On 30 April 2009, the World Trade Organization (WTO) General Council re-appointed Pascal Lamy as Director General for another four years starting from 1 September 2009 when his first term comes to an end. Lamy was unopposed in his bid for a second term. This is because no other candidate was put forward by any other WTO Member State to compete against him. This is quite unusual considering the acrimony and the number of candidates who ran before. In the first truly competitive elections for the post in 1998, the then six year term for Director-General had to be split into two between Moore of New Zealand and Supachai of Thailand due to a deadlock. During the elections for Lamy’s first term there was a significant number of competitors.

Unusual as it may appear, we can conclude that the WTO is maturing somewhat with earlier sensitivities between developed and developing countries with respect to the organisation’s leadership dissipating. After Supachai, the notion that a developing country Director-General was automatically better for developing countries as opposed to a developed country Director-General seems to no longer carry sway. Credit should also be given where it is due. Whatever one might say about Lamy, his energy and profile has surely done WTO some good. While there has yet to be success in the Doha Round, Mr. Lamy’s relentlessness in tying and trying again is admirable as compared to his predecessor.

Now that he has another four years what should we expect? A reading of Mr. Lamy’s speech to the WTO General Council on 29 April 2009 is a good starting point.

Finishing the Doha Round

In his 29th April speech, Lamy’s argues that completing the Doha Round should still remain WTO’s top priority. There is probably no choice on this. However, one might have wanted to hear how long Lamy thinks we can contrinue to wait for the end of the Doha Round based on the same ambitions as  seven years ago. As mentioned in  another blog, it is questionable if Doha should be pursued at all costs for eternity. There has to be some sense when this has to end. The idea, which Lamy expresses in his speech, that this is a true development round may also come into question as the Doha Round drags on. Can a round be truly a development round if it takes 10, 15 or 20 years?

Other priorities

Three other priorities for the next four years are highlighted in the speech. These include: improving implementation where the focus could be on improving the surveillance and transparency systems; building coherence with a focus on internal de-compatimentalisation and external engagement; and boosting outreach with increased focus on, among others, non-members, acceding members and parliamentarians.

Future agenda

The 29th April speech did not dwell much on the future agenda of the WTO. Lamy argued that this was because “serious work on any future topic should commence when we the finish line of the Doha Round is firmly in site.” Nonetheless there was talk of some of the issues that are in the air for a future agenda. These include:

• climate change;
• food security;
• energy;
• labour;
• competition;
• investment; and
• financial protectionism.

While Lamy has a point about not embarking on any new issues until the Doha Round is finished,  he, and WTO members, need to address the counter-point. Until when do you hold everything else at ransom for one Round? Depending on how much longer the Doha Round takes the world might not afford to wait for four more years for WTO to make its contribution to important issues such as climate chnage and energy. If Lamy truly believes that he wants in the next four years to strengethen WTO as the global trade body, then WTO must, in those four  years, be relevant to the global challenges of our time. Those challenges include both Doha issues as well as other important global issues.