A tightrope walk ahead for WTO head Roberto Azevedo

Brazilian Roberto Azevedo’s election as head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is an important victory for the developing world and the BRICS that have championed their cause, coming at a time of great mistrust and divide between the rich and the poor over the stalled Doha Round trade talks. The developed world, led by the US, has pinned the blame on developing countries, calling them “obstructionist”, a charge Azevedo has countered with gusto. He now faces the unenviable task of shedding years of hardened position without letting down the developing countries that have rallied together to put him in the chair occupied mostly by Europeans since the WTO was set up in 1995.

Multi-Task

Of course, no one expects the WTO’s director-general to be partisan, Azevedo himself has said that he is not going to defend Brazilian interests, but his presence should at least ensure that issues raised by India and the rest of the developing world are not brushed aside, as has been the case earlier. That said, the tightrope is going to be difficult for even the career Brazilian diplomat with near two decades of experience in trade talks.

He will always be under pressure to be neutral, a task Thailand’s Supachai Panitchpakdi, who headed the WTO between 2002 and 2005, found difficult and he often ended up antagonising developing countries for toeing the developed world’s line. But all that comes later.

Azevedo’s biggest challenge, even before he gets down to the task of tackling the issues that have stalled the Doha round since 2008, would be to refocus energy on multilateral trade talks, away from the rising preference among nations to explore trade ties with each other. The years of lack of progress and seemingly irreconcilable differences among the global powers have eroded faith in multilateralism and even the WTO itself, encouraging countries to embark on bilateral free trade negotiations.

The recession in the developed world, which has led to rising protectionism, has further weakened the commitment to the WTO because justifying new barriers would become difficult in talks to open trade further.