burdensome, non-transparent, costly and time-consuming and some registration applications have not been processed even after years. The Egyptian measures of concern raise questions about consistency with WTO GATT 1994 Articles XI:1, VIII:1(c), VIII:3, X:1, X:3(a); Art. 4.2 of the Agriculture Agreement and Articles 1.2, 1.5 3.3, 3.5(e) and 3.5(f) of the Import Licensing Agreement. WT/DS609/1, G/L/1425 (27 January 2022). The Russian Federation has sought to join consultations. WT/DS609/2.

The most recent request for consultations with the United Kingdom involves local content requirements for incentivised low carbon electricity generation projects (e.g., offshore wind). “The measures at issue described above appear to be inconsistent with the United Kingdom’s obligations under the covered agreements, in particular Article III:4 of the GATT 1994, inasmuch as, by incentivising applicants to commit to and implement an ambitious percentage of Untied Kingdom content of the allocation of CfD, they accord less favourable treatment to imported goods than to like domestic goods.” WT/DS612/1, G/L/1428 (30 March 2022).

Of the five cases, the two against China are probably the most important systemically. The case about retaliation by China against Lithuania addresses a recurring problem with China punishing WTO Members who take positions with which China disagrees, The intellectual property case as described in a prior post is important to prevent China from blocking IP rights holders from obtaining the benefits of IP that the TRIPS Agreement safeguards.

The Russian Federation case may proceed but is overshadowed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions imposed by many countries, including by the EU. That said, the case deals with what appear to be clear violations of WTO obligations by Russia.

The case against Turkey is typical of a range of disputes over the years against countries who adopt a series of barriers to access to the market to protect domestic industries. While there can always be potentially relevant standards issues or health/safety issues, the actions of Egypt sound as though they simply slow down, limit or block import trade.

Finally, the case against the United Kingdom deals with the efforts of many countries to speed up adoption of renewable energy and reflect the important systemic issue of the interface between domestic incentives and WTO obligations on national treatment.

At the last Dispute Settlement Body meeting (March 28, 2022), many WTO Members continued to seek the reestablishment of a two tier dispute settlement process which the United States continues to block. See WTO News Release, Members continue push to commence Appellate Body appointment process, 28 March 2022, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news22_e/dsb_28mar22_e.htm. The statements made appear to be identical or similar to those made over the last several years. The WTO news release on the meeting and the issue of the Appellate Body is copied below in relevant part.

“Appellate Body appointments

“Mexico, speaking on behalf of 123 members, introduced for the 52nd time the group’s proposal to start the selection processes for filling vacancies on the Appellate Body. The extensive number of members submitting the proposal reflects a common concern over the current situation in the Appellate Body which is seriously affecting the overall WTO dispute settlement system against the best interest of members, Mexico said for the group.

“The United States reiterated it was not in a position to support the proposed decision.  The US continues to have systemic concerns with the Appellate Body, which it has explained and raised over the past 16 years and across multiple administrations.  The US said it believes that WTO members must undertake fundamental reform if the dispute settlement system is to remain viable and credible.  The dispute settlement system can and should better support the WTO’s negotiating and monitoring functions, the US said, adding that it looked forward to further discussions with members on these important issues.

“Around 20 delegations (including the EU for its 27 members and Nigeria for the African Group) took the floor to reiterate the importance of the WTO’s two-tiered dispute settlement system to the stability and predictability of the multilateral trading system.  Several cited this issue as the top priority for reform of the organization and said the continued impasse was causing both commercial harm to members and systemic harm to multilateral trade.

“For the 123 members, Mexico again came back to say the fact a member may have concerns about certain aspects of the functioning of the Appellate Body cannot serve as pretext to impair and disrupt the work of the DSB and dispute settlement in general, and that there was no legal justification for the current blocking of the selection processes, which is causing concrete nullification and impairment of rights for many members.

“The DSB chair, Ambassador Athaliah Lesiba Molokomme of Botswana, noted the previous General Council chair has been working on the issue of restoring a fully functioning dispute settlement system within the context of preparations for the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference. She said she hoped members would be able to find a solution to this matter.”

I have reviewed in many prior posts the longstanding and well articulated concerns of the United States, concerns which have largely not been addressed in the process to date. See, e.g., February 14, 2020: USTR’s Report on the WTO Appellate Body – An Impressive Critique of the Appellate Body’s Deviation from Its Proper Role, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/02/14/ustrs-report-on-the-wto-appellate-body-an-impressive-critique-of-the-appellate-bodys-deviation-from-its-proper-role/

I have also in recent posts looked at individual disputes where the U.S. was the respondent and reviewed problems with the decisions. See, e.g., February 9, 2022:  The WTO Panel Report, UNITED STATES – SAFEGUARD MEASURE ON IMPORTS OF LARGE RESIDENTIAL WASHERS, WT/DS546/R (8 February 2022), https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2022/02/09/the-wto-panel-report-united-states-safeguard-measure-on-imports-of-large-residential-washers-wt-ds546-r-8-february-2022/; January 27, 2022:  WTO Arbitration Report on China’s challenge to U.S. countervailing duty investigations — while retaliation is much smaller than China sought, core problems with original Appellate Body decision flags challenge to restoring the Dispute Settlement binding process, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2022/01/27/wto-arbitration-report-on-chinas-challenge-to-u-s-countervailing-duty-investigations-while-retaliation-is-much-smaller-than-china-sought-core-problems-with-original-appellate-body-decision-flag/; December 29, 2021:  WTO Dispute Settlement — What the Recently Adopted Panel Report on United States – Antidumping and Countervailing Duties on Ripe Olives from Spain says about the existing dispute settlement system and about needed WTO reforms, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/12/29/wto-dispute-settlement-what-the-recently-adopted-panel-report-on-united-states-antidumping-and-countervailing-duties-on-ripe-olives-from-spain-says-about-the-existing-dispute-settlement-system-an/.

Thus, it is unlikely that the twice delayed 12th Ministerial Conference to be held in Geneva June 13-15 this year will resolve the impasse on the Appellate Body. While it is possible that a process may be agreed to to examine the root problems and formulate possible solutions as part of the WTO reform agenda, even that may be optimistic in the current environment.

Existing disputes continue to proceed, with various resolutions possible in cases even among countries who have not signed up to the Agreement on the Interim Arbitration Process, although two dozen panel reports have been “appealed” but cannot be heard until/unless an Appellate Body is reconsituted. Such appeals have been taken by a number of Members including by Members who are parties to the interim process (e.g., EU on a panel report of a challenge to a trade remedy proceeding against the Russian Federation). See, e.g., WTO Dispute Settlement, Appellate Body, https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/appellate_body_e.htm (listing 24 cases where appeals are pending).

This Friday (April 8, 2022) , there is a Dispute Settlement Body meeting to consider a joint request by the Republic of Korea and the United States in the dispute involving UNITED STATES – SAFEGUARD MEASURE ON IMPORTS OF LARGE RESIDENTIAL WASHERS that would have the DSB adopt a decision that the panel report is adopted unless an appeal is filed by July 7, 2022 (essentially extending the time to appeal the panel report presumably to give the parties more time to consider a mutually acceptable resolution). WT/DS546/8 (29 March 2022).

So whether there is a resolution to the Appellate Body impasse or not, WTO Members have ongoing options to address trade concerns including through Committee work, bilateral interactions and disputes through the WTO or through FTAs.

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Will there be another extension of the WTO Moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce — expanding global trade or creating additional barriers

WTO Members have engaged for years in debate over the wisdom of extending the temporary moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce. Each Ministerial Conference has resulted in Members agreeing to an extension of the moratorium until the next Ministerial Conference along with an extension of a moratorium on non-violation TRIPs disputes. While Members have agreed to a draft extension of the moratorium on non-violation TRIPs disputes for the upcoming 12th WTO Ministerial, there is no agreement as yet on extending the moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce. See WTO News Release, Members agree on recommendation to extend moratorium on IP “non-violation” cases, 5 November 2021, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news21_e/trip_05nov21a_e.htm; Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, India, South Africa question WTO e-commerce moratorium ahead of MC12, November 9, 2021, https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/india-south-africa-question-wto-e-commerce-moratorium-ahead-mc12.

In recent years, India and South Africa have cited to information from UNCTAD to support their concern that the moratorium is costing developing countries tax revenues as well as their concern that the moratorium is limited to transmission and not content and doesn’t apply to services. See WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE, THE MORATORIUM ON CUSTOMS DUTIES ON ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSIONS: NEED FOR CLARITY ON ITS SCOPE AND IMPACT, 8 November 2021, WT/GC/W/833 (communication from India and South Africa); WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE, THE E-COMMERCE MORATORIUM: SCOPE AND IMPACT, Communication from India and South Africa, 11 March 2020, WT/GC/W/798; UNCTAD, RISING PRODUCT DIGITALISATION AND LOSING TRADE COMPETITIVENESS, 2017, https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/gdsecidc2017d3_en.pdf; UNCTAD Research Paper No. 29, UNCTAD/SER.RP/2019/1, Rashmi Banga, Growing Trade in Electronic Transmissions: Implications for the South, February 2019, https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ser-rp-2019d1_en.pdf.

Some of the concerns expressed by India and South Africa and their rebuttal of OECD and other papers which look at upside benefits from the moratorium are captured in the following excerpt from the recent submission (WT/GC?W/833, pages 2-3).

2.2 Tariff Revenue Loss

“2.4. In our previous submission, WT/GC/W/798, we highlighted that based on the identification of a small number of digitizable goods in five areas, namely, printed matter, music and video downloads, software and video games, UNCTAD estimated a loss in tariff revenue of more than US$10 billion per annum globally because of the moratorium, 95% of which is borne by
developing countries.

“2.5. These submissions attempt to make the revenue foregone on account of the e-commerce moratorium seem insignificant by showcasing this revenue loss in terms of its share in customs revenue and total government revenue. However, even compared in this manner, it is evident that the percentage of government revenue lost for developing countries is higher than that for the
developed countries. The percentage of customs revenue lost for developing countries is 4.35% while that for the developed countries is a mere 0.24%. It is evident that the cost of the moratorium is almost completely borne by the developing countries for extending duty free quota free market access, largely for the developed countries.

“2.6. These submissions conclude that the amount of physical trade replaced by 3D printing is expected to be limited. UNCTAD (2019) provides a deeper analysis on the status of 3D printing though. It indicates that while 3D printing is currently at a nascent stage in developing countries, its market has grown annually by 22% in the period 2014-2018 and it is estimated that if investment
in 3D printing is doubled, it could potentially replace almost 40% of cross-border physical global trade by 20407. Such a growth is expected to significantly increase the potential tariff revenue loss.

2.3 Impact on SMEs and Digital Industrialization

“2.7. Interestingly, when assessing the total trade of electronic transmissions, these submissions consider only digitizable goods and conclude that these remain modest but when estimating the impact of the moratorium on exports, especially of SMEs, these submissions considers the extended scope of the moratorium by including services8 and find the impact to be huge. Defining the scope of the moratorium is therefore important in order to estimate its impact.

“2.8. These submissions state that the use of 3D printing is growing slowly since the opportunities for mass production and economies of scale are limited and the inputs, materials and time required for 3D printing further constrain its use for manufacturing complex items. In this context, it is highlighted that with recent technological advances, namely high-speed sintering, mass production is becoming possible with 3D printers, where mass-producing up to 100,000 (smaller) components
in a day will be possible at a speed which is 100 times faster9. According to D’Aveni (2015)10, the advent of additive manufacturing in the US hearing aid industry meant that, in less than 500 days, 100% of the industry was transformed and not one company stuck to the traditional mode of manufacturing.

“2.9. These submissions do not reflect the impact that new technologies such as 3D printing can have on domestic industries especially MSMEs in developing countries. As outlined before, while 3D printing is currently at a nascent stage in developing countries, its market is expected to grow at a rapid pace. The most affected sectors could include sectors such as textiles and clothing, footwear, auto-components, toys, mechanical appliances, and hand tools, etc. which generate large scale employment for low skilled workers and are sectors in which most MSMEs operate. This could have a catastrophic effect on the ability of developing countries to protect their nascent domestic industries including MSMEs11.

“2.10. If, ‘customs duties on electronic transmissions’ cover not only digitised and digitizable goods but also digitally transmitted services, as asserted by a couple of institutions recently, then the negative impact of continuing with the moratorium on developing countries would be even greater. Effectively, this implies that the economy of the future (the digital economy) is totally liberalised. History has shown that trade policies are integral to successful economies’ development trajectory and are critical in advancing industrial policy.

“7 UNCTAD Research Paper No 47 (2020).
“8 UNCTAD Research Paper No 58 (2021).
“9 Ibid.
“10 Richard D’Aveni, ‘The 3-D Printing Revolution’ (2015) Harvard Business Review
https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-3-d-printing-revolution accessed 1 June 2021.
“11 UNCTAD Research Paper No 58 (2021).”

There are many WTO Members who support the continuation of the moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce, and there have been studies by the OECD taking a position opposite that of UNCTAD. See, e.g., WORK PROGRAMME ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE BROADENING AND DEEPENING THE DISCUSSIONS ON THE MORATORIUM ON IMPOSING CUSTOMS DUTIES ON ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSIONS, Communication from Australia; Canada; Chile; Colombia; Hong Kong, China;
Iceland; Republic of Korea; New Zealand; Norway; Singapore; Switzerland; Thailand and Uruguay, 29 June 2020, WT/GC/W/799/Rev.1; Andrenelli, A. and J. López González (2019-11-13), “Electronic transmissions and international trade – shedding new light on the moratorium debate”, OECD Trade Policy Papers, No. 233, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/57b50a4b-en. An excerpt from the submission of various WTO Members in WT/GC/W/799/Rev.1 is presented below characterizing some of the OECD analysis (pages 2-3).

“3 AN INSIGHTFUL WELFARE ANALYSIS OF ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSIONS

“3.1. Members have been referring to many different estimates in past discussions on this matter, which did not take into consideration the benefits associated with relevant reductions of trade costs, potential gains in productivity and increased consumer welfare. The welfare analysis in the study provides a clear illustration of what is induced by the absence of duties on electronic transmissions in terms of both revenue loss and the welfare surplus for consumers. Taking into consideration consumer welfare would bring depth to the discussion and could help move them forward.

“3.2. The welfare analysis outlines that the reduction in production and transportation costs associated with digital deliveries, as well as the removal of the tariff, can lead to a reduction in price. In consequence, the increase in demand leads to a rise in imports and an increase in consumer surplus, part of which is associated with redistribution from the domestic producer and part of which is from government revenue to the consumer. The study is unambiguous: the overall impact to the economy is ‘positive and large’.

“3.3. The study finds that the imposition of equivalent duties on electronic transmissions could negate those positive effects by increasing the price of the digital delivery, which shifts some of the consumer welfare back to the domestic producers and the government. Governments and producers would recover some of the revenue foregone but the amount recovered would depend on the elasticity of demand. The study also highlights that this would occur at the expense of consumer surplus. The positive welfare impact would decrease as the price of the digital product increases. Consequently, by introducing equivalent duties on electronic transmissions, governments would create a “deadweight loss” to the economy. The overall benefits associated with digitization
(i.e. lower trade costs) would be reduced and weaker economies would miss an opportunity to overcome their trade cost disadvantages.

“4 THE APPLICATION OF INTERNAL NON-DISCRIMINATORY TAXES AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO TARIFFS

“4.1. The study not only provides important elements regarding who bears the burden of tariffs, but also regarding the potential alternative sources of government revenue which would be better suited to the digital economy. The study notes that tariffs increase the price of a product to the domestic consumer. The extent to which the domestic price increases is dependent on the tariff pass-through, which ranges from full pass-through to none. If there is no pass-through, then the foreign company fully absorbs the tariff through reduced revenue. If there is full pass-through, then the domestic price increases in proportion to the tariff. Recent work quoted by the study notes that quasi complete-pass tends to be the most common – that is, foreign companies fully pass-on the price increase to domestic consumers. Moreover, recent work conveyed in the study has also demonstrated that tariff increases, in the medium-term, negatively affect domestic output and productivity, employment and lead to higher inequality and real exchange rate appreciation.

“4.2. The study highlights other means for governments to generate revenue. The use of consumption taxes, such as value added taxes (VAT) or goods and services taxes (GST) could represent a better alternative. Examples of VAT/GST applied to digital services and intangibles are provided and point out that internal non-discriminatory taxes provide a broader tax base, and thus more stable. According to the study, evidence indicates developing countries that adopt indirect taxes such as VAT experience 40 to 50% less tax revenue instability than countries that do not use indirect taxes. The OECD study suggests that consumption taxes are a feasible alternative to customs duties for generating revenue.

“4.3. In this respect, it should be noted that the OECD International VAT/GST Guidelines have been adopted by the G20 leaders and endorsed by more than 100 jurisdictions and organisations. Furthermore, the OECD has produced a report on best practices to implement international VAT/GST collection schemes.2

“2 Mechanisms for the Effective Collection of VAT/GST, OECD, 2017 http://www.oecd.org/tax/consumption/mechanisms-for-the-effective-collection-of-vat-gst.htm.”

A recent report by Prof. Simon J. Evenett

On November 12, 2021, Prof. Simon Evenett (founder of the St. Gallen Endowment for Prosperity Through Trade) released a paper looking at the question, “Is the WTO Moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce depriving developing countries of much needed revenue?”. The abstract for the paper states –

Abstract  This note vitiates assertions by UNCTAD staff that developing countries have lost significant government revenues as products previously delivered physically are supplied digitally. Taking for the sake of argument UNCTAD’s revenue loss estimates, this note shows that they represent small shares of tax revenues from sources other than customs duties. Forgone revenues would have financed less than 5 days of government spending in the Least Developed Countries and Sub-Saharan African nations. Moreover, domestic tax takes needed only to grow marginally faster to offset UNCTAD’s estimates of forgone customs duties. Low per-capita income status is not a barrier to successful national tax reform, calling in question the relevance of public finance objections to participation in multilateral trade initiatives to integrate economies.”

 The paper from Prof. Evenett is embedded below.

S.-Evenett_-WTO-Moratorium-12-Nov-2021_-finalised

Conclusion

There are obviously large differences in view on the costs and benefits of a moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce between India and South Africa on the one hand (and others supporting their view) and the group of WTO Members supporting the continuation of the moratorium.

A problem with the UNCTAD studies and papers is the definition of developing countries used. As is clear from the 2017 UNCTAD report, the largest cross border e-commerce sales for any country by far is China with 40% of such sales in 2015 (UNCTAD, Rising Product Digitalisation and Losing Trade Competitiveness, 2017 at 12) and largest customs revenue loss from the moratorium (id at 16). China should not be viewed as a developing country as reviewed in a recent post. See November 15, 2021:  The folly of self-selection as a developing country at the WTO, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/11/15/the-folly-of-self-selection-as-a-developing-country-at-the-wto/. Moreover, China is not understood to be opposing the continuation of the moratorium.

The UNCTAD report also lists as developing countries a number which clearly aren’t classified as such or that shouldn’t be, including — Saudi Arabia, Greece, Egypt, Israel, Romania, Russian Federation, Iceland, Bulgaria, Mexico, Norway, Thailand, Turkey, Portugal (see id, Table 2, Net Exports of Developing Countries of ET Products, pages 13-14; November 15, 2021:  The folly of self-selection as a developing country at the WTO, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/11/15/the-folly-of-self-selection-as-a-developing-country-at-the-wto/).

While WTO Members should be concerned about the digital divide that exists for some Members, the answer to addressing the divide is not to erect barriers to e-commerce. Rather Members should focus on technical assistance and other actions to help least developed countries and some developing countries who are behind develop the infrastructure and technical skills to actively participate in e-commerce.

Extending the moratorium on customs duties on e-commerce is one more hurdle in front of WTO Members as they get ready for the 12th Ministerial Conference which starts in 12 days.

WTO reduces transparency of Trade Policy Reviews — what is the possible justification?

Through September 2021, when a country went through a Trade Policy Review, a large amount of material was made available to the public at the time of the TPR meeting with additional information (minutes, questions and answers, corrections to Secretariat report and/or government report) released a number of months later. The WTO press releases at the time of the TPR meeting were similar. The one for Singapore from 22 and 24 September 2021 is typical.

As can be seen from the press release, the public could access the full report of the Secretariat, the full report of the Government of Singapore, the concluding comments of the Chairperson as well as an Executive Summary of the Secretariat report at the time of the two day meeting to review the reports. Moreover, minutes from the meeting were available to the public typically about six weeks after the meeting as were the written questions and written answers.

Beginning in October, the press release has been modified and far less information is made available immediately to the public. There have been two TPRs so far in October, the Republic of Korea (13 and 15 October) and China (20 and 22 October). A TPR of the Russian Federation is scheduled for next week.

The WTO press release for the Republic of Korea is copied below. The current one for China is similar.

All that is made available to the public at the time of the meeting is a short executive summary of the Secretariat report and the concluding remarks of the Chairperson. No reference is made to how to access the full report of the Secretariat or the Government (here Republic of Korea), nor is there an indication as to when minutes or written questions and written answers will be available.

There is nothing on the WTO webpage which describes why so little information is being provided beginning this month on new Trade Policy Reviews. For the public, the drastic reduction in transparency makes the WTO operations even less understandable.

If the WTO will be releasing all of the documents it has historically but with significant time delays on all documents, what is the justification? For 25 years, TPRs have been conducted with the type of information released that gave the public a good understanding of the Secretariat’s and the government’s review of its trade policy. That understanding has been timely, consistent with the meeting and supplemented within several months with minutes and the written questions and answers.

If the WTO is not intending on releasing all of the documents it has historically released, what is the possible justification?

China, which is going through a Trade Policy Review this week, also went through a TPR in 2018. In 2018, the Secretariat Report released to the public at the time of the TPR meeting was 193 pages (along with a summary of 6 pages). See WT/TPR/S/375. China’s Report on its trade policy was 23 pages. See WT/TPR/G/375. These documents are dated 6 June 2018. A revision to the Secretariat Report is dated 14 September 2018 and was also 193 pages ( WT/TPR/S/375/Rev.1). The Concluding remarks by the Chairperson are contained in a separate press release from the WTO at the time of the TPR meeting but linked from the main notice of the TPR. See WTO news, Trade Policy Review: China, 11 and 13 July 2018, https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp475_e.htm linking to the concluding remarks of the Chairperson at https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/tp475_crc_e.htm. The minutes of the meeting are contained in WT/TPR/M/375, 21 November 20218 and are 98 pages in length with statements from 66 Members (two on behalf of larger groups). The written questions and answers are contained in WT/TPR/M/375/Add.1, dated 1 February 2019 and being 729 pages in length. The WTO Members who submitted questions (including follow-up questions) are shown on pages 2-3 of the document.

Because the current TPR on China (20 and 22 October) does not provide either of the full reports (Secretariat and Government) and because there is no indication of when minutes or written questions and answers will be available, there is certainly delayed access and potentially denial of access of the same type of information on China (or any other country) that was been released in the past. This should be viewed as unacceptable by the WTO Secretariat and WTO Members and certainly should be so viewed by the public.

Conclusion

What is available to the public from a Trade Policy Review is critical for an understanding of concerns raised by WTO Members about any other Member’s trade policy as well as the level and openness of the response from the Member being reviewed. The Secretariat’s report is an important factual analysis of developments in the Member being reviewed. The recent curtailment of access to the full Secretariat Report and the full Government Report greatly harms transparency and the ability of the public to understand developments within WTO Members in a timely manner. Should the WTO cease to release any of the information heretofore available to the public in current and future TPRs, the WTO will be further damaging the public’s perception of the WTO and will be further retreating from openness and transparency towards the public..

WTO Information Notes on COVID-19 Vaccine Production and Potential Bottlenecks

On October 8, 2021, the WTO released the latest in a series of Information Notes pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first one is entitled “COVID-19 Vaccine Production and Tariffs on Vaccine Inputs”. The purpose of the information note was to examine public information to see if import tariffs in any of the 27 major vaccine manufacturing countries could pose challenges or create “choke” points in vaccine production. The second Information Note is entitled “Indicative List of Trade-Related Bottlenecks and Trade-Facilitating Measures on Critical Products to Combat COVID-19” and is an update on an earlier version released 20 July 2020. Both Information Notes are linked to a WTO press release from 8 October. See WTO news, WTO issues papers on vaccine inputs tariffs and bottlenecks on critical COVID-19 products, 8 October 2021, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news21_e/covid_08oct21_e.htm

The second Information Note is the more important of the two papers as it identifies a range of challenges to the expedited movement of vaccines and inputs. However, the first paper is interesting in terms of identifying tariffs on critical materials in major producing countries. However, as the paper acknowledges, the analysis has its limitations.

” 2. TECHNICAL DETAILS
“The MFN applied tariffs were based on the dataset used for World Tariff Profiles 2021, and 2020
imports were based on the TDM dataset3. Even if the national tariff line data (i.e. eight-digit tariff
line codes) were available, beyond the standard HS six-digit level there is no uniformity of codes
across national tariff nomenclatures. Thus, even if only a portion of the HS six-digit code pertains to
the COVID-19 vaccine input, the data used in the analysis both for tariffs and imports were the
six-digit MFN tariff average and the total six-digit imports from the world. Preferential tariffs were
not taken into consideration and thus intra-EU imports, imports from partners of free trade
agreements (FTAs) or any other preferential imports were treated as if MFN tariffs were levied.
Furthermore, there was definitely an over-estimation of the import value of the inputs, since
identification of the national breakdown pertaining to the actual product used in vaccine
manufacturing cannot be easily done. Sometimes even within the most detailed national tariff line
(or specific product) code available (eight digits or longer), the product coverage does not
necessarily refer only to the specific vaccine input and includes non-vaccine-related inputs. While
tariff estimates can be arguably good enough,4 the same cannot be said of the estimated imports
value.” (footnotes omitted)

Certainly for the EU, U.S. and some others, many of the potentially dutiable imports will have been duty free from FTAs or other preferential partners. But the Information is nonetheless useful in flagging general categories of products important to vaccine production that have bound tariffs at 5% or greater. While neither the U.S. nor Japan have any such categories, many other vaccine producing countries have one, several or many product categories where bound tariffs are 5% or higher. Table 4 of the Information Note provides a useful summary of the findings made.

Table 2 of the Information Note presents a summary of the weighted average MFN tariff rate by country.
Thus, from a bound tariff perspective, some countries, particularly developing countries are assessing ordinary customs duties on materials needed for the production of COVIDE-19 vaccines at relatively high rates that at a minimum increase costs, making it more expensive to provide vaccines to the domestic population or export populations.

A detailed review of each of the 27 countries is provided in the WTO’s Vaccine Production and Tariffs on Vaccine Inputs which is attached to the first Information Note.

The second note is the more interesting as it reflects issues and suggestions from various stakeholders on how to expand production and access to vaccines, therapeutics and medical devices needed to combat COVID-19. The introduction to the Information note provides useful background.

“1. INTRODUCTION
“This information note seeks to facilitate access to information on possible trade-related bottlenecks and trade-facilitating measures on critical products to combat COVID-19, including inputs used in vaccine manufacturing, vaccine distribution and approval, therapeutics and pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and medical devices. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all specific trade measures, nor does it make any judgement on the effect or significance of the reported bottlenecks, nor on the desirability of implementing any of the suggestions on trade-facilitating measures.3

“The indicative list is based on issues identified and suggestions made by stakeholders at various events and consultations convened by the WTO, as well as with vaccine manufacturers in the context of meetings organized by the Multilateral Leaders Task Force on COVID-19,4 which includes the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WTO.5 This revision includes information as of 4 October 2021. Entries under each subheading are presented in no particular order. One common theme that emerges is that essential goods and inputs need to flow efficiently and expeditiously to support the rapid scaling up of COVID-19 production capacity worldwide. As manufacturers scale up production and establish new sites in different countries, the production network is not only becoming larger but also increasingly complex and international. The delay of a single component may significantly slow down or even bring vaccine manufacturing to a halt, so it follows that inputs need to flow expeditiously, and each node within the supply chain network needs to operate seamlessly with the others.” (footnotes omitted)

There are a large number of potential trade-related bottlenecks including export restrictions (13 WTO Members are reported to have one or more), such restrictions as applied by manufacturers to “fill and finish” sites, effect of such restrictions on clinical trials, high applied tariffs, customs administration challenges (no green channels for expedited clearance, limited hours of customs operation, treatment of non-commercial samples sent for testing ad quality control, import barriers/delays on manufacturing equipment), challenges in completing consular transactions.

There are also many bottlenecks identified from vaccine regulatory approval including when looking at WHO Emergency Use Listing, requirements for application/registration and authorization, inspection, release, post-approval changes, donations, EUA and regular approval, scaling up production and other issues.

The paper also identifies bottlenecks in the distribution of finished vaccines and immunization supplies, bottlenecks in trade in pharmaceuticals, bottlenecks in trade in diagnostics and other medical devices.

All in all, a daunting list of challenges the vast majority of which involve the importing country and the complexity of systems for approval of medical goods and vaccines.

The last four pages of the Information Note then identify “possible trade-facilitating measures” that could be taken to improve movement of goods. Because the information note is providing a summary of proposals put forward by stakeholders and is not an agreed set of steps by WTO Members, the note states that “no judgement is made on the desirability of implementing any of these suggestions.” Page 7. That said, many of the suggestions relate to streamlining import operations, e.g., through implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, seeing that customs operates 24 hours/7 days a week, exemptions from export restrictions, harmonization of regulatory approaches and many more.

Conclusion

The Information Notes developed by the WTO provide useful information either from public sources, such as the bound tariff rates of COVID-19 vaccine input materials or summaries of information gathered from stakeholders at events looking at how to ramp up production and distribution of vaccines. It is clear that the challenges for all WTO Members in addressing the global pandemic are many and not easily addressed. The Information Notes provide a data base that can be used by WTO Members to see that the current pandemic is fully addressed in fact in the coming months, and that Members consider ways to prepare for a better outcome to future pandemics.

The WTO Informal Ministerial of January 29, 2021 — hope for progress at the WTO in 2021

Switzerland typically hosts an informal ministerial meeting of WTO trade ministers on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum’s January Davos event. This year both were handled remotely.

The informal ministerial was summarized in ten points by the Swiss Confederation President Guy Parmelin at the end of the event. President Parmelin’s statement is available here, https://www.newsd.admin.ch/newsd/message/attachments/65098.pdf, and is copied below.

Virtual Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering, 29 January 2021

Personal Concluding Remarks by the Chair, President of the Swiss Confederation and Head of the Federal Department for Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Guy Parmelin, Switzerland

“29 Ministers and high officials representing a broad spectrum of the WTO membership attended this year’s Informal World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Gathering in virtual format. In concluding and with warm thanks to all participants for their contributions, I would like to summarise the main points from our discussions as follows:

“• Ministers stressed the urgency of the swift appointment of a new WTO Director-General as well as the confirmation of the date and venue of the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12).

“• Ministers reiterated their determination to maintain a credible multilateral trading system and to restore a climate of mutual trust.

“• Ministers expressed their concerns about the enormous social and economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. They highlighted the relevance of trade and the role of the WTO in containing the pandemic and promoting recovery. Many Ministers underlined the importance of ensuring the development of as well as an equitable and affordable access to medical goods, including vaccines. They addressed ways and means to achieve these goals, including the implementation of measures facilitating trade, the role of intellectual property and transparency.

“• Ministers regretted that the negotiations on fisheries subsidies could not be completed in accordance with the end-2020 deadline foreseen in SDG 14.6. In light of the significance of this process for the sustainability of global fisheries, Ministers concurred that a comprehensive and effective agreement on fisheries subsidies should be concluded as soon as possible. Ministers agreed to step up efforts with a view to finding mutually acceptable solutions consistent with all the elements of the negotiating mandate.

“• Ministers highlighted the importance of restoring a fully functional WTO dispute settlement system, which is a key pillar of the rules-based multilateral trading system.

“• Many participants argued for further progress in agricultural trade policy reform at MC12 and asked for an outcome on domestic support and other issues. The issues of public stockholding and the special safeguard mechanism were highlighted by several Ministers.

“• Many Ministers called for tangible outcomes, by MC12, on the Joint Statement Initiatives. Inter alia finalizing the process on Services Domestic Regulation and making substantial progress on E-commerce and Investment Facilitation as well as on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment.

“• The need to reform the WTO was widely acknowledged. A number of Ministers insisted on advancing diverse issues related to the special and differential treatment of developing and least developed countries. Some participants proposed to adjust WTO rules to present-day economic and competitive conditions.

“• Several Ministers supported new initiatives launched in response to global challenges such as the structured discussions on Trade and Environmental Sustainability.

“• Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to engage in the preparations for MC12 in order to advance key issues.”


The participants at this year’s informal ministerial included officials from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chad (coordinator for LDC Group), Chile, China, Egypt, European Union, India, Indonesia, Jamaica (Coordinator ACP Group), Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Mauritius (Coordinator African Group), Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland (Chair), Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States and three officials with WTO roles — H.E. Mr. David Walker (New Zealand), WTO General Council Chair; H.E. Mr. Santiago Wills (Colombia), WTO Chair of the Negotiating Group on Rules, H.E. Mr. Alan Wolff, WTO Deputy Director-General. The full list with titles is embedded below.

List-of-participants-at-virtual-informal-ministerial-1-29-2021-65099

The good news for the informal ministerial was the position taken by the United States representative who reportedly indicated that the United States was actively reviewing the issue of the next Director-General and was intent on actively working on WTO reform. See, e.g., Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, Biden administration strikes ‘constructive’ tone in first word on WTO approach, January 29, 2021, https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/biden-administration-strikes-%E2%80%98constructive%E2%80%99-tone-first-word-wto-approach; Politico, Biden administration joins call for ‘swift appointment’ of new WTO head, January 29, 2021, https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/29/biden-world-trade-organization-463820. Under the Trump Administration, the United States had blocked the formation of consensus around Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala based on the U.S. view that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala did not have a sufficient trade background. See, e.g., January 26, 2021, Letter from variety of former U.S. officials to President Biden urges U.S. support for Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as next WTO Director General, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/26/letter-from-variety-of-former-u-s-officials-to-president-biden-urges-u-s-support-for-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-as-next-wto-director-general/. Hopefully, the current review of the issue by the Biden Administration, even ahead of President Biden’s trade team being confirmed by the U.S. Senate, will result in the U.S. joining the support for Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, permitting the WTO to approve a next Director-General.

It was also reported that the United States, consistent with the Biden Administration’s focus on the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, expressed interest in promoting recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and concluding an ambitious fisheries subsidies agreement. See Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, Biden administration strikes ‘constructive’ tone in first word on WTO approach, January 29, 2021, https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/biden-administration-strikes-%E2%80%98constructive%E2%80%99-tone-first-word-wto-approach. Fisheries subsidies negotiations have been going on for some twenty years, and many Members have remained more concerned with keeping their subsidies in place than agreeing to disciplines that would create conditions for sustainable fishing going forward. The Interest in the Biden Administration in working within the WTO on joint steps to promote recovery from the pandemic is different from the approach pursued by the Trump Administration which didn’t want to look at actions possible within the WTO (other than limits on export restraints on agricultural goods) while the world was dealing with the pandemic. The U.S. statement should mean more interest in exploring issues like those raised by the Ottawa Group. See November 27, 2020, The Ottawa Group’s November 23 communication and draft elements of a trade and health initiative, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/11/27/the-ottawa-groups-november-23-communication-and-draft-elements-of-a-trade-and-health-initiative/.

Other issues flagged in the Swiss President’s concluding remarks are issues of particular interest to some or many countries but not topics of clear agreement. For example, while it is likely that the United States will look for ways to resolve its concerns about longstanding problems in the WTO’s dispute settlement system, particularly around the Appellate Body, it is unlikely that there will be a swift resolution of the U.S. concerns, and hence there will likely be a continued impasse for at least much of 2021 on the return of a functioning two-stage dispute settlement system.

Similarly on domestic support in agriculture and other agriculture issues flagged, certain WTO Members have not supported further liberalization in agriculture while pushing for limits on domestic subsidies and rollback of liberalization commitments undertaken in the Uruguay Round. It is unlikely that there will be forward movement on these issues without greater balance in terms of tariff reductions on major agricultural products. Moreover, as noted in a recent post, other major distortions in agriculture that are not presently identified as domestic subsidies include widespread use of child and forced labor on many agricultural products. See January 25, 2021, Child labor and forced labor in cotton production — is there a current WTO mandate to identify and quantify the distortive effects?, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/25/child-labor-and-forced-labor-in-cotton-production-is-there-a-current-wto-mandate-to-identify-and-quantify-the-distortive-effects/; January 24, 2021, Forced labor and child labor – a continued major distortion in international trade for some products, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/24/forced-labor-and-child-labor-a-continued-major-distortion-in-international-trade-for-some-products/. Such practices should be quantified and the level of potential distortion identified so WTO Members can decide how to address them in ongoing agriculture negotiations.

Progress is being made on Joint Statement Initiatives including e-commerce, services domestic regulation, investment facilitation and women’s empowerment. An open issue for these and topics in the sphere of trade and the environment (e.g., environmental goods agreement) is whether benefits provided by participants will be made available on an MFN basis or limited to participants, with the option of other Members to join in the future. See January 18, 2021, Revisiting the need for MFN treatment for sectoral agreements among the willing, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/18/revisiting-the-need-for-mfn-treatment-for-sectoral-agreements-among-the-willing/. For many Members liberalization could be speeded up if benefits in sectoral agreements go to those participating only while leaving the door open for other Members to join later when they see the value for them.

And on the important topic of WTO reform beyond the items listed above, there is little current agreement on how to deal with industrial subsidies and other practices that lead to massive global excess capacity, or on how to address access to special and differential treatment and many other areas of importance to some or many WTO Members.

Deputy Director-General Alan Wolff provided a statement during the virtual informal ministerial urging WTO Members to make 2021 a year of accomplishments. The WTO press release can be found here. WTO News, DDG Wolff urges WTO ministers to address the pandemic and make 2021 a year of action, 29 January 2021, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news21_e/igo_29jan21_e.htm. DDG Wolff’s statement is copied below.

“My thanks to our Swiss hosts and to President Parmelin both for his remarks today and for his very thoughtful address on the occasion of the 25th anniversary celebration of the WTO last November.

“Ministers, you can make 2021 a year of substantial accomplishments at the WTO.

“There has already been a beginning.  In the first action of the year, Members accounting for most of the world’s agricultural exports committed to refrain from imposing export restrictions on purchases made by the World Food Program.

“The anticipated appointment of a new Director-General will bring needed leadership in moving toward concrete results.  But she can succeed only with your active engagement.

“I urge you not to wait for the Twelfth Ministerial Conference, delayed by the pandemic, to move negotiations forward to positive outcomes. 

“There is no reason why the twenty-year negotiation on fisheries subsidies cannot be concluded successfully — without a sacrifice of ambition — in the next few months.  Success hinges on Members’ willingness to accept a significant level of discipline on their own subsidies.  Political decisions and your active engagement will be required to bring about success.

“I urge you to address ‘trade and health’ forcefully and immediately.  Last year, trade made a vitally important contribution in supplying needed medical supplies to deal with COVID-19.  Proposals as to what more can be done must be deliberated now.  Cooperation on trade can accelerate access to vaccines.  There can be no higher priority.

“Consider how the WTO can further contribute to the economic recovery.  Members can take steps to ensure enhanced transparency, work to eliminate unnecessary barriers and agree that new restrictions will not be imposed.  Trade finance must be restored.  The WTO convened the major international financial organizations and banks to address this need in the aftermath of the financial crisis and it can do so now again.

“’Trade and climate’ must be on the WTO agenda.  Carbon border adjustment measures will likely result in conflicts unless Members engage in joint efforts to find mutually beneficial solutions.  The heightened interest of Members in a broad range of other environmental issues such as plastics pollution and the circular economy can be reflected in new agreements.   The WTO can be more visible as a steward of the planet by reviving and concluding the Environmental Goods Agreement

“The Joint Statement Initiatives on e-commerce, investment facilitation, and services domestic regulation can bear fruit this year, building on what was achieved with respect to small businesses last year.  In addition, more progress can be made on the economic empowerment of women through international trade.  

“Concerns over income inequality have been growing.  The WTO’s rules-based system needs to be seen not only among countries but also within countries, as responsive to the needs of workers, farmers and all who wish to engage in international trade.  But international trade rules cannot substitute for domestic policy actions to make growth more inclusive.  When large numbers of people are unhappy with how the economy is working for them, trade will often receive undeserved blame.  The WTO is about fairness.  Its work will never be done in pursuit of that objective, but further progress can be made this year.

“There can be an outcome on agriculture — at least a down-payment and a defined work program going forward.

“During 2021, the WTO can likely welcome new WTO Members, as it continues to move towards universal coverage.  Comoros and Bosnia-Herzegovina may be ready, and over a dozen others are making progress.

“Last but not least, ‘WTO reform’ can become a reality, with actions taken to —

“- facilitate rule-making with wide participation,

“- achieve heightened enforcement through binding dispute settlement in a manner agreed by all, and

“- provide a strong mandate for a Secretariat to deliver all needed support to Members and to achieving the mission of the WTO. 

“We should greet this year with optimism and re-dedication.  With your strong engagement, 2021 can be a year to remember for what is achieved.

“Thank you.”

A presentation from the WTO Secretariat to Ministers needs to be positive, forward looking, aspirational and inspirational. DDG Wolff’s statement yesterday provides all of that. The first item mentioned, the joint pledge from 79 WTO Members not to restrict agricultural exports to the UN World Food Programme for humanitarian purposes is a positive for the world but follows the December failure of the WTO General Council to agree to the same by all WTO Members. See January 23, 2021, WTO and the World Food Programme – action by 79 Members after a failed December effort at the General Council, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/23/wto-and-the-world-food-programme-action-by-79-members-after-a-failed-december-effort-at-the-general-council/.

The challenge for the WTO in 2021 will be whether Members can come together in fact to achieve many of the important opportunities and needs in front of the Membership. While the history of the WTO since 1995 and the major divisions among Members at the present time would strongly suggest that 2021 will not achieve many of the things that are needed and possible, hope springs eternal.

U.S. perspective

The Trump Administration did an excellent job of identifying problems with the operation of the WTO whether from the longstanding failures of the dispute settlement system, to the existential challenges to the viability of the WTO from major Members whose economies have not converged to a full market orientation, to the out-of-date rules around special and differential treatment to all who claim developing country status regardless of economic development of individual members, to the need for greater transparency in many areas, including importantly subsidies, to the failure of the WTO to update rules to address changing technology and trade issues.

The Biden Administration has indicated its intention to work within multilateral institutions, including the WTO. Early action by the United States on the Director-General selection issue could provide positive energy to WTO Members in the coming months. There are topics where success can be made in 2021 either multilaterally or plurilaterally. But a lot of what is needed for meaningful WTO reform will be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve in the short term. Hopefully, the Biden team will stay the course to achieve reform that both returns the WTO playing field to the level agreed at the time of concluding the Uruguay Round, finds ways to deal with the massive distortions not presently covered by WTO rules, works with others to bring the WTO into the 21st century and addresses the critical issues for global prosperity and sustainable development.

Child labor and forced labor in cotton production — is there a current WTO mandate to identify and quantify the distortive effects?

In yesterday’s post (January 24), I reviewed the continued widespread human rights issue of child labor and forced labor in the production of a wide range of products (agricultural, manufactured, mined products) in many countries around the world. Such actions raise trade concerns by distorting the costs of production of products made with such labor and hence potentially skewing trade flows towards producers “benefitting” from the use of such labor. See January 24, 2021:  Forced labor and child labor – a continued major distortion in international trade for some products, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2021/01/24/forced-labor-and-child-labor-a-continued-major-distortion-in-international-trade-for-some-products/. In the United States, imports of products made with such labor are supposed to be banned. I had concluded by arguing that the WTO should develop information that would help Members understand the quantity of products that are made with child or forced labor and permit Members to then decide what actions were needed to eliminate or offset such practices.

I received a comment on yesterday’s post from Amb. Dennis Shea, the Former Deputy United States Trade Representative and Chief of Mission on international trade issues in Geneva and the Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the WTO (2017-January 2021). Amb. Shea’s comment focused on cotton. He said, “The WTO’s Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (COA-SS) and its Cotton Subcommittee are charged with examining all trade-distorting policies affecting the cotton sector in order to discharge its mandate properly. It seems to me that the COA-SS and Cotton Subcommittee should examine recent reports of widespread forced labor in the picking of cotton in the Xinjiang Province of China. It is my understanding that Xinjiang accounts for nearly 20 percent of global cotton exports, so it’s probably not a stretch to say that forced labor practices there (horrific from a human rights standpoint) are also distorting global cotton prices.”

While cotton is but one of many products believed to be produced by child and/or forced labor, it is an important product globally. The fact that there may be an existing WTO mechanism for developing the relevant information is potentially important.

In yesterday’s post, I had referenced an upcoming WITA virtual webinar, The U.S. Moves Against Forced Labor in Xinjiang, being held this Wednesday, January 27. One of the speakers at the event is Dr. Adrian Zenz, Senior Fellow in China Studies, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, Washington, D.C. One of the papers referenced in a recent WITA note is by Dr. Zenz for the Center for Global Policy entitled “Coercive Labor in Xinjiang: Labor Transfer and the Mobilization of Ethnic Minorities to Pick Cotton” (December 2020), https://cgpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/20201214-PB-China-Zenz-1-3.pdf. The paper confirms that Xinjiang produces 20% of global cotton and nearly 84.9% of all cotton produced in China. Id. at 3. The Executive Summary of the paper states in part (page 3) —

“The evidence shows that in 2018, three Uyghur regions alone mobilized at least 570,000 persons into cotton-picking operations through the government’s coercive labor training and transfer scheme. Xinjiang’s total labor transfer of ethnic minorities into cotton picking likely exceeds that figure by several hundred thousand.

“Despite increased mechanization, cotton picking in Xinjiang continues to rely strongly on manual labor. In 2019, about 70 percent of the region’s cotton fields had to be picked by hand – especially the high-quality
long-staple cotton predominantly grown in southern Xinjiang’s Uyghur regions, where mechanized picking shares are low. State policies have greatly increased the numbers of local ethnic minority pickers, reducing
reliance on outside Han Chinese migrant laborers. The intensive two- to three-month period of cotton picking represents a strategic opportunity to boost rural incomes, and therefore plays a key role in achieving the state’s poverty alleviation targets. These targets are mainly achieved through coercive labor transfers.

“Cotton picking is grueling and typically poorly paid work. Labor transfers involve coercive mobilization
through local work teams, transfers of pickers in tightly supervised groups, and intrusive on-site surveillance by government officials and (in at least some cases) police officers. Government supervision teams monitor pickers, checking that they have a “stable” state of mind, and administer political indoctrination sessions. Some regions put Uyghur children and elderly persons into centralized care while working-age adults
are away on state-assigned cotton-picking work assignments. While not directly related to the campaign of mass internment, these labor transfers can include persons who have been released from internment camps.

“The data presented in this report provides strong evidence that the production of the majority of Xinjiang’s cotton involves a coercive, state-run program targeting ethnic minority groups.”

China is not the only country where the U.S. Department of Labor has identified production of cotton is likely done with child labor, forced labor or child labor and forced labor. See USDOL, 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, September 2020, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2019/2020_TVPRA_List_Online_Final.pdf. Indeed many of the world’s largest cotton producers are listed in the report as likely producing cotton with child labor, forced labor or both child labor and forced labor:

Child labor: Argentina, Azerbaizan, Brazil, Egypt, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Mali, Turkey, Zambia.

Forced labor: Pakistan, Uzbekistan

Child labor and forced labor: China, India (cottonseed), Turkmenistan.

In the past there has been one WTO dispute on subsidies to cotton producers in the United States. See UNITED STATES – SUBSIDIES ON UPLAND COTTON, WT/DS267 (case brought by Brazil). I have been unable to find information on the WTO webpage that indicates the question of child or forced labor as a subsidy or other form of nontariff barrier has ever been examined at the WTO whether on cotton or more broadly.

For the last seventeen years, there has been concern about distortions to the cotton trade and the harm to countries for which cotton is a major export product. The breakout of cotton occurred at the request of the so-called Cotton Four — Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali. See Cotton, https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/agric_e/cotton_e.htm.

“Cotton is discussed at the WTO on two tracks: 1) the trade reforms needed to address subsidies and high trade barriers for cotton, and 2) the assistance provided to the cotton sector in developing countries.

“The trade aspects of cotton are handled by the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session including through dedicated discussions on trade in cotton. The development assistance aspects of cotton are discussed in the meetings of the ‘Director-General’s Consultative Framework Mechanism on Cotton’.

“These various tracks of discussion have been developed over the years as a response to a series of proposals to address the sector tabled by four African countries — Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali — known as the Cotton Four or C4.”

While WTO Members are supposed to be reporting information on various categories of data (including domestic support) on cotton and on non-tariff barriers affecting trade in cotton, the latest WTO Secretariat compilation of information does not indicate that Members were asked about or provided information on the benefits to domestic cotton production from child labor and/or forced labor. See COTTON — BACKGROUND PAPER BY THE SECRETARIAT, TN/AG/GEN/34/Rev.13, TN/AG/SCC/GEN/13/Rev.13, 2 November 2020 (and Add.1 and Add.2); COTTON — MINISTERIAL DECISION OF 7 DECEMBER 2013, WT/MIN(13)/41, WT/L/916, 11 December 2013 (“3. In this context, we therefore undertake to enhance transparency and monitoring in relation to the trade-related aspects of cotton. To this end, we agree to hold a dedicated discussion on a biannual basis in the context of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session to examine relevant trade-related developments across the three pillars of Market Access, Domestic Support and Export Competition in relation to cotton. 4. The dedicated discussions shall be undertaken on the basis of factual information and data compiled by the WTO Secretariat from Members’ notifications, complemented, as appropriate, by relevant information provided by Members to the WTO Secretariat. 5. The dedicated discussions shall in particular consider all forms of export subsidies for cotton and all export measures with equivalent effect, domestic support for cotton and tariff measures and non-tariff measures applied to cotton exports from LDCs in markets of interest to them.”); COTTON — MINISTERIAL DECISION OF 19 DECEMBER 2015, WT/MIN(15)/46, WT/L/981, 21 December 2015. The background paper (without addenda) is embedded below.

TNAGGEN34R13

Thus, there is an existing forum for developing information on all distortions to the cotton market. Yet, to date, the WTO subcommittee on Cotton is not examining the widespread issue of child labor and forced labor as part of its information gathering. This is unfortunate but could be addressed if there is a will to in fact flag all distortions.

There can be arguments pro and con on whether all child labor and forced labor constitutes actionable subsidies under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. While I believe that the practices identified as being used in Xinjiang constitute actionable subsidies (government action which provides inputs (labor) at rates lower than market), there can be no doubt that the failure of governments to eliminate child labor and forced labor distorts competition between those obtaining products through the use of such labor and others who are not using such labor. The use of child labor and forced labor are universally condemned and supposed to be eliminated by 2025 (child labor) or 2030 (forced labor) pursuant to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The WTO can and should develop the factual basis for an understanding of the trade distortions flowing from child labor and forced labor. The existence of a current program at the WTO on cotton to develop information on all forms of subsidies and all forms of non-tariff barriers is a good place to start the exercise. My thanks to Amb. Shea for flagging the potential existing vehicles within the WTO to address at least cotton.

Forced labor and child labor — a continued major distortion in international trade for some products

In recent years, the United States has paid more attention to the trade distortions flowing from forced labor and child labor in other countries, particularly in China. While there has been significant progress in the last twenty years in reducing forced labor and child labor globally according to the International Labor Organization (“ILO”), the COVID-19 pandemic has seen some retrenchment and efforts by China to address minorities in country have created an international backlash and concern.

The ILO webpage on forced labor reflects the global nature of the problem. The webpage states in part,

“Although forced labour is universally condemned, ILO estimates show that 24.9 million people around the world are still subjected toit. Of the total number of victims of forced labour, 20.8 million (83 per cent) are exploited in the private economy, by individuals or enterprises, and the remaining 4.1 million (17 per cent) are in State-imposed forms of forced labour. Among those exploited by private individuals or enterprises, 8 million (29 per cent) are victims of forced sexual exploitation and 12 million (64 per cent) of forced labour exploitation. Forced labour in the private economy generates some US$ 150 billion in illegal profits every year: two thirds of the estimated total (or US$ 99 billion) comes from commercial sexual exploitation, while another US$ 51 billion is a result from forced economic exploitation in domestic work, agriculture and other economic activities (Note 1).

“Vestiges of slavery are still found in some parts of Africa, while forced labour in the form of coercive recruitment is present in many countries of Latin America, in certain areas of the Caribbean and in other parts of the world. In numerous countries, domestic workers are trapped in situations of forced labour, and in many cases they are restrained from leaving the employers’ home through threats or violence. Bonded labour persists in South Asia, where millions of men, women and children are tied to their work through a vicious circle of debt. In Europe and North America, a considerable number of women and children are victims of traffickers, who sell them to networks of forced prostitution or clandestine sweat-shops. Finally, forced labour is still used as a punishment for expressing political views.

“For many governments around the world, the elimination of forced labour remains an important challenge in the 21st century. Not only is forced labour a serious violation of a fundamental human right, it is a leading cause of poverty and a hindrance to economic development. ILO standards on forced labour, associated with well-targeted technical assistance, are the main tools at the international level to combat this scourge.”

ILO, International Labour Standards on Forced labour, https://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-international-labour-standards/forced-labour/lang–en/index.htm. See also ILO and Walk Free, 2017, Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, Forced Labor and Forced Marriage, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@dgreports/@dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_575479.pdf.

Child labor involves more people – an estimated 152 million of which 73 million are involved in hazardous work. See ILO, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour and Forced Labour (IPEC+), https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/how-the-ilo-works/flagships/ipec-plus/lang–en/index.htm.

While the incidence of forced labor and child labor is declining, the COVID-19 pandemic has complicated trends as these populations are most vulnerable. See, e.g., ILO, The International Labour Organization
and the US Department of Labor partnership to eliminate child labour and forced labour, 2019, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_710971.pdf (“The ILO’s most recent global estimates of child labour indicate, however, that significant progress is
being made. From 2000 to 2016, there was a net reduction of 94 million children in child labour and
the number of children in hazardous work was halved. In parallel, the ILO Worst Forms of Child
Labour Convention (No. 182) was ratified by 186 countries, reaching almost universal ratification.
The challenges ahead, however, remain formidable: in 2016, 152 million girls and boys were in child
labour and 25 million men, women and children were trapped in forced labour.”); ILO, COVID-19 impact on
child labour and forced labour: The response of the IPEC+ Flagship Programme, 2020, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_norm/—ipec/documents/publication/wcms_745287.pdf (“COVID-19 has plunged the world into a crisis of unprecedented scope and scale. Undoubtedly, restoring global health remains the first priority, but the strict measures required are resulting in massive economic and social shocks. As lockdown, quarantine, physical distancing and other isolation measures to suppress transmission continue, the global economy has plunged into a recession. The harmful effects of this pandemic will not be distributed equally. They are expected to be most damaging in the poorest countries and in the poorest neighbourhoods, and for those in already disadvantaged or vulnerable situations, such as
children in child labour and victims of forced labour and human trafficking, particularly women and girls.
These vulnerable groups are more affected by income shocks due to the lack of access to social protection,
including health insurance and unemployment benefits. * * * Experience from previous crisis situations, such as the 2014 Ebola epidemic, has shown that these factors play a particularly strong role in exacerbating the risk to child labour and forced labour.”).

In China, the government’s efforts to “reeducate” minority populations (e.g., Uyghurs from the western region of Xinjiang) has led to allegations of forced labor on a range of products and actions by the United States to restrict certain imports from China from the region. The Washington International Trade Association is holding a virtual webinar on January 27 looking at the challenges in China and the forced labor problem of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the resulting U.S. ban on cotton and tomato products. See WITA, WITA’s Friday Focus on Trade, Vol. 206, January 22, 2021 (containing various articles on the China forced labor issue and referencing the webinar on January 27, WITA Webinar: The U.S. Moves Against Forced Labor in Xinjiang).

The U.S. Department of Labor in September released its 2020 list of products believed to be produced in foreign countries with forced labor or with child labor. See USDOL, 2020 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, September 2020, https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ILAB/child_labor_reports/tda2019/2020_TVPRA_List_Online_Final.pdf. The report provides the following statement of purpose:

“The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL or the Department) has produced this ninth edition of the List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor in accordance with the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA), as amended. The TVPRA requires USDOL’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB or the Bureau) to “develop and make available to the public a list of goods from countries that
[ILAB] has reason to believe are produced by forced labor or child labor in violation of international standards” (TVPRA List or the List; 22 U.S.C. § 7112(b)(2)(C)). It also requires submission of the TVPRA List to the United States Congress not later than December 1, 2014, and every 2 years thereafter (22 U.S.C. § 7112(b)(3)).

“The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act of 2018 expanded ILAB’s mandate to require the TVPRA List to include, ‘to the extent practicable, goods that are produced with inputs that are produced with forced labor or child labor’” (22 U.S.C. 7112(b)(2)(C)).

“The TVPRA directs ILAB ‘to work with persons who are involved in the production of goods on the list … to create a standard set of practices that will reduce the likelihood that such persons will produce goods using [child labor or forced labor],’ and ‘to consult with other departments and agencies of the United States Government to reduce forced and child labor internationally and ensure that products made by forced labor and child labor in violation of international standards are not imported into the United States’ (22 U.S.C. § 7112(b)(2)(D)–(E)).” (pages 1 and 3).

This year’s publication lists 77 countries that have one or more products believed to be produced with child labor, with forced labor or with both child and forced labor. Fourteen countries are listed as having products believed to be produced with forced labor. Thirty-six countries are listed as believed to produce products with child and forced labor. Sixty-four countries produce some products with child labor. The 77 countries are listed below along with whether products are believed produced with child labor, forced labor, or child labor & forced labor.

Afghanistan — child larbor; child labor & forced labor

Angola — child labor & forced labor

Argentina — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Azerbaijan — child labor

Bangladesh – child labor; child labor & forced labor

Belize — child labor

Benin — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Bolivia — child labor; forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Brazil — child labor; forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Burkina Faso — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Burma — child labor; forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Cambodia — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Cameroon — child labor

Central African Republic — child labor

Chad — child labor

China — forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Colombia — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Costa Rica — child labor

Cote d’Ivoire — child labor & forced labor

Democratic Republic of the Congo — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Dominican Republic — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Ecuador — child labor

Egypt — child labor

El Salvador — child labor

Eswatini — child labor

Ethiopia — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Ghana — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Guatemala — child labor

Guinea — child labor

Honduras — child labor

India — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Indonesia — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Iran — child labor

Kazakhstan — child labor & forced labor

Kenya — child labor

Kyrgyz Republic — child labor

Lebanon — child labor

Lesotho — child labor

Liberia — child labor

Madagascar — child labor

Malawi — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Malaysia — forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Mali — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Mauritania — child labor

Mexico — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Mongolia — child labor

Mozambique — child labor

Nepal — child labor & forced labor

Nicaragua — child labor

Niger — child labor; forced labor

Nigeria — child labor; child labor & forced labor

North Korea — forced labor

Pakistan — child labor; forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Panama — child labor

Paraguay — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Peru — child labor; forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Philippines — child labor

Russia — forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Rwanda — child labor

Senegal — child labor

Sierra Leone –child labor; child labor & forced labor

South Sudan — child labor & forced labor

Sudan — child labor

Suriname — child labor

Taiwan — forced labor

Tajikistan — child labor & forced labor

Tanzania — child labor

Thailand — child labor; forced labor; child labor & forced labor

Turkey — child labor

Turkmenistan — child labor & forced labor

Uganda — child labor

Ukraine — child labor

Uzbekistan — forced labor

Venezuela — forced labor

Vietnam — child labor; child labor & forced labor

Yemen — child labor

Zambia — child labor

Zimbabwe — child labor

While the number of products obviously vary by country and category, the report categorized agriculture as having 68 child labor listings and 29 forced labor listings. This compares to manufacturing with 39 child labor and 20 forced labor listings; mining showed 32 child labor and 13 forced labor listings and pornography showed one each.

Looking at specific products for individual countries provides the most information.

As an example, China is shown as having the following products believed to be produced with forced labor — Artificial Flowers, Christmas Decorations, Coal, Fish, Footwear, Garments, Gloves, Hair Products, Nails, Thread/Yarn, and Tomato Products. China is also shown as having the following products believed to be produced with child labor and forced labor — Bricks, Cotton, Electronics, Fireworks, Textiles, and Toys. As a USDOL separate post notes, gloves, hair products, textiles, thread/yarn and tomato products were added in 2020 because of research on the forced labor situation in Xinjiang. See USDOL, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, Against Their Will: The Situation in Xinjiang, Forced Labor in Xinjiang, 2020, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/against-their-will-the-situation-in-xinjiang. The document is embedded below.

Against-Their-Will_-The-Situation-in-Xinjiang-_-U.S.-Department-of-Labor

Looking at India, products believed to be produced with child labor include the following — Bidis (hand-rolled
cigarettes), Brassware, Cotton, Fireworks, Footwear, Gems, Glass Bangles, Incense (agarbatti), Leather Goods/
Accessories, Locks, Matches, Mica, Silk Fabric, Silk Thread, Soccer Balls, Sugarcane, Thread/Yarn. Products believed produced with child labor & forced labor include the following — Bricks, Carpets, Cottonseed (hybrid), Embellished Textiles, Garments, Rice, Sandstone, Stones.

While the USDOL reports don’t estimate the portion of exports from any country of individual products that are produced with child and/or forced labor, the trade consequences can be significant as such labor is artificially valued creating distortions in competitiveness and resulting trade flows. For example, the list of products for China are either important export products for China or important inputs into exported products. The same would true for India and for many other of the 77 countries on the list.

Conclusion

The U.S. has in place statutory provisions which permit the exclusion from entry into the United states of products produced with forced labor. The Trump Administration did a somewhat better job enforcing U.S. law on imports of products produced with child or forced labor. Much more can be done and should be done domestically.

Similarly, the ILO is working to eliminate forced labor and child labor consistent with UN Sustainable Development Goals. “The objective of the IPEC+ Global Flagship Programme – in line with Target 8.7 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted by the United Nations in 2015 – is to provide ILO leadership in global efforts to eradicate all forms of child labour by 2025 and all forms of contemporary slavery and human trafficking by 2030. It also aims to ensure that all people are protected from – and can protect themselves against – these gross human rights violations.” ILO, IPEC+ Global Flagship Programme Implementation, Towards a world free from child labour and forced labour, page 4, 2020, https://respect.international/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/wcms_633435.pdf.

The WTO could play a role in the fight against forced labor and child labor. Such labor practices distort global trade flows in addition to the challenges created for countries engaged in such practices in terms of poverty and human rights abuses. The WTO could gather information from Members on the volume of production and exports of products produced with child and forced labor both as finished products and as inputs into other products. Such an exercise would facilitate an understanding of the extent of global trade represented by such products and help focus attention on trade actions that could be taken to help Members eliminate such harmful practices. While it is unlikely that Members will agree to such a data gathering undertaking, one is surely needed and would add transparency to a source of an important global issue with trade as well as non-trade dimensions.

WTO Director-General selection process — what do results from first round of consultations suggest are key criteria for WTO Members in next Director-General?

Last week, five of eight candidates advanced to the second round of consultations when the WTO’s Chairman of the General Council reviewed with the membership the results of the first round of consultations. The second round of consultations starts this week. WTO Members’ preferences in the second round will result in the field being reduced from five to two candidates before the third round selects the candidate viewed as most likely to achieve consensus among the WTO Members. The selection process should end by November 7, 2020

Can anything be gleaned from the results of the first round results?

  1. The three candidates who did not advance

The three candidates eliminated were Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri of Mexico, Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt and Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova.

Dr. Seade has had personal involvement with the GATT during the Uruguay Round and was not only Mexico’s Ambassador to the GATT but then a Deputy Director-General of the GATT at the end of the Uruguay Round and one of the original Deputy Directors-General when the WTO was set up in 1995.

Mr. Mamdouh similarly has had a long and distinguished history with the GATT and WTO that stretches back to the Uruguay Round and continued in various capacities within the Secretariat ending with a sixteen year stint as Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division.

Thus, if one was putting primacy on technical expertise or a deep understanding of the origins of the WTO (arguably relevant to current crisis issues like the impasse over the Appellate Body), then one would have expected both of these individuals to get past the round one consultations. As they didn’t, it follows that depth of technical capability was not a driving consideration for Members in the first round of consultations.

Although Dr. Seade has held various government positions including Under Secretary for North America and chief negotiator for the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement), he has never served as a Minister (Secretary) in the Mexican government. Moreover, Mexico, while part of North America, is typically referred to as part of Latin America. Since the last Director-General was from Brazil (also included in “Latin America”), this fact could have been viewed as a negative for Dr. Seade.

For the enormous history that Mr. Mamdouh has had with the WTO, he never served as either an Ambassador or took the position of Minister for the Egyptian government. Thus, to the extent Members were putting primacy on candidates who had served in a high political position for their host government, Mr. Mamdouh would have been viewed as not meeting that criteria.

Amb. Ulianovschi served both as Moldova’s Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein (including being Ambassador/Permanent Representative to the WTO) and later served as a Minister of Foreign Affairs. Thus, he has both familiarity with WTO issues and had a prior senior political position. Since Moldova is part of Europe and most Directors-General of the GATT and WTO have been from Europe, this could have been viewed as a negative for Amb. Ulianovschi (though the same was also true for Dr. Liam Fox of the United Kingdom who has advanced to the second round of consultations).

2. The five candidates who have advanced to round two

Of the five candidates who have advanced, all have served as a Minister in their home government with four — Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria, H.E. Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya, H.E. Mohammad Moziad Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia and the Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP of the United Kingdom having served two terms or in two different Minister positions. The fifth, H.E. Yoo Myung-hee of the Republic of Korea is the current Minister for Trade in Korea.

The differentiation between those who advanced and those who didn’t thus seems to hinge in significant part of the perception of political weight a candidate would bring based in part on the senior government role each has played. While Amb. Ulianovschi of Moldova did not advance and yet was a Minister, his being from a European country may have been the distinguishing factor. He was also the youngest candidate by more than a decade which may have been another factor for some.

Moving into the second round of consultations, what considerations may influence who makes the next cut?

The Chairman of the General Council indicated that WTO Members viewed all eight candidates as highly qualified and respected. This means for many Members the important factors may be less about the qualifications but more about geographical diversity of the membership. The Procedures adopted at the end of 2002 for the selection of Directors-General has a paragraph dealing with the representativeness of candidates (WT/L/509 at para. 13):

“Where Members are faced in the final selection with equally meritorious
candidates, they shall take into consideration as one of the factors the desirability of reflecting the diversity of the WTO’s membership in successive appointments to the post of Director-General.”

As there has not been a Director-General from Africa or from the Middle East and only one from Asia, geographical diversity could have aided four of the five candidates who advanced to the second round of consultations.

In addition, no GATT or WTO Director-General has been a woman to date. One of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is gender equality (SDG 5). Three of the candidates who have advanced are female. A fourth, Dr. Liam Fox, committed to ensuring that half of the senior WTO Secretariat would be women if he were selected as the next Director-General.

While all eight candidates indicated their preference for the selection to be of the best qualified candidate, it is certainly likely that other criteria will weigh in the second and third round consultation process which leads to the selection of a single candidate.

The three women candidates

Among the three women candidates, H.E. Mohamed has a proven track record on trade within the WTO and as Chair of the 2015 Nairobi Ministerial. H.E. Yoo’s career has been entirely in trade, and she has dealt with each of the U.S., China and the EU in her trade capacity for Korea. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has never been Minister of Trade though her role (twice) as Minister of Finance for Nigeria included some trade-related areas (customs, trade facilitation) and she had a distinguished career at the World Bank and is now active in various organization relevant to the recovery from COVID-19 such as GAVI (focused on getting vaccines to countries in need).

Obviously two of the three women candidates have serious trade/WTO backgrounds. The third is often viewed as having the largest political profile. Depending on how large the preference is for a strong leader with significant political experience or a strong leader with significant understanding of the trade problems before the WTO, this could lead to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala and H.E. Mohamed as being the top two women candidates or H.E. Mohamed and H.E. Yoo filling that role.

Possible wild cards that could hurt one or two of the women candidates are (1) the ongoing Japan-South Korea conflict that H.E. Yoo has been involved in; (2) China’s view towards H.E. Yoo if concerned about whether China will maintain a Deputy-Director General slot going forward if an Asian candidate is selected as the next Director-General; (3) the late disclosure that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala is a dual Nigerian-U.S. citizen and whether that is problematic for China or other Members.

The two remaining male candidates

It is unlikely that Dr. Fox makes it to the third round based simply on the Paragraph 13 indication of importance of geographical diversity and the long history of European Directors-General. He would bring a unique viewpoint to the Director-General position being the only candidate who has repeatedly stood for election in his country. His commitment to ensure half of the senior WTO Secretariat are women may also be a plus for him if only one of the women candidates advances.

Similarly, unless the membership decides that what they want as a Director-General is someone who will move the organization to a more business-like functioning approach, it is unlikely that H.E. Al-Tuwaijri makes it past round two. He has the advantage of being from an area (Middle East) that has not had a Director-General. Moreover, he has worked closely with G20 countries which could be a plus if only one of the women candidates advances to round three.

Likely outcome of Round Two Consultations

The second round of consultations starts on September 24 and concludes on October 6. At the meeting of the Heads of Delegation that follows the close of the consultations (probably October 8), it is likely that H.E. Amina C. Mohamed and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala advance to the third round of consultations.

Who will likely emerge as the sole remaining candidate after Round Three?

If H.E. Mohamed and Dr. Okonjo-Iweala advance beyond round two, the selection of a candidate most likely to achieve consensus among the WTO Members in round three will depend on whether Members prefer a candidate who has a record of achieving results in the WTO or prefer a candidate with a large record of in-country reform and of achievement within the World Bank and ability to focus Members on post COVID-19 recovery needs.

Either would be an interesting choice and would bring great energy to what will be a very challenging job at a time of multiple crises for the WTO and concerns about its continued relevance. Based on what seems to have mattered in Round One of the consultations, I would predict that Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be the next Director-General with the one caveat of whether her dual citizenship with the U.S. in addition to her home country of Nigeria becomes problematic in fact. If the caveat applies, then look for H.E. Amina C. Mohamed to be the next Director-General.

Race for becoming the next Director-General of the WTO — five candidates advance; three are asked to withdraw

At a Heads of Delegation meeting held at the World Trade Organization this morning (11:00 a.m. Geneva time), the Chairman of the General Council, Amb. David Walker, and his facilitators, Amb. Dacio Castillo of Honduras (Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body) and Amb. Harald Aspelund of Iceland (Chairman of the Trade Policy Review Body) informed the WTO Members that their consultations with Members had identified the five candidates (of eight total) who had received the broadest and deepest support and hence would be moving on to round two of the consultation process.

The five candidates who move to the second round of consultations include (in order that they were put forward as a candidate by their government):

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria;

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee of the Republic of Korea;

H.E. Amina C. Mohamed, of Kenya;

H.E. Mohammed Moziad Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia;

The Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP of the United Kingdom.

The three candidates who have been asked to withdraw based on the results of the first round of consultations include:

Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri of Mexico;

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh of Egypt;

Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova.

The WTO press release can be found here, WTO members narrow field of DG candidates, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/hod_18sep20_e.htm

A field that had originally consisted of five men and three women with two being Europeans, three being Africans, one being from the Middle East, one being Asian, and one being North American (Latin) is now a field of three women and two men with one from Europe, two from Africa, one from the Middle East and one from Asia.

As the biographies posted on the WTO webpage and the candidates prepared statement to the General Council, subsequent press conference, and interviews, webinars and other press report make clear, the eight candidates were all highly qualified individuals with a good grasp of issues currently facing the WTO and the challenges of reform. This fact and that all eight candidates were respected by the Membership was confirmed by Amb. Walker at today’s Heads of Delegation meeting.

The elimination of the three candidates removes two with the longest engagement with the GATT/WTO — Dr. Jesus Seade and Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh and the youngest candidate, Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi.

Of the five remaining, only two have extensive WTO/trade experience — H.E. Amina C. Mohamed, H.E. Yoo Myung-hee, although Dr. Liam Fox served as the U.K. Secretary of State for trade for a period of time as well and H.E. Al-Tuwaijri has a broad portfolio with trade issues included. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has extensive experience as Nigeria’s Finance Minister (with customs responsibilities) and as a senior official at the World Bank.

Second Round of Consultations

During the Heads of Delegation meeting, Amb. Walker announced that the second round of consultations would start on September 24 and run until October 6 after which there will be another Heads of Delegation meeting to review which two candidates advance to the third and final round of consultations.

During the first round, each Member was asked to identify four candidates as preferences. During the second round, each Member will be asked to identify two candidates as preferences. The three Ambassadors who are conducting the consultations with Members will then announce the results further narrowing the field from the current five to just two candidates.

Third Round of Consultations

The timing of the third round of consultations will be announced at the next Heads of Delegation meeting when the second round is completed. It is anticipated that the third round and its results will be completed ahead of November 7 consistent with the procedures adopted by the General Council back in December 2002. Procedures for the Appointment of Directors-General, WT/L/509. The results of the third round of consultations will be the candidate that is viewed as most likely to achieve consensus from the Membership. If consensus is likely, a General Council meeting will be called to confirm the selection. If consensus is not achieved, the process forward is unclear but can include taking a vote instead of pursuing consensus.

Conclusion

The selection process to date is running smoothly. The WTO was fortunate that so many talented individuals were willing to step forward to seek to become the next Director-General of the WTO and go through the grueling process that has characterized the first three months. Congratulations to the five candidates who advance. Heartfelt thanks go out to the talented candidates whose run is now ended.

The procedures adopted in 2002 seem overly complicated and time consuming to many who look in from the outside. Complicated and time consuming the procedures certainly are. However, the procedures were adopted in an effort to have Members focus on the positive question – who is your preference — and avoid Members politically committing to who was unacceptable as had happened in 1999.

Let’s hope that the remainder of the selection process proceeds smoothly and without incident.

Race for WTO Director-General — additional material on Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)

Today I review some other press articles about the candidates to provide additional perspective on important issues or the candidate’s approach to the position of Director-General if selected. Yesterday, I posted material about Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) and the day before on Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri. See September 1, 2020:  Race for WTO Director-General – additional material on Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria), https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/09/01/race-for-wto-director-general-additional-material-on-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala-nigeria/; August 31, 2020, Race for WTO Director-General – additional material on Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico), https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/08/31/race-for-wto-director-general-additional-material-on-dr-jesus-seade-kuri-mexico/.

There is no intention on my part to be exhaustive, and the research has been limited to press pieces in English. Rather the intention is to identify information not addressed in my earlier posts that may be of interest to readers.

Today’s post looks at a few articles featuring Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh from Egypt, the third candidate nominated.

  1. Daily News Egypt, August 25, 2020, Reviving WTO role as guarantor for stable international trade is my priority: Director General Candidate, https://dailynewsegypt.com/2020/08/25/reviving-wto-role-as-guarantor-for-stable-international-trade-is-my-priority-director-general-candidate/.

“In an interview with Daily News Egypt, Mamdouh highlighted that,
should his election campaign prove successful, his priority will be to
revive the organisation’s role as the guarantor of stability and
predictability in international trade relations.

“Mamdouh noted that the WTO was created to promote the growth and
expansion of world trade through a rules-based system guaranteeing the
rights and obligations of its members.

“He added that the organisation has suffered from a serious breakdown in
its three vital functions, namely dispute settlement, negotiations, and its
monitoring and deliberative capacities. These three functions are closely
interconnected, and the system was designed to operate with balance
across these three pillars.

“’My first priority will be to revive the three functions, starting with the
negotiating function,’ Mamdouh said, ‘If we cannot bring people to the
table to negotiate solutions to problems, we will get nowhere.’

* * *

“Regarding the challenges facing the organisation, in my view, over the
past quarter of a century, the WTO has suffered from a chronic
imbalance across all its vital functions. That is, dispute settlement,
negotiations, and the transparency/deliberative functions.

“In any legal system, there needs to be a balance between the ‘legislative’
and the ‘judicial’ functions. For the WTO, these are the negotiating and
the dispute settlement functions. While dispute settlement has gained
strength due to the inherent automaticity of procedures, the negotiating
function has broken down. This has created an unsustainable imbalance.

“At the same time, the international trade landscape has dramatically
changed, and the WTO system has been unable to update its rule book.
This has caused unsustainable pressure on the dispute settlement
function, which produced the current breakdown in the Appellate Body,
and as the saying goes, if you cannot negotiate, you litigate.

“The world of trade has changed, and so have the dynamics within the
organisation. Whereas the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) started its journey back in 1947 with merchandise trade across
borders, we have now expanded into trade in services and intellectual
property.

“Today, the way we trade links goods, services, ideas, capital, and
regulation. That requires a comprehensive and coherent approach by the
WTO, that leads to a ‘deal’ that is truly inclusive of all sectors and
interests of Members.

“For example, I see the role that digitalisation has played for many
industries across the economy, with technology-driven business models.
At the same time, I also see the rising tide of legitimate domestic
regulation in areas like privacy, consumer protection and cyber-security.
The interface between the two needs to be managed, to ensure the lowest
trade restrictiveness of regulatory measures, while not intruding on
regulatory sovereignty.

“To complete the picture of where we stand today, we must look at the
crisis caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and make
sure that we retain the lessons we are currently learning. The world will
need a strong and stable WTO to support the post-crisis economic
recovery.

* * *

A lot of challenges await the WTO’s new head, including the
increasing US-China tensions. How do you evaluate these
challenges and how you will deal with them?

“In my view, the tensions between the US and China are, to a very large
extent, a result of the WTO malfunctioning. The organisation was
specifically designed to avoid such tensions, by providing a forum for
resolving trade problems, not only through discussions and deliberations,
but also by updating the rule book through negotiations.

“The WTO Director General should use his or her soft power to persuade
the two parties that the organisation could be part of the solution, not the
problem. The best way to resolve such tensions would be through
seeking multilateral rule-base solutions, as opposed to bilateral deals.

“Furthermore, such tensions also have serious implications that go far
beyond the two parties directly involved. They affect a very wide range
of other WTO Members. Similarly, resolutions of such tensions will also
concern other parties, and that should be considered. Therefore,
multilateral solutions of such problems will always be the best option.

“I don’t believe that we should look at such situations in terms of having
winners and losers, but rather in terms of how we can find win-win
outcome through good mediation and creative negotiating solutions that
involve trade-offs acceptable to all.”

2. African Business Magazine, 13 August 2020, ‘The honest broker’ — Egypt’s Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh sets out his WTO leadership bid, https://africanbusinessmagazine.com/in-the-news/the-honest-broker-egypts-abdel-hamid-mamdouh-lays-out-his-wto-leadership-bid/.

“Promising not to repeat the same mistakes, Mamdouh believes the difference between the ‘Doha Round’ and the successful ‘Uruguay Round’, which led to the creation of the WTO in 1995, was the lack of strategic balance that kept the latter moving forward.

“’In the Doha Round that is not what we did,’ he says.

“’We had a big agenda with balance inside it, but we did not actually preserve the integrity of the balance as we proceeded. What happened really was the collapse of the negotiating process.’

* * *

“’We really are facing a situation where the system is threatened to fall apart,’ he says.

“’But let’s not let this crisis go to waste. Let’s use this crisis to mobilise all the political will and to move forward.’

“The first step is to ‘recall and reconstruct’ the common purpose of the WTO, based around the principles that trade is important for economies and that the best way to benefit from trade is to ensure the predictability and stability of trading conditions.

“The next step is to reform the 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; the WTO’s underlying treaty to eliminate trade barriers that was successfully built upon during the Uruguay Round and less so during the Doha Round.

“Moving towards the next ministerial meeting in Kazakhstan in 2021, specific areas of focus include negotiations on fisheries subsides, e-commerce, investment facilitation, domestic regulation services, trade and women empowerment and SMEs.

“To make the reforms possible the WTO must reimagine itself as an institution that can accommodate the demands of all its different members even though they often hold competing points of view.

“’What we need is a political vision that advances the different interests of different constituencies to bring everyone around the table, because the system can serve the interests of all,’ he says.

“’Successful relationships do not depend on how much we agree on, they depend a lot more on how we deal with our differences.’”

3. The National, August 13, 2020, WTO is in system meltdown according to the Egyptian who wants to run the body, https://www.thenational.ae/world/europe/wto-is-in-system-meltdown-according-to-the-egyptian-who-wants-to-run-the-body-1.1062808.

“Speaking at a webinar hosted by the London-based think tank Chatham House, Mr Mamdouh said the WTO had not been faced with comparable problems since it replaced the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

“’The WTO is facing a stress test that reminds me of the stress test on the GATT when I came to Geneva in [1985], when the reform was necessary,’ he said.

“Mr Mamdouh explained that the systems within the WTO were now in a state of ‘complete breakdown’ because of ‘excessive pressure’ on its dispute settlement function.

“’That was not sustainable, so it failed as well,’ he said.

* * *

“The Egyptian nominee for the WTO’s top post has said it would be his goal to hit the ground running with the body’s 12th ministerial conference, which is scheduled for June 2021.

“’I would say that there are two sets of issues that I would have as my priorities. The first is to have a clear vision for a reform agenda and reform process. So we would agree that [the ministerial conference], what do we want to do with this organisation?’

“Secondly Mr Mamdouh said there were a number of crucial negotiations, foremost among which was fisheries subsidies negotiations, which needed to be concluded.

“’There are ongoing negotiations on eCommerce, investment facilitation, domestic regulation services, small and medium-sized enterprises, trade and women empowerment. We need to register concrete progress on those,’ he said.

“’We need to, we need to use the next ministerial to move the WTO into positive territory,’ Mr Mamdouh added.”

3. The Cairo Review of Global Affairs, July 29, 2020, The Race for the World Trade Organization (podcast of interview), https://www.thecairoreview.com/podcasts/the-race-for-the-world-trade-organization/. What follows are my notes on some of Mr. Mamdouh’s responses to questions

Mr. Mamdouh noted that there has been a Breakdown in negotiating function and in transparency/monitoring function. In his view, the first task is to get the negotiating function operating again.

In response to a question on how COVID-19 has affected world trade, Mr. Mamdouh distinguished between short-term and long-term issues.

Within the short-term, Mr. Mamdouh views that there has been a lot of panic analysis. The WTO system allows some restrictions to be applied, particularly export restrictions, and a number of countries have applied such restrictions. If such restrictions are imposed, they have to be transparent, notified to the WTO, used only to the extent necessary, and terminated when not needed. What the WTO needs to ensure now is that goods and services flow smoothly. Moreover, during the COVID pandemic, not all goods have been affected by restrictions. Rather, we are basically talking about medical products and food products. So the range of goods restricted by some Members is quite limited.

Mr. Mamdouh stated that once countries get past the short term, all will need a strong WTO to ensure predictability and stability to let trade serve its role in restoring growth.

On a question dealing with negotiating issues important to developing countries, Mr. Mamdouh responded that there are negotiating items on the table now that need to be resolved which support developing country development by securing stability and predictability and which should take account of special needs of developing countries. Mr. Mamdouh believes that the WTO Members need to ensure that all three legs of the organization (negotiations, transparency/monitoring, and dispute settlement) function properly, so the organization doesn’t find itself back in the dysfunctional situation Members now find themselves in. One of the important opportunities for developing countries is the issue of digital trade, but many developing countries are presently unable to take advantage of the technological developments. Stated differently, there is a digital divide. So an important issue is how can trade negotiations at the WTO and work by the WTO with other multilateral organizations support addressing the digital divide.

How trade has changed? Mr. Mamdough responded that the trend over the last 20 years has been towards a more global value chain model of trade which depends on the smooth cross-border movement of goods and services. WTO Members need a clear and predictable trade regime to permit the smooth movement of goods and services. Many developing countries have not focused on the growing importance of the role of services in global value chains (e.g., transport, logistics, electronic payments, R&D, production engineering, etc.). Governments need to look at their regulation of services to be sure they are competitive. The third way in which trade has changed, is the digitalization of trade. Thus, how we produce, trade and consume goods and services have all changed.

On dispute settlement, Mr. Mamdouh stated that the WTO needs reform. But major surgery is not needed. The concerns expressed are not about the rules as such but how the rules are applied. Moreover, in looking at reform of dispute settlement, WTO Members must keep in mind the role that the breakdown in the negotiating function and the monitoring/governance function has had in putting undue pressure on dispute settlement. Restoring balance among the key functions will reduce the pressure on dispute settlement.

4. Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, June 15, 2020, Egypt’s Mamdouh: WTO needs to find its ‘common purpose’ again, https://insidetrade.com/daily-news/egypt%E2%80%99s-mamdouh-wto-needs-find-its-%E2%80%98common-purpose%E2%80%99-again.

Inside U.S. Trade has conducted interviews with all of the eight candidates for the Director-General position. The interview with Mr. Mamdouh was an early one conducted by the publication in mid-June.

Mr. Mamdouh takes instruction from the reform success of the Uruguay Round which succeeded because the reform agenda was balanced such that all participants had items of importance to them in the negotiations. This resulted in Members having a common purpose. Mr. Mamdouh doesn’t believe Members currently have a common purpose and that has prevented there being a viable negotiating function.

Conclusion

Each candidate has been very busy these last several months meeting with WTO Members both in Geneva and in capital (whether in person or virtually), talking to the media, doing events with academia and think tanks and others. The above additional materials on Mr. Mamdouh are a small sample of what is available online. The excerpts or summaries from the various publications have largely been limited to some of the key issues my previous posts have examined (appellate body reform, industrial subsidies, etc.) or discussions of other issues of potential interest..

Future posts will look at additional materials for other candidates.

WTO Dispute Settlement Body Meeting of August 28, 2020 — How disputes are being handled in the absence of reform of the Appellate Body

No forward movement has been made on resolving the impasse of the WTO’s Appellate Body which effectively ceased to operate for new appeals after December 10, 2019 when the number of active Appellate Body members fell below the minimum of three needed to hear appeals. At every monthly Dispute Settlement Body meeting, one of the Members presents the proposal to start the process of selecting new Appellate Body members and the U.S. indicates it is not in a position to agree to that action.

While the impasse continues, Members are dealing with how to proceed on specific disputes that have been filed and how to deal with panel decisions that get issued. For the EU and 22 other Members who are parties to the multi-party interim appeal arrangement (MPIA), disputes involving two members of the MPIA are handled through the MPIA after a panel decision if one or both parties are dissatisifed with the panel decision. Current members of the MPIA are Australia, Benin, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the European Union, Guatemala, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Mexico, Montenegro, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Singapore, Switzerland, Ukraine and Uruguay. This means that more than 110 WTO Members are not parties to the MPIA including the United States, Japan, Korea, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Argentina, Peru, Egypt, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the Russian Federation and many others.

Disputes between all other WTO Members or between other Members and one of the MPIA members require the parties to the dispute either before the panel decision or afterwards to decide how they will proceed. Concerns of many WTO Members is that a party dissatisfied with a panel decision will take an appeal which will effectively stop resolution of the matter as an appeal cannot be heard while there is no functioning Appellate Body.

MPIA members can take appeals where they are in a dispute with a non-MPIA member instead of seeking resolution through other means. For example, the Russian Federation is not a member of the MPIA. Their dispute with the EU on its antidumping methodology resulted in a panel decision that the EU found problematic. The EU filed an appeal on August 28, 2020. See WTO, Dispute Settlement, EU appeals panel report on EU dumping methodologies, duties on Russian imports, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/ds494apl_28aug20_e.htm. When raised at the August 28 dispute settlement body (DSB) meeting, Russia provided the following comment:

“The Russian Federation made a statement regarding the European Union’s appeal of the panel ruling in in DS494 (https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/cases_e/ds494_e.htm) (EU —
Cost Adjustment Methodologies and Certain Anti-Dumping Measures on Imports from Russia). Russia said it was disappointed with the EU’s decision and that that the EU’s action, in the absence of a functioning Appellate Body, essentially meant that the matter was being appealed “into the void.” The EU was seeking to escape its obligations by not trying to resolve the dispute,
Russia said.” https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dsb_28aug20_e.htm.

Interestingly, the EU has been working to be able to retaliate on any WTO Member who is not a party to the MPIA who appeals from a panel decision where the EU is a party. Presumably they understand that their action will encourage countries like the Russian Federation to take unilateral action against the EU where the EU appeals a panel decision instead of seeking a mutually agreeable solution.

The United States has reviewed at prior DSB meetings that there are many ways for Members to resolve disputes between themselves. At the recent DSB meeting, the U.S. in its prepared statement, after reviewing its ongoing concerns with the Appellate Body and the need to understand why the Appellate Body ignored the clear limits on its authority under the Dispute Settlement Understanding, provided examples of how Members are resolving disputes since December 10, 2019:

“ As discussions among Members continue, the dispute settlement system continues to function.

“ The central objective of that system remains unchanged: to assist the parties to find a solution to their dispute. As before, Members have many methods to resolve a dispute, including through bilateral engagement, alternative dispute procedures, and third-party adjudication.

“ As noted at prior meetings of the DSB, Members are experimenting and deciding what makes the most sense for their own disputes.

“ For instance, in Indonesia – Safeguard on Certain Iron or Steel Products (DS490/DS496), Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, and Vietnam reached procedural understandings that included an agreement not to appeal any compliance panel report.3

“ Similarly, in the dispute United States – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Oil Country Tubular Goods from Korea (DS488), Korea and the United States agreed not to appeal the report of any compliance panel.4

“ Australia and Indonesia have agreed not to appeal the panel report in the dispute Australia – Anti-Dumping Measures on A4 Copy Paper (DS529).5

“ Parties should make efforts to find a positive solution to their dispute, consistent with the aim of the WTO dispute settlement system.

“ The United States will continue to insist that WTO rules be followed by the WTO dispute settlement system. We will continue our efforts and our discussions with Members and with the Chair to seek a solution on these important issues.

“3 ‘Understanding between Indonesia and Chinese Taipei regarding Procedures under Articles 21 and 22 of the DSU’, (WT/DS490/3) (April 11, 2019), para. 7 (‘The parties agree that if, on the date of the circulation of the panel report under Article 21.5 of the DSU, the Appellate Body is composed of fewer than three Members available to serve on a division in an appeal in these proceedings, they will not appeal that report under Articles 16.4 and 17 of the DSU.’) and ‘Understanding between Indonesia and Viet Nam regarding Procedures under Articles 21 and 22 of the DSU’, WT/DS496/14 (March 22, 2019), para. 7 (‘The parties agree that if, on the date of the circulation of the panel report under Article 21.5 of the DSU, the Appellate Body is composed of fewer than three Members available to serve on a division in an appeal in these proceedings, they will not appeal that report under Articles 16.4 and 17 of the DSU.’).

“4 ‘Understanding between the Republic of Korea and the United States regarding Procedures under Articles 21 and 22 of the DSU’, (WT/DS488/16) (February 6, 2020), para. 4 (‘Following circulation of the report of the Article 21.5 panel, either party may request adoption of the Article 21.5 panel report at a meeting of the DSB within 60 days of circulation of the report. Each party to the dispute agrees not to appeal the report of the Article 21.5 panel pursuant to Article 16.4 of the DSU.’).

“5 Minutes of the Meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body on January 27, 2020 (WT/DSB/M/440), paras. 4.2 (‘Indonesia also wished to thank Australia for working together with Indonesia in a spirit of cooperation in order to reach an agreement not to appeal the Panel Report’ and 4.3 (‘Australia and Indonesia had agreed not to appeal the Panel Report and to engage in good faith negotiations of a reasonable period of time for Australia to bring its measures into conformity with the DSB’s recommendations and rulings, in accordance with Article 21.3(b) of the DSU.’).”

Statements by the United States at the Meeting of the WTO Dispute Settle- ment Body, Geneva, August 28, 2020 at 14, https://geneva.usmission.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/290/Aug28.DSB_.Stmt_.as-deliv.fin_.public.pdf.

Thus, there are ways for WTO Members to resolve disputes between themselves even with the Appellate Body inoperative. Some countries, like Australia, have sought positive resolutions where the other disputing party is not a member of MPIA. To date, the European Union has not sought resolution with members who are not party to the MPIA but have rather filed appeals so cases will sit in limbo until such time as the impasse is resolved.

Concluding comments

While each of the eight candidates to become the next Director-General of the WTO believe resolution of the dispute settlement system impasse is an important priority for the WTO, they differ in how quickly they believe Members will be able to overcome the impasse — Dr. Jesus Seade (Mexico) believes it can be resolved in the first 100 days. Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi believes that the challenges presented will not be resolved ahead of the 12th Ministerial Conference in 2021 but will be resolved sometime thereafter. Most other candidates hold out hope that the impasse can be resolved by the next Ministerial in 2021. Thus, the current situation of no functioning Appellate Body may continue for some time.

The U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in an Op Ed last week in the Wall Street Journal suggested that reform of the dispute settlement system is critical but may involve changing the system from its existing two-tiered configuration under the DSU to a one-tier process more like commercial arbitration. If that is the path that the United States pursues, resolution of the current situation will take years. See August 24, 2020,  USTR Lighthizer’s Op Ed in the Wall Street Journal – How to Set World Trade Straight, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/08/24/ustr-lighthizers-op-ed-in-the-wall-street-journal-how-to-set-world-trade-straight/.

Similarly, if dispute settlement reform is lumped into the broader WTO reform being discussed, the timing will be significantly delayed if reform of the WTO is to be meaningful and return the organization to a place of relevance in the 21st century.

With the queue of panel decisions that are yet due this year involving some high profile issues (e.g., national security actions by the United States on steel and aluminum and retaliation taken by many trading partners) and with the recent panel report on the U.S. countervailing duty order on Canadian softwood lumber, pressure will likely build on WTO Members to find a lasting solution to the current impasse. Increased pressure suggests heightened tensions in an organization already suffering from distrust among Members and, as a result, largely nonfunctioning pillars of negotiation, notification/monitoring, dispute settlement. In short, 2021 promises to be a challenging environment for the WTO Members and the incoming Director-General.

The race to become the next WTO Director-General — where the candidates stand on important issues: fisheries subsidies and e-commerce/digital trade

[Updated on August 27 to incorporate comments by Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova at a WITA webinar held on August 26.]

The eight candidates for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization, in looking at what topics should be moved forward or completed in negotiations were uniformly in support of an early conclusion to the negotiations on fisheries subsidies and on updating the rule book by moving the plurilateral negotiations on e-commerce/digital trade forward to at least a draft document by the twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference in 2021.

Background on fisheries subsidies

Fisheries subsidies have been subject to negotiation within the WTO since the launch of the Doha Development Agenda in December 2001 with limited forward movement in recent years. With the world’s wild caught supply of fish under severe pressure from overfishing, curbing illegal fishing and overfishing through subsidy disciplines became part of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 (Goal 14.6)(SDG). This led WTO Members at the eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires to commit to completing the negotiations on fisheries subsidies by the twelfth Ministerial Conference which was scheduled for early June 2020 to permit completion within the time frame laid out in the UN SDG. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown in Geneva and in many countries, the time frame for completing the fisheries subsidies has slipped, although in late June, the Chair of the Rules Negotiating Group released a draft consolidated text to permit Members to see if a final push to complete negotiations could be made possibly yet in 2020. I have reviewed the fisheries subsidies in a number of prior posts. See, e.g., June 29, 2020, Update on fisheries subsidies draft consolidated text from June 25, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/06/29/update-on-fisheries-subsidies-draft-consolidated-text-from-june-25/; June 27, 2020, Chair of Rules Negotiating Group releases draft consolidated fisheries subsidies text at informal meeting on June 25, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/06/27/chair-of-rules-negotiating-group-releases-draft-consolidated-fisheries-subsidies-text-at-informal-meeting-on-june-25/; January 13, 2020, Fisheries Subsidies – Will the WTO Members Reach Agreement Before June 2020? https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/01/13/fisheries-subsidies-will-the-wto-members-reach-agreement-before-june-2020/.

Background on electronic commerce/digit trade

The agenda for the Uruguay Round was established in 1986 with negotiations completed in 1993 and the agreements that created the WTO signed in 1994. At that time, there was little electronic commerce. The driver of world economic growth over the last twenty-five years has increasingly been the rapidly developing technology that permits large amounts of communication and business activity to occur electronically. Music, movies, television, books, magazines have largely gone digital. Consumer purchases of goods and services have increasingly been done digitally. During the COVID-19 pandemic much of the world has depended on electronic communications to buy groceries, handle some medical needs, eliminate in person meetings replaced by virtual meetings and much more.

While the WTO as early as the second Ministerial Conference in 1998 agreed to study issues surrounding electronic commerce to develop rules that might be necessary, the WTO’s efforts have struggled for more than twenty years with periodic agreement to continue the review and extend a moratorium on customs duties on electronic commerce. See, e.g., Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, adopted by the General Council on 25 September 1998, WT/L/274 (30 Sept. 1998); Work Programme on Electronic Commerce, Ministerial Decision of 13 December 2017, WT/Min(17)/65, WT/L/1032 (18 December 2017). These two documents are embedded below.

274

65

At the eleventh Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, WTO Members with an interest in particular issues issued Joint Statement Initiatives basically indicating that the group of listed Members were going to move forward developing potential rules on the subject matter of interest, keeping the process open to any Member wishing to participate. One of the Joint Statements was on Electronic Commerce. See JOINT STATEMENT ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE, WT/MIN(17)/60 (13 December 2017). The statement is embedded below.

60

The JSI on e-commerce has been making good progress under the leadership of Australia, Japan and Singapore. A review of progress from the March 5 General Council meeting minutes is copied below (WT/GC/M/182 at 117):

“47. Australia (Joint Statement Initiative on Electronic Commerce)

“I will first provide a report on negotiations under the Joint Statement Initiative on Electronic Commerce on behalf of the co-convenors: Australia, Japan and Singapore.

“I will start with a short summary of the informal meeting of Ministers on the Ecommerce JSI held in Davos on 24 January.

“At this meeting, Ministers underscored the importance of this initiative both commercially and systemically for the WTO and affirmed their commitment to a high standard outcome, with the participation of as many WTO members as possible.

“Ministers welcomed the good progress achieved over the first year of negotiations, including the range of proposals received, the diversity and growing number of participants, and the strong levels of engagement in negotiating rounds.

“Ministers emphasized the need to keep working hard to ensure substantial progress by MC12 and agreed to develop a consolidated negotiating text by MC12 and a pathway for the future conclusion of the negotiations.

“The Philippines also announced it would join the JSI, bringing the number of signatories to 83, representing over 90% of global trade.

“Since our last report at the December HODS/TNC, we have held an organisational meeting, on 16 December, that set a work plan leading up to MC12.

“We also convened a negotiating round from 11-14 February, which covered electronic transactions, non-discrimination and liability, consumer protection, transparency, domestic regulation, cooperation and telecommunications. These negotiations were structured around revised streamlined texts drawn from proposals made by Members, and made further progress on streamlining text.

“Two more rounds are scheduled before MC12: 17-20 March and 28 April-1 May.

“We look forward to a continuation of the constructive engagement and momentum demonstrated in February with the aim of developing a consolidated negotiating text by MC12.

“The co-convenors continue to ensure this JSI is transparent and inclusive: meetings are open to all WTO Members; and all proposals and reports are available on the WTO’s web portal.”

The JSI group had hoped to have a consolidated draft text by the 12th Ministerial Conference in June this year before the Ministerial Conference was cancelled because of the pandemic. While the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down progress for a few months, the joint convenors (Australia, Japan and Singapore) remain confident that a draft agreement can be achieved with a roadmap for completion by the 2021 Ministerial. Most documents generated by the JSI group are not publicly available. However, the titles of documents are available publicly. As of August 21, 70 documents are listed as having been submitted by Members on the JSI on electronic commerce. The most recent document is dated August 19 and is titled a “Stocktake text” (INF/ECOM/57). A July 23 document is titled “Facilitator’s note – Services Market Access — List of Proponents’ sectors of interest”).

Statements by the eight candidates seeking to become the next WTO Director-General

What follows are excerpts from candidates’ prepared statements to the General Council, my notes of their responses to questions at their press conferences following meeting with the General Council, and my notes on their comments at webinars hosted by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and the Asia Society Policy Institute.

Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico)

In his prepared statement to the General Council on July 15, Dr. Seade listed completion of the fisheries subsidies negotiations as an issue to be resolved in the first 100 days of his becoming Director-General. The Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on E-commerce was one of a number of JSIs announced at the 11th Ministerial Confernce in Buenos Aires in 2017. Dr. Seade included all JSIs as areas where he would be expecting concrete results by June 2021.

“1. Within the first hundred days: I will work closely with
members in seeking to i. reach agreement on fisheries subsidies.” (Google translation from French).

“2. Second horizon, towards our MC12 conference, and aware of the fact that its date is not yet fixed, it is important that we look for concrete results
by June 2.021, both in joint initiatives and in issues that aim to give us a more transparent and effective WTO.” (Google translation from French).

At his press conference on July 15 after his meeting with the General Council, Dr. Seade was not asked any questions about the fisheries subsidies negotiations or about the e-commerce JSI.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Seade on July 7. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-seade/. During the webinar, Dr. Seade was not asked specifically about either the fisheries subsidies negotiations or about the Joint Statement Initiative on E-commerce. However, he was asked a question on whether, if he was selected as the next Director-General, he would encourage plurilateral negotiations. All of the JSIs are plurilateral negotiations open to any Member who wishes to join. Below are my notes on the question asked and Dr. Seade’s response on plurilaterals.

Q: On the role of plurilaterals in the WTO, would you encourage their use if you are selected as the next Director-eneral?

A:  On plurilaterals, Dr. Seade tries to take a pragmatic and historic approach.  Looking at the history of the multilateral trading system, the Tokyo Round created a host of plurilaterals which were powerful to create rules that were accepted by many of the most important countries on a range of subjects (AD, Subsidies) — the so-called Tokyo Round Codes.  It was a great way to move the process of liberalization forward.  In Dr. Seade’s view, the great achievement in the Uruguay Round was to move to substantively universal rules (agriculture and textiles which had previously been outside of GATT rules were brought inside; the Tokyo Round Codes moved to Agreements applicable to all).  The Uruguay Round was possible because there were huge inducements for developing countries to accept services, TRIPs in exchange for textiles and agriculture liberalization.  However, the negotiating environment has changed. It is no longer possible to get liberalization through negotiations just betweenthe U.S. and the EU where the results are then accepted by others (e.g., agriculture). Now negotiations need to include China, India and others who need to be part and where large differences in objectives may make multilateral negotiations more difficult.  Therefore the WTO needs plurilaterals to permit forward movement.  However, the WTO and its Members need to work largely on the basis that any benefits from plurilaterals will be provided to all Members and that the agreement is open to any Member to join later if desired.  In Dr. Seade’s view, if the WTO doesn’t allow use of plurilaterals, progress at the WTO will stop.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala mentions both concluding the fisheries subsidies negotiations and updating the WTO rules to include rules on e-commerce. She adds the need to bridge the digital divide so that any such rules will have broader application and broader input.

“The WTO appears paralysed at a time when its rule book would greatly benefit from an update to 21st century issues such as e-commerce and the digital economy, the green and circular economies. Issues of women and trade and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are important to ensure greater inclusion. Bridging the digital divide to enable Least Developed Countries and other developing countries to participate will be key.”

“My vision is also of a rejuvenated and strengthened WTO that will be confident to tackle effectively ongoing issues such as the fisheries negotiations. With political will, outstanding issues of subsidies that lead to overfishing and unsustainable fishing can be concluded.”

“A rejuvenated WTO must also take on fresh challenges, such as ensuring optimal complementarity between trade and the environment and ensuring that WTO rules best respond to the realities of e-commerce and the opportunities and challenges of the digital economy.”

“Should I be elected, I would work with Members to prioritize delivering a successful MC12 with good outcomes on fisheries, agriculture and other areas. I would also prioritize updating the rulebook * * *.”

During the press conference on July 15 after her meeting with the General Council, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was asked a question on what progress in negotiations was achievable by the next Ministerial Conference and was also asked a question on how she would work towards ensuring a successful outcome on e-commerce negotiations. My notes on her responses to those questions follow.

On the question of what is achievable by the next Ministerial in 2021 and whether it is best to go after issues one at a time or in a larger grouping, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala indicated that she hoped the WTO Membership would make a decision soon on who should be Director-General so whoever is selected has more time before the next Ministerial. But even if a decision is not made until November 2020, there are some areas that could be ready by the next Ministerial. For example, a fisheries subsidies agreement should be achievable. There was a lot of discussion in the General Council on trust and building trust to move negotiations along. Trust is obviously an important issue. So the WTO may need to sequence issues to build trust by achieving a win or two. Once there are some successes, it should be possible to handle more issues in parallel.

The question on what Dr. Okonjo-Iweala would do as Director-General to see that an agreement on e-commerce was pursued was answered by noting that there was extensive work being done plurilaterally by many Members as one of a number of joint statement initiatives. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala agrees that an agreement on e-commerce is very important, but she notes that there is a digital divide where many poorer countries don’t have the infrastructure to take advantage of e-commerce. The WTO, working with other multilateral organizations, needs to see that resources are put together to help countries address the digital divide. Once the digital divide is addressed, all Members should want to and be able to participate in the e-commerce negotiations, so that the agreement becomes a multilateral one.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on July 21. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/. During the webinar, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala made an opening statement in which she reviewed the need to generate some early wins for the WTO at the 12th Ministerial Conference including both fisheries subsidies and e-commerce. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was also asked speciically about e-commerce and digital trade and how to move those talks forward. Below are my notes on those portions of the webinar.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala stated that the WTO is really at a critical moment, an existential crisis.  She believes that something needs to be done to give a lift to the organization.  Dr. Okonjo-Iweala would focus as Director-General on the next Ministerial Conference and what wins could be obtained at the Conference.  She believes that concluding the fisheries subsidies negotiations with its issues of overcapacity and overfishing should be pursued and could be concluded even before the Ministerial Conference.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala also believes that the WTO must update the rule book to cover 21st century issues.  As she has noted, the digital economy is driving the world during the COVID-19 pandemic and is of great importance to many Members.  Dr. Okonjo-Iweala believes that the WTO needs to develop rules for e-commerce as e-commerce is the future of much of trade. At the same time, the WTO must address the digital divide so participation and benefits are available to all.

Q: On e-commerce and digital trade, how do you see rules being developed? Should the rules be based on the historic principles of the WTO?

A:  Dr. Okonjo-Iweala believes that ecommerce and digital trade are very important topics. The WTO must ensure two things. First, traditional WTO principles should apply (non-discrimination, etc.).  She believes that it would be important to get many more countries to join the talks. Stated differently, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala believes the WTO should always prefer a multilateral negotiation and agreement. However, sometimes plurilaterals are needed to make progress.  Second, the WTO working with other organizations needs to address the digital divide. In Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s view, the fact that many developing countries are not participating flows from the fact that they don’t have the infrastructure to engage in e-commerce to a significant extent and hence neither participate in the talks nor gain benefits.  This is the digital divide.  WTO is not a financial institution, so the WTO needs to team with other organizations to help developing countries overcome the digital divide which will permit these Members to then participate in the negotiations.  Dr. Okonjo-Iweala also believes that the level of commitments under an e-commerce agreement will need to vary based on the ability of Members to accept obligations and to contribute.

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)

Mr. Mamdouh’s prepared statement to the General Council on July 15 identified both fisheries subsidies and the various Joint Statement Initiatives, including e-commerce, as priorities for movement by the 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12).

“For the immediate future, we need to set clear priorities. MC12 is around the corner and it needs to be a turning point in the direction of the WTO and take it on a different path towards ‘positive territory’. I believe we need to do two things: 1) agree on a reform agenda and 2) achieve concrete progress on issues currently under negotiation.

“On current negotiating subjects, fisheries subsidies come first as the one item expected to be concluded by the end of 2020. It is crucial for our future to have a successful conclusion of the fisheries subsidies negotiations.

“There are also the Joint Statement Initiatives on e-commerce, domestic regulation in services, MSMEs and investment facilitation. These initiatives address pressing issues of importance to many Members and pause new challenges.”

During Mr. Mamdouh’s press conference after his meeting with the General Council, he was asked one question about the agenda for the twelfth Ministerial Conference which resulted in an answer that included pursuing completion of the fisheries subsidies agreement and work on the Joint Statement Initiatives. My notes on Mr. Mamdouh’s response is provided below.

Mr. Mamdouh was asked if there will be enough time to prepare for the next Ministerial to have a positive agenda/outcome. He answered that if the selection process concludes before November, there should be sufficient time. In his view, the next Ministerial needs to be a turning point for the WTO. At MC12, the WTO must have a clear agenda for reform. There is not currently a mainstream focus on reform; issues are being raised ad hoc. Second, the WTO needs to score successes – fisheries subsidies and progress on joint statement initiatives are the likely areas for success.

WITA had a webinar with Mr. Mamdouh on June 23. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-candidate-hamid-mamdouh/. During the webinar, Mr. Mamdouh was asked a question about e-commerce and was also asked his views on plurilaterals and whether he would support their use if he becomes the next Director-General. As all of the Joint Statement Initiatives involve plurilateral negotiations, the question applies to e-commerce along with the other JSIs. Below are my notes on the questions and Mr. Mamdouh’s responses.

Q: U.S. has raised various issues of importance to them. How do you see elements of a reform agenda getting U.S. support if U.S. concerns are not addressed or included in the agenda?

A: Mr. Mamdouh indicated that U.S. concerns were being examined at the WTO. He took e-commerce as an example. Looking at the e-commerce agenda at the WTO, Mr. Mamdouh is of the view that there needs to be discussions that haven’t taken place at the WTO in a very long time.  Trade issues today are of increased complexity where issues of increased trade liberalization are juxtaposed with regulatory interests. E-commerce/digital trade has a slew of legitimate regulatory issues where Members can have very different perspectives. Examples would include privacy policies, cyber security, localization among others.  In Mr. Mamdouh’s view, these regulatory policy issues are both legitimate and of different importance to different Members.  So the question arises as to how new rules deal with these diversities of Member needs while ensuring rules that respect different needs while ensuring actions by Members are the least trade restrictive  While the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement are examples of issues with similar types of competing regulatory needs, many of the new issues are as or more complex. These new complex areas are not seeing discussions to date between trade folks, regulators and lawyers to help clarify the needs, challenges and options that may be available to permit WTO progress on fashioning new rules. In Mr. Mamdouh’s view, WTO Members must do a much better job of discussing issues and clarifying them so the options can be taken back home and reviewed to permit Members to get into real negotiations.

Q: Plurilaterals can be defined as agreements by like minded countries on topics.  How do you view plurilaterals and would you support them if you were selected as the next Director-General?  Should most favored nation treatment be eliminated for plurilaterals, so the benefits of plurilateral liberalization only goes to those who are participating?

A:  In Mr. Mamdouh’s view, one needs to clarify what is meant by plurilaterals.  Are we talking about plurilateral processes or outcomes?  Mr. Mamdouh views that there are two types of plurilaterals that have been pursued over time. The first is a plurilateral process that produces plurilateral outcomes — that is where the Agreement applies only to the signatories to that agreement. These are like the agreements in Annex 4 to the WTO (civil aircraft, government procurement, dairy and bovine meat). While these can be pursued they are less likely as they require the consent of all Members.  There are also plurilateral negotiations that produce multilateral outcomes. That is, the resulting agreement provides benefits to all even though the agreement was among some of the Members.  These are quite normal and are clearly within the spirit of the WTO.  Practically, Members engaged in plurilaterals will want there to be a critical mass of Members engaged for these types of plurilateral agreements to move forward. Moreover, Mr. Mamdouh noted that there is no requirement that all Members agree to the launch of plurilateral negotiations. That is not a requirement of the WTO and should not be assumed.  On the question of whether plurilateral agreements will opt increasingly to limit benefits to members, Mr. Mamdouh believes that the concept of most favored nation treatment in plurilaterals will undergo a stress test in the coming years as there are issues re reciprocity.    

Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova)

On July 16, Amb. Ulianovschi was the first candidate to meet with the General Council. In his prepared statement when Amb. Ulianovschi got to what he thought the immediate priorities for the new Director-General should be, completing the fisheries subsidies negotiations and making progress on Joint Statement Initiatives were two of the priorities listed.

“In terms of immediate priorities for the future Director General of the WTO, the following should be considered (including in the preparation process for MC12):

“2. Build upon the progress achieved already on the fisheries subsidies negotiations and strongly support Members to achieve a negotiated text by MC12;

* * *

“4. Further encouraging and supporting discussions on new and existing Joint Initiatives, particularly: on Elecronic Commerce, Investment Facilitation for Development, Domestic Services Regulation, as well as the dialogs of the informal group on MSMES and SMEs and others.

“5. Promoting negotiations of new commercial disciplines and address issues of the digital environment and new areas of intellectual property.”

During Amb. Ulianovschi’s press conference after his meeting with the General Council, the last question he was asked had Amb. Ulianovschi point to the Joint Statement Initiatives (which include electronic commerce) as a sign Members could make progress on reform issues. Amb. Ulianovschi was not asked specifically about either fisheries subsidies or electronic commerce. My notes on the question asked and Amb. Ulianovschi’s answer are provided below.

Q: The last question asked was about getting the WTO out of crisis; in particular, what is the core factor causing the crisis and how would Mr. Ulianovschi address the factor if he was selected as Director-General.

A: Mr. Ulianovschi answered that this is an existential question for the WTO. The first priority, in his view, to get out of the crisis is for there to be trust among Members. The role of the Director-General is to enhance feelings of trust through confidence building steps. Many issues which have been unresolved for a long time have undermined trust. Joint initiative statement issues are advancing and give hope that the organization is relevant and can deliver. This is a good sign that there is a common purpose among the Members.

WITA held a webinar with Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi on August 26, 2020.  https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-tudor-ulianovschi/. During the webinar, Amb. Ulianovschi was asked two questions where his response included views on the fisheries subsidies negotiations and/or on e-commerce/digital trade. My notes on the questions asked and on Amb. Ulianovschi’s responses are provided below.

Q:  If you are the next Director-General, what would be your priorities for the 2021 Ministerial Conference and how would you define success?

A:  In Amb. Ulianovschi’s view, the next Ministerial must show some results.  He believes the top priority would be completing the ongoing negotiations on fisheries subsidies, which is important to fulfill U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 14.6.  He believes that the Members are close to getting language agreed to.  Completing the fisheries subsidies agreement Is just the first step, but it is an important one.  He would also focus on ongoing Joint Statement Initiatives (JSI) such as on  digital trade/e-commerce.   JSIs are plurilateral negotiations as opposed to multilateral ones.  As seen by Members during the COVID-19 pandemic, digital trade is of growing importance.  A key question is how to help least developed countries get involved and get help building the infrastructure so such Members can participate.  Also Members will need to deal with a range of issues surround digital trade such as cybersecurity, privacy, etc.  Amb. Ulianovschi stated that a Ministerial declaration would be expected at the 2021 Ministerial on e-commerce.  He also noted that there are other JSIs as well that are being discussed.  He believes that at the next Ministerial Members should have a clear message of support for small, medium and micro enterprises.  Such enterprises are a huge issue for most Members.  Many of these businesses are being severely challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic and many will likely go bankrupt.  WTO Members need to help identify how the WTO and other organizations can work with them (financial institutions and ICC). 

Q:  You say that business as usual isn’t viable anymore.  What has changed?  If plurilateral work is where we are headed,  do we need to rethink the most favored nation principle?

A:  Amb. Ulianovschi stated that when one looks at the WTO, one sees that there is a lack of trust which in turn has meant there is lack of forward movement on negotiations.  Thus, it is clear that  business as usual isn’t working.  But that recognition doesn’t mean that the organization starts from zero.  What is clear is that things need to change.  The WTO is not responding to 21st century issues which cannot continue if the organization is to maintain relevance.  On the issue of multilateral vs. plurilateral negotiations, the only multilateral negotiation that is proceeding is on fisheries subsidies.  As noted, Amb. Ulianovschi hopes that the fisheries subsidies negotiations will be completed by the next Ministerial in 2021.  Where trust is lacking, he belives Members need to seek progress from the bottom up – finding like-minded Members who are concerned about an issue and willing to negotiate rules on the issue.  Plurilaterals are going on (JSIs are an example).  This is a good sign as plurilaterals show that a number of members are concerned with a topic.  Any plurilateral negotiation must be done in a transparent and inclusive manner.  Based on his discussions with Members, Amb. Ulianovschi knows that there is a large support for keeping MFN applicable to benefits from plurilaterals.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea)

Minister Yoo in her prepared statement to the General Council identified both fisheries subsidies and the JSI on electronic commerce as priorities for the 12th Ministerial.

“MC12 will be a critical milestone of Members’ ability to deliver results and set the agenda for the future. The new Director-General must help make it a success in order to build trust in the WTO.

“A successful outcome on fisheries subsidies will demonstrate the credibility of the WTO and its ability to contribute to global objectives on sustainable development. It will also provide the world with the benefits for
trade and environmental sustainability. I will do everything I can to support these negotiations and bring them swiftly to a successful conclusion, for endorsement by Ministers at MC12.

“Electronic commerce is also an area in which we should work towards tangible outcomes. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of this issue. A comprehensive agreement by next summer may be ambitious, but I think we can take some concrete steps and lay out the path forward for post-MC12 work.”

During Minister Yoo’s press conference after her meeting with the General Council, she was asked questions on how she would restore trust if selected the next Director-General and how she would bring major Members onto issues being considered. Fisheries subsidies and e-commerce are mentioned in one or the other answers. My notes on the questions and answers provided are presented below.

Q: A question was asked as to how Minister Yoo would restore trust if selected as the next Director-General.

A: Minister Yoo noted her experience in negotiating trade deals with all level of countries around the world. She knows what it takes to negotiate and what it takes to bring negotiations to a close. She is confident that she can earn confidence from Members and achieve tangible outcomes. The key is to obtain even a small success at the MC12 (e.g., fisheries subsidies agreement by then) which would help build trust and convince the world that progress can happen at the WTO.

Q: What does it mean for the WTO to be relevant, and how would you bring on major members who may not agree with the issue being considered?

A: Minister Yoo stated that the WTO needs to revitalize its negotiating function and must be able to enforce its rules (by restoring the Appellate Body). Given 21st century realities, the WTO needs to update its rule book and to achieve agreement on issues that have real global effects such as the joint initiative efforts on e-commerce, MSMEs, investments, and other issues. That said, there are open issues from The Doha Development Agenda that are not moving because there are different views on how to move forward. In terms of how you bring members to the negotiating table, part of the answer is to obtain small successes to build trust and momentum.

WITA had a webinar with Minister Yoo on August 11.  https://www.wita.org/event-videos/candidate-h-e-yoo-myung-hee/. During the webinar, Minister Yoo was asked both about the e-commerce negotiations and about the ongoing fisheries subsidies negotiations. My notes on the questions and her responses are provided below.

Q: How important is it to move forward with a WTO reform agenda? In particular digital trade and e-commerce have become much more important to global trade during the pandemic.  How important is it for the WTO to address the lack of rules on digital trade and e-commerce?

A:  Minister Yoo indicated that the negotiations on e-commerce were important before the pandemic and are even more important now. Thus, it is critical to have successful negotiations.  WTO reform is very important generally.  All three pillars of the WTO — negotiations, dispute settlement and notifications and monitoring — need to be strengthened.  The WTO rule book was largely created 25 years ago.  Minister Yoo noted that the world didn’t have the smart phone or even much e-commerce back then.  So the existing WTO rules are limited in their ability to deal with current commercial reality.  It is important that the WTO achieve an agreement on e-commerce to show that the WTO can adapt to 21st century needs.  That said, Minister Yoo cautioned that Members have different views on various aspects of e-commerce.  She believes there are some low hanging fruit — e-signature and trade facilitation issues — that Members could be able to agree on relatively quickly.   However, Minister Yoo also noted that there are difficult issues in e-commerce tied to other government policy objectives — e.g., data transfer, localization — that may take longer to reach agreement on.  In tackling the more difficult set of issues, WTO Members need to look to see if the proposed rule serves a legitimate policy objective of Members.  If yes, then Members need to see if there is a way to achieve the objective in the least trade restrictive manner while facilitating e-commerce.  Considering the full set of issues that are present in the e-commerce talks, it may be too ambitious to achieve an agreement by the 12th Ministerial Conference in 2021.  Hopefully, WTO Members engaged in the talks can achieve a consolidated text by the Ministerial.  And then hopefully Members could agree on a path forward.  Minister Yoo is optimistic that Members will be able to come up with an ambitious agreement.

Q: Fisheries subsidies negotiations were hopefully going to conclude by this summer before the COVID-19 pandemic delayed negotiations. What are your thoughts on how talks can be brought to a successful conclusion?

A:  Minister Yoo stated that the fisheries subsidies negotiations are important to conclude to show the continued relevance of the WTO. The fisheries subsidies negotiations are the only multilateral talks at the WTO that are active (most others are plurilateral).  Achieving agreement on fisheries subsidies can also contribute to the UN’s sustainable development goals.  For both reasons, concluding the negotiations is very important.  Minister Yoo believes that Members should focus their energies on completing the negotiations by the end of this year so that the agreement can be endorsed by Ministers at the next Ministerial Conference in 2021.  For the next Director-General, the most urgent agenda item is to help facilitate the conclusion of the fisheries subsidies talks by the end of this year or at the very latest by the next Ministerial Conference in 2021.

H.E. Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya)

Minister Mohamed was the last candidate to appear before the General Council on July 16. Minister Mohamed did not address specifically either fisheries subsidies or the Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce in her prepared statement to the General Council.

Similarly, during Minister Mohamed’s press conference after her meeting with the General Council, she was not asked a question dealing specifically with fisheries subsidies or the Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce, nor did she include mention of either in answer to any of the questions asked.

WITA had a webinar with H.E. Mohamed on August 6. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/ambassador-amina-mohamed/. During the webinar, Minister Mohamed referenced digital trade in her opening comments and was asked a question about plurilateral negotiations. As noted before all of the Joint Statement Initiatives (including e-commerce) are plurilateral negotiations . My notes on her comments on these issues are provided below.

Opening statement:  Once the world recovers from the pandemic, the WTO will still face challenges of renewal and updating the rules to address global issues such as climate change, the digital revolution, and sustainable development.

Q: on developing new rules at the WTO, it has proven difficult to get agreement among all Members.  This has led to many Members turning to plurilaterals to achieve progress.  What are your views on plurilaterals?  Should MFN treatment of benefits be reconsidered where plurilateral agreements are the basis for liberalization or new rules?

A:  Minister Mohamed noted that plurilateral agreements are not new in the WTO; there were plurilateral agreements in the GATT.  She believes that plurilateral agreements will continue to be pursued and be part of the trading system.  Indeed, Minister Mohamed stated that the completion and/or start of plurilateral negotiations was a “good” that came out of the Nairobi and the Buenos Aires Ministerial Conferences in 2015 and 2017 respectively.  Countries that want to take on additional obligations will come together to negotiate new obligations for themselves.  In this way, plurilaterals complement the multilateral system.  Minister Mohamed stated that once there is a plurilateral agreement, it is important to share the benefits on an MFN basis if you want broad acceptance by Members.  Minister Mohamed had been the chair of the Nairobi Ministerial at which an update to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA2) was agreed to. Before the Ministerial, Minister Mohamed had had to travel to a number of capitals to get agreement to apply benefits on an MFN basis. At the end, the benefits of ITA2 are shared on an MFN basis and the agreement is open to all Members who want to join at a later date.  This led to unanimous acceptance of the ITA2 at Nairobi in 2015.  Minister Mohamed believes that it is important for ongoing plurilateral negotiations to ensure that the benefits are applied on MFN basis and that the agreement is open to all Members.

H.E. Mohammed Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri was the first candidate to meet with the General Council on July 17. In his prepared statement, Minister Al-Tuwaijri identifies fisheries subsidies and e-commerce as two early deliverables for the WTO at the 12th Ministerial Conference in 2021.

“And finally, concerning the first question on what opportunities and solutions will emerge from current challenges, the existing delay in convening Ministers for the 12th Ministerial Conference may be a blessing in disguise. If we move quickly to take advantage of the opportunity of having an additional year to prepare, we could find and deliver solutions at MC12, particularly on fishery subsidies and electronic commerce and digital trade, which would demonstrate that the WTO can address issues in the public good – that would deliver on your goal of ‘optimal use of the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development’ – while recognizing the contribution of e-commerce to economic growth in all markets, which has been emphatically affirmed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Although concluding the fishery subsidies negotiations would be a welcome sign that WTO Members can agree on something, we should not exaggerate the impression that this small step will make on our constituents. We need to aim higher, and the DG must work overtime to support a more complete agenda for the future of the WTO by MC12.”

During Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s press conference after meeting with the General Council, one question asked about WTO reform resulted in an answer by the Minister which provided both fisheries subsidies and e-commerce as issues where results by the 12th Ministerial Conference were possible. My notes on the question and Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s answer are provided below.

On the issue of WTO reform, Minister AlTuwaijri recognized that the WTO is a member driven organization. Second, the Director-General has a function to facilitate and to assess, but there is also room to improve the Director-General’s role. For example, the next ministerial (MC12) has been delayed til 2021. The delay provides an opportunity to improve the discussion at MC 12 and the outcomes that are possible. Bringing management and leadership skills to the Director-General position will permit setting goals, metrics for measuring progress in achieving those goals and providing a feedback loop on gaps that need to be addressed. Certain current issues should be achievable, such as fisheries subsidies and e-commerce. In the Minister’s view, COVID-19 and post-pandemic recovery provide the WTO an opportunity to address core needs of Members by doing a performance assessment. Where are the gaps in performance? Why did those gaps develop? How should the WTO proceed to eliminate the gaps? From his business and government experience, Minister Al-Tuwaijri knows that this type of transformation of the WTO to a more goal-oriented organization is possible.

WITA held a webinar with Minister Al-Tuwaijri on August 5, https://www.wita.org/event-videos/director-general-candidate-he-mohammed-al-tuwaijri/. During the webinar, Minister Al-Tuwaijri was asked his views on plurilateral agreements, which include the Joint Statement Initiatives such as the one on e-commerce. My notes on the question and Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s response follows.

Q: Do you see plurilateral negotiations as a good alternative to the lack of progress in multilateral talkes?

A:  Minister Al-Tuwaijri responded that his short answer would be Yes.  Members need to be able to move on where multilateral talks are blocked or not occurring.  So in Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s view plurilateral negotiations and agreements are part of the answer.  Because plurilateral agreements have existed for some time, Minister Al-Tuwaijri is interested in why some Members don’t join the agreement over time if the agreement is open to all and provides MFN benefits.  The answer to the “why” question is important if plurilaterals are to be more effective and lead to the agreements becoming multilateral over time.

The Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP (United Kingdom)

Dr. Fox was the last candidate to appear before the General Council. His prepared statement has a section which reviews what Dr. Fox considers one of the new Director-General’s first tasks, delivering a successful 12th Ministerial Conference in 2021. Among the issues to be addressed are completion of the fisheries subsidies negotiations and progress on the Joint Statement Initiatives, including on e-commerce.

“Now, one of the first tasks for a new DG will be to deliver a successful 12th Ministerial Conference. The contents are, of course, for the members to agree but it is essential that the DG works with members to produce ideas and an agenda that, yes, excites us here at the WTO but is also seen as relevant outside. It must focus on outcomes, not process, helping the real businesses – large, medium, small and micro – upon which real prosperity depends.

“So what are some of our specific challenges?

“Well, despite remaining gaps, members are perhaps closer than they have been in the past to agreeing new rules to discipline harmful fisheries subsidies, and we must push for an outcome as soon as possible to meet the SDG goal set by Leaders. But, this is not just about fish, but about showing that the WTO can take steps on sustainability more generally – an area where members are rightly bringing forward other ideas, and where the public attach great importance.

“I know many members are also keen to make progress on Joint Initiatives on e-commerce, services, MSMEs and investment – these will be an important part of the discussions in the coming months.”

During Dr. Fox’s press conference after his July 17th meeting with the General Council he was asked one question on the types of reform needed. In his answer Dr. Fox mentioned fisheries subsidies as one topic. My notes on the question and his answer are provided below.

The last question inquired into what reform is needed. Dr. Fox articulated that reform should be viewed in three buckets. The first is conceptual reform. By this he means, Members recommitting to the basic principles of the WTO (most favoured nation, national treatment and transparency of commitments). He believes this is what MC 12 needs to focus on. The second is organizational reform. By this Dr. Fox means what does the team look like, the Director-General being first among equals; selecting Secretariat staff that are the most talented and challenging group. The third is policy reform. By that, Dr. Fox means what issues will be addressed — legacy issues and issues to update organization such as fisheries subsidies; resolution of the Appellate Body impasse. Dr. Fox concluded by saying that the Director-General position is a job for a politician and not for a technocrat at this time.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Fox on July 30, 2020. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-dr-liam-fox/. During the webinar, Dr. Fox referenced each of the fisheries subsidies negotiations and updating the rules to cover e-commerce briefly. My notes on his comments are provided below.

Dr. Fox opined that the fisheries subsidies negotiations and around that the broader question of sustainability are issues which are not being addressed in the best way by the WTO Members.  The WTO and its Members don’t seem interested in using NGOs and young people who have a deep interest in the oceans by including them in the communication process so that there is better understanding that what the WTO is concerned about are issues of interest to the people of the world.  In Dr. Fox’s view, there is a disconnect between what the WTO is doing and what the general public is concerned about that has undermined the sense of joint endeavor that was important in the Uruguay Round.

Dr. Fox reviewed the importance of taking forward issues on e-commerce and trade in services. For Dr. Fox, the key question is how does the WTO bring its rule book up to date particularly on the changes in technology. Once the rule book is brought up to date, then the key is ensuring that all Members comply with the rules.

Conclusion

All eight of the candidates to become the next Director-General of the WTO view the completion of the fisheries subsidies as an important early objective and deliverable to demonstrate the WTO’s continued relevance. An agreement on fisheries subsidies would also help support the UN’s sustainable development goals.

All candidates also understand that there is an urgent need to update the WTO’s rule book with the most obvious example being the lack of agreed rules on electronic commerce and digital trade. All recognize that the role of digital trade has been critical to help countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and will be a critical aspect of global trade in goods and services going forward. The Joint Statement Initiative on e-commerce announced at the 2017 Buenos Aires Ministerial Conference currently has more than 80 WTO Members participating in the negotiations. Those Members account for more than 90% of global e-commerce. Reports from the co-convenors indicate the likelihood that there will be at least a consolidated text available by the next Ministerial Conference to be held in 2021. However, because the JSI is a plurilateral negotiation and not a multilateral one, it is envisioned that benefits will be available on an MFN basis (i.e., to all Members of the WTO whether part of the negotiations or not) and that the agreement will be open to all Members to join as desired.

The race to become the next WTO Director-General – where the candidates stand on important issues: convergence vs. coexistence of different economic systems; possible reform of rules to address distortions from such economic systems – Part 2, comments by the candidates

[Updated on August 27 to incorporate comments by Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova at a WITA webinar held on August 26.]

In a post on August 17, I provided background on a group of issues that are important to various Members though opposed by some that for shorthand will simply be referred to issues surrounding WTO rules’ applicability to economies operating differently than market economies. See August 17, 2020, The race to become the next WTO Director-General – where the candidates stand on important issues:  convergence vs. coexistence of different economic systems; possible reform of rules to address distortions from such economic systems – Part 1, background on issues, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/08/17/the-race-to-become-the-next-wto-director-general-where-the-candidates-stand-on-important-issues-convergence-vs-coexistence-of-different-economic-systems-possible-reform-of-rules-to-address-dist/.

What follows is a review by candidate of his/her prepared statement to the General Council (Juy 15-17, 2020), my notes from the press conference for each candidate which followed immediately after his or her meeting with the General Council and my notes on each candidate’s webinar organized by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and generally also by the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI).

Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico)

Dr. Seade did not in his prepared comments address directly any of the issues surrounding the question of compatibility of different economic systems with the WTO rules, or whether changes in rules to address some of the distortions perceived to be caused by economic systems which vary widely from market-economy structures are needed. Dr. Seade did include at the end of his prepared statement an indication of neutrality to all Members.

“All along my career I have worked with Ministers and legislators, often Heads of State. I present myself to you with my fullest energy, passion and experience, at a difficult time for the WTO. My commitment is to achieve with you the reform and restoration of a WTO back at the center of global governance for the benefit of world economic growth. My solemn commitment to you is to be an effective DG and interlocutor, close to all members north and south, east and west, and indeed fully equidistant from you all.”

During the press conference held after his meeting on July 15 with the General Counsel, Dr. Seade was not asked a question dealing with any of the issues surrounding different economic systems.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Seade on July 7. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-seade/. During the webinar, Dr. Seade was asked several questions that dealt with U.S.-China tensions. My notes on Dr. Seade’s responses (and on at least one of the questions) follow.

The animosity between the United States and China in a way is understandable.  The hardest part of negotiations during the Uruguay Round for GATT Contracting Parties to conclude was not the agriculture negotiations or the negotiations on intellectual property but rather the negotiations on antidumping.  To simplify, the antidumping negotiations pitted the U.S. and EU against the Asian tigers who were excessively competitive and creating problems in world markets.  But the Asian tigers were much smaller in size than China is today and were much more market oriented than China is today.  So the chasm in the system was much smaller than what exists today   So it is not surprising that there is a big challenge today.  But challenges are there to be met and solutions found. Dr. Seade is convinced that China will want to respond to avoid chaos in the system.  Once they view the U.S. as serious about engaging, China will want to know what they need to do to get the WTO functioning again.  The same question should apply to the U.S. and the EU.  So we should be able to save the system.

Question on the U.S.-China dynamic: USTR Lighthizer has indicated he has three criteria for next DG – he or she must support a robust reform agenda; he or she must acknowledge that the current system doesn’t adequately deal with China’s economy and state trading practices; he or she can’t have a “wiff” of anti-Americanism.  China may have a different set of priorities.  How do you get US and China to do business in the WTO? 

Dr. Seade response:  on the US-China conflict, how do you handle China?  One way is through dispute settlement.  To date there have been 44 cases brought by WTO Members against China.  This is a good way to address problems a Member has with another Member, and it has worked.  We have to resolve the problems with the dispute settlement system and make it work better. At the same time, there are initiatives that have been begun by the US (e.g., EU, Japan and US) on industrial subsidies.  Dr. Seade believes that it is really for US to work out with China how to incorporate more disciplines on industrial subsidies or other issues. This will likely require the U.S. and others to add items of interest to China to make negotiations more acceptable to China.  While China is a tough negotiator, China will not risk bringing down the WTO.  In Dr. Seade’s view, the most important thing China has done in last fifty years other than the start of the reform process back in 1978 was joining the WTO.  So we need to amend the dispute settlement system which would be a good starting point to helping address existing problems.  Dr. Seade agrees with the U.S. that there have not been real negotiations on most agreement areas in the last 25 years. As China was not part of WTO in the 1990s, there can be little question that rules need to be updated both to reflect changing trade realities and to incorporate China in the process and resulting rules.   

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala in her prepared statement reflected that Members have differenting views on “new or enhanced rules” identifying state-owned enterprises (SOEs) but by implication including industrial subsidies.

“Members’ views differ on a number of fundamental issues, such as special and differential treatment or the need for the WTO to tackle new issues and develop new or enhanced rules to deal with SOEs and agricultural subsidies, for example. Trade tensions among the membership have flared up, threatening the fundamental architecture of the MTS. With all these, the WTO, unfortunately, is now perceived by some as an inefficient organization that has failed to keep abreast of developments in the global economy.”

Her prepared statement goes through a range of issues that need to be addressed by the WTO but does not include in that list any of the issues flowing from different economic systems. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala does link being able to renew the WTO to getting Members to recall core objectives and principles. The objectives and principles to many would be understood to require updating rules so that different economic systems are subject to effective rules to eliminate or minimize distortions.

“Renewing and improving the organization will require recalling the core objectives and principles on which the MTS was built – the value of open trade, competition and non-discrimination, security and predictability of market access, and transparency. These principles have contributed to economic growth and development and will continue to do so if Members renew their commitment to them.”

During the press conference on July 15th after Dr. Okonjo-Iweala had met with the General Council, she was asked one question about what she would say to the U.S. about staying in the WTO. The question doesn’t directly address different economic systems, but concerns about U.S. staying in the WTO are generally understood to reflect U.S. problems with many aspects of the WTO including rules which do not effectively address distortions created by non-market economies. My notes on Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s answer to the question are provided below.

On the question of why the U.S. should stay in the WTO, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala indicated she would communicate to the U.S. that the WTO delivers for all Members. The GATT and WTO have provided shared prosperity which has lifted millions of people out of poverty. Where the trading system is not working, Members need to fix the problems. Peace, security and stability are needed now just as they have been over the last decades. These are what the WTO rules-based system provides. If we didn’t have the WTO, we would need to invent it.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on July 21. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/. During the webinar, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was asked a number of questions that resulted in answers that touched on tension between the U.S. and China, industrial subsidies and more. My notes on Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s responses and to some of the questions follows:

Q: On the important issue of building trust between Members, there are major differences between the U.S. and China, including (for the U.S.) whether existing WTO rules adequately discipline Chinese policies and (for China) whether US is abiding by the rules.  What do you see to be the main challenges to building trust among Members to permit a reform agenda to move forward?

A:  Dr. Okonjo-Iweala noted that building trust between the Members is critical.  When developed countries bring an agenda item to the WTO, developing countries may view the issue as not in their interest (and vice versa) because of a lack of trust.  On the conflicts between the U.S. and China, we need to find areas of common interest for the two Members. We are used to looking at what are the differences between the Members, but we should be looking for common interests among Members. If we can use those common interests to accomplish incremental progress, that will help build trust..  You build trust negotiation by negotiation (using the issue of special and differential treatment as example).  If we can solve any problem, it helps build trust.  Another way to build trust between developed and developing Members is to conclude the fisheries subsidies negotiations taking into account the needs of individual Members.  If the WTO Members can wrap up those negotiations, the success will start to build trust. 

Q: On resetting of tariff commitments (comment from USTR Lighthizer as a problem within the WTO based on changing economic development of many countries), would this be in the best interest of the system? 

A:  This is a critical question and issue.  Renegotiating any agreement would require consensus building that would be very difficult to achieve.  That would certainly be true on bound tariffs. The balance of rights and obligations raised by the United States flows from the concerns about state-led economies and state-owned enterprises and whether such economies belong in the system.  Dr. Okonjo-Iweala stated that the WTO is not there to comment on the economy of any Member.  In her view, the key question is what disciplines does the WTO have around any issue that arises.  Are the disciplines sufficient to address the imbalances in rights and obligations that may arise?  We need to start there.  What are the fundamental issues —  state-owned enterprises (SOEs), public body.  Can we come to agreement on the meaning of the term public body?  Can we tighten subsidy disciplines that already exist or can we negotiate new subsidy or other disciplines to address the concerns that arise from these types of economies? That is the approach all Members should be pursuing. 

Q: On industrial subsidies, China has signaled that they will oppose tightening disciplines.  The U.S., EU and Japan have been working on a proposal and discussing with some Members.  How can the Director-General help the membership navigate these issues? 

A:  If Dr. Okonjo-Iweala becomes the next Director-General, she would encourage that proposals from the U.S., EU and Japan be tabled so all Members can see what they are and how acceptable they are to other Members (including China).  Let’s start to work with an actual proposal.  Sometimes countries are not as far away as one might think.  Members need to work on a specific proposal and see what happens.

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)

Mr. Mamdouh in his prepared statement to the General Council on July 15 made only one reference to the issues pertaining to differences in economic systems when he acknowledged that addressing industrial subsidies should be a priority.

“Reviving the built-in agenda of agriculture and services must be a priority because WTO Members agreed on this, and it has not happened. Trade distorting subsidies, both agricultural and industrial, will also be a priority.”

During Mr. Mamdouh’s press conference on July 15 after his meeting with the General Council, Mr. Mamdouh was asked one question about the U.S.-China conflicts. My notes on his response to the question are provided below.

A question was asked on what should be the role of the US and China in the new WTO. Mr. Mamdouh responded that the role of these two Members is to engage in the WTO. Start from the point that bilateral disputes should be resolved in the WTO. Since we all believe in the multilateral process, Members must keep in mind that bilateral disputes and solutions have effects on other Members. Moreover, bilateral solutions are less likely to be effective and are likely to be short lived.

WITA had a webinar with Mr. Mamdouh on June 23. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-candidate-hamid-mamdouh/. During the webinar, Mr. Mamdouh was asked various questions that dealt with the U.S.-China conflicts, need for better rules on industrial subsidies, state-owned enterprises and more. My notes on Mr. Mamdouh’s response and to some of the questions follows.

Q:  Why are you well suited to deal with the deep and potentially ruinous conflicts between US, China, EU?  How would you get these big powers to do business with each other?

A:   Mr. Mamdouh responded that this issue is the first frontier for a new Director-General.  The key is to have the right attitude toward the conversation (less political).  The types of problems that Members face deal with noncompliance and with inadequacy of rules.  Both need to be handled. The issues must be addressed in an intellectually honest and politically courageous way if there is to be progress.  In the past, reform occurred at the GATT when there was a perceived threat to the survival of the system.  Mr. Mamdouh believes that the WTO is facing such a threat now.  Do WTO Members have a common purpose?  Do Members need a WTO?  If the answer to the latter question is no, the conversation among Members has nowhere to go.  It is in everybody’s interest to have the answer to the question be “yes”.  For progress, the Director-General needs to bring the players to the table to identify problems with the current system.  The system needs more transparency.  For progress, it is important to keep the conversation at the level of looking at the contract and whether the contract adequately addresses the problems identified.  If the contract is not adequate to the current needs, then WTO Members must modify the contract.

Q:  is the near death experience the WTO is experiencing now an opportunity to move to a meaningful reform agenda?

A:  Mr. Mamdouh responded that yes the current crisis can lead to a meaningful reform agenda, if there is the political will of the Members.  But political will can only be generated if there is a common purpose. 

The WTO needs to address issues of interest to Members, including those raised by the US (e.g., e-commerce, SOEs, forced technology transfer).  Increasingly, the WTO is facing complex issues that go beyond simple trade liberalization but also deal with regulatory objectives. In these complex areas, such as e-commerce, the WTO Members need to find ways to accomplish differing regulatory objectives in a least trade restrictive manner. That can only be accomplished if there is a thorough discussion of the regulatory needs and development of factual information on possible trade options that can be taken back to capitals for review and for negotiation.  Unfortunately, the deliberative function has nearly died at the WTO. To address the increasingly complex issues of importance to Members, the WTO needs to restore the deliberative function.

Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova)

Amb. Ulianovschi’s prepared statement that he provided to the General Council on July 16 doesn’t contain direct reference to any of the issues dealing with different economic systems. Amb. Ulianovschi does indirectly reference the need to address other important issues through negotiations.

“In terms of immediate priorities for the future Director General of the WTO, the following should be considered (including in the preparation process for MC12): * * *

“3. Facilitating dialogue with Members regarding on-going negotiations on the remaining and other important issues.”

During the July 16th press conference following Amb. Ulianovschi’s General Council meeting, Amb. Ulianovschi was asked a question about U.S.-China conflict and how he, as Director-General, would be able to reduce tensions. My notes on his response to the question are provided below.

On the question of how he would use the role of Director-General to ease tensions between U.S. and China, Mr. Ulianovschi responded that this topic had been discussed with Members during his meeting with the General Council. In his view, the role of the Director-General is to be an honest broker between WTO Members. The Director-General must be able to listen to concerns with a view to using his offices to engage Members involved in a dialogue process. At the same time, the Director-General is not there to impose a solution but to listen and raise awareness of the impact of actions on the larger organization and to mitigate harm to others. The next Director-General needs to engage in talks both in Geneva and in capitals and see that any outreach is transparent and inclusive.

WITA held a webinar with Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi on August 26, 2020, https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-tudor-ulianovschi/. During the webinar, Amb. Ulianovschi was asked several questions where answers dealt with some aspect of the U.S.-China conflict, differences in economic system, need for improved rules, etc. My notes on the questions and responses from Amb. Ulianovschi follow.

Q:  How important is it to have a reform agenda, and how can you convince the major Members to agree on a common agenda?

A:    Amb. Ulianovschi stated that reform is absolutely necessary.  In his view, cosmetic reform is not sufficient, a fact made clear by major Members.  Amb. Ulianovschi believes that political experience and dialogue by the Director-General will be key to get those who have put forward proposals to get into a discussion that is inclusive and transparent.  There are a large number of issues that are affecting the environment at the WTO.  For example, the current situation between the U.S. and China is affecting the system. 

Q:  US-China relations and how it affects the WTO.  Amb. Lighthizer says he is looking for a Director-General who recognizes that the current system doesn’t address Chinese trade practices and that changes need to be made.  Do you agree?  There has been some work done by the U.S., EU and Japan on industrial subsidies and other topics.  Would you support improving industrial subsidies?

A:  Amb. Ulianovschi believes that the topic has to be of priority for the next Director-General.  The Director-General can provide his/her good offices to the U.S. and China to take up any issue, but such discussions must be consensual.  Based on Amb. Ulianovschi’s conversations with the broader membership, he knows that there is interest by many on the spillover effects on other economies from the US-China conflict.  Having said that, Amb. Ulianovschi reiterated the need for the organization to have a Director-General with political experience not to politicize the organization but to reach out to the decision makers and raise awareness of the concerns of the larger membership and encourage the two Members to sit down and discuss issues they consider appropriate.  On industrial subsidies and other issues, we need to have more indepth discussions at the WTO to have a better understanding of the issues, coverage of the current rules and the existing situation.  As a member driven organization, the incoming Director-General will have to see whether the membership is willing to move to more discipline on industrial subsidies.  Amb. Ulianovschi also believes  that a review of transparency and notifications could be useful.  An open, sincere dialogue based on timely and full information would lead to a better understanding of the issues of concern and then lead to a better decision making process to address the issues.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea)

Minister Yoo included a general reference in her July 16 prepared statement to the General Council to “sensitive” proposals for reform which presumably include the U.S. proposal on non-market economies and the efforts by the European Union, Japan and United States to tighten disciplines on industrial subsidies.

“I am well aware of the proposals that Members have put forward on WTO reform. I also know how sensitive these issues can be to individual Members. A high degree of trust among Members must be the starting point in exploring cooperative solutions.”

Minister Yoo was not asked a question during her press conference that dealt with different economic systems or distortions flowing therefrom.

WITA had a webinar with Minister Yoo on August 11.  https://www.wita.org/event-videos/candidate-h-e-yoo-myung-hee/. Minister Yoo was asked some questions on how she would address the U.S.-China conflicts and the U.S. view that the current WTO rules don’t adequately address the market distortions caused by the Chinese economic model. Below I provide my notes on the questions and Minister Yoo’s responses.

Q: In prepared statement you mention you can serve as a bridge between US and China.  Please elaborate.  Second, Amb. Lighthizer is looking for a Director-General who recognizes that current rules don’t adequately discipline China. Do you agree there is a problem in terms of adequacy of WTO rules for China’s policies?

A:  On the first issue of serving as a bridge, Minister Yoo believes that the WTO can provide a good place for US-China issues to be addressed if the negotiating function is working.  In her view, part of the problem which has led to actions outside of the WTO has been the lack of progress on negotiations.  Thus, Minister Yoo believes WTO Members need to revitalize the negotiating function, so Members will use the WTO to ensure adequacy of rules in an evolving world.  Minister Yoo believes the next Director-General needs to engage in dialogue with the U.S. and China to find and understand the real issues between them.  Minister Yoo reviewed that she has done negotiations with both the United States and China.  She believes that she can use that experience to engage in dialogue with each country and find commonalities between them among the real issues.  By focusing on commonalities, Minister Yoo believes that one can find a path forward to achieve a negotiated success, even if small, and build trust.  After finding small successes, the Members then move forward to address the more challenging issues.

On the second question relating to Amb. Lighthizer’s concern that current rules are not sufficient to discipline China’s practices, Minister Yoo believes one needs to look at the rule book.  In her view, all policies adopted by governments can have spillover effects on trade.  If policies do have such spillover effects and are not covered by existing WTO rules, one needs to evaluate whether the policies are consistent with WTO principles (fair competition, nondiscrimination, etc.).  If a policy is not consistent with WTO principles and has spillover effects on trade, one must determine if current rules can be used to address the policy. If not, then the WTO needs to look at whether modifications to existing rules or the addition of new rules are needed.  Minister Yoo believes Members will need to be willing to engage in this type of process.

H.E. Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya)

Like other candidates, Minister Mohamed didn’t directly address the issue of different economic models reflecting the conflicting positions of some major Members. Rather, Minister Mohamed acknowledged that there were different reform priorities for different Members and that Members needed to get past the challenges in current negotiating approaches. The following four paragraphs from Minister Mohamed’s prepared statement to the General Council on July 16 provides some general comments on the road forward which can be viewed as applicable to differing economic models and many other contentious issues.

“12. You do not all share the same reform priorities. This makes it essential to work together for convergence around elements that all can support. We need to break the cycle of despair and enter into a new phase of hope and realism.

“13. Renewal has to start with facing up to the defects that have weakened the system in recent years: the inability to update rules to reflect the changing realities of how trade is conducted; the sterility of ideological standoffs; the retreat into defensiveness; and the sense of the benefits of trade not being equitably shared.

“14. The WTO has to engage again in good faith negotiations, and this means openness to change and to new ideas, within a culture of inclusiveness and transparency.

’15. Renewal should also build upon the WTO’s core values and achievements. Trade has been transformational. It has helped to lift close to 1 billion people out of poverty and facilitated the attainment of higher living standards in countries at all levels of development. These successes were possible because Members did not see trade as a zero-sum game. They understood that trade-offs were needed to produce outcomes. All Members should contribute to trade opening and facilitation efforts, especially those most in a position to do so.”

During Minister Mohamed’s press conference on July 16 after her meeting with the General Council, she received two general questions about how she would work with major players to resolve trade tensions. Below is my summary of the questions asked and her response.

Q: If selected as the next Director-Generaly, will you be more engaged in resolving trade tensions between major players? If yes, what tactics would you use?

A: Minister Mohamed reviewed the types of powers that a Director-General has to work with Members. For example, the Director-General has engagement powers and can encourage members to consult, to use the good offices of the Director-General. So while the Director-General has only limited powers, those powers ca be used effectively by a Director-General to help Members to use the WTO system to resolve differences.

When asked what her approach would be to deal with trade tensions between US and China, Minister Mohamed stated that she would encourage all members to resolve their trade differences within the WTO rules.

WITA had a webinar with H.E. Mohamed on August 6. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/ambassador-amina-mohamed/. During the webinar, Minister Mohamed addressed briefly the rise of China as a major trading nation and was asked about whether current WTO rules adequately address distortions that flow from China’s policies. My notes from Minister Mohamed’s comments follow.

Minister Mohamed stated that since the WTO was set up in 1995, new and powerful players have emerged onto the trade scene, in particular China.  The resulting tensions with the United States have fed the dysfunction within the WTO.  Minister Mohamed believes that to address the tensions, the WTO needs to pursue reform.  However, governments don’t share the same reform priorities.  The WTO needs to identify issues all can support if reform is to move forward. 

Q: Amb. Lighthizer has raised his concern that the current WTO rules are not capable of disciplining conduct of non-market economies, particularly China.  Do you agree?  How would you go about finding common ground?

A:  Minister Mohamed’s response was that one needs to start by looking at the existing rule book.  The rule book is outdated in some cases.  Moreover, some rules are weak and are being circumvented.  If you have candid discussions with WTO Members, you will find the problems are with the adequacy of the rules.  If the rules are inadequate, WTO Members need to address them to achieve modifications or new rules.  For example, the U.S.-EU-Japan effort on industrial subsidies is potentially important.  If Minister Mohamed becomes the next Director-General she would urge the U.S., EU and Japan to table their proposal, so all WTO Members can discuss what are being raised as the real issues.  It is important to understand what conduct is driving up the tension between Members.

H.E. Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri was the first candidate the General Council met with on July 17. In his prepared statement, Minister Al-Tuwaijri did not directly address the issue of different economic systems and the potential distortions created by non-market economies. Rather he indicated that any negotiating agenda would work only where all Members view the agenda as including items of interest to them. Applied to different economic systems, this would suggest that for negotiations to occur on the topic it would have to be part of a larger package of issues of interest to those Members (like China) who would potentially perceive themselves the target of the industrial subsidies issue or the differing economic systems issue.

“Concerning working together through negotiations, I believe that Members will participate in negotiations when they are convinced that the agenda includes an incentive for them to participate. Therefore, in order to have a successful multilateral negotiation, the agenda needs to be balanced – it needs to include something for everyone.”

At the press conference after his meeting with the General Council, Minister Al-Tuwaijri was not asked any questions dealing with the issue of differing economic systems or on industrial subsidies.

WITA had a webinar with H.E. Al-Tuwaijri on August 5. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/director-general-candidate-he-mohammed-al-tuwaijri/. During the webinar, Minister Al-Tuwaijri was asked several questions dealing with the relationship between some of the major trading Members (U.S., China, EU) and specifically whether he supported negotiations on industrial subsidies to address U.S. concerns that existing rules don’t discipline the policies of China. Below are my notes on the questions asked and answers provided.

Q: Can you have a successful launch of a reform agenda if the leaders in key Members (China, US, EU) aren’t committed to help you make it work?  In the first six months as the new Director-General if selected, how would you get these Members to buy into a reform ageanda?

A:  Minister Al-Tuwaijri started his response by noting his involvement in working with G20 countries where the major WTO Members are involved. He noted that one of the issues G20 countries have supported is engaging in reform at the WTO.  Individual countries may have different views on reform — how, when, and what — but all agree reform is needed.  Minister Al-Tuwaijri believes that six-months is too long a period to determine if there is support among the major Members for a reform initiative.  He believes that within the first two – three months of becoming the next Director-General he should know if the intent of the major Members is to support reform or not.  He would reach out with a specific set of questions (e.g., here are top five issues for reform discussions) and seek input on where Members are on a willingness to address the issues.  Minister Al-Tuwaijri has the ability to reach out to the major Members and be viewed as an honest broker.  Saudi Arabia has always been a neutral country and has been serving as President this year in the G20. 

Q:  On China, Amb. Lighthizer is looking for a candidate to be the next Director-General who understands that the current WTO rules don’t discipline China.  Do you agree that the current rules don’t adequately discipline China?  Would you support efforts to improve disciplines on industrial subsidies?

A:  Minister Al-Tuwaijri supports all efforts of WTO Members to engage in negotiations.  China is a major country and major trading nation.  He believes that the more that is done to promote negotiations and promote timely resolution of issues, the better it is for restoring the negotiation function.  He believes that the U.S. and China should bring all of their issues with each other to the table.  He knows that there are many.  But WTO Members need to move the negotiating process forward to ensure rules are adequate.

The Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP (United Kingdom)

Dr. Fox was the last of the candidates to meet with the General Council and the second candidate who met on July 17. His prepared statement talks about the array of issues likely to be addressed heading into the twelfth Ministerial Conference in 2021 and the agreed need for broader reform. However, he does not mention in his prepared statement the issues surrounding different economic systems or the need for revised rules on industrial subsidies.

During Dr. Fox’s press conference on July 17, he was asked one question that was broad but fairly did include the U.S. effort to address non-market economies (how would you deal with the broad U.S. concerns with the WTO). Dr. Fox viewed the main U.S. concerns as being with the Appellate Body and limited his remarks to that issue.

He was asked a different question on why the multilateral trading system is important to large parties. My notes on his response are provided below.

Q: Why is the multilateral trading system important to the large parties?

A: Dr. Fox indicated that he viewed the Director-General position to not be one of taking sides in bilateral disputes but to maintain the international trading system. If Members don’t enforce what currently exists, what is the credibility of new rules signed onto later? He stated that all Members have benefited from the multilateral trading system. The alternative to a rules- based system is not acceptable. That is true for most countries, not just smaller countries. He used the examples of the 4th and 5th largest economies, Germany and UK, for whom global trade is a major component of their economies.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Fox on July 30, 2020. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-dr-liam-fox/. During the webinar, Dr. Fox was asked several questions about China, including whether existing rules adequately discipline China’s policies and whether new negotiations on industrial subsidies are needed. My notes on the questions asked and Dr. Fox’s responses are provided below.

Q:  USTR Lighthizer has indicated there are three factors he is looking for in considering candidates for the Director-General post: (1) no anti-Americanism; (2) a belief that there is a need for broad reform at the WTO; and (3) someone who understands that the current WTO rules don’t adequately discipline China’s policies.  Do you agree with Amb. Lighthizer’s last point on the need for new rules to address Chinese policies?

A:  Dr. Fox’s answer dealt with all three factors including that he is not anti-America. He also believes there is a need broad-based reform.  In Dr. Fox’s view, the reform needed is both internal at the Secretariat as well as in changing the rule book.  For example, Dr. Fox had had dozens of meetings by the time of the webinar with WTO Members. Many countries felt that if you weren’t a large Member or a squeeky wheel, your voices were not heard.  In Dr. Fox’s view, the next Director-General needs to review the operation of WTO Secretariat to be sure all Members can be heard and improve the outreach to all Members and listening to their views and concerns.   Dr. Fox believes that there is also a need to reform how the WTO operates during negotiations.  He used the example of the fisheries subsidies negotiations. He opined that better outreach to NGOs and other groups about the negotiations and encouraging their engagement with Members would help constituencies better understand that the WTO is engaged in issues that are importance to them. The failure to have such engagement can undermine the concept of shared endeavor which is important to forward movement at the WTO.  So different forms of reform are needed at the WTO.

On the question about whether rules adequately discipline the policies of China, Dr. Fox stated that reform is not about focusing on any one country.  He stated that, of course, all Members must comply with the existing rules.  In his view, Members need an effective dispute resolution system to ensure such compliance.  Beyond that, the question is how do WTO Members take forward and address common challenges (e.g., e-commerce).  The key for the WTO is to bring the rule book up to date with the changing commercial realities.  Up-to-date rules and getting all Members to comply are the main objectives of reform.

Q:  what about industrial subsidies.  Is this an area that needs to be updated.

A:  Dr. Fox indicated that WTO Members have a lack of trust in each other.  One way to improve trust is to improve transparency.  Dr. Fox used as an example, efforts by the OECD to quantify subsidies to aluminum producers around the world. He had visited the OECD recently and heard from them about the extraordinary efforts they went to to make up for a lack of available data on items like production capacity and production. The efforts undertaken were both expensive and time consuming.  The example of aluminum indicates that it is important to improve objective data that are provided by Members to the WTO.  If WTO Members want improved transparency and improved accuracy of information provided, the WTO also will need to find better ways to verify data submitted.

Conclusion

The question of whether non-market economies or state-directed economies or state-capitalist economies properly fit within the WTO Agreements was not addressed by any candidate, though Dr. Okonjo-Iweala took the position that the nature of the economic system of any Member was not an issue for the WTO to consider.

On whether the current rules of the WTO adequately discipline the policies of China (and more broadly other non-market economies), candidates generally were of the view that the reform process should permit an evaluation of the changing global landscape and developments and where issues were not addressed or inadequately addressed by current rules, Members should consider what changes would be appropriate. Dr. Seade noted that since China was not part of the GATT in the 1990s during the Uruguay Round negotiations, with all the change that has occurred in the first 25 years of the WTO and limited update of rules, there is little doubt that rules need to be updated both to address practices of new Members and to incorporate their views on needed updates. Minister Yoo suggested a somewhat similar approach.

On the question of the need for an update to the rules on industrial subsidies, Minister Mohamed and Dr. Okonjo-Iweala were of the view that the proposal being worked on by the U.S., EU and Japan should be tabled in Geneva so all Members could start the process of understanding the concerns and appropriateness of the approaches recommended to address. Mr. Mamdouh included updating industrial subsidies rules as one of the priority issues to be addressed by the WTO.

The race to become the next WTO Director-General — where candidates are on important issues: eligibility for Special and Differential Treatment/self-selection as a developing country

[Updated August 27 to incorporate comments by Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova at a WITA webinar held on August 26]

During the years of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, countries engaged in a series of rounds of tariff liberalization. The basic principle of Most Favored Nation ensured that any participating country or customs territory would receive the benefits of trade liberalization of others whether or not the individual country made tariff liberalization commitments of its own.

Moreover, the GATT and now the WTO have recognized that countries at different levels of economic development will be able to make different contributions and some may need special and differential treatment to better participate.

Historically, there has been a distinction between developed countries and developing countries, with special and differential (S&D) treatment reserved for the latter. Typically, S&D treatment would permit, inter alia, lesser trade liberalization commitments and longer phase-ins for liberalization undertaken.

During the Uruguay Round, least-developed countries, as defined by the United Nations, were broken out from developing countries to receive lesser obligations than other developing countries. But the categorization as a developing country has always been a matter of self-selection within the GATT and now within the WTO.

Some three quarters of WTO’s current 164 Members have self-declared themselves to be developing countries or are least-developed countries under UN criteria. Thus, only one fourth of WTO Members shoulder full obligations under the current system.

While the Uruguay Round negotiations attempted to deal with “free riders” by requiring all countries and customs territories to bind all or nearly all tariff lines, the results at the creation of the World Trade Organization was a system where the vast majority of Members had relatively high tariff rates in their bindings while developed countries typically have very low tariff rates bound.

After twenty-five years of operation and dramatic economic development by many Members and limited trade liberalization through WTO multilateral negotiations, questions have been raised by the United States and others as to whether the concept of self-selection by countries of developing country status has contributed to the inability of the WTO to achieve further liberalization through negotiations. The U.S. has put forward a definition of who would eligible for developing country status based upon a country not qualifying under any of four criteria. See December 28, 2019, WTO Reform – Will Limits on Who Enjoys Special and Differential Treatment Be Achieved? https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2019/12/28/wto-reform-will-limits-on-who-enjoys-special-and-differential-treatment-be-achieved/. Countries who would not qualify under the U.S. proposal include:

Member of the OECD or in the accession process:

Chile, South Korea, Mexico, Turkey, Colombia, Costa Rica.

Member of the G-20:

India, South Africa, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, China, Indonesia, South Korea.

Classified by World Banks as “high income” for 2016-2018 (includes):

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Hong Kong, South Korea, Kuwait, Macao, Panama, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles, Singapore, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay.

0.5% of Merchandise Trade (includes):

China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, South Africa.

For many countries who have self-declared as developing countries, the concept of changing their status, regardless of economic development, is untenable and has been actively opposed at the WTO (including by China, India and South Africa).

Four WTO Members who had self-declared as developing countries — Korea, Singapore, Brazil and Costa Rica — have indicated to the WTO that they will not seek special and differential treatment in ongoing or future negotiations (but maintain such rights for existing agreements). Other countries who are self-declared developing countries have blocked an Ambassador from one of the four who have agreed to accept greater obligations from assuming the Chair post for one of the WTO Committees.

The United States has also raised questions about the imbalance of tariff bindings which have flowed from economic development of some countries without additional liberalization of tariffs by those countries and the lack of progress on negotiations. Thus, for the United States there is also the question of whether tariff bindings should be reexamined in light of economic developments over the last twenty-five years. From the WTO’s World Tariff Profiles 2020 the following simple bound tariff rates for all goods are identified for a number of countries. See https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/tariff_profiles20_e.pdf. While for developing countries, bound rates are often much higher than applied rates, the bound rates give those countries the ability to raise applied tariffs without challenge:

“Developed Countries”

United States: 3.4%

European Union: 5.1%

Japan: 4.7%

Canada: 6.4%

“Developing Countries”

China: 10.0%

Brazil: 31.4%

Chile: 25.2%

Costa Rica: 43.1%

Republic of Korea: 16.5%

India: 50.8%

Indonesia: 37.1%

Singapore: 9.5%

South Africa: 19.2%

Thus, for the eight candidates competing for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization, a challenging topic within the WTO for possible reform is whether the issue of Special and Differential treatment needs review to ensure that its provisions apply to those who actually have a need and not to three quarters of the Members simply because they self-selected. While not necessarily encompassed by the S&D question, for the United States, the issue also subsumes whether WTO reform needs to permit a rebalancing of tariff bindings based on changing economic development for WTO Members.

What follows is a review of the prepared statements to the General Council made by each candidate during July 15-17, my notes on candidates’ responses to questions during the press conference immediately following each candidate’s meeting with the General Council, and my notes on candidates’ responses to questions during webinars hosted by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) (as of August 13, seven of the eight candidates have participated in such webinars; the webinar with the Moldovan candidate is being scheduled).

Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico)

Dr. Seade did not take up the question of special and differential treatment directly as part of his prepared statement. One can read part of his statement to indicate that part of the challenges facing the WTO flow from the lack of success of the negotiating function on traditional issues (which would include further tariff liberalization). Also one could construe the need to modernize the organization as including the need to better reflect the need for all Members to carry the extent of liberalization that their stage of economic development permits.

“In the medium and long term, and in order to prevent the Organization from becoming obsolete and obsolete, it is important that mechanisms be
adopted to modernize it. I will seek to establish an informal dialogue on the
weaknesses and challenges of the Organization in the current context, through annual forums or specialized conferences.

“But thinking about long-term expectations, I am convinced that they have been affected by the lack of significant results in the negotiations since the
creation of the WTO. Thus, as results are achieved on 21st century issues, it will be very important to also energetically take up the traditional priority issues on the sustainable development agenda.” (Google translation from French)

During the press conference, Dr. Seade was asked a question on the issue of developed versus developing country designation. My notes on his response are as follows:

On the question of developed vs. developing country, Dr. Seade looks at it from the perspective of special and differential treatment. On the one hand the world keeps changing, so it’s reasonable to ask what a Member can do. The idea of changing classification of countries from developing to developed will take a very long time and so is probably the wrong approach. The question should be what contribution can a particular member make, which may be different in different industries.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Seade on July 7. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-seade/. Dr. Seade was asked about the issue of self-selection of developing country status and how he would try to get Members to address. My notes on his response follow:

Dr. Seade had this to say:  he believes countries are looking at the issue the wrong way.  Special and differential treatment is like a discount card which you can use at a store.  Some customers have the discount card; some don’t.  The reality in the WTO is that everything is negotiated.  When you negotiate, you can talk to every Member.  If Members make whether and what type of special and differential treatment a Member needs part of negotiations, the outcome can be tailored so that Members are contributing what they can while still accommodating Members where there is a real need. While seeking to define who is a developing country may be an approach that can be taken, Dr. Seade believes that actually getting Members to agree to changing status is an impossible issue.  In his view, status is “theological” for many Members. 

One can look at the trade facilitation agreement for an example of where Members were asked to take on obligations to the extent they could; there were negotiations if more was felt possible from a Member.  The same type of approach can be taken in ongoing and new negotiations.  He believes this is the way to go.  The key question is not who is eligible, but for what does a Member need S&D.  This will be true at a country level (e.g., in Dr. Seade’s view Mexico and Brazil don’t need the same flexibilities as Angola).  But the need for differentiation in a given country may also differ by sector.  In fact the need for special and differential treatment can vary by product. Dr. Seade mentioned Mexico’s agriculture sector, where corn production is not efficient or modern and hence S&D may be necessary but where that is not the case for fruits and vegetable production.  Thus, Dr. Seade believes that going about it on a more practical way is the right way to make progress in the WTO.  Negotiate by agreement by country, etc.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s prepared statement directly notes the differing positions on the issue of special and differential treatment and also mentions concerns of Members in terms of imbalances in rights and obligations and distribution of gains (which presumably includes the U.S. concern about high bound tariff rates of many countries who have gone through significant ecoonomic growth in the last 25 years).

“Members’ views differ on a number of fundamental issues, such as special and differential treatment or the need for the WTO to tackle new issues and develop new or enhanced rules to deal with SOEs and agricultural subsidies, for example.”

“While a key objective of the WTO is the liberalization of trade for the mutual benefit of its Members, it appears that this very concept is now a divisive issue as a result of the perceived imbalances in the rights and obligations of Members and the perceived uneven distribution of the gains from trade. I would constantly remind Members about the value of the MTS and help energize them to work harder to overcome the challenges that have paralyzed the WTO over the years.”

During the press conference on July 15th, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was not a question on S&D treatment, classification of developing countries or on tariff bindings.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on July 21. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her opening comments identified the issue of special and differential treatment as an issue that could be considered as part of WTO reform, although it wasn’t in her list of topics for tackling by the next WTO Ministerial Conference. She was asked a question about how to restore trust among Members and used that question to review her thoughts on special and differential treatment and the question of self-selection by Members as developing countries. Below is my summary of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s discussion of the issue.

One issue being pushed by the United States and others that is very divisive is the issue of special and differential treatment and self-selection of developing country status.  The concern of those wanting a change is that self-selection and the automatic entitlement to S&D treatment shifts the balance of rights and obligations to advanced developing countries.  There is no disagreement that least-developed countries need special and differential treatment. In her view, the real question is whether other countries that view themselves as developing should get special and differential treatment automatically.  Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala believes the WTO needs a creative approach to resolve the issue.  For example, Members should address the need of individual Members for special and differential treatment on a negotiation by negotiation basis.  Members should, as part of each negotiation, consider what other Members believe their needs are based on level of development.  She references the Trade Facilitation Agreement as an example where Members took on obligations based on their level of development vs. a one size fits all approach.  Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala believes that if the Members can reach a resolution on this issue, the resolution would help build trust among Members and hence help the WTO move forward.

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)

Mr. Mamdouh’s prepared statement did not directly deal with the topic of special and differential treatment or the changing economic competitiveness of Members. There is one statement towards the end of his statement which recognizes the evolving nature of the Membership.

“Since then, global trade has transformed, and trading powers have evolved. The circumstances and dynamics have changed. But the skillset we require of the leadership: imaginative thinking, and the ability to come up with legally sound and enforceable solutions – remain the same.”

During his press conference on July 15, Mr. Mamdouh was not asked a question on S&D treatment or the criteria for being a developing country.

WITA had a webinar with Mr. Mamdouh on June 23. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-candidate-hamid-mamdouh/. Mr. Mamdough was asked a question during the webinar on whether the large number of WTO Members who have self-declared as developing countries and hence are eligible for special and differential treatment doesn’t undermine the credibility of the organization and what he would do about it if he was Director-General. Below is my summary of Mr. Mamdouh’s response.

Mr. Mamdouh believes that the issue should be addressed in a pragmatic maner. He referred back to the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiated during the Uruguay Round and noted that the GATS contains no special and differential treatment provisions.  Thus, in the GATS, Members moved away from a system of country classifications.  In Mr. Mamdouh’s view, obligations should be customized based on a Member’s needs/abilities through negotiations.  Flexibilities to address particular Member needs can be determined individually.  While this was the approach in GATS, Members can do that on goods on any area that can be scheduled but also rule making areas.  In Mr. Mamdouh’s view for any substantive obligations, there is room to customize obligations through negotiations.  He believes that big developing countries wouldn’t oppose different countries taking on different obligations.  He doesn’t believe that a solution will be in negotiating a different categorization system.  The solution for the WTO is to take a pragmatic approach and customize the outcome based on negotiations.  Mr. Mamdouh referenced fisheries subsidies as an example where that could occur.  He believes customizing obligations based on individual Member needs will be increasingly necessary, citing the 164 current Members.  But he cautions that no “one size fits all”.  Every solution would need to be tailored on the basis of the area being negotiated.

Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova)

Amb. Ulianovschi’s prepared statement to the General Council on July 16 covers a wide range of issues that need to be addressed going forward, but, does not mention the issue of special and differential treatment or which Members should not be eligible to be developing countries based on economic developments. Amb. Ulianovschi does have one sentence in his prepared statement which talks generally about addressing global inequalities.

“The WTO is one of the most complex organizations in the world today, and it’s one of the most needed as to ensure open, predictable, inclusive, rule based multilateral trading system, as well as – to address global inequalities and bridge the gap between the least developed, developing and developed countries.”

At the press conference on July 16, Amb. Ulianovschi was asked many questions but none of the developing country/special and differential treatment issue.

WITA held a webinar with Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi on August 26, 2020. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-tudor-ulianovschi/. During the webinar, Amb. Ulianovschi mentioned special and differential treatment both in his opening statement and in answer to a question. My notes on Amb. Ulianovschi’s comments are provided below.

From his opening statement, Amb. Ulianovschi noted that as a member driven organization, the WTO needs Members to negotiate to move forward.  He believes that a diplomatically active Director-General can help the WTO move forward, and he can help address lack of trust which he believes is largely psychological primarily based on unfinished business but also dispute settlement, special and differential treatment and other issues.

Q:  How important is it to have a reform agenda, and how can you convince major Members to agree on a common agenda? A:    Amb. Ulianovschi stated that reform is absolutely necessary.  In his view, cosmetic reform is not sufficient, a fact made clear by major Members.  Amb. Ulianovschi believes that political experience and dialogue by the Director-General will be key to get those who have put forward proposals to get into a discussion that is inclusive and transparent.  There are a large number of issues that are affecting the environment at the WTO.  For example, the WTO needs to address the horizontal issue of Special and Differential Treatment (S&D).  The S&D principle is at the core of the organization, but it is how you apply the principle which determines commitments of Members.  From that point of view, Amb. Ulianovschi sees it as a positive signal that major players are putting forward proposals on this topic.  The proposals should be the starting point for discussions.  Amb. Ulianovschi would invite those who have put forward proposals to start discussions with other Members.  Negotiations need political will to succeed, and Members need to agree on how to proceed.  He believes that if he is Director-General, he can get Members to that point.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea)

Minister Yoo’s prepared statement covers many issues but does not address the issue of special and differential treatment/developing country classification.

In her press conference on July 17 after meeting with the General Council, Minister Yoo was asked a question on developing vs. developed country status. My notes on her response follow:

A question was asked how Minister Yoo viewed the question of the status of Members as developed or developing countries particularly in light of Korea viewing itself as a developing country in the WTO although Korea has indicated it will not seek additional special and differential treatment under future WTO Agreements. Minister Yoo started her response by noting that the Marrakesh Agreement requires that the WTO work to help developing and least developed countries secure their fair share of trade. There are competing issues at the WTO. Should the WTO make special and differential treatment provisions more operational in existing Agreements is one issue. Should the WTO change the classification status of some countries based on economic development is the other issue. For Korea, the. world has changed, and countries have changed in terms of their stage of economic development. Korea decided to take on more responsibility based on its changing level of economic development. But many countries continue to need special and differential treatment. It would be ideal for developing countries to take on more responsibilities as they are able. But this is a sensitive issue on which there is no consensus as yet.

WITA had a webinar with Minister Yoo on August 11.  https://www.wita.org/event-videos/candidate-h-e-yoo-myung-hee/. Below is my summary of the question asked on the issue of special and differential treatment and self-selection of developing country status, and Minister Yoo’s response:

Korea has informed the WTO that Korea will not seek S&D treatment in ongoing or future negotiations.  Many Members thinks the self-selection of developing country status is undermining the system.  How do you evaluate the issue and how important is it to resolve?

Minister Yoo indicated that this is an important issue to resolve to make progress in ongoing and future negotiations.  She believes it is important to reflect on a core principle of the WTO to ensure that developing countries and least-developed countries secure their fair share of global trade.  The question for the WTO is how to effectuate this embedded principle.

Over half of WTO Members are developing countries and 36 others are least developed countries. In total roughly three fourths of all Members get special and differential treatment.  If so many are eligible for special and differential treatment, it likely means that the countries with the greatest needs are not receiving the assistance actually needed to help their development and greater participation in international trade.

In Minister Yoo’s view, the WTO has very divergent views among Members about changing the classification process for Members from self-selection to a set of factual criteria.  US has put forward a proposal to categorize members as developed based on different factual criteria.  However, there is no consensus at the WTO at the moment which means that changing the classification process will not happen until there is consensus.  In light of the lack of consensus, a pragmatic approach may be to have countries who can take on more responsibilities to do so voluntarily.  This will permit those who need assistance to get it.

Looking at the Trade Facilitation Agreement, while the Agreement is not necessarily representative of other areas under negotiation, it shows one way to handle the issue of special and differential treatment in a pragmatic way.  Some developing countries take on more responsibility than others without S&D treatment and without a transition period.  This is an example of how through negotiations, Members can customize obligations to individual Member capabilities.  Such an approach is practical and pragmatic.

In Korea’s case, Korea indicated that they would not seek S&D treatment in ongoing and future negotiations based on Korea’s state of economic development.  It was not an easy decision and required extensive internal consultations.  Korea wants to promote the WTO system.  She believes it is useful for each country to step up and take on more responsibility if they are capable of doing so.  The U.S. proposal has been important in raising the issue.  While no consensus exists at the moment, the U.S. action has gotten Members discussing the matter.  If Minister Yoo is selected to be the next Director-General, she would continue to raise the issue with Members to achieve a good outcome for all. She believes resolution of the issue can help unlock progress in ongoing and future negotiations.

H.E. Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya)

Minister Mohamed’s prepared statement contains a number of statements which recognize the need of Members to contribute according to their ability, although she does not address the classification of developing countries or the need for special and differential treatment specifically.

“Renewal has to start with facing up to the defects that have weakened the system in recent years: the inability to update rules to reflect the changing realities of how trade is conducted; the sterility of ideological standoffs; the retreat into defensiveness; and the sense of the benefits of trade not being equitably shared.”

“All Members should contribute to trade opening and facilitation efforts, especially those most in a position to do so.”

“We need a WTO that is fair and equitable, taking into account the level of economic development of each member. All WTO Members must be prepared to contribute to improving and strengthening the organization, so that it can facilitate trade for the benefit of all, and contribute to economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic.”

During Minister Mohamed’s press conference on July 16, no questions were asked about developing country status or on special and differential treatment.

WITA had a webinar with H.E. Mohamed on August 6. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/ambassador-amina-mohamed/. During the webinar, Minister Mohamed both made several comments on special and differential treatment and self-selection of developing country status, but also answered a question. My notes on her comments and the question asked are summarized below:

One of issues needing to be addressed by the WTO are the current “divisions over developing country status”.

We need a WTO that is fair and equitable considering the level of economic development of each Member.  The WTO should give effect to its development objectives in a practical and enabling way that takes into account needs and results.  All WTO Members must be prepared to contribute to strengthening and improving the WTO system.

Q: The U.S. has raised the issue of self-declaration of developing country status.  How would you handle the issue if you become Director-General?

Minister Mohamed noted that special and differential treatment is an integral part of existing agreements.  However, going forward, the journey to modify the approach to S&D has already begun. ” The train has already left the station.” Minister Mohamed noted that in the Trade Facilitation Agreement, any special treatment was based on the need of the individual Member. Countries assumed obligations they were able to, so different developing countries assumed different levels of obligations with or without transition periods.

Second, self-declaration by certain countries that they would no longer seek special and differential treatment has already occurred (Korea, Brazil, Singapore and Costa Rica).  Minister Mohamed believes the WTO will see more of this going forward by other countries.  If Minister Mohamed is selected to be the next Director-General, she would continue discussions among the Members and have candid discussions with some of the Members.  But she believes moving forward, special and differential treatment will be increasingly based on actual need.

H.E. Mohammed Maziad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri in his prepared statement to the General Council on July 17 addressed briefly the proposal from the U.S. on special and differential treatment (classification of developing countries):

“Concerning Special and Differential Treatment, the bottom line is, without negotiations that include incentives for everyone to participate actively, I do not think it will be possible for Members to address the issue of SDT. This is one of the main reasons that the negotiating function needs to start working. Members have various capacities to implement and take advantage of new rules and commitments, so it is clear that each Member must decide for itself what is in its own interest.”

At his press conference on July 17, Minister Al-Tuwaijri was not asked a question on special and differential treatment or of classification of developing countries.

WITA did a webinar with Minister Al-Tuwaijri on August 5. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/director-general-candidate-he-mohammed-al-tuwaijri/. During the webinar Minister Al-Tuwaijri was not asked a question on self-selection of developing country status or on special and differential treatment.

The Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP

Dr. Fox’s prepared statement to the General Council on July 17 did not include any references to special and differential treatment or to the classification of developing countries.

During his press conference on July 17, Dr. Fox was not asked a question dealing with special and differential treatment or the classification of developing countries.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Fox on July 30, 2020. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-dr-liam-fox/. Dr. Fox was asked about the concerns expressed by the U.S. and others that the process of self-selection of developing country status had resulted in too many Members having special and differential treatment. There was a need to see that S&D is limited to those who actually need help. How would Dr. Fox address this issue if he were selected as the Director-General? What follows reflects my notes on Dr. Fox’s response.

Dr. Fox stated that first, the WTO must reassess that we are all aiming at the same goal.  As the WTO has expanded membership, Members knew that the organization would have countries with vast differences in capabilities and that it would take different countries different amounts of time to get to full implementation.  Thus, special and differential treatment is available. However, Dr. Fox understands that there are some WTO Members who want to be perpetually exempted from undertaking full obligations regardless of the level of economic development they have achieved. Dr. Fox views this approach as unacceptable. Membership in an organization envisions equal rights and obligations, though it may take some members longer to get there.

On the topic of special and differential treatment, Dr. Fox believes that it is important to accelerate the rate of development for countries that are developing or least-developed, so that their improved level of economic development means they don’t need special and differential treatment.  One of the reasons some Members gave Dr. Fox for not wanting to be moved into a different category, was the concern over loss of trade preferences.  Dr. Fox used as an example, small coastal economies who can experience wide swings in per capita GDP based on external events (hurricanes, etc.) which can move them from high income to low income and back in short order.  Dr. Fox believes WTO Members must think creatively on how to address concerns of Members that giving up developing country status will put them in difficulties. On his example, he suggested using multiple year averages.

Conclusion

As the WTO has become a much more universal organization, membership has widely expanded beyond the historical developed country proponents of the GATT. At the same time, in recent decades there has been tremendous economic development by many countries which should mean that the ability of Members to handle full or increased obligations of the WTO has increased for many countries.

Yet, the current system does not provide a means for modifying obligations of Members who joined as developing country members regardless of the level of development achieved after joining. The view of some Members is that this disconnect between actual economic development and level of commitments undertaken has contributed to the inability to conclude negotiations. The issues raised by the United States have resulted in a few countries indicating that they will not seek special and differential treatment in ongoing or future negotiations. In at least one recent agreement, the Trade Facilitation Agreement, countries have assumed obligations based on their perceived need and not as a general right with the result of countries who may have self-selected developing country status taking on more obligations with lower or no delay in implementation than other developing countries.

For the incoming Director-General, finding a solution to this issue acceptable to all Members could be critical to unlocking progress on other negotiations.

The race to become the next WTO Director-General — where candidates are on important issues: reform of the Appellate Body

[Post updated on August 27 to incorporate comments by Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi of Moldova made at the WITA webinar on August 26. The post was previously updated on August 11 to incorporate comments by Minister Yoo Myung-hee of Korea at the WITA webinar that morning]

With less than a month to go before the last phase of the selection process begins for the next Director-General of the World Trade Organization, the eight candidates have engaged in large numbers of meetings (in person or virtually) with Missions in Geneva, with trade officials in capitals and have done outreach to the media and have participated in webinars put on by various organizations. These meetings and outreach are part of Phase 2 of the selection process where candidates make themselves known to the WTO Members. This phase ends on September 7.

All candidates are understandably guarded on specifics about many issues, all recognizing the WTO is a member driven organization. Similarly, with sharp divisions within the WTO membership, candidates are also careful not to express support for any of the major Members as a general rule. At the same time, all candidates have been asked about current pressing issues before the WTO and the topic of overall WTO reform.

Today’s post looks at how candidates have positioned themselves on one such issue — the impasse over the functioning of the Appellate Body.

Presentations to the General Council and Later Press Conferences

During the three days of meetings of the General Council in mid-July, each candidate was able to provide a statement of his/her vision for the WTO, answer questions posed by WTO Members and also had a thirty minute press conference. In a prior post, I had summarized the prepared statements and the press conferences. See July 19, 2020, The eight candidates for WTO Director-General meet the General Council – recap of prepared statements and press conferences, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/07/19/the-eight-candidates-for-wto-director-general-meet-the-general-council-recap-of-prepared-statements-and-press-conferences/. In addition to prepared statements and press conferences after meeting with the General Council, I am also including selected comments made by the candidates during webinars held by the Washington International Trade Association (WITA) and the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) with six of the candidates (through August 6; a seventh is scheduled for August 11).

On the topic of the Appellate Body, the eight candidates had the following public comments:

Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico):

From his prepared statement to the General Council, Dr. Seade made it clear that a top priority for him if selected as the next Director-General would be to get the Appellate Body refunctioning, something he would work to see happened in the first 100 days he was Director-General: “It is also necessary to give back to the dispute settlement mechanism its strength and certainty.” (Google translation from Spanish) “Within the first hundred days: I will work closely with members in seeking to * * * ii. restore the second instance of the dispute settlement system.” (Google translation from French).

In the press conference, Dr. Seade was asked how he would address the Appellate Body impasse. My notes on his answer are as follows:

On the question of the Appellate Body impasse, Dr. Seade noted that none of the Members were denouncing any provision within the Dispute Settlement Understanding. Rather concerns had been voiced on how DSU provisions had been applied. Dr. Seade believes that what is missing is the way to operationalize the role of the Dispute Settlement Body (all WTO Members sitting as the DSB) which is organizationally above the Appellate Body but for which there are currently no procedures for communications from the DSB to the Appellate Body to address issues generally (vs. in specific disputes). Such procedures were needed. He also had other ideas for how to resolve the impasse that he was interested in reviewing with Members to see if there could be movement. On the question of the interim arbitration arrangement, Dr. Seade thought a temporary arrangement made sense as it provided Members a second stage to dispute settlement as provided in the DSU. Key is finding a solution to the impasse so the two-tier dispute settlement system is restored for all.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Seade on July 7. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-seade/. During the webinar, Dr. Seade addressed the need to get the Appellate Body functioning again. In pointing out why he would be the right person to be the next Director-General, Dr. Seade reviewed the importance of bringing to the table a knowledge of the underlying Uruguay Round negotiations and the purpose of the provisions in the agreements. He asked “Why is the U.S. frustrated with the Appellate Body?” It is because of the history of the negotiations and what was actually agreed to. Dr. Seade also viewed restoring the dispute settlement system as important to address problems other Members are having with China (in addition to negotiations on issues like industrial subsidies). He stated that the U.S. points about problems with the Appellate Body are good. The U.S. is not challenging the Dispute Settlement Understanding (“DSU”), but rather is arguing that the provisions of the DSU are not being respected by the Appellate Body. Thus, the problem is with the application of the DSU not the terms of the DSU as such. Dr. Seade believes that it is possible to find solutions that all Members can live with. He noted that the Appellate Body issue reflects different views of the DSU by the EU and the U.S.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria):

From her prepared statement, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala had relatively short statements about the Appellate Body: “A refreshed WTO must find solutions to the stalemate over dispute settlement. It is clear that a rules-based system without a forum in which a breach of the rules can be effectively arbitrated loses credibility over time.” “I would also prioritize updating the rulebook, unlocking the dispute settlement system, working on transparency and notification, enhancing the work of regular bodies, and strengthen the Secretariat.”

While Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was asked many questions at the press conference, none dealt with the Appellate Body.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on July 21. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-wto-dg-candidate-dr-ngozi-okonjo-iweala/

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that addressing the Appellate Body impasse was a priority for the next Ministerial and repeated her view that a WTO without effective dispute settlement would lose its legitimacy over time.

In response to a question on how she would restore dispute settlement, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that there is a common desire among WTO Members to have the dispute settlement system work and function. The question is how. There is a common belief that the panel process has been working well, so that places the focus on the Appellate Body. To address the various issues that have been raised by the United States, the WTO has the work product of the Walker process (note: Amb. Walker (NZ) was a facilitator to the General Council in 2019 to see if he could work with Members to find a solution to issues raised by the U.S.). Some of the proposals made by Amb. Walker can be used to move the process forward. The U.S. is seeking to go back to what the existing Dispute Settlement Understanding requires — 90 days for decisions, not creating rights or obligations (“overreach”), Appellate Body members working on appeals after their terms have expired, etc. We should take them up one at a time and find solutions that work. Can Members agree that appeals should be resolved in 90 days? Very likely. Can Members agree that the Appellate Body is limited to reviewing issues of law and not reviewing fact finding by panels? Very likely.

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt):

Mr. Mamdouh in his prepared statement reviewed the challenge to the WTO from the imbalance resulting from growing importance of dispute settlement while the negotiating function has been reduced in effectiveness:

“In my view, over the past quarter of a century, the WTO has suffered from a chronic imbalance across all its vital functions. That is, dispute settlement, negotiation, and the transparency/deliberative functions

“In any legal system, there needs to be a balance between the ‘legislative’ and the ‘judicial’ functions. For the WTO, these are the negotiating and the dispute settlement functions. While dispute settlement gained strength due to the inherent automaticity of procedures, the negotiating function has broken down. This created an unsustainable imbalance.” (Page 3)

During the press conference, Mr. Mamdouh was asked about how to bring the Appellate Body back. My notes on his answer are as follows:

Asked what he would do to revive the Appellate Body, Mr. Mamdouh responded that he would build off of the work already done. Most logical and productive first step is to build on that work and see what else is needed. And there is a need to look deeper into causes which he believes are rooted in differences in legal and regulatory systems. Mr. Mamdouh has not heard any suggestions that rules within the Dispute Settlement Understanding need to be changed. He concluded by saying that the size of the problem needs to be put into perspective and one needs to remember that on this issue, the WTO Members are not starting from zero.

WITA had a webinar with Mr. Mamdouh on June 23. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-candidate-hamid-mamdouh/. There were no specific questions asked on dispute settlement, but Mr. Mamdouh provided some introductory thoughts on the genesis of the crisis in the WTO. He noted that the WTO has been suffering from a chronic imbalance between the negotiating function and the dispute settlement function.  He indicated that the negotiating function has underperformed miserably.  Dispute settlement system, being automatic adoption at the end of disputes absent a negative consensus has grown in importance and hence has created imbalance.  Mr. Mamdouh views that there is a critical need to reboot the negotiating function to help restore better balance.

Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova):

Amb. Ulianovschi, in his prepared statement, had reform of the Appellate Body as a top priority for the incoming Director-General:

“Dispute Settlement

“The reform of the dispute settlement mechanism and particularly the reform of the Appellate Body will be one of the main priorities for the next Director General. This process needs to be open, inclusive and constructive. We need to find a way for all members to accept a two-step binding independent Dispute Settlement system.

“I believe that the issues and concerns were clarified by the members already and now they have to be addressed.

“I am aware of the on-going consultations on this important matter among the Members. In my opinion, there is a general common understanding on fundamentals of the DSU, which is already a good start.

“The least a DG can do is to facilitate discussions among Members to agree together on how to move forward and eventually agree on a roadmap and mechanisms – ‘agree on how to agree’ on this sensitive but crucial issue and devise a process of further engagement to reach an acceptable solution.”

During the press conference following his appearance before the General Council, Amb. Ulianovschi was asked several questions about the Appellate Body impasse. Below are my notes on Amb. Ulianovschi’s answers.

There were several questions on the Appellate Body including how Mr. Ulianovschi would reactivate the Appellate Body and whether reform of the dispute settlement system should be broader than getting the Appellate Body back functioning. Mr. Ulianovschi indicated that on the provisions of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, all Members agree on the provisions as written. With the application of the DSU by the AB, there are concerns raised by the U.S. and others. The Director-General can provide a process to help Member’s discuss. Solutions to the concerns raised need to be found, but the parameters of the solutions need to be found by members themselves. In his view, the Director-General’s role is to help Members identify how to move forward on the Appellate Body impasse with resolution by the next Ministerial Conference. On the question of breadth of action on the dispute settlement system, Mr. Ulianovschi stated that Members are not looking for a complete redrafting of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. What is needed is a targeted approach to address issues raised by certain members on the operation of the Appellate Body.

WITA held a webinar with Amb. Tudor Ulianovschi on August 26, 2020. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-tudor-ulianovschi/. Amb. Ulianovschi referenced the impasse on the Appellate Body (dispute settlement system) both in his opening statement at the webinar and in answer to a number of questions. My notes on his statements are provided below.

In his opening statement, Amb. Ulianovschi noted that as a member driven organization, the WTO needs Members to negotiate to move forward.  He believes that a diplomatically active Director-General can help the WTO move forward, and he can help address lack of trust which he believes is largely psychological primarily based on unfinished business but also on the dispute settlement impasse on the operation of the Appellate Body, Special and differential treatment and other issues.

Q:  How important is it to have a reform agenda, and how can you convince the major Members to agree on a common agenda?

A:    Amb. Ulianovschi stated that reform is absolutely necessary.  In his view, cosmetic reform is not sufficient, a fact made clear by major Members.  Amb. Ulianovschi believes that political experience and dialogue by the Director-General will be key to get those who have put forward proposals to get into a discussion that is inclusive and transparent.  There are a large number of issues that are affecting the environment at the WTO.  For example, the current situation between the U.S. and China is affecting the system.  Also the impasse on dispute settlement and the concerns raised by the United States and the EU position on an interim arbitration agreementwith MPIA.  He sees a positive signal that major players are putting forward proposals; this should be starting point for discussions.  He would invite those who have put forward proposals to start discussions.  The process will require political will, and members will need to agree on how to proceed).  Amb. Ulianovschi believes he can get Members to that point.  On dispute settlement, Members have the paper from Amb. Walker which can be used to move forward.  Will have to see how deep reforms will be.

Q:  If you are the next Director-General, what would be your priorities for the 2021 Ministerial Conference and how would you define success?

A:  In Amb. Ulianovschi’s view, the next Ministerial must show some results.  He believes the top priority would be completing the ongoing negotiations on fisheries subsidies, which is important to fulfill U.N. Sustainable Development Goal 14.6.  He believes that the Members are close to getting language agreed to.  Completing the fisheries subsidies agreement Is just the first step, but it is an important one.  On the current impasse on the Appellate Body (and hence the lack of a second-tier dispute settlement stage), Amb. Ulianovschi doesn’t see a clear cut resolution of the reform needed by the next Ministerial but rather hopes the Members will have a road map of how to proceed by the Ministerial. 

Q:  On dispute settlement, it is becoming quite clear that the divergences are growing between the Trump Administration and some of our trading partners.  Many Members have shared the view that there have been problems with the Appellate Body engaging in overreach in certain situations.  The recent Op Ed in the Wall Street Journal by USTR Lighthizer suggests that Amb. Lighthizer is looking to eliminate the Appellate Body and change the system so that panels’ role is limited to helping resove specific disputes between Members, more like commercial arbitration, without broader effect of the decisions.  Is it realistic to go back to a system without an Appellate Body?

A:  Amb. Ulianovschi responded that understand the U.S. concerns at the WTO on the Appellate Body both procedural (e.g., decisions within 90 days; Appellate Body members not involved in appeals after their four year term expires) and substantive (e.g., overreaching).  He recognizes that the U.S. concerns are shared by other members of the organization.  Amb. Ulianovschi believes that this is the moment to put forward different opinions on both problems and how to proceed, but all issues have to be negotiated.  The role of the Director-General is to put Members together to permit Members to present the details of their proposals.  In Amb. Ulianovschi’s view, the Recent Op Ed by Amb. Lighthizer is another idea put forward to find a solution to the ongoing problem at the WTO.  He has talked with all of the major Members on how to deal with the broader issue of Appellate Body reform.  The Director-General is there to encourage members to put forward proposals but also to use his/her good offices to encourage discussions.  Having said that, Amb. Ulianovschi noted that some Members have undertaken different initiatives under Rule 25 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, such as MPIA, to provide a second-tier of review.  These initiatives are interim efforts.  Such actions don’t have to distract the Members from the main task of finding a common understanding on the purpose of the dispute settlement understanding or on a sustainable solution.  So the WTO Members have to identify the consensual solution and how we can ensure a compliance mechanism so that the system works as intended and agreed to.  This should be a top priority of the next Director-General.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea):

In her prepared statement, Minister Yoo includes one paragraph on the Appellate Body impasse:

“Another urgent, pressing issue is restoring the dispute settlement system. We need a stable and fully-functioning dispute settlement system which would effectively contribute to the prompt and satisfactory resolution of the disputes. I will act as an honest broker to facilitate constructive discussions to find an effective and permanent solution.”

During the press conference, Minister Yoo was asked two questions about dispute settlement, one dealing with resolving the impasse on the Appellate Body and the other on the Multi-Party Interim Arbitration Agreement. My notes of Minister Yoo’s responses to these questions follows:

On the issue of The Appellate Bidy impasse, Minister Yoo was asked how she would solve the impasse. She indicated that Members have very divergent views on the role of the Appellate Body. All members understand the need for a two-tier dispute settlement system. If selected as the next Director-General, Minister Yoo would accelerate members’ consultations to resolve the issue.

On the interim arbitration mechanism adopted by the EU, China and about 20 other Members, Korea is not a party. Does Minister Yoo have any concerns that the interim arrangement (MPIA) might become permanent? Minister Yoo responded that the MPIA was being used by some Members to overcome the current vacuum with the Appellate Body being shut down. The key for the WTO is to focus on finding a permanent solution, and she would do that if selected as the next Director-General.

WITA had a webinar with H.E. Yoo scheduled on August 11,https://www.wita.org/event-videos/candidate-h-e-yoo-myung-hee/. My summary of Minister Yoo’s comments on dispute settlement follow.

from her opening comments: Restoring dispute settlement system is an urgent need.

Questions asked on Dispute settlement – do you share assessment of US and others that there have been problems of overreach by AB?  Secondly, there are procedural flaws that need to be addressed?  What can a DG do about it?

Minister Yoo’s response: Clearing impasse on the Appellate Body is a top priority.  The WTO needs a prompt resolution to restore the two-tier dispute settlement system.  There are divergent views of the proper role of the Appellate Body.  Some countries, like the United States, have said the Appellate Body has gone too far — overreaching by creating or diminishing rights and obligations of Members.  However, some members say that the Appellate Body has been working to clarify of the provisions of Agreements to provide stability to the multilateral trading system.  So there are competing views of what the role of the Appellate Body is supposed to be.  The Walker process has put forward certain ideas.  Still the gap is very wide between the two views.  If we look at three pillars of WTO (negotiations, notifications, dispute settlement), over the first 25 years of the WTO, there have been no major agreements from negotiations other than Trade Facilitiation Agreement. This failure of the negotiating function to work has put much strain on the dispute settlement system.  Members are resorting to dispute settlement to address issues not handled by negotiations.  So, lacking periodic updates through negotiations, it is easy for the Appellate Body to engage in creating obligations to fill gaps.  So Minister Yoo agrees to some extent with US (and others) about of overreach.  The question for the WTO and the incoming Director-General is how to move forward to find solutions acceptable to all.  There have been very divergent views within the WTO for a long time.  If Minister Yoo becomes the Director-General, she would try to increase communication with missions in Geneva and ministers in capital.  Need some political involvement to resolve the impasse.  Minister Yoo would also look at some ideas floated by academia as well to see if those views might provide different approaches that would be of interest of Members.  Several examples would include strengthening qualifications of AB members and what role of Appellate Body Secretariat should be, etc.  I would encourage Members to engage in open, transparent and inclusive discussions on these issues. 

Minister Yoo wanted to highlight importance of revitalizing negotiating function. If there is a more active negotiating functions, Members would be able to address needs to update and clarify agreements which should be done by Members and not the dispute settlment system.

H.E. Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya):

Minister Mohamed in her prepared statement reviewed the need for a functioning dispute settlement system:

“The WTO’s dispute settlement function is key to the credibility and effectiveness of the rules. We need to find a way through its problems to make it once again an instrument that all Members can use with confidence.”

During the press conference, Minister Mohamed was asked about the Appellate Body impasse. My notes on her response are as follows:

On the issue of how to remove the impasse on the Appellate Body, Minister Mohamed indicated that Members need to consult and negotiate. The WTO needs members to find solutions to permit the second-tier of dispute settlement to be restored. A Director-General DG can offer technical assistance and process to help Members find the solutions.

WITA had a webinar with H.E. Mohamed on August 6. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/ambassador-amina-mohamed/. Minister Mohamed had a number of comments about the Appellate Body impasse.

Restoring the Appellate Body is an important priority for the incoming Director-General.

The WTO dispute settlement process is key to the credibility and effectiveness of the WTO.  Members have been working for some time on finding solutions.  Minister Mohamed takes seriously US concerns about the operation of the Appellate Body. If she becomes Director-General, she will use her skills at building consensus to help Members find solutions.  Finding solutions is important so that the WTO Members can get back to a dispute settlement system that all can use.

Minister Mohamed was Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body in 2004.  She made sure that there was continuous flow of information from the Dispute Settlement Body to the Appellate Body.  She had lunch with the Appellate Body quarterly.  Issues she had been raising back in 2004 as of concern to Members remain unresolved today. 

WTO Members designed a system that was complete from negotiations to dispute settlement.  In Minister Mohamed’s view the system was designed really well.  Now there is a gap in the system with the inoperability of the Appellate Body.  The WTO needs to fill the gap quickly. Absent a resolution, some Members will comie up with an interim system (MPIA).  Thus, Minister Mohamed believes the WTO needs to deal with the issues raised by the United States urgently.  She agrees with some of the issues raised by the U.S.  Many of those same concerns were around in 2004 when she chaired the Dispute Settlement Body.  In her quarterly meetings with the Appellate Body, Minister Mohamed told the Appellate Body members that they had a specific mandate laid out by Members in the Dispute Settlement Understanding.  It was not the role of the Appellate Body to add to or diminish the mandate.  Minister Mohamed believes that Members need to see where the Appellate Body veered off of the mandate.  She believes that the new Director-General should look at te Walker process (note: Amb. Walker (NZ), as facilitator to the General Council in 2019 had met with Members to see if solutions to the U.S. concerns could be found) and see how to move forward.  But it is critical for the WTO to resolve the issues raised by the U.S. to permit the Appellate Body to resume.

H.E. Mohammad Mazaid Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia):

In his prepared statement, Minister Al-Tuwaijri referenced the challenges in the dispute settlement system but did not identify any specific approach to addressing Appellate Body reform if selected as the next Director-General other than his overall approach reviewed in the statement on all issues. Several quotes from his prepared statement follow:

“As you all know, the WTO has three main functions for monitoring trade issues, settling disputes, and negotiations, which include improvements to existing rules, new rules and market access.”

“We also need to recognize the consequences for the WTO of over-performance in litigation, while neglecting the negotiating and monitoring functions. A system out of balance cannot move forward.”

During the press conference, Minister Al-Tuwaijri was asked what his plan was to address U.S. concerns with the Appellate Body. My notes on his response are provided below.

On the Appellate Body, what is your plan to addressing U.S. concerns and do you plan to get it back functioning? Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s approach is the same as reviewed elsewhere. Determine what is the root cause of AB not functioning. He believes it is because negotiations are not functioning well. Therefore, he wants to get the negotiating process to improve and to gain data to improve the system. For example, he believes it is important to be able to quantify the effect of delay of even one month in resolution of disputes.

WITA did a webinar with Minister Al-Tuwaijri on August 5. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/director-general-candidate-he-mohammed-al-tuwaijri/.

Minister Al-Tuwaijri provided some comments in his opening statement and responded to a question on the dispute settlement system.

The structure of the organization is not functioning – negotiations, dispute settlement, notifications.  Key is what type of change is needed to help organization be fit for the 21st century.

Minister Al-Tuwaijri believes the correct analysis for any issue is: what is the problem, what needs to be done, consult with the Members for possible solutions.

Does Dispute Settlement reform need to be taken up as a condition precedent to broader WTO reform?

In Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s view, the role the Director-General can play is resolving the impasse on the Appellate Body is somewhat limited. Can the Director-General help with a procedural question?  Yes. Is there an interpretation issue that the Director-General may be able to assist in resolving?  Yes.  In 2019, the General Council had Amb. Walker, acting as a facilitator, work with Members to see if solutions could be found to the issues raised by the U.S. So that work product is available.  The EU has also pursued a multi-party interim arbitration agreement to help at least some Members handle a second stage dispute process while the Appellate Body is not functioning.  Despite these efforts, there is the question why resolution of the impasse is not happening.  Minister Al-Tuwaijri believes that the answer goes back to his core point, the WTO must fix its negotiating function.  If Members want to change the rules on the operation of the Appellate Body, that is for the Members to decide.  As Director-General, Minister Al-Tuwaijri would encourage Members to think differently about the impasse and the options for finding solutions.

The Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP (United Kingdom):

Dr. Fox’s prepared statement talked about many topics, including WTO reform, but did not speak specifically about the impasse on the Appellate Body or needed reforms to permit reactivating the second stage of dispute settlement.

During the press conference, Dr. Fox was asked about how he would address U.S. concerns with the WTO. My notes on his response are provided below:

A question was asked of how Dr. Fox would address the broad concerns of U.S. with the WTO. Dr. Fox noted that the U.S. has some very specific concerns with the WTO, particularly with regards to the Appellate Body. Dr. Fox stated that the WTO has the Appellate Body because countries felt panels in GATT disputes went too wide. The Appellate Body was set up with a limited mandate. He is aware that there are different views of the role of Appellate Body and whether it has engaged in mission creep or handled incomplete texts by filling them out. If WTO Members are able to get back to a more narrow definition of the function of the Appellate Body, there may be some concept of precedent being set. Dr. Fox asks the question, does everyone want the AB to be functioning properly or not. If not, the multilateral trading system is under threat as obligations can’t be enforced. Believe there is room for compromise.

WITA had a webinar with Dr. Fox on July 30, 2020. https://www.wita.org/event-videos/conversation-with-dr-liam-fox/. His comments on dispute settlement from the webinar are summarized below.

A rules-based system must have a functioning dispute settlement system, a top priority for the incoming Director-General.  To have a rules-based system without a functioning dispute settlement system is nonsensical.  For many countries, the dispute settlement system is the value added that membership in the WTO brings.

All members need to focus on adhering to the rules that they have already agreed to.  The WTO needs an effective dispute settlement system for that.  The WTO needs all Members to adhere to all rules they have signed up for and not decide that some rules don’t apply to them.

Questions asked of Dr. Fox: There have been some problems with the Appellate Body overreaching.  Do you agree we need a more realistic approach by Appellate Body where there is ambiguous language in an agreement?  How would you resolve the impasse on the Appellate Body?

Resolution of the Appellate Body impasse is the most urgent task facing the incoming Director-General.  Dispute Settlement is the value-added to many Members of joining the WTO.  Many members view the Appellate Body as having gone beyond the Dispute Settlement Understanding.  Moreover, the excessive length of time to render an appeal decision undermines the system by itself — Members violating their obligations can get a three-year free ride.  The WTO needs to tighten up the parameters and limit the areas that the Appellate Body examines.  While the Appellate Body can’t create binding precedent, the need for consistency supports the ability to review how issues have been handled in other cases.  Thus, looking at prior disputes makes sense, but the Appellate Body can’t create law through the process.

On any negotiation there are technical, political and timing issues. WTO Members are not going to see any concessions from the U.S. before the presidential election.  It may be possible for the U.S. to make compromises, but the timing of major political events affects the ability to do so.    

Conclusion

One of the major current challenges for the WTO and its Members is finding solutions to the impasse on the Appellate Body. The eight candidates for the Director-General post have all expressed views on the importance of resolving the issue and where in the hierarchy of issues to be addressed by an incoming Director-General the impasse is found. Presumably, most Members will be carefully considering each candidate’s views and suggested approach on all key issues, including resolving the Appellate Body impasse.

The fundamental disconnect between the EU (which has been reluctant to recognize any deviation from the Dispute Settlement Understanding by the Appellate Body) and the United States (which has focused on the limited role of the Appellate Body as laid out in the Dispute Settlement Understanding) remains. The role of honest broker and consensus builder that the incoming Director-General will assume later this year will be tested by the gulf in positions of two of the WTO’s major Members.

Selecting the next WTO Director-General — process for phase three and selection of acting Director-General may be decided on July 31

On Tuesday, July 28, the WTO held an informal meeting of the Heads of Delegation. Reportedly, the meeting was spent discussing the process for the third phase of the selection process for a new Director-General for the WTO.

The current Director-General of the World Trade Organization is stepping down one year early on August 31st. The first phase of the selection process for a replacement ended on July 8 (nominations by Members of candidates). The second phase, which is to permit candidates to become known to Members ends on September 7 and has already had each of the eight candidates meet with the Members in a General Council meeting (July 15-17). The third phase involves the Chair of the General Council supported by the Chairs of the Dispute Settlement Body and the Trade Policy Review Body consulting with Members, typically in a process referred to as “confessionals” in which each Member is asked to identify either the candidates the Member believes is most likely to achieve consensus or the candidates least likely to achieve consensus. Those candidates who are not viewed as being in the top number of candidates likely to receive consensus (or most likely not to achieve consensus if questions are styled that way) are expected to withdraw.

In 2013, there were three rounds of consultations to go from nine candidates to five candidates to two candidates with one candidate then put forward by the Chair of the General Council to the membership for a consensus decision. By procedures adopted at the end of 2002, this third phase is intended to be completed in two months, with provisions for possible voting if a consensus is not possible.

On the WTO webpage this morning, an additional informal meeting of the Heads of Delegation has been added and is scheduled for this Friday at 10 a.m. July 31st is the last day before the WTO’s August recess. A press article yesterday indicated that the informal meeting on Friday would take back up the issue of process for the third phase of the selection process, that discussions had been about having three rounds of consultations to take the candidates from eight to five to two to one. It was also reported that the informal meeting of Heads of Delegation on Friday would take up the question of who would serve as the acting Director-General between September 1 and whenever the selection process for a new Director-General concludes (likely around November 7). See Inside U.S. Trade’s World Trade Online, WTO members to meet again this week on selection process, acting DG, July 28, 2020, https://insidetrade.com/trade/wto-members-meet-again-week-selection-process-acting-dg.

Should the informal meeting of Heads of Delegation reach agreement on an acting Director-General, a special General Council meeting would be called so the decision could formally be taken by consensus. By procedures adopted at the end of 2002, the acting Director-General is to be selected from the four Deputy Directors-General. All four of the Deputy Directors-General (DDGs) have indicated their willingness to serve as acting DG if selected. Yonov Frederick Agah (Nigeria), Karl Brauner (Germany), Alan Wm. Wolff (United States) and Yi Xiazhum (China) are the four DDGs.

Possible scenario for the phase 3 selection process

In a prior post, I provided a summary of statements made by each candidate to the General Council and a summary of press conference questions and answers. See July 19, 2020, The eight candidates for WTO Director-General meet the General Council – recap of prepared statements and press conferences, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/07/19/the-eight-candidates-for-wto-director-general-meet-the-general-council-recap-of-prepared-statements-and-press-conferences/. As reviewed therein each candidate has his or her own story for why he/she would be the right person to become the next Director-General. There are also issues of whether the candidate (1) is from a geographical area not previously having a Director-General of the WTO, (2) has WTO/Geneva experience, (3) has served as a Trade Minister, (4) has served in other high-level government positions, (5) has been an official of a multilateral organization, (6) is from a developed or developing country. There are also potential political issues reflecting any ongoing conflicts the candidate’s country has with other WTO Members. Depending on how WTO Members actually weigh the candidates’ credentials and the other issues will resolve which candidates are viewed as most likely or least likely to receive consensus from the WTO membership.

WTO Members obviously have much greater information on each candidate and will have the opportunity to talk privately with each candidate if so inclined. What follows is simply an outside observer’s thoughts on how the consultations could proceed. I provide my assumptions as I proceed. As any of the eight could be the candidate selected as the next Director-General, my views on who may drop out in each of the rounds should not be taken as any comment on the capabilities of the individual candidates but simply an assessment from the private sector of how factors could combine to narrow the field.

Round 1 of consultations, going from eight to five candidates

While some former U.S. Trade Representatives have stated that technical expertise is not needed to be an effective Director-General (and indeed there have been both WTO Directors-General and USTRs who came to the position without extensive trade backgrounds), considering the challenges facing the WTO at the present time, I believe many Members will view having a trade background and a good familiarity with current WTO issues as a plus for any candidate.

As Director-General Azevedo demonstrated, a candidate doesn’t need to have a prior high political office (e.g., Minister of Trade or head of other ministry) to be able to effectively work with and communicate with senior government officials of Members in capitals. That view is supported by comments by former U.S. Trade Representatives as well. See WITA’s July 16, 2020 webinar, Three former USTRs on the WTO in a time of change, https://www.wita.org/event-videos/wita-webinar-three-former-ustrs-on-the-wto-in-a-time-of-change/ (former USTRs Froman, Schwab, and Hills). Even though that is true, I believe many Members will view prior senior government experience as important in any candidate.

While serving in other multilateral organizations will likely be viewed as a plus for any candidate, it is not likely in my view by itself to override the other elements.

Geographical diversity will be a plus for the three African candidates. Depending on whether Mexico is viewed as North American or Latin, Dr. Seade may be helped (if viewed as North American) or hurt (if viewed as Latin since the current DG is from Brazil). The Saudi Arabian candidate similarly would be helped if viewed as a Middle East candidate or possibly hurt if viewed as an Asian candidate (since Thailand’s candidate in the past was selected as Director-General). The other three candidates come from regions that have had prior DGs. While all candidates have stated that the best candidate should be selected and not be a candidate from a particular geographical area, the factor of geographical diversity will likely be significant in weeding out at least some of the candidates.

If being from a developed country is helpful (since the current DG is from a developing country), then the Moldovan and UK candidates would be viewed as helped as they are the only developed country candidates. While the EC Trade Commissioner had early on indicated he thought the next DG should be from a developed country, the U.S. did not support that position. I assume it will not be a relevant factor for most Members.

The WTO, and the GATT before it, have never had a female Director-General. Considering UN Sustainable Development Goals, for many Members whether the candidate is female may be an important factor.

While the selection process in phase three is set up to try to prevent Members from preventing a consensus from forming, it is unclear how the process will work if one or more major players will not accept a candidate for political or other reasons. During the press conferences, questions were raised about (1) ongoing political tensions between Korea and Japan and between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, (2) tensions between the United Kingdom and the European Union from Brexit, and (3) concerns China might have if an Asian candidate were selected in terms of its ability to maintain a Deputy Director-General position. It would seem likely that if the EU chose to defeat the U.K. candidate, between their member states and friends in the WTO, they would be able to block Dr. Fox. It is unclear if the same is true for the Korean candidate should Japan alone oppose, but it is more likely that the Korean candidate would be blocked if China also worked to defeat the candidate. I don’t believe that sufficient Members would oppose Saudi Arabia’s candidate on the basis of Saudi Arabia’s conflict with Qatar.

Based on the above assumptions, I believe that the first round of consultations will likely result in the following three candidates being viewed as least likely to obtain a consensus and hence withdrawing:

Tudor Ulianovschi (Moldova) – I believe many Members will view other candidates as having similar or greater strengths; he is from Europe which has dominated past DG selections.

H.E. Mohammad MazaidAl-Tuwaijiri (Saudi Arabia) – I believe his message of bringing strong business management skills to the job will not attract a large part of the WTO Members.

Dr. Liam Fox (United Kingdom) — while having strong free trade credentials, he has limited WTO experience; being from Europe will be a negative if Members get past credentials.

Round 2 of consultations, going from five candidates to two candidates

It is not surprising that even in the first round, it is possible that other candidates could be the ones who withdraw versus the three listed. That caveat is even stronger in round two. That said, here are two of the three whom I believe will drop out after Round 2:

Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt) — while Mr. Mamdouh has a wealth of WTO experience and is well known to many if not all of the WTO Members, I believe he will not make it to the final round based on what many Members may view as lack of political experience not having served as a Minister or other high level government position.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Korea) — Minister Yoo has an impressive resume and her arguments for why she would be a good Director-General resonated with me. Because other candidates have similar or more extensive backgrounds in trade, I believe Minister Yoo will drop out after the second round.

I consider the other three candidates to be the most likely to achieve consensus. Which of the three drops out after Round 2 will, in my view, depend on the weight members give to Dr. Seade being from a Latin American Member vs. the weight given to a strong reputation for reform and political capabilities vs. trade background and track record of accomplishments within the WTO.

If the Latin American label (versus Mexico being part of North America which has never had a Director-General) generates significant negatives, then I believe Dr. Jesus Seade (Mexico) will drop out at the end of round two. This would be unfortunate in my view because his understanding of pending challenges at the WTO and suggested approaches to addressing them sounded the most developed and most likely to achieve results of any of the candidates.

If Dr. Seade is not eliminated at the end of the second round of consultations, the choice for the third candidate eliminated comes down to H.E. Amina C. Mohamed (Kenya) or Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria). Minister Mohamed has a strong record of accomplishments at the WTO including at the 2015 WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi. She checks all of the boxes of factors listed and hence is likely to be one of the last candidates standing. Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has a large reform reputation with a strong record at both the World Bank and as Finance Minister in Nigeria but has no WTO experience, and the trade experience that flows from her finance role or her role as a development economist.

Round 3 of consultations, from two candidates to the one candidate viewed as most likely to achieve consensus from the WTO Members

While any of the three reviewed above could be the one standing at the end of the process and all are obviously qualified to lead, I believe that Minister Mohamed of Kenya will be selected as the next Director-General.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala would be my guess at who emerges as DG if Members don’t select Minister Mohamed.

While I believe that Dr. Jesus Seade may be the best candidate in fact, the current Director-General being from Brazil will likely move enough Members to vote for one of the two women candidates from African countries so that Dr. Seade will not make the final cut (if he gets to round 3).

Conclusion

With the hour glass running, the eight candidates for the WTO Director-General post are fully engaged in reaching out to WTO Members to get themselves known. From social media to webinars to press interviews to virtual and actual meetings with individual Members and groups of Members, each candidate and his/her host government are pulling out all the stops to help Members understand why the particular candidate is the right person to lead the WTO at the end of 2020.

Who Members decide is the best person to achieve consensus and become the next Director-General will unfold over the period September 8-November 7. The WTO is fortunate to have so many candidates come forward. There are lots of factors that can be considered by Members. Time will tell who emerges.

The eight candidates for WTO Director-General meet the General Council – recap of prepared statements and press conferences

On Friday, July 17th, the General Council of the World Trade Organization concluded three days of meetings with the eight candidates for the post of Director-General. With the current Director-General, Roberto Azevedo, stepping down on August 31st, the WTO is engaged in a somewhat truncated process for selecting a new Director-General, though it is likely that the selection will not conclude until early November of this year.

Each candidate had ninety minutes with the General Council and then were given a press conference for thirty minutes. At the press conference, the candidate would provide a short opening statement and then answer questions from journalists. The order of candidates meeting with the General Council followed the order of receipt of the candidate’s nomination from their government. Thus, Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) and Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt), the first three nominations received by the WTO, met with the General Council on July 15. On July 16, the General Council met with Mr. Tudor Ulianovschi (Rep. of Moldova), H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Rep. of Korea) and Amb. Amina C. Mohamed (Rep. of Kenya). On July 17, the General Council held meetings with H.E. Mohammad Al-Tuwaijri (Saudi Arabia) and Dr. Liam Fox (United Kingdom). The week also provided candidates with the opportunity to meet with individual WTO Members or groups of WTO Members based on availability, etc.

While the meetings with the General Council are simply an early part of the two month outreach by candidates to Members to become better known, the meetings are nonetheless important as they provide WTO Members the opportunity to hear from and to ask questions of each candidate under comparable circumstances. While the minutes of the General Council meetings will be generated by the WTO Secretariat in the coming months and made public some time after that, the General Council meetings are not open to the public. Hence the material available to evaluate the three days of meetings is limited to prepared statements made to the General Council and the press conferences for each candidate held after the candidate had met with the General Council. Those materials can be accessed from the WTO website. See Candidates for DG selection process 2020, https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/dg_e/dgsel20_e/dgsel20_e.htm (shows biography, statement to General Council, photo gallery and video press conference for each candidate); WTO members meet the candidates for Director-General, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_17jul20_e.htm.

What follows are first my summary impressions from the public information of the candidates. Those are followed by my summaries of each candidate’s presentation and answers to questions.

Summary Impressions of the Candidates

In the challenging environment that confronts the world at the present time, one has to marvel that eight individuals were willing to be put forward by their governments to pursue heading the World Trade Organization. Despite some successes in its first twenty-five years, the WTO is viewed as being severely challenged. Its negotiating function, historically the most important function of the GATT and presumed to be critical in the WTO, has been at least seriously challenged, unable to deliver on many of the subjects that have been considered. This has led the WTO rules to be both outdated and not dealing with current issues of great importance. The dispute settlement system has seen the shutdown of the second-tier review (the Appellate Body) as a variety of longstanding concerns of the United States have not been addressed leading the U.S. to block appointing new members of the Appellate Body. Standing Committees that monitor notifications and discuss topics within the Committee’s jurisdiction have been less robust than historically was the case. Notifications are problematic for many Members in terms of completeness and timeliness of notifications. The lack of successful negotiations has raised concerns on obligations of members as economic development changes the relative ability of Members to contribute. Also the growth of Members operating on economic systems different than market economy models has created challenges as to practices that may not be addressed by WTO rules. And the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many export restraints to address concerns about adequacy of medical supplies or agricultural goods.

So it is encouraging that there are eight individuals willing to be considered to head the WTO going forward in such circumstances.

Each candidate has different backgrounds and experiences which may appeal to some WTO Members but not others. For example, Minister Mohammmad Al-Tuwaijri has an extensive business background as well as four years in a Minister position for Saudi Arabia and has focused on his management experience and his desire to develop goals and performance metrics to measure progress if selected the next Director-General.

That is a very different profile than that of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria. While Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has some private sector experience, she is a development economist with deep experience at the World Bank and as Finance Minister for Nigeria who focuses on her political experience, ability to work with various multilateral and UN organizations to achieve coordinated actions for developing and least-developed countries and being able to bring “fresh eyes” to the problems of the WTO. She has a reputation as a reformer.

A number of the candidates have depth of GATT/WTO experience and/or trade ministry work. Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri was Mexico’s Ambassador to the GATT, went inside the GATT Secretariat to help conclude the Uruguay Round and was one of the first Deputy Directors-General of the WTO and has recent experiences with the Mexican government concluding the USMCA talks with the United States and Canada. His presentation had a very aggressive and active agenda presented with approaches on the Appellate Body and other issues that indicate he would be active as a Director-General in helping Members find solutions through his understanding of the Agreements, their history, and an ability to devise possible alternative approaches to resolve impasses. He is obviously fluent in all three official languages which is an aid in dealing with senior Mission officials and officials in capitals for many countries.

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh similarly has very long experience at the GATT and WTO, first as a negotiator for Egypt and then as part of the WTO Secretariat where he served as Director of Services and Investment. He has significant technical expertise and views himself as having a history of being a trusted advisor to all WTO Members which is different from others who have more government specific experience. While he hasn’t filled senior political positions in the Egyptian government, he notes that political leadership, which is important for the Director-General position, is not the same as ministerial leadership experience.

Minister Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya touted her extensive experience both at the WTO where she was Ambassador for Kenya to the WTO including chairing the three major bodies (General Council, Dispute Settlement Body and Trade Policy Review Body) and her role as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister which included her chairing the 10th WTO Ministerial in Nairobi and achieving a series of breakthroughs on negotiations including an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement, expansion of the Information Technology Agreement and delivering an agreement on agriculture export subsidies to highlight her ability to build consensus should she be selected as the next Director-General.

Mr. Tudor Ulianovschi from Moldova similarly had served both as his country’s Ambassador to the WTO and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He presented himself as having political leadership experience and an understanding of current WTO challenges and having interfaced with governments around the world. As Moldova is neutral on many issues before major trading partners, Mr. Ulianovschi views he can be the honest broker and viewed as such by Members. He can handle the political and technical elements of the job and references his sixteen years of experience with Moldova’s government.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee of Korea has spent twenty-five years in international trade for her government and is the first female Minister for Trade. While she has not served in Geneva in her country’s mission, she has engaged extensively in trade negotiations with countries at all levels of economic development and knows what is needed to conclude negotiations. The fact that she has experienced Korea’s change in economic status over the years helps her understand issues and needs of WTO Members at different economic levels of development.

Finally, Dr. Liam Fox of the United Kingdom believes the next Director-General needs to have political skills, not be a technocrat. He has been in the UK Parliament for several decades and has served in two different administrations (Secretary of State for Defence; Secretary of State for Trade). While he hasn’t served at the WTO, he is a strong supporter of free trade. He believes the WTO needs to recommit to the fundamental principles of most favoured nation, national treatment and transparency of commitment as part of the next Ministerial Conference in 2021. He also cautions that now is not the time for an incoming Director-General to overcommit on anticipated results.

There are factors that may influence some Members — geographical diversity, gender of candidate, whether the candidate is from a developed or developing country. In my last post, I provided a chart that graphed these and some other factors. See WTO Director-General selection process – this week candidates meet WTO Members in a General Council Meeting, https://currentthoughtsontrade.com/2020/07/14/wto-director-general-selection-process-the-week-candidates-meet-wto-members-in-a-general-council-meeting/.

On geographical diversity, there has never been a Director-General from an African country (three candidates – Nigeria, Egypt and Kenya), from an Arab country (Saudi Arabia, Egypt), from North America (Mexico).

On gender, there has never been a Director-General who was female. There are three candidates who are female in this selection process (Nigeria, Korea, Kenya).

On developed vs. developing country, there are two countries that are “developed” at the WTO (United Kingdom, Moldova). In my prior chart, Moldova had been listed as developing, flowing from the fact that in their trade policy review, it was indicated that Moldova is eligible for generalized system of preference benefits from a number of countries (GSP is intended to benefit developing countries). See Trade Policy Review, Report by the Secretariat, Republic of Moldova, WT/TPR/S/323 (14 September 2015) at 31, para. 3.24, https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/s323_e.pdf. Saudi Arabia was included in the chart as a developing country, despite being a high income country in the World Bank’s terminology, because the Saudi Arabia trade policy review indicates Saudi Arabia is a member of the Informal Group of Developing Countries. See Trade Policy Review, Report by the Secretariat, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, WT/TPR/S/333 (29 Feb. 2016) at 22, para. 2.20, https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/tpr_e/s333_e.pdf.

If WTO Members are looking for positions of candidates on particular issues, candidates were typically careful not to go in one direction or another where there are known differences in the position of Members. For example, on the question of the Appellate Body reform, candidates recognized the need to address both the concerns of the United States and the concerns of other Members to have the WTO Appellate Body reinstated in their prepared statements and were certainly asked questions both by the General Council and during the press conferences. Some, like Dr. Jesus Seade, had some broader ideas on how to resolve the Appellate Body issue without indicating what the resolution would look like. Others like Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh believed it would be possible to move forward from the work already done. Some like Dr. Liam Fox suggested that without resolution there was no dispute settlement, which is a sentiment that at least the United States would disagree with. Several were asked about the interim arrangement entered into by the EU, China, Canada and some 19 others. All who addressed the issue accepted the arrangement as interim only and not intended to replace the Appellate Body and focused on obtaining a solution to the impasse on the Appellate Body.

Similarly, many candidates were asked about the question of classification of countries as developing for special and differential treatment. Minister Yoo of Korea noted that Korea had decided that its economic development permitted it to accept higher levels of commitments and thought that was useful for countries who felt they could do so. But she recognized that it was a sensitive issue on which there was no consensus. Dr. Seade felt a more productive approach to the issue would be to look at whether any given country needed special and differential treatment on a product or sector basis in new agreements versus tackling what he viewed was a theological issue – country classification. Others deferred to what Members thought or wanted to pursue.

While all candidates talked extensively about reform, none can fairly be said to have embraced the U.S. call for broad-ranging reform of the existing organization and agreements. Nor did any candidate publicly indicate that the WTO did not address many of the practices of China which operates under a different economic system than most of WTO members, another issue viewed as important by USTR Lighthizer for candidates to recognize.

To sum up, the candidates are in the early days of their outreach to get better known by Members. The appearances before the General Council and the press conferences afterward provide a better understanding of their visions for the WTO and what the candidates believe they bring to the table. The next 51 days til September 8 will undoubtedly be an exhausting time for each candidate as outreach continues around the world. We wish all of the candidates success in their outreach efforts these next fifty-one days.

The immediate task for the General Council will be selecting an acting Director-General from the four existing Deputy Directors-General. It is not clear if this will be accomplished at this week’s General Council meeting on July 22 and 23, or if this week’s meeting will simply represent the start of the process.

What follows are summaries of prepared statements and of the press conferences held July 15-17, 2020

Dr. Jesus Seade Kuri (Mexico)

Dr. Seade was the first candidate nominated and so was the first before the General Council and the first to have a press conference after the meeting with the General Council. His statement to the General Council was the only one presented in all three of the official languages of the WTO with the first part in Spanish, the middle section in French and the last part in English.

Dr. Seade reviews his unique history with the GATT and WTO, having been Mexico’s Ambassador to the GATT during the Uruguay Round, part of the GATT Secretariat during the period that Peter Sutherland was Director-General working to conclude the Uruguay Round, and his role as one of the first Deputy Directors-General of the WTO when the WTO launched in 1995. The GATT and WTO have accomplished a lot in terms of expanding global trade and economic development over roughly three quarters of a century. The WTO provided needed stability during the 2008 financial crisis and is continuing to do so now during the COVID-19 pandemic. And the WTO has had some recent successes in terms of completing the trade facilitation agreement and agreeing to the elimination of agricultural export subsidies by some countries. Nonetheless, the WTO’s performance has not lived up to the initial high expectations of Members.

The WTO has the twin problems of limited results from negotiations and the paralysis of the Appellate Body. These problems are being exacerbated by the enormous negative effects of COVID-19 on trade. Key to restoring the role of the organization is to restore the negotiating function, restore a two stage dispute settlement system and start discussions to make the WTO more efficient, transparent and inclusive. On negotiations, the WTO needs to address issues currently being addressed, issues relevant to 21st century trade, and traditional issues where progress has not been made.

Dr. Seade presented a three-stage program for action:

  1. In the first 100 days, work with Members to (a) complete a fisheries subsidies agreement, (b) restore the Appellate Body, (c) work to reverse negative views of WTO and its ability to fulfill its mandate and (d) work with Members on the COVID-19 crisis both to increase transparency and address trade restrictions introduced.
  2. By the Ministerial Conference to be held in 2021, help Members achieve results (a) in joint initiatives and (b) on issues that will make WTO more transparent and effective, and establish a work program on issues where negotiations have been suspended.
  3. In the medium and longer term, work with Members to identify weaknesses in the organization and pursue modifications to strengthen the organization, take up traditional priority issues on the sustainable development agenda. Also ensure a high quality and effective Secretariat. Finally, address issues important to society, including those related to the environment, gender, MSMEs, etc.

Dr. Seade indicated that he possesses not only vision, leadership and political capacity but also an understanding of the trade agreements and the sensitivities behind the agreements. These are qualities he believes the next Director-General will need.

During the press conference, Dr. Seade provided a short opening statement which basically reviewed his special role in the creation of the WTO and his other positions. He noted that trade is very transformative for countries to help development and lift people out of poverty. He then reviewed the serious crisis at the WTO and why he has been put forward as a candidate.

Dr. Seade was asked many questions some of which sought information that is reflected in his prepared statement. Dr. Seade was asked why Members should choose him, how he would help Members address the Appellate Body impasse, what did he think of the interim arbitration arrangement entered into by a number of Members while the Appellate Body is not functioning, what is the most pressing challenge at the WTO, which Members were supporting his candidacy, what will the effect of the U.S. election be on the Director-General selection process and what Dr. Seade thinks of the issue of classification of Members as developed or developing. He was also asked questions about regional diversity and gender for the next Director-General noting Mexico is part of Latin America, the area where the current Director-General is also from, versus candidates from Africa or the Middle East which have never had a Director-General. Similarly, the GATT and WTO have had Directors-General all of whom have been male. The current field of eight candidates includes three women; isn’t it time for a woman to be Director-General?

Dr. Seade reviewed the capabilities he believes the next Director-General needs. While he wouldn’t make a comparison to other candidates, he felt that he had the capabilities in fact needed. His job as Director-General would be to come up with alternative ideas to help Members find solutions. He has that ability.

On the question of the Appellate Body impasse, Dr. Seade noted that none of the Members were denouncing any provision within the Dispute Settlement Understanding. Rather concerns had been voiced on how DSU provisions had been applied. Dr. Seade believes that what is missing is the way to operationalize the role of the Dispute Settlement Body (all WTO Members sitting as the DSB) which is organizationally above the Appellate Body but for which there are currently no procedures for communications from the DSB to the Appellate Body to address issues generally (vs. in specific disputes). Such procedures were needed. He also had other ideas for how to resolve the impasse that he was interested in reviewing with Members to see if there could be movement. On the question of the interim arbitration arrangement, Dr. Seade thought a temporary arrangement made sense as it provided Members a second stage to dispute settlement as provided in the DSU. Key is finding a solution to the impasse so the two-tier dispute settlement system is restored for all.

On the question of the major problem with the WTO, Dr. Seade identified two problems — the inability to negotiate and dispute settlement, although dispute settlement largely flows from the inability to negotiate. Because the nature of the world has changed so profoundly over the years, there are new issues and new actors. Where Members can’t negotiate new issues, there is enormous pressure put on the dispute settlement system to find solutions. The inability to negotiate is spurred on by an enormous lack of trust between Members. The issue of lack of trust needs to be addressed.

On the issue of support, he noted that obviously many Members want to meet all candidates as they consider who they will support. He has done extensive outreach already to many Members and believes those outreach efforts have generally been well received. While he has some Members who have indicated they will support his candidacy (about a half dozen), only two are public — Argentina and Bolivia. He did not view it as appropriate to mention other Members where support was not public. He was hopeful of obtaining support from all parts of the world including in North America.

On the question of the effect of the U.S. Presidential election in November on the Director-General selection process, Dr. Seade said that both parties in the United States have been critical of the WTO in various respects. So regardless of the election outcome, the WTO will need to address U.S. concerns. The key is to make the Director-General selection as soon as possible. This is because of the need to get working ahead of the Ministerial Conference which will be next year, but there is pent-up demand on issues since the last Ministerial was four years ago. While the schedule for the selection of the next Director-General could run to early November, he hopes it will be handled more quickly by Members.

On the question of developed vs. developing country, Dr. Seade looks at it from the perspective of special and differential treatment. On the one hand the world keeps changing, so it’s reasonable to ask what a Member can do. The idea of changing classification of countries from developing to developed will take a very long time and so is probably the wrong approach. The question should be what contribution can a particular member make, which may be different in different industries.

On the questions of geographical diversity and gender, Dr. Seade reviewed that Members will be making the selection. He believes the correct course is for Members to pick the individual best qualified for this particular time. He believes that he is that person.

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (Nigeria)

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her prepared statement includes sincere condolences for all who have lost a family member from COVID-19 in French. Later in her statement, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala includes a phrase from her native igbo language, and she gives thank yous in six languages. The main part of her statement is in English. Her statement reviews her record at the World Bank, her time as Finance Minister in Nigeria and her role as Chair of Gavi to stress her ability to achieve reform and to work with other multilateral organizations and her focus on the needs of development and the role trade plays in development.

Looking at the challenges confronting the WTO, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala flags a negotiating function that is underperforming “at a time when its rule book would greatly benefit from an update to 21st century issues such as e-commerce and the digital economy, the green and circular economies. Issues of women and trade and Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are import to ensure greater inclusion.” (pages 2-3). Other challenges include improving transparency and notifications, improving the functioning of the regular WTO bodies and strengthening the Secretariat. There are important differences on issues such as SOEs and agricultural subsidies amongst Members and increased trade tensions.

These problems are exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis which have resulted in export restraints by some and stimulus packages which may “undermine WTO commitments by distorting production and trade.” (page 4).

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala reviewed why she believes she is the person to be the next Director-General:

  1. She is a strong believer in the role of trade and of the multilateral trading system to bring shared prosperity. She brings a “fresh pair of eyes to the WTO’s challenges.”
  2. Need to build trust. Not a question of technical expertise but rather political will/solutions.
  3. She has a proven track record in carrying out successful reforms which is what will be needed at the WTO going forward.

After reviewing the range of pending issues before the WTO that need to be completed or addressed, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala reviews the need to work closely with other multilateral organizations and the UN and her ability to improve cooperation with these other entities.

“The rules-based MTS is a public good that underpins peace, security, stability and a chance for prosperity in the world. Every effort should therefore be made to safeguard, improve and renew it to enable it effectively address the challenges of the 21st century.” (Page 11)

During the press conference, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala provided her short statement and then received a large number of questions. Her short statement was that trade is important for the 21st century, for prosperity, resilience and growth. The WTO is at the center of global trade.

She was asked about whether three candidates from Africa hurt her chances to be selected, what she views as the role of the Director-General, how she views the question of fair trade particularly between north and south, what she believes is achievable in terms of deliverables by the next WTO Ministerial Conference in 2021, what she would say to the U.S. President on why the U.S. should stay in the WTO, what the WTO can do to ensure that small and micro-businesses survive the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, what her selection as the next Director-General would mean for women in Nigeria, if selected the next Director-General what would she do to ensure availability of medical supplies to all countries, and whether her perceived lack of a trade background was a handicap in the competition to become the next Director-General.

Her response on the question about multiple candidates from Africa was that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala viewed that it was a positive that there were three qualified candidates from Africa and not a problem. It is up to the Members to select from all of the candidates, a process which should focus on who is the best candidate. If from Africa, great.

On the question of the role of the Director-General, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala views the role to be working with Members to help them reach consensus. It is important that starting with the next Ministerial, the WTO show movement to achieve results.

On the question of fair trade, particularly between north and south, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala noted that the WTO’s role is to support all members to take advantage of fair and open trade. Where the South is getting fewer benefits from global trade, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala would use the instruments available to the WTO Director-General (e.g., Aid for Trade, working with other multilateral organizations) to get resources to South Members to improve their position in international trade.

On the question of what is achievable by the next Ministerial in 2021 and whether it is best to go after issues one at a time or in a larger grouping, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala indicated that she hoped the WTO Membership would make a decision soon on who should be Director-General so whoever is selected has more time before the next Ministerial. But even if a decision is not made until November 2020, there are some areas that could be ready by the next Ministerial. For example, a fisheries subsidies agreement should be achievable. There was a lot of discussion in the General Council on trust and building trust to move negotiations along. Trust is obviously an important issue. So the WTO may need to sequence issues to build trust by achieving a win or two. Once there are some successes, it should be possible to handle more issues in parallel.

On the question of why the U.S. should stay in the WTO, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala would communicate that the WTO delivers for all Members. The GATT and WTO have provided shared prosperity which has lifted millions out of poverty. Where the trading system is not working, Members need to fix the problems. Peace, security and stability are needed now just as they have been over the last decades. These are what the WTO rules-based system provides. If we didn’t have the WTO, we would need to invent it.

On the question of MSMEs, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala noted that they are very important globally but are being harmed by COVID-19 fallout. How to ensure MSMEs survive and get such entities better included in the global trading system is a matter of great interest to Dr. Okonjo-Iweala. There is a great need to facilitate provision of additional resources to help these entities. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala would work with other multilateral organizations to help facilitate assistance.

On the question of what will her getting selected Director-General of the WTO would mean for women in Nigeria, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala noted that women not just in Nigeria but around the world are ready for greater roles. But Dr. Okonjo-Iweala reiterated that selection of the WTO Director-General should be based on merit–if a woman, great; if from Africa, great.

On the question of what she would do as Director-General to ensure smooth trade of medical goods including therapeutics and vaccines, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala indicated that she would use the knowledge she has from the chair of GAVI and working with other groups and organizations to ensure that the WTO did its part to ensure equitable and afforadable access to any vaccines developed to address COVID-19. There should be no barriers to access to the medicines/vaccines while honoring intellectual property rights. It is critical that everyone have access to lifesaving medicines at the same time and at affordable prices.

On the question of whether the consensus rule at the WTO should be gotten rid of to overcome gridlock, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala responded that part of the strength of WTO is that agreements are reached by consensus. Where all sovereign states agree to a text, they are more likely to implement the provisions. The real question is how to make consensus better. In Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s view, the underlying problem with the current consensus system is the lack of trust among the Members. Thus, there is an urgent need to rebuild trust. To rebuild trust, the WTO needs confidence building measures, i.e., obtaining wins in achieving new agreements. That will show that consensus can and does work.

The question on what Dr. Okonjo-Iweala would do as Director-General to see that an agreement on e-commerce was pursued was answered by noting that there was extensive work being done plurilaterally by many Members as one of a number of joint statement initiatives. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala agrees that an agreement on e-commerce is very important, but she notes that there is a digital divide where many poorer countries don’t have the infrastructure to take advantage of e-commerce. The WTO, working with other multilateral organizations, needs to see that resources are put together to help countries address the digital divide. Once the digital divide is addressed, all Members should want to and be able to participate in the e-commerce negotiations, so that the agreement becomes a multilateral one.

On the question of whether her career in finance is a handicap for a trade position, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala disagrees with the premise as her career has always involved trade as a development economist and also as finance minister where Customs was part of her responsibilities.

Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh (Egypt)

Mr. Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh is the one candidate with extensive WTO Secretariat experience (27 years), junior negotiating experience for Egypt during the Uruguay Round, but no Minister or Ambassador experience on his biography. His prepared statement concurs that the WTO needs reform, an updated rulebook for the 21st century and a Director-General with political leadership though he indicates political leadership doesn’t require or mean ministerial leadership. That said, Mr. Mamdouh indicates that a core problem is that the consensus or common purpose of the WTO has faded for many and to get that common purpose back, the WTO needs a different type of leadership, one that he is positioned to provide.

“In my view, over the past quarter of a century, the WTO has suffered from a chronic imbalance across all its vital functions. That is, dispute settlement, negotiation, and the transparency/deliberative functions

“In any legal system, there needs to be a balance between the ‘legislative’ and the ‘judicial’ functions. For the WTO, these are the negotiating and the dispute settlement functions. While dispute settlement gained strength due to the inherent automaticity of procedures, the negotiating function has broken down. This created an unsustainable imbalance.” (Page 3)

As international trade has evolved, the rules of trade have not done so which has added to imbalance through use of dispute settlement to address matters where no rules exist. Similarly, where transparency and notifications are not robust, Members don’t have the necessary information to confirm compliance, and that can lead to additional disputes.

“A deeper look into the root causes of this imbalance would reveal that there are three cross-cutting phenomena that hinder the functioning of the WTO: leadership deficit, increasing complexity of trade policy and negotiating issues, and a fading vision of the common purpose behind the system. Over time, these phenomena lead to the unsustainable imbalance across the vital functions.” (Page 4)

Reform of the WTO can only occur through negotiations. For the 12th Ministerial Conference to be held in 2021, the WTO needs to agree on a reform agenda and to “achieve concrete progress on issues currently under negotiation”. (Page 5) Fisheries subsidies, Joint Statement Initiatives on e-commerce, domestic regulation in services, MSMEs and investment facilitation along with backlog issues all need to be considered.

The next DG needs “authoritative knowledge of the system and long experience with its functioning” and “trust of Members in his or her impartiality”. (page 7). Mr. Mamdouh believes he is the best candidate to be the next Director-General.

During the press conference, Mr. Mamdouh responded to a wide range of questions (see below) following his opening statement. In his opening statement, Mr. Mamdouh indicated that he had reviewed with the General Council why he was running as a candidate and what he would do as Director-General. He touted his 35 years of experience and participation in the Uruguay Round. He reviewed why he perceives the organization in crisis, the root cause being the imbalance among the three legs of the system — negotiations, dispute settlement, transparency/notifications. He also talked about how to fix the problems and the differences between other organizations’ reform and that of the WTO where reform involves modifying the agreements.

On the question of whether the General Council had concerns with Mr. Mamdouh’s background (no position as minister or ambassador) and role of the Director-General, Mr. Mamdouh indicated that he hadn’t sensed any concern among the Members. In his view, ministers take national perspective, while the role of the Director-General is to be a facilitator and honest broker which requires independence. His background is exactly that. While Mr. Mamdouh agreed that political leadership is required for the next Director-General, political leadership is not synoamous with ministerial leadership.

On the question of his vision for fixing the WTO and his strategy for doing so, Mr. Mamdouh indicated that he believed the WTO Members needed to develop a sense of common purpose. His strategy would begin with reviving the negotiation function. The Director-General will need fact- based knowledge to help Members find solutions.

On the question of running against two other African candidates and whether it will make it harder to win, Mr. Mamdouh answered that it was the position of the Egyptian government that the Egyptian candidate is the only candidate who has been endorsed by the African Union through its process. Candidates from Nigeria and Kenya have not passed through the process established by the African Union.

Mr. Mamdouh was asked about whether changes were needed in the interaction between the WTO Secretariat and Members. Mr. Mamdouh responded that the WTO has a body of great expertise within the Secretariat that could be better utilized. The expertise needs to be put at the disposal of the membership; information from the Secretariat staff is provided to Members in negotiations, to panels in dispute settlement and in committees. Mr. Mamdouh wants to bring the role of the Secretariat back to where it was in the past.

Mr. Mamdouh was asked if there is an Egyptian vision that makes him unique as a candidate. He was also asked if he didn’t think it was time for a woman to lead the WTO. Mr. Mamdouh stated that his Egyptian perspective is that of a Egyptian negotiator struggling to navigate the challenges within the GATT and then deal with the new issues within the Uruguay Round (services, IP). Thus, he understands what negotiators from developing and LDCs face to effectively participate with new issues. On the question of when it is time for a woman to lead the WTO, Mr. Mamdouh indicated that any time is the right time. He believes in gender equality. But gender shouldn’t be the primary criteria in selecting a Director-General.

Mr. Mamdouh was asked a question based on his role in the GATS negotiations as to what is key to building consensus. Mr. Mamdouh believes that the key to building consensus is to mobilize support for the common purpose. Conversely, while consensus is the golden rule in how the WTO functions, Members shouldn’t impose a requirement of consensus where it is not required. If one follow these two approaches, one facilitates achieving consensus.

A question was asked on what should be the role of the US and China in the new WTO. Mr. Mamdouh responded that the role of these two Members is to engage in the WTO. Start from the point that bilateral disputes should be resolved in the WTO. Since we all believe in the multilateral process, must keep in mind that bilateral disputes and solutions have effects on others. Moreover, bilateral solutions are less likely to be disciplined and are likely to be short lived.

Asked what he would do to revive the Appellate Body, Mr. Mamdouh responded that he would build off of the work already done. Most logical and productive first step is to build on that work and see what else is needed. And there is a need to look deeper into causes which he believes are rooted in differences in legal and regulatory systems. Mr. Mamdouh has not heard any suggestions that rules within the Dispute Settlement Understanding need to be changed. He concluded by saying that the size of the problem needs to be put into perspective and one needs to remember that on this issue, the WTO Members are not starting from zero.

A question was asked on globalization, whether the golden age of globalization had passed, the challenges of new protectionism and what he would do to restore the golden age of globalization. Mr. Mamdouh indicated that he believes globalization has been in transition for a while. The challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic merely highlight some challenges and possible changes. Globalization won’t go away. Problems seen during COVID-19 relate to medical products and agricultural products. Problems with supply chains have to do with disruption. If trying to deal with resilience, solution may lie with diversification of supply vs. onshoring. Globalization is restructuring but not going away (supply closer to demand). Will continue to evolve but won’t disappear.

On the question of what is the top challenge facing the WTO and his priority actions to address, Mr. Mamdouh indicated that the top challenge is the failing sense of purpose within the membership. What he would prioritize would be working to revive the sense of common purpose.

Mr. Mamdouh was asked if there will be enough time to prepare for the next Ministerial to have positive agenda/outcome. He answered that if the selection process concludes before November, there should be sufficient time. In his view, the next Ministerial needs to be a turning point for the WTO. At MC12, the WTO must have a clear agenda for reform. There is not currently a mainstream focus on reform; issues are being raised ad hoc. Second, the WTO needs to score successes – fisheries subsidies and progress on joint statement initiatives.

Tudor Ulianovschi (Republic of Moldova)

Mr. Ulianovschi was the first candidate who met with the General Council on Thursday, July 16. He reviewed his time as the Moldovan Ambassador to the WTO and as Moldova’s Foreign Minister and his overall diplomatic and political career that spanned more than sixteen years.

He articulated his vision for the WTO if selected as the next Director-General as being

“a 3D vision and approach:

First D is Direct Access to Ministers and political decision makers — in my capacity as a recent Minister dealing with Ministers.

Second D is Dialogue and discussions with Geneva based Ambassadors — in my capacity as former Ambassador to the WTO — I was in your shoes and fully understand the process of work, its challenges and the potential efficient and effective solutions.

Third D is Driving the work of the WTO Management and Secretariat, so it can better and more efficiently serve Members’ needs and continue bringing its contribution to a better system for all Members.” (Pages 2-3)

There is a need to strengthen the system by reinvigorating the negotiation function, safeguarding and improving the WTO’s two-tiered dispute settlement system, and improving compliance with notification obligations. (Pages 2-3). Incremental progress on negotiations is what is achievable.

Immediate priorities for the next Director-General include eight items, the first four of which are getting the Appellate Body reactivated, achieving resolution to the fisheries subsidies negotiations, addressing joint initiative issue (e-commerce, investment facilitation for development, domestic services regulations, MSMEs), and facilitating dialogue on other ongoing issues.

Mr.Ulianovschi provided separate discussions on dispute settlement and on COVID-19. On the latter issue, transparency of government action is crucial for traders. Members should limit export restraints and remove as soon as the situation permits. The WTO needs to continue working with other international organizations to analyze the effect of COVID-19 on agricultural supplies, supply chains as well as how to help economic recovery, particularly for developing and least developed countries.

During the press conference, Mr. Ulianovschi provided a short introductory statement and then responded to a variety of questions. His short statement reviewed his presentation to the General Council. He believes that the WTO must show its relevance, and that the WTO needs reform to restore relevance. The WTO’s negotiating function is key to achieving this and helping restore the negotiating function would be his top priority as Director-General. The second priority is to reactive the Appellate Body. Third, is improving transparency and the monitoring function of the WTO. Mr. Ulianovschi brings to the table as a candidate his experience as a former Ambassador to the WTO and as a former Minister.

On the question of how he would use the role of Director-General to ease tensions between U.S. and China, Mr. Ulianovschi responded that this topic had been discussed with Members during his meeting with the General Council. In his view, the role of the Director-General is to be an honest broker between WTO Members. The Director-General must be able to listen to concerns with a view to using his offices to engage Members involved in a dialogue process. At same time, the Director-General is not there to impose solution but to listen and raise awareness of the impact of actions on the larger organization and to mitigate harm to others. The next Director-General needs to engage in talks both in Geneva and in capitals and see that any outreach is transparent and inclusive.

There were several questions on the Appellate Body including how Mr. Ulianovschi would reactivate the Appellate Body and whether reform of the dispute settlement system should be broader than getting the Appellate Body back functioning. Mr. Ulianovschi indicated that on the provisions of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, all Members agree on the provisions as written. With the application of the DSU by the AB, there are concerns raised by the U.S. and others. The Director-General can provide a process to help Member’s discuss. Solutions to the concerns raised need to be found, but the parameters of the solutions need to be found by members themselves. In his view, the Director-General’s role is to help Members identify how to move forward on the Appellate Body impasse with resolution by the next Ministerial Conference. On the question of breadth of action on the dispute settlement system, Mr. Ulianovschi stated that Members are not looking for a complete redrafting of the Dispute Settlement Understanding. What is needed is a targeted approach to address issues raised by certain members on the operation of the Appellate Body.

Mr. Ulianovschi was asked a question of how he, if selected as the next Director-General, would withstand the political pressure being young and from a very small country. Mr. Ulianovschi noted that as a candidate he speaks in his individual capacity not in his country’s capacity. Key criteria should be competence, experience and political profile, not age or size of country the candidate is from. He has the relevant experiences to be the next Director-General. The WTO needs a person who understands the issues but also has the political experience and networking to help members to get things done. As to age, Mr. Ulianovschi has plenty of experience negotiating agreements. He has the right resilience, tenacity, ability to listen and political will to get things done.

A question was asked of what sets Mr. Ulianovschi apart from other candidates. His response was that at the end of the day, it is for Members to decide which candidate best meets their needs. All of the eight candidates have extensive backgrounds. Believes he has a good 3-D approach which will benefit members.

On the COVID-19 crisis, Mr. Ulianovschi was asked how the pandemic will impact the WTO. His response was that COVID-19 is a wakeup call to WTO and its Members. The pandemic is having major negative effects on trade and economic growth around the world. Some WTO Members have imposed export restraints and pursuant to WTO requirements have generally notified such restraints. While all Members are affected by the pandemic, there have been significant effects on those least able to handle the negative effects, particularly LDCs. There is a need to expand capacity to help such Members. As Director-General he would work with other organizations to have a unified approach on how to address COVID-19 challenges through trade to the benefit of all people.

Mr. Ulianovschi was asked whether considering that Moldova was a small country that is not a powerhouse in trade, there were experiences from his country in post-Soviet times that would inform his handling the role of Director-General. Mr. Ulianovschi answered that when Moldova joined the WTO in 2001, it joined as a developed country and made the commitments expected of a developed member. Trade is important for Moldova and is for all WTO Members. Moldova has had a neutral role in many of the issues at the WTO. Thus, coming from Moldova enhances Mr. Ulianovschi’s background for being an honest broker if selected as the next Director-General. On size of country, Members should be evaluating the experience of the candidate versus the size of the country.

A question was asked whether the consensus rule at the WTO should be changed to reduce the paralysis. Mr. Ulianovschi responded that the consensus rule was decided by Members. Consensus decision making is one of the elements of the WTO that helps members remember the greater goods and need to consider partners’ needs. Process doesn’t work well all the time. The Director-General can help facilitate Members moving forward and achieving consensus. While there are different formats at the WTO (multilateral and plurilateral), at the end, it is important that basic principles are respected. Consensus is a cornerstone of the WTO.

The last question asked was about getting the WTO out of crisis; in particular, what is the core factor causing the crisis and how would Mr. Ulianovschi address the factor if he was selected as Director-General. Mr. Ulianovschi answered that this is an existential question for the WTO. First priority, in his view, to get out of the crisis is for there to be trust among Members. The role of the Director-General is to enhance feeling of trust through confidence building steps. Many issues which have been unresolved for a long time have undermined trust. Joint initiative statement issues are advancing and give hope that the organization is relevant and can deliver. This is a good sign that there is a common purpose among the Members.

H.E. Yoo Myung-hee (Republic of Korea)

The Korean candidate has spent twenty-five years in international trade and presently serves as Korea’s Minister for Trade.

“My 25 year career in international trade has taught me that solid ground- work is the basis of an agreement, and political will is what closes the deal. I have dealt with both the technical details of agreements, as well as engaged in finalizing major trade agreements as Trade Minister. I believe my extensive experience and expertise will enable me to offer insights and creative solutions to restore and revitalize the WTO.” Page 1

Minister Yoo reviewed the nature of the challenges facing the WTO at the present time:

“We are now witnessing the threat of growing protectionism, and heightened trade tensions. Technological advances are transforming the way we produce, deliver, and consume goods and services in ways never imagined when the WTO was created. The global crisis induced by the pandemic is challenging the WTO’s purpose of ensuring the smooth flow of goods and services.

“The WTO, which was intended to provide predictability and stability in these times of turbulence, is now facing a trust deficit with all three pillars under stress.

“Despite much good will and hard work, the record of negotiations in the WTO leaves much room to be desired. There has been progress, such as the adoption of the Bali and the Nairobi packages including the Trade Facilitation Agreement, but we need to do much more to meet the challenges and realities of the 21st century. The stagnant negotiations have had negative consequences for all of the WTO’s functions, and, to some extent, contributed to the current problems facing the dispute settlement system.” (page 2)

Minister Yoo’s vision for the WTO “is to make the WTO more relevant, resilient and responsive.” (Page 2)

“The WTO needs to keep evolving to become more relevant to changing economic circumstance and realities. The WTO needs to enhance sustainability and inclusiveness to remain resilient as a champion of open trade for the next 25 years and beyond. And the WTO needs to be more responsive to global challenges and contingencies for the benefit of all of its Members.” (Page 2)

In terms of tasks should she become the next Director-General, Minister Yoo lists the first priority as the next Ministerial Conference (MC12). The second priority is WTO reform and the third is inclusive trade and sustainable development.

For the MC12, achieving an agreement on fisheries subsidies by the conference is critical. Significant progress towards a plurilateral electronic commerce agreement is another achievable objective by MC12. Progress on development issues is also critical, particularly on issues important to developing and least developed countries to help survive and come back from the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the issue of WTO reform, Minister Yoo separates the topic into three areas – updating “the rule-books and delivering agreements with real economic impact”; “restoring the dispute settlement system”; and “implementation of agreements and increased transparency.” (Page 3)

The third area, inclusive trade and sustainable development is described as follows by Minister Yoo:

“WTO reform should not be a goal in and of itself, but an instrument to promote economic prosperity and better living standards for all of its Members. To this end, the WTO should pursue inclusive trade initiatives encompassing overall development issues, as well as specific, cross-cutting issues such as MSMEs, women’s economic empowerment, and environment.

“Among others, we should deepen our efforts to help developing countries, especially LDCs, secure a larger share in the growth in international trade. We should fully implement what has been agreed for LDCs and strengthen our technical assistance and capacity building programs. Further, while maintaining a central role for the WTO in seeking these important values, I will support cooperation with other international organizations in a proactive and forthcoming manner. This will help broaden the available resources and multilateral commitment to achieving Members’ goals.” (pages 3-4)

Minister Yoo’s prepared statement to the General Council concludes with a section on how she sees the role of the Director-General — bringing optimism, having a vision based on realism, helping rebuild trust in the Organization. “[T]he Director-General has to be an effective, trusted, and informed facilitator and a person who knows how and when to act to help achieve consensus and agreement.” (Page 4)

At the press conference, Minister Yoo provided a short statement which was followed by a range of questions. In her short statement, Minister Yoo stated that the WTO is at a crossroads. Her vision is to make the WTO more relevant, resilient and responsive (as reviewed in her prepared statement). She brings her 25 years experience to the job.

The first question asked that since Korea was one of the countries who agreed to export limits to avoid steel and aluminum tariffs imposed by the U.S., what thoughts did Minister Yoo have on voluntary export restraints (VERs) under the WTO. Minister Yoo responded that VERs are banned by the WTO. But the current situation is different as US has taken action pursuant to national security provisions, and Korea was addressing intended actions by U.S. under that law. Cases are before panels challenging U.S. national security action as inconsistent with WTO, so Minister Yoo would not comment on the merits of the cases at this time. While aware of different views on whether national security issues can be challenged at the WTO, since the issue is in front of panels, she would not comment further.

On the issue of The Appellate Bidy impasse, Minister Yoo was asked how she would solve the impasse. She indicated that Members have very divergent views on the role of the Appellate Body. All members understand the need for a two-tier dispute settlement system. If selected as the next Director-General, Minister Yoo would accelerate members’ consultations to resolve the issue.

Minister Yoo was asked how hard it would be to move from Korea’s Minister for Trade to the WTO’s Director-General and whether she would have problems living in Geneva or working for an international organization. Minister Yoo indicated that she believes she is in best position to understand all Members views at the WTO. During her lifetime, Korea has gone through many stages of development, and she has seen trade issues through her country’s experience at different levels of economic development. Because of her diverse experiences at Korea’s different stages of developments, she is in a good position to understand concerns of all countries if selected as the next Director-General. As for living abroad, Minister Yoo was stationed Beijing for 3 years and Singapore for 3 1/2 years. She would have no problem living abroad or working for an international organization.

On the interim arbitration mechanism adopted by the EU, China and about 20 other Members, Korea is not a party. Does Minister Yoo have any concerns that the interim arrangement (MPIA) might become permanent? Minister Yoo responded that the MPIA was being used by some Members to overcome the current vacuum with the Appellate Bid shut down. The key for the WTO is to focus on finding a permanent solution, and she would do that if selected as the next Director-General.

A question was asked how Minister Yoo viewed the question of the status of Members as developed or developing countries particularly in light of Korea viewing itself as a developing country in the WTO although Korea has indicated it will not seek additional special and differential treatment under future WTO Agreements. Minister Yoo started her response by noting that the Marrakesh Agreement requires that the WTO work to help developing and least developed countries LDC countries secure their fair share of trade. There are competing issues at the WTO. Should the WTO make special and differential treatment provisions more operational in existing Agreements is one issue. Should the WTO change the classification status of some countries based on economic development is the other issue. For Korea, the. world has changed, and countries have changed in terms of their stage of economic development. Korea decided to take on more responsibility based on its changing level of economic development. But many countries continue to need special and differential treatment. It would be ideal for developing countries to take on more responsibilities as they are able. But this a sensitive issue on which there is no consensus as yet.

A question was asked as to how Minister Yoo would restore trust if selected as the next Director-General. Minister Yoo noted her experience in negotiating trade deals with all level of countries around the world. She knows what it takes to negotiate and what it takes to bring negotiations to a close. She is confident that she can earn confidence from Members and achieve tangible outcomes. The key is to obtain even a small success at the MC12 (e.g., fisheries subsidies agreement by then) which would help build trust and convince world that progress can happen at the WTO.

Minister Yoo was asked if in a consensus system, she could gain the support of Japan for her candidacy considering she had led Korea’s dispute with Japan on semiconductor materials. Minister Yoo remarked that she is here as a candidate in her own capacity and not as part of the Korean government. She would not comment on the ongoing dispute between Japan and Korea. She did note that Japan and Korea work closely on many issues at the WTO, and both are strong supporters of the multilateral trading system. Therefore, she is confident that Japan will look at all candidates and decide which has the best qualifications to move the WTO forward.

One questionner indicated he had heard from an analyst that there is some concern that China might block Korea’s candidacy as China might otherwise have to give up its Deputy Director-General slot. Minister Yoo was also asked if it was time for a woman to lead the WTO. Minister Yoo felt it would be inappropriate to comment on the position of other countries, each of whom must make their own decision as to whom to support for the next Director-General. She hadn’t heard about the rumor mentioned. She added that China and Korea have worked closely on many matters. She was in China for three years and has negotiated with China. She would be doing outreach to China and other Members to see how she could work with them if selected as the next Director-General. On gender, for the last 25 years, she has been a pioneer in the Korean government, the first woman to hold her position in trade. Promotion has been based on merit not on gender. The WTO Members should pick the right person to help WTO move forward. All of the women candidates are well qualified. She knows she is well qualified based on her experience.

What does it mean for the WTO to be relevant, and how would you bring on major members who may not agree with the issue being considered? Minister Yoo stated that the WTO needs to revitalize its negotiating function and must be able to enforce its rules (restore AB). Given 21st century realities, WTO needs to update its rule book and to achieve things that can have real global effect such as joint initiative efforts on e-commerce, MSMEs, investments, and other issues. That said, there are open issues from The Doha Development Agenda that are not moving because there are different views on how to move forward. In terms of how you bring members to the negotiating table, part of the answer is to obtain small successes to build trust and momentum.

Amb. Amina C. Mohamed (Republic of Kenya)

Ministrr Mohamed was the last candidate who met with the General Council on Thursday, July 16. She started by outlining what she referred to as “the three main themes of my vision for the WTO: Reform, Recover, Renewal.”

“The WTO needs urgent reforms so it can once again play its full part as an engine of growth, development and stability. Reform is all the more urgent because an effective WTO is needed to help create the conditions for a sustainable recovery from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. And looking further ahead, the WTO needs to renew its capacity to negotiate and to develop new trade rules and disciplines for the challenges of the very near future.” (Pages 2-3)

Minister Mohamed reviewed that the WTO was challenged before COVId-19 with few new agreements since its creation, with increased trade tensions, and with a dispute settlement system that has lost at least temporarily its Appellate Body. The COVID-19 adds huge complications being the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Recovery will be a challenge, and there is an urgent need to update the trading system to address the issues of today including “climate change, the digital revolution, poverty and sustainable development.” (page 5)

On the topic of renewal, Minister Mohamed noted that

“Renewal has to start with facing up to the defects that have weakened the system in recent years: the inability to update rules to reflect the changing realities of how trade is conducted; the sterility of ideological standoffs; the retreat into defensiveness; and the sense of the benefits of trade not being equitably shared.” (Page 7)

“Renewal should also build upon the WTO’s core values and achievements. Trade has been transformational. It has helped to lift close to 1 billion people out of poverty and facilitated the attainment of higher living standards in countries at all levels of development. These successes were possible because Members did not see trade as a zero-sum game. They understood that trade-offs were needed to produce outcomes. All Members should contribute to trade opening and facilitation efforts, especially those most in a position to do so.” (Page 7)

While supporting bilateral and regional trade agreements, Minister Mohamed, noted that such agreements are not a substitute for multilateral agreements.

She reviewed the importance of dispute settlement to the system and the need to resolve the existing impasse on the Appellate Body.

“The WTO should give effect to its development objectives in a practical and enabling way, not forgetting its special responsibility towards its most vulnerable Members, particularly least-developed countries. It also needs to play its part in the important task of advancing the economic empower- ment of women through trade.”

Minister Mohamed ended her prepared statement to the General Council by reviewing her qualifications for the job, including her time in Geneva as Ambassador from Kenya, her chairing the top WTO bodies (General Council, Dispute Settlement Body, Trade Policy Review Body), her time as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and heading the 10th Ministerial Conference and her role as a facilitator in helping Members achieve agreements on “the TRIPS amendment, the Expanded Information Technology Agreement and the Nairobi Decision on Export Competition”. (Page 12)

At the press conference, Minister Mohamed made a brief opening statement and was followed by questions. In her opening statement, Minister Mohamed stated that the WTO is being challenged like never before referring to the changing world trade order, limited negotiating success, and breakdown of the appellate body, and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. She then reviewed her vision, the three “r’s” — reform, recovery and renewal. She concluded by reviewing her qualifications for the Director-General.

The first questioner asked what lessons Minister Mohamed had learned from her 2013 run and why she thought that countries that hadn’t supported her then would do so now. Minister Mohamed responded that 2020 is a different time with a different group of candidates. Since 2013, she has had many additional experiences that add to her qualifications and hence help her candidacy. She mentioned in particular her role in chairing the 10th Ministerial and the successes that were achieved including the agriculture export subsidy agreement, expansion of the Information Technology Agreement and amending the TRIPS Agreement. So 2020 is the right time for her candidacy.

One questioner asserted that the agreement on export subsidies was negotiated with a small group and given to the full membership on a take it or leave it basis and asked if this was a correct way to conduct inclusive negotiations. Minister Mohamed stated that the questioner was incorrect in the process used. Negotiations were conducted in different configurations but always went back to the full Membership. If anyone felt left out, they had the ability to block the agreement. That didn’t happen. Nairobi worked extremely well, and is an example of how the negotiations should proceed.

One questioner inquired whether the ongoing FTA negotiations between the US and Kenya was an advantage or disadvantage in her candidacy. Minister Mohamed responded that she didn’t consider it relevant. Obviously, the FTA negotiations are just one of many happening around the world. She is hopeful that the negotiations and eventual agreement will be a model for her region and open to other countries. It should be viewed as very positive.

What would you do differently if you become the next DG? Minister Mohamed responded that she would do a lot differently. She indicated that her experiences are different and her skills are different. With the WTO at a crossroads, there is a great need for an experienced negotiator to come in and lead. The agenda would be established through consultations with Members. She would also hope to focus on the gender issue.

if selected as DG, will you be more engaged in resolving trade tensions between major players? If yes, what tactics would you use? Minister Mohamed reviewed the types of powers that a Director-General has to work with Members. For example, the Director-General has engagement powers and can encourage members to consult, use of good offices of the Director-General. So while the Director-General has only limited powers, they can be used effectively to help members to use the system to resolve differences.

The next questioner inquired as to what the Minister’s views were on whether it is time for an African or a woman to lead WTO. The Minister was also asked about the reform proposal from the U.S. to clarify who qualified as a developing country (versus current system where developing country status is a matter of self-selection). On the issue of gender or regional preferences to become the next Director-General, Minister Mohamed believed that the key consideration is whether a particular candidate is best qualified to handle the job. If a female has the qualities, obviously great. Members shouldn’t select a woman just to have a woman; they should pick the best candidate. On the issue of development, this is an issue for the members. Only category of members defined in the WTO is least developed countries where the United Nations listing is used. For all other Members, there are no definitions. It will be up to Members to decide if the issue is ripe for discussion.

One questioner wanted to know if Minister Mohamed has had solutions for the WTO reform needs why she hadn’t pursued them before now. Minister Mohamed indicated that it was up to Members to decide what issues to pursue. WTO is at a crossroads. Membership needs to agree on what to consider in any reform effort, what sequence of issues may make sense and so on. Questions of reform have been floated here in Geneva for many years. When she was Kenyan Ambassador to the WTO, the WTO was beehive of activity. In her prior roles both as Anbassador and as Minister and chair of the 10th Ministerial, she had in fact achieved with the membership significant reforms including managing to amend the TRIPS Agreement, achieving an agreement in agricultural export subsidies and more.

When asked what her approach would be to deal with trade tensions between US and China, Minister Mohamed stated that she would encourage all members to resolve their trade differences within the WTO rules.

On the issue of how to remove the impasse on the Appellate Body, Minister Mohamed indicated that Members need to consult and negotiate. The WTO needs members to find solutions to permit the second-tier of dispute settlement to be restored. A Director-General DG can offer technical assistance and process to help Members find the solutions.

A series of questions on reform were asked by a questioner – what would Minister Mohamed do to move reform forward? Should reform be incremental or broader based? How does MC12 factor into this? Minister Mohamed indicated that she would help members identify what they want and encourage dialogue. By the time of the next ministerial in 2021, she hoped there would be some clarity as to types of reforms needed and supported —restoring the Dispute Settlement system, updating rule book. There are lots of potential issues, but it is up to the Membership on what gets examined.

Is it Africa’s turn to lead? Why couldn’t Africa come together around one candidate? Minister Mohamed responded that Africa takes the WTO very seriously. That’s why there are three candidates. There is no reason to penalize Africa for having three candidates. Each of the three candidates is very accomplished. Africa should be commended for putting them forward.

H.E. Mohammad Mazaid Al-Tuwaijri (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri was the first candidate to meet with the General Council on Friday, July 17. His background is largely in business with the last four years serving Saudi Arabia as the Minister of the Economy and Planing. He started his prepared comments by expressing support all those affected by COVID-19, and noted his involvement for Saudi Arabia in addressing the pandemic in his country and the important role the WTO plays in keeping trade flowing.

Minister Al-Tuwaijri stated that his family had a long history of trading which involved traveling and following the North star. Like his family, the WTO Members must establish goals, set a course (their North star) to follow to accomplish the goals. The role of the Director-General is like a compass to help Members stay on the course towards achieving their goals. The WTO’s “challenging situation has become even more difficult with the pandemic; it will likely get worse; and, we know that trade policy is an essential part of the response to the pandemic itself, and will be key to our collective recovery.” (Pages 1-2)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri identified three questions to consider:

“First, what opportunities and solutions will emerge from current challenges?

“Second, how can Members work together to leverage new ideas, new rules and new technologies to solve the emerging problems that we face today, and the issues that will arise tomorrow?

“And, third, * * *, what kind of leadership is required to ensure that the
multilateral trading system delivers on the vision and objectives set by Members?” (Page 2)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri then indicates that the Membership needs to ensure “steady progress is made on delivering the goals and objectives set by Members.” (Page 2) Because the WTO is not performing, there is a need for a performance assessment to determine why. Based on his business background and government experience, if Minister Al-Tuwaijri is selected as the next Director-General, he would implement critical success factors from the goals and objectives of the Members, establish key performance indicators, and collect evidence and data to determine progress in meeting objectives.

“As part of this effort, feedback loops of constructive suggestions will be encouraged to deliver continuous improvement.

“If we do not respond to shortcomings, the system will not run smoothly,
stakeholders will become dissatisfied, and alternative means will be found outside the WTO to achieve your goals and objectives.” (page 4)

Minister Al-Tuwaijri noted that in its first twenty-five years, the WTO had maintained the status quo, but hadn’t adapted to the changing trade environment.

“Concerning working together through negotiations, I believe that Members will participate in negotiations when they are convinced that the agenda includes an incentive for them to participate. Therefore, in order to have a successful multilateral negotiation, the agenda needs to be balanced – it needs to include something for everyone. I support plurilateral negotiations as long as they are open to all Members, their outcome is applied to all on a most-favored nation basis, and they do not create rules that prejudice the interests of non-participants.” (PAGE 5) Minister Al-Tuwaijri indicated that the work of Members could be bolstered by WTO Secretariat research and interaction with the business communities of Members.

On the issue of opportunities from the current challenges, Minister Al-Tuwaijri expressed that the delay in the next Ministerial Conference (MC12) should permit completing of the fisheries subsidies negotiations and the plurilateral talks on e-commerce both important “issues in the public good”. (Page 6). He also suggested increasing the frequency of Ministerial meetings to annually. On the issue of special and differential treatment, “without negotiations that include incentives for everyone to participate actively, I do not think it will be possible for Members to address the issue of SDT.” (Page 6)

During the press conference, Minister Al-Tuwaijri provided a short opening statement and then answered questions. In his opening statement, Minister Al-Tuwaijri reviewed the current situation facing the WTO and the need for the next Director-General to have a strong reform agenda. COVID-19 will make the global trade situation more uncertain.

The first questioner asked how Minister Al-Tuwaijri could obtain regional support with the current conflict between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Minister Al-Tuwaijri indicated that he would not comment on the dispute between Members. He noted that Qatar is a member of the WTO and believed the next Director-General should focus on what the goals of members are, how to achieve the goals and address the uncertainty created by the pandemic.

What is the greatest problem facing the WTO, and what is your plan to fix it? Minister Al-Tuwaijri noted that in the first twenty-five years of the WTO history, there have been some successes in terms of new agreements. However, the world has changed significantly in terms of trade. He sees the biggest issue facing the WTO as being the process of negotiations. In Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s view there is no process for negotiations. This results in countries going outside of WTO to find solutions in some circumstances. Thus, in his view, process enhancement is needed. Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s strengths are in management and leadership. These two characteristics are key to leading the WTO forward. The next Director-General should focus on process enhancement, design metrics so members can see progress. Moreover, whenever there is a dispute, the WTO should be looking for the root cause as well as resolving the particular dispute. If don’t get to root causes, disputes will recur. Minister Al-Tuwaijri approaches the challenges facing the WTO from a management perspective.

The next question reviewed interest by some Members in having a Director-General from an African country but noted that there has never been a Diirector-General from an Arab country either and sought the Minister’s comments. Minster Al-Tuwaijri noted that WTO Members need to think about what they need in the next Director-General . If management and leadership are the important characteristics that the next Director-General should have (which is the Minister’s view), he has those characteristics. First, he has twenty-five years management experience in the private sector where trade was important and multifaceted (trade finance, logistics, insurance, manufacturing, energy). He would bring that experience to the WTO Director-General position. Secondly, he has been the Minister of Economy and Planning, involved in major transformation (diversification) for the last four years, including policy making. He developed a delivery unit which measures performance and helps fill gaps. He would bring that experience to the WTO Director-General position as well.

On the issue of WTO reform, Minister AlTuwaijri recognized that the WTO is a member driven organization. Second, the Director-General has a function to facilitate and to assess, but there is also room to improve the Director-General’s role. For example, the next ministerial (MC12) has been delayed til 2021. The delay provides an opportunity to improve the discussion at MC 12 and the outcomes that are possible. Bringing management and leadership skills to the Director-General position will permit setting goals, metrics for measuring progress in achieving those goals and providing a feedback loop on gaps that need to be addressed. Certain current issues should be achievable, such as fisheries subsidies and e-commerce. In the Minister’s view, COVID-19 and postpandemic recovery provide the WTO an opportunity to address core needs of Members by doing a performance assessment. Where are the gaps in performance; why did those gaps develop; how to proceed? From his business and government experience, Minister Al-Tuwaijri knows that this type of transformation for the WTO to a more goal-oriented organization is possible.

Is it time for a woman to lead the WTO and what sets you apart from the other candidates. Minister Al-Tuwaijri stated that on women empowerment, he has a good track record in terms of working on woman empowerment in business and government As to what distinguishes him from other candidate, Minister Al-Tuwaijri reflected on his long business career and the need for specific goals and targets. He also reviewed his experience as a minister involved in the transformation of Saudi Arabia which is getting results. He brings those experiences to the WTO.

Why don’t Arab countries unite around one candidate where there are two candidates and does that hurt your chances? Minister Al-Tuwaijri remarked that the WTO is a member driven organization. Hence all WTO members can nominate candidates. All candidates have different experiences which provides much for Members to consider and choose from. For himself, the Minister noted that Saudi Arabia is presently president of G20 and has initiated its own reform program a few years back. Thus, Saudi Arabia has had the political will for reform. Coming from that culture can be useful to his candidacy.

Longterm observers view issues as revolving around political will versus being caused by a lack of management skills. Minister Al-Tuwaijri stated that while both technical and political elements exist, he believes that management and leadership would permit improvements in the process of negotiations which in turn would permit both the technical and political elements to have a better chance to work. How to improve the negotiation process is a management issue. Of course, there are political elements, and he has political background and strengths as well.

On the question about the future of the WTO, Minister Al-Tuwaijri noted that the future of the WTO is a member choice — the WTO is about their goals, their choices. The Director-General is a facilitator. But the organization is drifting away from its core objectives. Thus, there is a need to review root causes of this drift. He believes the WTO can create key performance indicators to prevent future drift and monitor early warning signs to catch major disputes early. The Minister wants the debate to shift from political will to how the Members can go back to the organization’s original goals and deliver on them.

On the Appellate Body, what is your plan to addressing U.S. concerns and do you plan to get it back functioning? Minister Al-Tuwaijri’s approach is the same as reviewed elsewhere. Determine what is root cause of AB not functioning. He believes it is because negotiations are not functioning well. Therefore, he wants to get the negotiating process to improve and to gain data to improve the system. For example, he believes it is important to be able to quantify the effect of delay of even one month in resolution of disputes.

Dr. Liam Fox (United Kingdom)

Dr. Fox was the last candidate to meet with the General Council. He has served in Parliament for many years and was Secretary of State for Defence and Secretary of State for International Trade under different UK administrations.

Dr. Fox started his prepared statement “by acknowledging the scale of the challenge the world currently faces in the COVID pandemic.” (Page 1). He commented that the WTO was facing problems before the pandemic., meaning to progress, it cannot be business as usual.

“But I know from talking to many of you, including in this last week, that
there is a widespread feeling that things are not as they should be. Yes,
there are technical issues to be overcome but the real problems of the
WTO are not technical. Our problem is the lack of political momentum.
There is too little political will to make the compromises needed for the
multilateral trading system to evolve and too little vision to make those
compromises easier. We must rediscover that political will and find the
right language to express our vision about the opportunities that trade
can bring to a new generation.” (Pages 2-3)

On the question of what qualifications the next Director-General should have, Dr. Fox stated that “it is not where the new DG comes from that matters but the skills and experience, especially the political experience, that they are able to bring to the organisation for the benefit of each and every one of our members. I believe that my 28 years in politics, and my years serving in senior cabinet posts such as trade and representing the UK at the top table on global issues give me the right experience to bring the renewed momentum, commitment and compromise, which will allow us to return this institution to greater global relevance.” (Page 3)

Dr. Fox expressed his strong support for open trade in a rules-based international trade system. He expressed concern for the trading system under current conditions and urged Members to recommit to the core principles of most-favoured nation, national treatment and transparency of commitments.

On the issue of challenges ahead for the new Director-General, Dr. Fox indicated that one of the first tasks would be to help Members achieve a successful Ministerial Conference (MC12 ) in 2021. A fisheries subsidies agreement needs to be completed as quickly as possible. Similarly progress on Joint Initiative issues like “e-commerce, services, MSMEs and investment” would be a priority. (Page 7) Outstanding issues on agriculture (subsidies, public stockholding for food security, cotton, and others) and WTO reform are other important issues to be addressed.

Dr. Fox reviewed concerns about increasing trade restrictive measures in the last decade and flowing from the pandemic and how they undermine other activities such as Aid for Trade.

On the topic of women and trade, Dr. Fox reviewed the importance of the issue and his own history of working to improve business opportunities for women and roles in government including the U.K. trade ministry. Dr. Fox committed that if he was selected as the next Director-General, he would “ensure that at least half of the WTO’s most senior leadership team are women.” (Page 9)

“[T]rade is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. It is a
means by which we create and share prosperity. That prosperity
underpins social cohesion and that social cohesion in turn underpins
political stability. That political stability is the bedrock of our collective
security.

“And I say this because we must understand protectionism does not
come without a price tag. If we deny people access to prosperity and
opportunity through trade then we should not be surprised if the
outcomes, whether mass migration, political radicalisation or failing
states, come back to bite us.

“As an organisation we all need to recapture that optimism that comes
from committing to shared values. Yes, we’ve taken a billion people out
of extreme poverty but that cannot remotely be the end of our ambitions.

“We need the political momentum to take us forward. It is only with vision,
and shared purpose, that we can find the compromises required to meet
the challenges I’ve set out — reversing the rise in trade restrictive measures, recommitting ourselves to the founding principles to which we have all
agreed, while updating and strengthening this institution so it’s fit to tackle the challenges of the 21st Century.

“I believe I have the skills and experience to deliver that political
momentum.” (pages 10-11)

During the press conference, Dr. Fox provided a short opening statement which was followed by press questions. Dr. Fox’s opening statement reviewed some key points. This is not going to be business as usual. COVID-19 will affect the global economy and world trade. WTO is a great organization that has helped move 1 billion people out of poverty. There is a feeling in Geneva that the WTO has lost some of the political momentum. Negotiators can’t make compromises if don’t have common goals. The WTO can’t just focus on legacy issues (agriculture) but must address the changed trading environment and also recommit to the principles of a multilateral trading system. Negative consequences of alternative outcome are too dark.

Why is the multilateral trading system important to the large parties? Dr. Fox indicated that he viewed the Director-General position to not be one of taking sides in bilateral disputes but to maintain the international trading system. If Members don’t enforce what currently exists, what is the credibility of new rules signed onto later? He stated that all Members have benefited from the multilateral trading system. The alternative to a rules- based system is not acceptable. That is true for most countries, not just smaller countries. He used the examples of the 4th and 5th largest economies, Germany and UK, for whom global trade is a major component of their economies.

On Brexit, is it an advantage or disadvantage for Dr. Fox’s candidacy with the EU? Dr. Fox stated that it was good that not everyone in the world sees all issues through the Brexit prism. If he becomes the next Director-General, he would be available to all Members on the same basis. While not directly relevant to the Director-General selection process, he hopes the UK and EU will reach a good trade agreement and believes it will be important for COVID recovery. On who the EU chooses, Dr. Fox believes the EU will likely pick a candidate who is most in line with their views on the characteristics and experiences needed for the job.

Is there a British perspective? Dr. Fox noted that he believes so in how he sees the role of the Director-General, which he analogizes to that of the British Prime Minister. In Britain, the Prime Minister is first among equals. Dr. Fox envisions the same concept applying to the WTO’s Director-General. On the question of whether Britain has a strong commitment to free trade, Dr. Fox noted that Britain has a very strong commitment to free trade. He is worried about threats to free trade today. He was surprised that in the General Council meeting he received very few questions about what free trade brings to consumers. Most of the questions were from a producer perspective. Trade liberalization is obviously very important to consumers. He would like to see the WTO unleash consumer interests more.

Dr. Fox received a question on whether it was premature for the U.K. to put forward a candidate since it has only recently obtained trade policy freedom from the EU. Dr. Fox’s answer was it was not too early. He noted the U.K.’s long history of promoting free trade. Currently besides negotiations with the EU, they are engaged in various other FTA negotiations and looking to adopt or further liberalize their participation in various FTAs between the EU and other countries.

There was a question on geographical diversity and his being European when most prior Director-Generals have been European. Dr. Fox stated that he understands the idea of diversity in personnel which he generally supports. What he is hearing from Members is that this organization has great personnel, but the organization is not where it should be. In Dr. Fox’s view, problems at the WTO are not technical but rather political. Whoever is the next Director-General will have to have difficult conversations with major members. He has met those leaders. Key is what the Director-General brings to the organization in skills and experience. Other aspect mentioned by some is gender diversity. Dr. Fox has been committed to gender diversity in his positions in the U.K. He has committed to having at least half of senior WTO officials be women if he is selected as the next Director-General.

One questioner asked if Dr. Fox had any Member is mind when he raised the need to support a rules-based system. Dr. Fox replied that he did not. He stated that at the end of World War II, nations set out principles in the GATT that have stood the test of time. Problem today is that various members have taken exception to particular rules. While exceptions or waivers are needed for some developing and least developed countries, it was not possible to have Members decide which rules applied to them. If Members don’t comply with existing agreements, what value do future agreements have? Countries at different stages of development access benefits of free trade under the current system by committing to basic principles.

A question was asked about the deficit of trust among Members of the WTO, and why Dr. Fox would be the right person to lead the organization and restore trust. Dr. Fox noted that a similar question had been asked during the General Council meeting. Important to know what is meat by trust. On the issue of how do parties get to trust, it is by the experience of behavior over time. Transparency and the sharing of information are big elements to enabling trust. In the current environment, the next Director-General will need a willingness to have conversations that are uncomfortable but necessary. The role of a Director-General is not to take sides but to understand both sides of a dispute between Members. In Dr. Fox’s view a political figure is better able to bring qualities to the role of the Director-General needed to build confidence. Separately, Dr. Fox stressed the importance in the present circumstances of being optimistic but also realistic. He believes that it would be a mistake for the Director-General to overpromise likely outcomes in the current circumstances.

As the only candidate from a developed country, does this give you an advantage? Dr. Fox noted that each candidate has different background and so could be viewed by some as advantaged or disadvantaged on the basis of geographic origin, gender and other factors. Dr. Fox does believe coming from a G20 country may be an advantage in the current cirumstances because of the substantial contraction in openness amongst G20 countries. He stated that the world is in a more difficult position re trade now than we were during the financial crisis. In 2009 only 0.7% of G20 import trade was covered by restrictive measures. By 2019 fully 10.3% of G20 imports were covered by restrictive measures. To come out of the economic challenges presented by the pandemic, all WTO Members have to abide by WTO commitments. That message may be easier to be delivered by a G20 country Director-General. Dr. Fox indicated he would have no problem delivering the message.

A question was asked of how Dr. Fox would address the broad concerns of U.S. with the WTO. Dr. Fox noted that the U.S. has some very specific concerns with the WTO, particularly with regards to the Appellate Body. Dr. Fox stated that the WTO has the Appellate Body because countries felt panels in GATT disputes went too wide. The Appellate Body was set up with a limited mandate. He is aware that there are different views of the role of Appellate Body and whether it has engaged in mission creep or handled incomplete texts by filling them out. If WTO Members are able to get back to a more narrow definition of the function of the Appellate Body, there may be some concept of precedent being set. Dr. Fox asks the question, does everyone want the AB to be functioning properly or not. If not, the multilateral trading system is under threat as obligations can’t be enforced. Believe there is room for compromise.

The last question inquired into what reform is needed. Dr. Fox articulated that reform should be viewed in three buckets. The first is conceptual reform. By this he means, Members recommitting to the basic principles of the WTO (most favoured nation, national treatment and transparency of commitments). He believes this is what MC 12 needs to focus on. The second is organizational reform. By this Dr. Fox means what does the team look like, the Director-General being first among equals; selecting Secretariat staff that are the most talented and challenging group. The third is policy reform. By that, Dr. Fox means what issues will be addressed — legacy issues and issues to update organization such as fisheries subsidies; resolution of the Appellate Body impasse. Dr. Fox concluded by saying that the Director-General position is a job for a politician not for a technocrat at this time.

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

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

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.

Who will be the next WTO Director-General? Nominating Period Closes in One Day

With the WTO’s Director-General Roberto Azevedo stepping down at the end of August, the World Trade Organization’s efforts to select a replacement heat up this week as the one month nominating period comes to an end at the close of business on July 8 in Geneva. The roster of candidates is presently five. While one or more additional candidates could be put forward on July 8th, the most likely scenario is that the five candidates put forward to date will be the slate for evaluation.

When the window for nominations closes tomorrow, the Chair of the General Council, Amb. David Walker (NZ), will transmit a consolidated list of nominees to the WTO membership. The CVs of the five candidates became available on the WTO website under news releases as WTO Members nominated individuals. Thus, Mexico’s Jesus Seade was first to be nominated on June 8 and news of the nomination and his bio are available in the press release that day. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_mex_08jun20_e.htm.

Nigeria’s Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was the second candidate put forward and was reported on June 9. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_nga_09jun20_e.htm.

Egypt’s Abdel-Hamid Mamdouh was also nominated on June 9th and was so reported that same day as the third candidate. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_egy_09jun20_e.htm.

Moldova submitted the name of Tudor Ulianovschi on June 16th as the fourth candidate for the Director-General slot. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_egy_09jun20_e.htm.

And then the Republic of Korea nominated Yoo Myung-hee on June 24 as the fifth candidate. https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news20_e/dgsel_kor_24jun20_e.htm.

The biographies and cover letters from the individual governments are available to WTO Members in a series not available to the public, WT/GC/INF/23-26.

Next steps

The Chairman of the General Council has set meetings with the candidates for the Director-General position next week, starting on July 15 and continuing on July 16 and 17 as needed. In a communication to delegations on July 1, the Chairman of the General Council outline procedures and time limits for the GC meetings that mirror activities undertaken in the 2013 process. Specifically, each candidate will have 15 minutes to make an opening statement and the WTO Members will have up to 75 minutes to ask questions and receive answers (with the last five minutes to be used by the candidate to provide final comments if he/she so wishes). Members are limited to one question of no more than sixty seconds. Members wishing to ask questions need to notify the WTO and then during the meeting names will be pulled from a box so all delegations have a chance to ask questions. In 2013, generally about 20-25 Members asked questions of any candidate.

In a communication on July 3, the Chair reviewed the timing reviewed above and noted that delegations would be limited to one person each at the meetings for social distancing purposes, though delegations could participate virtually for additional members or for the delegation as a whole if so desired.

If there are just five candidates, then the General Council meetings will likely be limited to July 15 and 16. Nothing will obviously be decided until the nomination window closes. But if there are only five candidates a likely schedule would be to have two candidates interviewed the afternoon of July 15 and three candidates considered on July 16 (one morning, two afternoon).

The timing of the GC meetings with candidates is much quicker than what happened in 2013 when the meetings were 29-31 days after the nomination period closed. This year, the GC meetings will be just 7-9 days after the nomination period closes.

What isn’t known about next steps is how much time candidates will be given to interface with WTO Members not just in Geneva but also in capitals. The procedures adopted back in 2002 for finding a new Director-General envisioned three months after the closing of the nomination process for candidates to engage in outreach to WTO Members. That was to be followed by a two month period for the Chair of the General Council and his/her facilitators to meet with Members to work towards finding a candidate that can achieve consensus support. Stated differently, the procedures adopted in 2002 envisioned the period from the close of nominations to the selection of a new Director-General to be five months or roughly 150 days.

Since the WTO will lose its existing Director-General 54 days after the close of the nominating period, the WTO will either need to shorten both the period for outreach and the period for reaching consensus considerably (by close to 100 days) or will have to also gear up for selecting an Acting Director-General from among the four Deputy Directors-General. It is understood that the Chair of the General Council desires to expedite the remaining process, but it is unclear where the Members will be on a serious reduction in time lines. Factors that are out there will be travel limitations and communication challenges for WTO delegations during the COVID-19 pandemic and the normal August break in activity at the WTO (more specifically, whether Members will agree to work through August on the Director-General issue). Hopefully, there will be clarification on the process agreed to and whether Members need to address selecting an acting Director-General in the next several weeks.

Boxes that different candidates fill

The search for a new Director-General is presumably a search for the most qualified person to take on the task at the given point in time. But there are many qualifications/characteristics that get talked about as potentially relevant or that Members may focus on in deciding which candidate is preferred.

There is in the procedures the characteristic of geographical diversity where candidates are equally qualified. Two candidates are from Africa which has not had a Director-General of the WTO (or of the GATT before it). There has not been a Director-General from North America (though some may view the Mexican candidate from the characteristic of Mexico being a Latin country following the current DG from Brazil). Europe has had many DGs in the WTO and GATT (including Pascal Lamy from France before the current DG); while Moldova has never presented a candidate for DG before, being European could be viewed as a negative by those focused on geographical diversity. There has been one Asian DG, though no one from Korea.

All DGs to date have been men. Two candidates (Nigeria and Korea) are women. The desire to have a woman Director-General at this time could be a consideration for some Members in the DG selection process.

All candidates except the Nigerian candidate have extensive trade backgrounds. While there have been DGs where the DG had no significant trade background, the lack of trade background could be viewed by some Members as a negative for the Nigerian candidate if depth of knowledge of the WTO is considered important at this juncture with the various crises engulfing the WTO.

All candidates except the Egyptian candidate have held high political positions (e.g., ambassador, minister, etc.) in their governments (whether trade or non-trade). For those Members viewing political experience as relevant, this could be a negative for the Egyptian candidate.

Two candidates (Mexico and Nigeria) have extensive experience with other multilateral organizations as well as experience with their home governments. For those who view trade as importantly being interrelated with finances and investment, such experiences could be viewed as a plus for these candidates.

The characteristic of whether a country is a developed or developing country, which has been viewed as relevant by some Members in the past, would seem to be irrelevant if the number of candidates remains at five as all of the candidates are from developing countries based on WTO self-selection (although both Mexico and Korea are OECD members and Moldova is an Eastern European country that has been negotiating with the EU).

Conclusion

Each of the five candidates (and more if additional candidates are put forward tomorrow) will have the chance to present their thoughts on leading the WTO next week to the General Council and to answer questions posed by Members. The WTO Members have important decisions to make on whether to truncate the time for outreach by candidates and the time for consultations with the Chair of the General Council and his facilitators on the selection of a new Director-General. Depending on the timeline agreed to, there may also be the need for WTO Members to select an acting Director-General from the four Deputy Directors-General. Members will likely need to include some engagement during August even if wishing a longer period for selecting the new DG to engage in the selection of an acting DG. Look for a busy summer and possibly rest of 2020 before a new Director-General is in place.