GENEVA, March 1, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala takes over the World
Trade Organization on Monday amid hopes that she will spur the beleaguered
body into addressing its towering challenges, including the pandemic-fuelled
global economic crisis.
“The WTO is too important to allow it to be slowed down, paralysed and
moribund,” the first woman and first African to ever lead the global trade
body told AFP a day after her nomination last month.
The 66-year-old Nigerian former finance minister takes the helm after the
WTO was left adrift for seven months following the sudden departure of
Brazilian career diplomat Roberto Azevedo last August, a year ahead of
schedule.
Following a lengthy selection process, development economist Okonjo-Iweala,
who spent 25 years at the World Bank, was finally anointed by the WTO’s 164
members on February 15.
From an initial eight candidates, she was the clear favourite among the
last two standing in November. However, her appointment was delayed by former
US president Donald Trump blocking her nomination.
The arrival of his successor Joe Biden made it possible for her to receive
the consensus backing required to end the impasse.
– In at the deep end –
She is hitting the ground running, with her first day on the job in Geneva
coinciding with the annual meeting of WTO’s General Council.
Delegates are expected to agree that the organisation’s next ministerial
conference, which had been scheduled for last year but was postponed due to
the pandemic, will be held in Geneva in December.
The question remains whether the new WTO chief, considered a strong-willed
trailblazer, will be able to mould the organisation in her image before then.
While some observers voice hope that Okonjo-Iweala will inject much-needed
energy, others stress she has little wiggle room to make dramatic change,
given that WTO decisions are made by member states — and only when they can
reach consensus.
One of her first tasks will be to nominate four new deputy directors to
help recharge the organisation’s negotiating mechanisms.
Okonjo-Iweala has said that one of her main objectives is to push long-
blocked trade talks on fishery subsidies across the finish line in time for
the ministerial conference, but with negotiations dragging on, that could be
a tough sell.
And in the midst of a global economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19
pandemic, she has plenty of other challenges on her plate.
Okonjo-Iweala has voiced concern about growing protectionism and
nationalism during the coronavirus crisis and insists trade barriers must be
lowered to help the world recover.
– Vaccines IP wrangle –
Among the issues to be discussed Monday is a controversial push for the WTO
to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines.
Dozens of nations say this would help boost production and access and would
rein in the pandemic sooner, but the notion has been fiercely rejected by
pharmaceutical giants and the countries that host them.
Okonjo-Iweala chaired the Gavi vaccine alliance before running for the WTO
and has made tackling the pandemic another of her priorities.
In a likely bid to avoid a row on day one, Ngozi has called for
flexibility, encouraging voluntary licencing agreements, such as the one
agreed between AstraZeneca and the Serum Institute of India, whereby the SII
factory manufactures the pharmaceutical giant’s Covid-19 vaccines.
The Ottawa Group, which brings together the EU and 12 countries including
Brazil, Canada and Switzerland, will meanwhile demand that countries commit
not to hinder the flow of medical goods during the pandemic, and remove
customs duties on those considered essential.
Another daunting challenge facing the new director-general will be
following through on her vow to breathe life back into the appeals branch of
the WTO’s dispute settlement system.
The Appellate Body, sometimes called the supreme court of world trade,
ground to a halt in December 2019 after years of relentless US opposition.
The United States, along with European countries and Canada, want an
overhaul at the WTO, believing it has not responded correctly to the trade
distortions caused by China.