Re: Frenchman Set to Assume WTO Leadership

It is not off topic. It is rico.

Anne Nahnimoss wrote:
> IRW2B,
> you come on and complain about off-topic posts...
> and then you INTENTIONALLY CLOG the board with OT posts?!?
> What is your trip?
>
> AN
>
> <ireallywant2believe@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:1116114059.303673.259260@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/13/AR2005051301529.html
>
> Frenchman Set to Assume WTO Leadership
>
> By Paul Blustein
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Saturday, May 14, 2005; E01
>
>
>
> Pascal Lamy, who until recently was the European Union's chief trade
> negotiator, was set to become director-general of the World Trade
> Organization after his last remaining rival withdrew from the race
> yesterday.
>
> WTO officials announced that based on several months of
consultations,
> Lamy, a 58-year-old Frenchman, is the candidate "most likely . . . to
> attract consensus" among the 148 member countries. The defeated
> candidates all came from developing countries -- Uruguay, Mauritius
and
> Brazil. Barring some unforeseen revolt before the WTO general
council's
> formal decision in two weeks, Lamy's four-year term will begin Sept.
1.
>
> The choice capped a relatively smooth selection process that removes
> one impediment to global trade negotiations, known as the Doha round,
> aimed at lowering barriers to international commerce and reducing
farm
> subsidies. The last time the WTO chose a new chief, acrimony between
> advanced and developing countries was so fierce that the job had to
be
> split between New Zealand's Mike Moore and Thailand's Supachai
> Panitchpakdi, with each taking abbreviated, three-year terms. That
> episode was blamed for helping to sour North-South relations and
> hindering progress on trade talks.
>
> But Lamy still faces an enormous challenge in mobilizing the
> consensus-oriented WTO to complete the Doha round and ensuring that
the
> negotiations produce major results. As head of the Geneva-based body,
> which sets the rules for trade among its members and mediates their
> disputes, he would also act as one of the chief advocates for
economic
> globalization, a daunting task in itself. But his success or failure
> will almost certainly hinge on how he handles the Doha talks.
>
> The round, launched in the capital of Qatar a couple of months after
> the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, is supposed to provide
> especially significant benefits for developing countries, who were
> aggrieved that previous rounds tended to favor the interests of
> American and European companies. One demand of many developing
> countries is the elimination of, or at least a sharp cutback in,
> agricultural subsidies that often spur overproduction and depress
> prices for crops. Those demands are hotly resisted by powerful
> agricultural interests in rich countries, particularly in Lamy's
native
> France.
>
> Negotiators already have blown the round's original deadline of Jan.
1,
> and any director-general would face difficulties in getting the talks
> on track in time for a key meeting of trade ministers in Hong Kong in
> December, aimed at narrowing differences. One such gathering -- in
> Cancun, Mexico, in 2003 -- collapsed in failure.
>
> Lamy has a particularly delicate tightrope walk to perform, some
trade
> experts think. As director-general, he has little formal power beyond
> "moral suasion" in trying to forge consensus among the member
nations.
> As an official who represented Europe's position on the main issues
--
> he stepped down as the E.U. trade commissioner in November after a
> five-year term -- he may enjoy both advantages and disadvantages.
>
> "Some of the developing countries wanted a developing-country
> representative [to become director-general] above all, but some
> obviously thought that given his background, Lamy would have to bend
> over backwards to show that he isn't a protectionist Frenchman," said
> Jeffrey J. Schott, a scholar at the Institute for International
> Economics. "I think that was a big plus; there was a perception that
if
> selected, he would be a strong leader."
>
> But Daniel K. Tarullo, who served as the top international economic
> adviser for the White House during the Clinton administration,
wondered
> how easily Lamy could deal with perceived conflicts between his
> previous positions and the more neutral ones he must take as
> director-general.
>
> "How is he going to handle all these issues that just a few months
ago
> he was an advocate on?" Tarullo asked, citing as examples the dispute
> between Washington and Brussels over subsidies for Boeing Co. and
> Airbus SAS. "I think he's best suited for the job, given his
> intelligence and knowledge of the issues. . . . But think what would
> have happened if he had been a lawyer in Washington for a company
that
> had been involved in all these issues, then went in as U.S. trade
> representative. He can't recuse himself from everything the E.U. has
an
> interest in. Is there some sort of understanding as to what he can
do?"
>
> Lamy was unavailable for comment, and a spokesman for U.S. Trade
> Representative Rob Portman also said he could not comment on that
> issue. But Portman issued a statement hailing Lamy's selection,
saying:
> "As the former EU Trade Commissioner, he knows intimately the terrain
> of the negotiations. I believe he'll rise to the challenge of serving
> as the neutral leader" and pursuing the ambitious goals of the
ongoing
> Doha trade round.
>
> Lamy's selection became a foregone conclusion when Carlos Perez del
> Castillo, a Uruguayan diplomat, acknowledged yesterday that the
> Frenchman had stronger backing. Previously, Luiz Felipe de Seixas de
> Correa of Brazil and Jaya Krishna Cuttaree of Mauritius had pulled
out
> of the contest after failing to muster enough support.
>
> © 2005 The Washington Post Company

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