- To Review Dispute Settlement System
As the race for the Director-General position at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) hots up, the Nigerian candidate, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has affirmed that fixing the Geneva-based body’s dispute settlement system would be one of her priorities if elected as the new chief of the WTO.
Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, who is competing with seven other nominees for the position of director-general of the WTO, told the Chinese news service, Xinhua in a recent interview also revealed that another of her top priorities if selected, would be preparing the body for its 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) in Kazakhstan in 2021.
She also hopes to work on restoring the dispute settlement system and updating the WTO’s rule book.
Read also: WHO Moves Against Trump, Suspends Hydroxychloroquine Trial, Praises China Response To COVID 19
The WTO’s dispute settlement body is currently paralysed.
The Appellate Body, considered as the Supreme Court for global trade disputes, is supposed to have seven judges and needs a minimum of three judges to function.
The U.S. administration has been blocking new appointments for more than two years, with U.S. officials claiming that the court had gone beyond its remit.
“I would be focusing, if I get the job, on the dispute settlement system because this is the fundamental pillar of the WTO,’’ Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said.
“If you have a rules-based organisation, you must have a place where rules are arbitrated and that’s what happens with the dispute settlement system.
“So, restoring that will be a top priority as well.’’
Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria had nominated Mrs Okonjo-Iweala, an economist who twice served as Nigeria’s finance minister and briefly acted as foreign minister, for the post of WTO director-general in June.
She also had a 25-year career at the World Bank, including as a managing director.
Read also: WTO: US, China Set To Clash Again Over Interim Chief’s Position
The candidate, who also sits on the board of Twitter and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, said she was confident to win the selection process and that she would be a listener-in-chief as well as a tough negotiator.
“I have strong political skills and negotiation skills.
“I think that’s very much needed; I am a consensus-builder and I’m a good listener too.’’
The candidate also demonstrated her knowledge and faith that parties would be able to “find a way to unlock the seeming division’’ on the trade side, between China and the United States, underlining that finding areas of mutual interest and to build trust within the WTO trading system would be important.
“Actually, if you listen to the two members, they have some things in common,’’ Mrs Okonjo-Iweala added.
“The dispute settlement system of the WTO is valued by both, they want it to reform, they don’t want it to disappear.’’
The Director-General hopeful also said she hopes China will play the role of an economic growth engine in the current COVID-19 pandemic as it did during the 2008 global financial crisis.
“I think the best thing China can do is to recover quickly.
“Because it’s one of the engines of growth in the world and it’s almost a quarter of world trade,’ she told Xinhua.
“So, if it recovers quickly, it means that it can help the rest of the world recover.
“So, that’s the role I would see for China.’’
It will be recalled that Roberto Azevedo, the incumbent WTO chief, had announced in May that he will officially leave his post on August 31, a year before his term expires.
The second phase of the selection process, in which the candidates “make themselves known to members’’, will end on September 7 and then the General Council chairperson will consult with all WTO members before making the final decision.
