GENEVA/BRUSSELS, July 29 (Reuters) - Eight candidates from
Mexico to Moldova are bidding to become the next
director-general of the World Trade Organization to replace
Robert Azevedo, who steps down at the end of August.
The next chief would broker international trade talks in the
face of widening U.S.-China conflict, protectionism increased by
the COVID-19 pandemic and pressure to reform trade rules.
U.S. President Donald Trump's "America First" policies have
upended the global trading order and presented an existential
threat to the WTO, which the president has described as "broken"
and "horrible". Washington has blocked appointments to the WTO's
Appellate Body that settles trade disputes, which now no longer
has the minimum number of judges to convene.
HOW THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL IS CHOSEN
The candidates have been given two months to campaign until
September 7. Normally this would involve trips to national
capitals, but with the COVID-19 pandemic much of that is being
done in a virtual format.
The next phase involves whittling down the field, most
likely first to five, then two before a final decision is taken.
The WTO is a members-driven organisation with decisions
reached by consensus among 164 countries. Three WTO ambassadors
who chair leading committees will lead the process, seeking to
establish which candidates have the widest support.
In so-called "confessionals", members will tell this
"troika" their preferences, without ranking them and without
vetoes in a process expected to last two months. Voting on the
next director-general is seen only as a last resort if consensus
cannot be reached.
The process does not always work smoothly. In 1999, former
New Zealand prime minister Mike Moore and Thailand's Supachai
Panitchpakdi divided WTO members, with a compromise finally
found to give each a term, shortened to three years from four.
Because Azevedo's term will finish before his replacement
takes office, members must also agree on a temporary caretaker
director-general from among four of his deputies.
MORE SOFT THAN HARD POWER
The Marrakesh Agreement that established the WTO in 1995
does not give a detailed description of the director-general
role. The responsibilities should be "exclusively international
in character".
The incoming chief would be expected to appoint four new
deputies, present budget proposals, and chair the trade
negotiations committee which oversees multilateral accords such
as on fishing subsidies.
The director-general can also intervene in trade disputes,
in very rare cases offering mediation, more often by appointing
people to adjudicating panels when parties cannot agree.
Otherwise, the director-general does not forge global trade
policy, but is meant to act as a neutral broker: part
administrator, part peacemaker.