Global trade climate has grown risky, says WTO chief Roberto Azevedo

The recent tussle between member-nations over the dispute settlement system at the multilateral body also has to be addressed

The global trading mechanism is facing significant challenges due to protectionism and other factors, said Roberto Azevêdo, director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

“We are facing many challenges, in and outside. The trade environment globally is very risky,” he said here after an interactive session with India Inc leaders, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He is in Delhi to attend a mini-ministerial meet over two days.

The recent tussle between member-nations over the dispute settlement system (DSS) at the multilateral body also has to be addressed. “We have a DSS compromised by the blockage in the appointment of appellate body members and this would be the focus of the conversations in New Delhi,” he said.

The lack of judges on the body has become a serious concern,as it is the principal body tasked with arbitration between nations on trade disputes, many of which continue to pile up. The Government of India (GOI) had repeatedly raised this issue at the earlier ministerial conference at Buenos Aires, with commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu urging swift action to resolve the impasse.

Trade expert and Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Biswajit Dhar said the US had single-handedly and consistently blocked the appointment of judges to the seven-member dispute settlement body. “Three members have retired and a fourth is set to retire soon,” he added.

The US continues to be the centre of multiple discussions at the ongoing summit, since its current government has been attacking the WTO as an ineffective mechanism and is threatening a trade war against multiple nations, including India. While saying the US supports the WTO, Azevêdo added it had some concerns in the way the organisation functions.

“The US maintains that the world has changed significantly since WTO’s inception in 1995 and some upgrades and reforms are in order. The conversations are ongoing and whatever comes out of New Delhi is useful to the conversations we will be having in Geneva,” he said.

After the collapse of the Buenos Aires ministerial talks last December, the GOI called this ‘informal’ meeting of ministers, without a pre-announced agenda. Commerce secretary Rita Teaotia has said this second WTO mini-ministerial meeting being hosted by India — the first one was in 2009 — was necessitated by challenges such as rising protectionism.

Azevêdo brought up a proposal to frame a set of rules on e-commerce, a senior CII official said. The proposal has been marked by a tug of war between richer nations, led by the US. The US has backed the idea and others, including India, had been dead against. India says this market is dominated by American majors, a point echoed by majors in the sector here on Monday, the official said. 

The DG is also pushing for newer issues such as gender parity in trade and rules for medium and small-scale enterprises.