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To: John Hunt who wrote (30942)	3/31/1999 1:06:00 PM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116982

World trade failure <Picture> World trade failure The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has failed to find a new director general. The 134-member organisation had a deadline of 31 March to find a successor for the Italian Renato Ruggieri, but a meeting broke up in acrimony after only 15 minutes. Ali Mchumo, the Tanzanian trade ambassador and chairman of the WTO's general council, said there was no chance of reaching a consensus about either of the two candidates. He advised the countries to carry out some "soul-searching" over the Easter break and said they would meet again next week. The WTO has long been deadlocked over the choice of a new leader, although it looks certain that, for the first time, a non-European could head the free-trade organisation. <Picture: [ image: width=150]> Thai Deputy Prime Minister Supachai Phanitchaphak, who is backed by Japan and Asian countries, and former New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore, who is supported by the United States and Latin American countries, are said to have very different visions of the future of free trade. There is a third candidate, former Canadian trade minister Roy Maclaren, but he enjoys very little support. <Picture: [ image: width=150]> The choice of a new director general will be crucial in warding off the growing protectionist pressures around the world, which have led to threats of trade wars between major trading nations, including the US, the EU and Japan. The new head will also play a crucial role in the latest round of trade talks which are due to start in November. No consensus yet The outgoing WTO director general, Italian Roberto Rugggiero, will leave his post on 30 April, but months of negotiation have not produced a successor acceptable to all sides. "It's looking more and more like blockage," said one diplomat. Tanzania's trade ambassador, Ali Mchumo, who chairs the WTO council, said the "difficulties expressed against one or the other of the candidates do not amount to a veto, but nevertheless they are strong enough to deny the consensus". The delay in appointing Mr Ruggiero's successor is itself a symptom of the crisis engulfing the world trading system. The appointment requires a consensus among all 134 member states. EU vote crucial With the two candidates currently running neck-and-neck, the European Union is playing a crucial role in determining who is selected. EU officials said Sweden had refused to join the members in supporting Mr Supachai, causing the other countries to back off as well. There are suggestions that the United States, which has already declared its support for Mr Moore, privately told WTO members that it would block Mr Supachai's appointment. World trading system in crisis As the world headed into recession, pressures on the trading system increased. There are increasingly bitter disputes between the US and Japan over steel, and between the US and Europe over bananas. And the tensions have led to pressures on both sides to ignore WTO rulings which are designed to take the heat out of trade disputes, undermining the authority of the organisation. WTO was set up as the successor to GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade), which since 1949 has successfully lowered tariff barriers around the world and helped ensure a boom in world trade. But world trade, the engine of economic growth since World War II, is now faltering as a result of the global financial crisis. After numerous rounds of trade liberalisation, significant barriers still remain. The next round of trade talks in Seattle in September will be crucial in determining whether liberalisation continues and is extended to other sectors like agriculture and services. The candidates The two candidates, although both free traders, have a very different attitude towards the pace of change. •Mr Supachai is the candidate of the developing world. He comes from a country which has suffered greatly from the Asian crisis. He has sympathy for the concerns of many Asian nations that globalisation has gone too far, but believes he can persuade them to stay within the world trading system by involving them more directly in WTO decision-making. He is a strong advocate of China and Russia joining the organisation as soon as possible. He is also sceptical of US proposals to link trade talks more directly to environmental and labour conditions, fearing that this could become a backdoor to protectionism. •Mike Moore was once a leftwinger. He is now a passionate convert to free trade who believes the world is suffering from "liberalisation fatigue". He wants to reinvigorate the WTO, strengthening its disputes settlements procedure. He believes it is essential to engage with green and labour lobbies, hoping for closer cooperation with the International Labour Organisation. news.bbc.co.uk