The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) said on Monday (13.02.2023) that reforming the organization's dispute resolution system is a "priority."
Asked whether reforming the process would be a focus of her term, which ends in 2025, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said: “Absolutely. And I hope we can deliver that.”
The WTO chief spoke at the World Government Summit.
The WTO's trade dispute arbitration system, which governs major disputes, has been stalled for more than two years due to Trump-era blockages on arbitrator appointments.
Under President Joe Biden, Washington has resisted calls from WTO members to approve the appointments and has instead led negotiations on how to reboot the WTO dispute system.
The United States has criticized the WTO's alleged overreach and lengthy processes, and has vigorously challenged some of its recent rulings against the United States.
The United States is entering the third phase of talks with countries to reform the hamstrung arbitration system and aims to have it fully operational by the end of 2024.
“It is not just the United States that has problems. Developing countries, especially the least developed ones, find it difficult and expensive to access the system,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
On Monday, he also reiterated that global merchandise trade is expected to grow by 1% in 2023.
“There seem to be glimmers of hope on the horizon,” he added.
Written by Reuters
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