General Council appoints Azevedo of Brazil as next WTO DG

Brazil’s Ambassador to the WTO Roberto Azevedo has been formally chosen as the next head of the international trade body.

by Kanaga Raja

GENEVA: The General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 14 May formally approved by consensus the recommendation of the General Council Chair and the two facilitators to appoint Ambassador Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo of Brazil as the next WTO Director-General.

Azevedo’s term of office would be for a period of four years beginning on 1 September 2013.

At an informal meeting of the General Council on 8 May, the Council Chair, Ambassador Shahid Bashir of Pakistan, had recommended that the formal meeting of the Council on 14 May appoint Azevedo as the next WTO head (see TWE No. 544/545).

According to trade officials, a total of 52 members and two observers (Ethiopia and Iran) spoke at the formal General Council meeting on 14 May, generally paying tribute to Azevedo, the Council Chair and the two facilitators in the DG selection process (the Chairs of the Dispute Settlement Body and of the Trade Policy Review Body), as well as to outgoing Director-General Pascal Lamy and his team.

According to trade officials, Kenya said that it was the one delegation that did not express a preference in the second round of consultations (on the selection of the Director-General). It said that it was satisfied with the way the process was conducted in the third round (the final round of consultations) and that it did express a preference in that round.

In its statement, South Africa said that today “we celebrate a triple victory: it is a victory for the principle of Diversity; it is also a victory for the principle of Consensus; and it is a victory for the principle of Multilateralism.”

“We have argued consistently throughout this selection process that the WTO should ensure that its leadership reflects the Diversity of its membership – now 159 – representing all regions of the world. Today, we succeeded in ensuring that Latin America is represented in the leadership of the WTO for the first time,” it said in its statement.

“Africa has yet to be represented and in the fullness of time, it will soon be Africa’s turn to provide the richness of its leadership to this institution,” added South Africa, saluting those African candidates who made themselves available towards this responsibility.

Strong message

In his statement at the meeting, General Council Chair Bashir formally paid tribute to all nine candidates in this process. “I am sure all Members agree that we have had nine exceptionally qualified candidates who have, throughout this process, demonstrated their high regard for and commitment to the multilateral trading system, and their faith in the operation of its rules and procedures.”

Following the approval of the recommendation to appoint Azevedo as the WTO DG, the Chair said: “Today, we have sent out a strong message that the WTO can take decisions by consensus and follow intricate processes seamlessly. We need to carry this momentum further. I am confident that we can work together for a positive outcome at our Ministerial Conference in Bali.”

In his statement, Director-General Lamy said that the important result of this process is that members have appointed the new Director-General whom they believe is the most apt to lead the organization for the next four years.

“This is a moment of unity for the WTO family, in which we can briefly put aside our day-to-day concerns to look at the bigger picture of what this organization represents and of its fundamental values: openness of trade for the benefit of all, non-discrimination, fairness, transparency. And of all this with the overriding objective of encouraging sustainable development, raising people’s welfare, reducing poverty, and fostering peace and stability. The common belief in and commitment to these values is what unites the 159 Members of the WTO. The Director-General has to embody these common values and be at the service of all WTO Members. I am convinced Ambassador Azevedo will do just that.”

Congratulating Azevedo on his appointment, Lamy said that Azevedo can count on his full support as well as that of the entire secretariat. “As I have already told him last week, I intend to work to ensure a smooth process of transition, so that he can hit the ground running as he takes office on 1 September.”

In his statement, Azevedo said that it was not his intention to speak then as the new Director-General. He remarked on the selection process: “This selection process has been particularly challenging. Members have had to choose from a field that, besides myself, included eight outstanding candidates. The number and quality of the candidacies ensured that, regardless of the result of the selection process, the WTO would be very well served at the DG position. I have nothing but praise for the quality and level of the campaigning carried out by all candidates and their respective governments. They all promoted their candidacies with utmost dignity and respect to the system and its members.”

The fact that the process aims at building consensus among members, as is the practice at the WTO, has compounded the challenge, said Azevedo. “Reaching consensus is certainly a lot more complex than simply counting ballots. It requires that all delegations participate constructively and in good faith in consultations that must ascertain more than just the degree of support enjoyed by the candidates. But the major advantage of a decision reached by consensus is that it adds legitimacy to the choice. All Members are responsible for the outcome of the process and commit to working closely with the new Director-General in pursuing the goals and principles that guide this Organization. The new Director-General, in turn, must act in the best interests of all Members.”

He added that “the formal directives that outline the WTO selection process are not, I must say, an exemplary model of clarity or predictability. Despite these shortcomings, the ‘troika’ [the General Council Chair and the two facilitators, the Chairs of the DSB and the TPRB], after consulting members, decided on rules of procedure that allowed for a process that ran its course in a sound and stable manner. The process was certainly inclusive and all members – without exceptions – had a chance to express their preferences through the various stages of consultations.”

More than anything, said the incoming DG, the “troika” carried out its mandate in such a way that the new DG will be in a position to start his term without having to heal the wounds of a divisive and caustic process.

“In this instance, the new DG and the members will be ready to immediately start working towards solving the most pressing challenges faced by this Organization. Bali, an important event for this Organization at this critical juncture, is just around the corner and we have no time to lose.”

Regardless of their size, geographical circumstances and level of development, Azevedo said, all members benefit from a predictable, rules-based multilateral trading system, embodied in the organization.

The Director-General of the WTO has the duty of working with all members to strengthen the system and to make it responsive to the needs and challenges of the entire membership, stressed Azevedo.

“In my term, I shall do my best to unremittingly help Members in building consensus and achieving the goals set out in the Agreements establishing the World Trade Organization.”

Critical stage

At a media briefing at the Brazilian mission on 8 May following the informal General Council meeting, Azevedo had cautioned that the WTO was in a very critical stage and that its negotiating pillar was “completely stuck”.

There was a clear paralysis in the system because the negotiations are not only avoiding the disciplines from being updated and closing the gap between the rules of the organization and the real world where businesses operate, but there was a trade agenda that “we have to broaden and tackle”, he had said.

There are a large number of trade-related areas and issues that need to be evaluated and discussed at the WTO, and the way to do it is to ensure that the negotiations move, “and move as soon as we can.”

The WTO has played a very significant role since the crisis emerged in 2008, he further said, adding that protectionist trends had emerged firmly and decidedly. And those trends are still there and “we need to fight them.”

“We are, in my view, on the verge of losing a very valuable system, a system that we all fought for and that we struggled to create and to advance. As we approach now the Bali ministerial, we have a chance to take a first step towards the rescuing of this system.”

Azevedo said: “We must do our very best to ensure that Bali not only delivers significant outcomes – substantive outcomes – but it also delivers and instills a sense of confidence that we can still negotiate, that we can still engage constructively, looking forward and trying to find meaningful results.”

At this point in time, he added, it should not be about getting what we want. “It should be about saving what we have,” he said, stressing that the only way to do it is to look forward, “roll up our sleeves, sit down at the table together in a solution-finding mode and try to move forward.”

The selection process of the Director-General, in his view, “has set firmly the first pillar of the bridge that we need to move the WTO from where we are today to an organization that is again meaningful, that again delivers negotiated outcomes that the world hopes and expects from us.”

As for the upcoming Bali Ministerial Conference this December being an important marker, Azevedo had said: “I have absolutely no doubt about that. If it’s not successful, it will make the road a lot more difficult ahead, but that is not the end of the road either way. I would not be an alarmist in saying that if we don’t have an outcome in Bali, [then] the whole process or the whole organization is hopeless. I think that there is still a lot to do.”

“As far as I am concerned, I have four years to work with members and I will use every single day and minute to try to make advances and progress with them,” he emphasized.

As to the completion of the Doha Round of trade negotiations, Azevedo said he hoped he had made it quite clear in the last four months that it is his number one priority.

“The Doha Round is my number one priority, not only because of the things which are in the round, which are extremely important – extremely important – for what we do today in businesses, in the world, but also because by solving the round we would be unlocking the organization; we would be taking the organization away from this paralysis in which it finds itself over the last five years.”

Azevedo added: “So, I am absolutely sure that all members of the organization would agree with me that we need to find a solution for the Doha Round as quickly as we can.” (SUNS7584)       

Third World Economics, Issue No. 546, 1-15 Jun 2013, pp 10-11