“First, an observation: the game must be in play for key players to conclude that they have to join. If negotiations are not under way, there may be a substantial delay in attracting participation.

“Declarations, such as on trade and health, should be turned into formal proposals as soon as possible and should be embraced by all WTO members.

“And if some Members won’t come along or seek to delay — a joint initiative is a practical way to proceed and could then be launched as a priority. The time of testing should not be so long as to make a response to the pandemic arrive too late to be responsive to the current crisis.

“Second, Members can ask the WTO Secretariat for and receive support for evaluations of aspects of WTO reform. For example, on trade and health, Members can —

“Request the Secretariat to upgrade its COVID-19-related trade monitoring activities to collect and publish the best information available, not relying solely on notifications and verification. (This would be a more comprehensive and in-depth activity than that which takes place at present, which in itself was an upgrade from pre-COVID monitoring.)

“Request the Secretariat to work with the WHO, relevant UN agencies and other stakeholders, to highlight trade issues affecting vaccine production and availability, and to propose ways to eliminate obstacles. (This would go beyond existing activities and result in proposals put to the WTO Member- ship).

“Third, Members can

“Propose that the Director General convene a small, representative, ambassador-level group of Friends of Trade and Health to identify how the trading system has performed during the pandemic and to issue preliminary conclusions and recommendations for useful changes in approach within a short, defined timeline.

“Propose that the WTO Secretariat embark now upon the necessary supporting work without delay.

“Propose that the Director General constitute other ‘Friends’ groups to advance consideration of institutional reform and other issues of current importance, and providing possible solutions, such as with respect to the relationship to current and future WTO Agreements of the Paris Accord on Climate Change, the disciplining of fossil fuel subsidies, addressing border adjustments likely with the adoption of carbon taxes, assessing the impact on markets of subsidies and other state interventions, employing trade to reduce income inequality, making the WTO more effective for economic development within and among Member economies, improving the trading system with respect to women in trade, providing WTO support for the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, and more generally strategic foresight.

“G20 Members clearly want to enhance preparedness for future pandemics and other crises. Flexible groups with appropriate balance but able to be nimble and responsive are one way to supplement but not supplant the work of committees and joint statement initiatives (JSIs).

‘Propose that an ad hoc horizontal mechanism be created promptly in the event of crises to address — in real time — trade measures that are of concern. The mechanism, similar to trade policy reviews, but not limited to any single WTO Member’s measures, trade restrictive and trade liberalizing, should be constituted immediately for the current pandemic and economic recovery measures.

“Fourth, Members can

“Propose that the signatories of the Pharmaceutical Agreement providing for duty-free trade be updated (last done in 2010), that major nonsigna-tories join and that essential medical supplies be added to the coverage.

“Propose that the signatories of the Information Technology Agreement review and update its coverage, including adding medical equipment.

“Propose that negotiations on the Environmental Goods Agreement re-start in earnest now, with the addition of services.”

The Ottawa Group agreed to put forward a communication seeking action by WTO Members. Each of Canada and the EU (and likely other members) put out press releases. See, e.g., Government of Canada, November 23, 2020, Minister Ng hosts successful ministerial meeting of the Ottawa Group on WTO reform, https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2020/11/minister-ng-hosts-successful-ministerial-meeting-of-the-ottawa-group-on-wto-reform.html; European Commission, Directorate-General for Trade, 23 November 2020, Ottawa Group proposes a global Trade and Health Initiative, https://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=2215&title=Ottawa-Group-proposes-a-global-Trade-and-Health-Initiative.

The Canadian press release states in part, “As countries face a rise in COVID-19 cases, it is essential that governments minimize disruptions to trade flows in essential medical supplies. Today, members of the Ottawa Group took important steps toward a proposed WTO Trade and Health Initiative, which identifies short-term actions to strenghten supply chains and ensure the free flow of medicines and medical supplies.”

Similarly the European Commission press release stated that –

“Today the Ottawa Group, a group of 13 like-minded World Trade Organisation (WTO) partners including the EU, agreed today on an initiative, calling on the WTO members to increase their cooperation and work toward enhanced global rules to facilitate trade in essential medical goods. The agreement took place as an outcome of the Ottawa Group Ministerial meeting, hosted virtually by Minister Mary Ng of Canada.

“The Ottawa Group members called for immediate actions in response to the coronavirus crisis such as exercising a restraint in using any export restrictions, implementing trade-facilitating measures in the area of customs and services, as well as improving transparency.

“They also called for further cooperation amongst members, and between the WTO and other international organisations.

“The group also encourages WTO members to refrain from imposing tariffs on essential medical goods during the crisis. Such bodog poker review actions are intended to strengthen the resilience of supply chains and contribute to an effective response to a public health emergency. They can serve as a basis for future permanent commitments on trade in essential medical goods.

“Commission Executive Vice President and Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said: ‘We are proud to promote this trade and health initiative. It aims to encourage stronger global cooperation at WTO level, by facilitating trade in healthcare products. This is critical in the current global health crisis and will also help us in future. But the Ottawa Group trade and health initiative is just the first step. Going forward, the EU will work to promote resilient global healthcare systems, as well as accessible and affordable healthcare products universally.’

“The communication will now be submitted later this week to the WTO secretariat, before being presented to the WTO General Council for discussion. It will be used to prepare the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO, due to be held in 2021.”

That same day, November 23, the Ottawa Group submitted to the WTO a communication entitled “COVID-19 and beyond: Trade and Health”. WT/GC/223 (24 November 2020). The document is embedded below.

The communication is ten paragraphs plus an Annex which is described as “Draft Elements of a ‘Trade and Health’ Initiative”. The communication reviews the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and invites “all WTO Members to start working on a Trade and Health Initiative” referencing the Annex. Paragraph 6 of the communication summarizes the specific actions being proposed.

“6. With this objective in mind, we call on WTO Members to make their utmost efforts to prevent further disruptions in the supply chains of essential medical goods. As set out in the Annex to this Communication, we propose specific actions relating to export restrictions, trade facilitation,
technical regulations, tariffs, transparency and review, and call for the WTO to enhance its cooperation with other relevant international organizations, such as WHO, WCO, OECD as well as G20, given the context of the on-going evaluations of the global response to COVID-19. These proposed actions are not intended to be prescriptive and do not cover the universe of possible
measures that could support trade in essential medical goods. Rather, they reflect emerging best practices and should provide sufficient flexibility to be adapted to differing national circumstances.”

The Ottawa Group is hoping to get the support of all Members on a joint statement early in 2021 on a Trade and Health Initiative which could serve as a starting point for negotiations for new WTO commitments at the 12th Ministerial Conference in the summer of 2021 in Kazakhstan.

On export restrictions, the Annex calls for greater oversight of such restrictions without eliminating them outright.

On customs, services and technical regulations, the Annex calls for Members to share information and experiences on best practices in trade facilitation during a crisis (customs procedures, services (including freight, logistics, distribution and transport)) and on standards and technical requirements looking towards regulatory alignment.

On tariffs, the Annex calls on Members to “make best endeavours to temporarily remove or reduce tariffs on goods that are considered essential to fighting COVID-19 pandemic”.

On transparency and review, the Annex calls on Members to enhance transparency during the pandemic with the aim of identifying supply chain disruptions and avoiding such disruptions.

On the topic of cooperation of the WTO with other organizations, the Annex both encourages the WTO Secretariat to continue it outreach on measures related to COVID-19 and the studies developed by the Secretariat with a focus “on the causes and effects of the disruptions in the supply chains of essential goods and drawing on research of other international organizations.” The WTO Director-General is also encouraged to “intensify cooperation” with other organizations (including the G20) to improve “the analytical capacity of Members to monitor market developments in trade and production of essential medical goods.”

Finally, the Annex asks Members to review the effectiveness of the identified elements at the 12th Ministerial Conference “with a view to adopting possible commitments regarding trade in essential medical goods.”

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There have been many communications put forward by different groups of Members at the WTO in the last eight months on actions that would make sense in terms of limiting export restraints on medical goods or avoiding such restraints on agricultural goods, about the need for effective trade facilitation measures to reduce barriers to movement of medical goods, and on other topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ottawa Group’s communication from Monday is an effort to come up with an early possible deliverable that could garner broad WTO Member support. As a result it seeks a joint statement with agreement on the statement for early 2021. The Group also provides five draft proposals for such a joint statement. The proposals don’t eliminate existing flexibility (e.g., export restraints) but try to tighten disciplines via increased transparency. The proposals encourage development of best practices on a range of trade facilitation and regulatory alignment issues. The proposals also encourage what is obviously in most Members self-interest — reducing or eliminating tariffs on medical goods during the pandemic. The proposals also call on Members to do a better job on transparency on measure taken during the pandemic with a focus on identifying disruptions to supply chains and addressing the same in short order. Finally, while the WTO already cooperates with other organizations, the proposals point to specific areas where enhanced cooperation would be helpful.

In an organization where Members have a low level of trust in each other, a joint statement on the need for a Trade and Health Initiative such as proposed by the Ottawa Group is probably all that can be achieved in the short term. Something along the lines outlined in the Annex would indeed be a confidence builder if achieved early in 2021. The ability to review developments at the 12th Ministerial and start negotiations on trade in essential medical goods at that time will also be important if accomplished. The more ambitious options presented by DDG Wolff should be considered but realistically are unlikely to either happen or get started ahead of the 12th Ministerial.

Let’s hope that the WTO membership can come together to support the Ottawa Group proposal. The EC has indicated that the Communication will be taken up at the December General Council meeting. That will be an early opportunity to see if there is likely to broad support for the initiative.

Terence Stewart, former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, and author of the blog, bodog poker review|Most Popular_Congressional

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In a prior post, I had noted press articles that indicated EU members were looking to back the candidacies of the Nigerian and Korean candidates — Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Minister Yoo Myung-hee. An article from Bloomberg yesterday confirmed that at yesterday’s meeting in Brussels, EU countries had agreed to back the two candidates. See Blomberg, October 5, 2020, EU Throws Its Weight Behind Nigerian, Korean WTO-Head Contenders, https://eur04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fnews%2Farticles%2F2020-10-05%2Feu-throws-its-weight-behind-nigerian-korean-wto-head-contenders&data=02%7C01%7C%7Cc25bd1089e95463bd6e108d8699846db%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637375450027528387&sdata=Lbn5YOaH6ZIm9m4b1ES91psH6rUAMz2PyfO7GomVre8%3D&reserved=0.

Hungary, which had earlier indicated it would back Minister Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya and Dr. Liam Fox of the United Kingdom, reportedly agreed to join with the other EU members. Thus, the EU is understood to have expressed preferences as a block for the Nigerian and Korean candidates.

While Africa has two candidates among the five in the second round, African nations are split on support. The six members of the East Africa Community support Kenya’s Minister Amina Mohamed while countries in west Africa (Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)) support Nigeria’s Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

It is unclear if African Members of the WTO will list their two preferences as Okonjo-Iweala and Mohamed or will split their preferences by including one of the three other candidates along with one of the African candidates. With the EU 27 supporting the Korean candidate, lack of solidarity in Africa for its two candidates would increase the challenges for Minister Mohamed to be one of the two finalists making the third round of consultations.

There are, of course, large numbers of WTO Mrmbers in the Americas and in Asia and the Pacific, and there are European countries besides the EU’s 27. It has been assumed that each of the five remaining candidates would garner some support in each of these other areas. Block voting can deny some candidates geographical coverage in some parts of the world which can be a factor the troika consider in reducing the field from five to two.

it is nail biting time for the candidates.

Terence Stewart, former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, and author of the blog, bodog poker review|Most Popular_Congressional

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Today’s article can be found here: Climate Home News, 29 September 2020, African green reformer tipped to win UN trade leadership race, https://www.climatechangenews.com/2020/09/29/african-green-reformer-tipped-win-un-trade-leadership-race/.

While crediting H.E. Yoo Myung-hee of the Republic of Korea and the Rt Hon Dr. Liam Fox MP of the United Kingdom for speaking out on the need for fisheries subsidies reform, the article singles out H.E. Amina C. Mohamed of Kenya and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of Nigeria as the two candidates who appear committed to raise the profile of climate change within the WTO if selected as the Director-General. The fifth candidate, H.E. Mohammad Moziad Al-Tuwaijri of Saudi Arabia, was noted as having made no statements on climate change.

“Both women used their written candidate statements to call for environmental reform of the WTO’s trade rules, while their three opponents from Korea, the UK and Saudi Arabia, have said little about climate change.”

“Mohamed, who has held cabinet roles including foreign affairs in the Kenyan government since 2013, said the economic recovery must ‘take account’ of issues like climate change. The WTO should be reformed to ‘support our shared environmental objectives’ and encourage diffusion of clean technologies, she said.”

“Okonjo-Iweala, former finance minister for Nigeria, said that ‘the WTO appears paralysed at a time when its rule book would greatly benefit from an update to 21st century issues such as ecommerce and the digital economy, the green and circular economies’. She said she wants to reach ‘optimal complementarity between trade and the environment’.”

The article spends a fair amount of space on carbon pricing as an important initiative and notes Minister Mohamed’s comments that “the WTO could replicate carbon pricing initiatives like the EU’s ‘on a grander scale.”

Whether increasing the role of the WTO in addressing climate change is an issue of concern to many WTO Members, it certainly is to some and should be to many. Because trade and the environment is not a prominent area of ongoing WTO negotiations (other than fisheries subsidies), it is not surprising that all of the candidates seeking the Director-General position have not spoken extensively on the issue. Thus, one cannot necessarily draw the conclusions that the article suggests about three of the candidates. Being a member-driven organization, a candidate to become the next Director-General can not be faulted for focusing on the issues of stated concern by Members. Under the current WTO structure, it is not clear what influence a Director-General can have on subjects that Members will focus on.

Nonetheless, ensuring sustainable development (including how trade can help achieve global needs to address climate change) is important to businesses, workers, consumers, NGOs, and the global population. It can and should be a factor that Members of the WTO consider in who gets selected as the next Director-General — i.e., commitment to sustainable development and passion for making trade a positive contributor to solving climate change. More importantly, it must be a factor that Members consider in deciding on areas of negotiation and reform of the WTO in the months ahead.

Terence Stewart, former Managing Partner, Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, and author of the blog, bodog poker review|Most Popular_Congressional

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However, recently released trade statistics across the world reveal that those forecasts may have been overly pessimistic and underestimated the relative resilience of the global trading system. In fact, in June, after several months of sharp declines, trade volumes recorded their biggest monthly rise on record, with a 7.6 percent increase. East Africa may be shadowing these global trends.

Kenya, the largest regional trader, is a good barometer of broader East African trends. The country was initially hit quite hard in terms of the decline in trade volumes, with a 19 percent drop in total trade volumes in April. As warned in our earlier Brookings policy brief, re-exports to the rest of the region were hit extremely hard, with a 83 percent decline in April. Since June, though, total trade volumes have begun to recover rapidly, with a 9 percent increase in June and a 12 percent increase in July (Table 1). Moreover, the story is a similar if the analysis is undertaken using year-on-year percent changes.

Table 1. Kenyan trade, percent monthly change, January-July 2020

Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2020

STRONG SIGNS OF RECOVERY

Kenyan exports have proved to be particularly resilient during this crisis. If we take the data for “domestic exports” alone (i.e., subtracting the re-export of goods to other countries), it is clear that the export performance has been extremely volatile, with a record monthly peak in export revenues in March, followed by a sharp drop in April/May. However, by July, domestic exports were 12.7 percent higher than in July of the previous year (Figure 1, Panel A). More specifically, although Kenya’s large cut-flower industry has not yet fully recovered, seasonal exports of tea, fruit, and vegetables have held up extremely well, in part due to government measures to protect these sectors from the negative impacts of lockdowns. Among the measures undertaken were the ring-fencing of the tea sector from mobility restrictions to minimize the disruption to exports; the re-equipping of some passenger planes to be able to carry cargo; and the creation of mobile laboratories for cross-border testing to facilitate smooth trade flows with Tanzania.

The other salient characteristic in Kenya’s trade performance throughout the COVID-19 crisis is that exports to the rest of the East African Community (EAC) recovered very rapidly indeed (Figure 1, panels B, C, and D). In our earlier Brookings policy brief analyzing data up through May, we flagged with some alarm the apparent collapse of intra-regional trade, as reflected in the sharp decline in Kenya re-exports to the rest of the region. By July, however, exports to Uganda and Rwanda had exceeded their pre-COVID-19 peaks, and re-exports towards Tanzania also accelerated sharply. Notably, the recovery picture is broadly confirmed by data recently released by the Bank of Uganda. Both export and import performance have recovered, and Ugandan coffee exports almost reached a historic high in July, despite relatively low coffee prices in international markets.

Figure 1. Patterns of trade—Kenya vs. other EAC countries

Source: Authors, from Kenya National Bank of Statistics data.
Note: Shaded area represents period of COVID-19 pandemic. Dotted lines are 3-month moving averages.

Initially, measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 across borders, such as mandatory COVID-19 tests on lorry drivers, caused large-scale disruption to East African trade. But the subsequent rebound in intra-regional trade is a testimony to the effectiveness of actions taken by national governments and the EAC Secretariat to ensure the smooth functioning of transport corridors, as well as initiatives like TradeMark East Africa’s $20 million Safe Trade Emergency Facility (STEF) and GIZ’s support of mobile laboratories, test kits, and personal protective equipment to the East African Community.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY STRATEGIES IN EAST AFRICA

In summary, despite the depth of the economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, since May 2020 intra-regional trade in East Africa has shown significant resilience with a notable positive correlation with measures put in place to protect transport corridors from severe disruptions.

While the V-shaped recovery in trade is encouraging, East African economies are not out of the woods yet. Three policy conclusions stand out:

1. The crisis is far from over. Governments in the region—especially those of landlocked Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda—should continue to maintain exceptional measures to support cross-border trade and a favorable trading environment, particularly for intra-regional trade.
2. Protecting key export sectors from the negative impact of any COVID-19-related measures is essential. Kenya has shown that it is possible to keep value chains operating and shelter strategic sectors from adverse impact. Sustaining export revenues, at a time of growing foreign exchange shortages, is also a macroeconomic imperative.
3. Finally, one area where policy measures have been less effective is in avoiding the collapse of cross-border informal trade. Until free movement of people is reestablished, it is unlikely that border communities dependent on this trade will recover. Cross-border communities—particularly women traders who account for the bulk of informal trade—are still highly vulnerable to this crisis and will continue to need additional support.

Andrew Mold is chief, Regional Integration and AfCFTA Cluster, Office for Eastern Africa, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Anthony Mveyange is director of research and learning at TradeMark East Africa.

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The Trump administration’s negotiating objectives, issued in May, include bodog casino both offensive and defensive elements for government procurement. On the offensive side, the U.S. wants increased opportunities for U.S. firms to sell U.S. products and services to Kenya and to ensure reciprocity in market access opportunities. It also seeks to “establish fair, transparent, predictable, and non-discriminatory rules to govern government procurement in Kenya” and obligations and procedures to combat corruption in procurement. 

The defensive objectives aim to continue protection of the myriad U.S. domestic purchasing preferences, which include set asides for small and minority businesses, Buy America requirements attached to federal funding for state and local projects, transportation services, and defense purchases covered by the Berry Amendment. It also wants to take state and local procurement off the table.

Kenya’s negotiating objectives, as reported by Inside U.S. Trade (July 14, 2020), begin with securing commitments to participate in U.S. government procurement. The U.S. imposes two hurdles to participation in its federal procurement. First, the Trade Agreements Act of 1979 (TAA), as amended, prohibits federal agencies from purchasing goods and services covered by the GPA from any country (other than a least developed country) that has not opened its procurement to the U.S. under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement or an FTA. The second is the Buy American Act of 1933, which establishes a preference for goods from the U.S. or GPA/FTA countries. The U.S. waives this requirement for goods covered under trade agreements.

A second Kenyan objective could pose a challenge for the negotiations. Kenya wants to apply “the principle of asymmetry geared towards non reciprocity in Government Procurement.” That conflicts with the U.S. aim of ensuring reciprocity, a condition set by the TAA for the U.S. to waive the Buy American Act. While the U.S. has not traditionally applied strict reciprocity in its procurement commitments, it has insisted on comparable coverage, such as application of the same thresholds, listing similar entities and opening all services, except those excluded.  

The Trump administration tried to apply a different approach to reciprocity in the negotiations of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the only agreement it has concluded with procurement commitments. it proposed to cap access to U.S. procurement at the dollar level of the procurement that Canada and Mexico opened under the agreement. Both NAFTA partners rejected the capping proposal, leading Canada to opt out of the procurement chapter all together and Mexico to roll-over its NAFTA procurement without any improvements. 

The first priority of the Kenya procurement negotiations should be to reach an agreement on a robust set of principles and procedures to ensure that procurement covered by the FTA is conducted in a transparent, non-discriminatory, fair and predictable manner. The text should be based on the USMCA procurement text, which is closely aligned with the GPA, the template for procurement agreements. 

A related priority would be to include requirements in the FTA that address the prevalence of corruption in Kenya, which the U.S. Trade Representative has repeatedly identified in its trade barrier reports. The USMCA provides a good starting point with its article on “Ensuring Integrity in Procurement Practices” that requires the parties to maintain criminal, civil or administrative measures to “address corruption, fraud, and other wrongful acts in its government procurement.”

Since Kenya is neither a party nor even an observer to the GPA and has not yet undertaken procurement commitments in a trade agreement, it may need extra time to bring its procurement system in line with the FTA. The U.S. could allow Kenya to delay implementation of specific provisions, which in other agreements have ranged from time periods for tendering to the domestic review mechanism.

The market access negotiations will need to address the Buy Kenya Build Kenya Strategy, adopted in 2017, with “the overall objective of increasing the competitiveness and consumption of locally produced goods and services,” according to the WTO Secretariat in Kenya’s 2019 trade policy review. Under that Strategy, Kenya applies preferences, set asides and local content requirements. They include a mandate that 30 percent of the public procurement budget be set aside for youth, women and the disabled. That particular requirement should not less problematic for the U.S. as it appears comparable to the 23 percent of federal contracts that must be set aside for small and minority businesses in the U.S.

To provide U.S. suppliers with access to Kenya’s government procurement, the U.S. would likely insist on curbing at least elements of the Buy Kenya measures. In doing so, the U.S. could allow Kenya to apply transitional measures, such as higher temporary thresholds and phase-out domestic content requirements, as it has in other FTAs with developing countries. The procurement negotiators could also consider the extensive transitional and special measures permitted Vietnam and Malaysia in the negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Kenya’s adoption of a rules-based procurement system, with effective anti-corruption measures, should be the first priority. Without such a system, opening government procurement under the FTA may have little value. A second aim should be to develop market access measures that will facilitate Kenya’s market-opening while provide new opportunities for U.S. suppliers. Achieving a balance will be critical. As the administration intends a Kenya FTA to be a model for other countries in Africa. if it is too demanding in its coverage requirements or too stringent in transitional measures, it could make other African countries wary of entering similar negotiations with the U.S.

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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 bodog poker review 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 bodog poker review 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.

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

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

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

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