WTO Leaders Considering Designating 'Facilitators' to Speed Ministerial Talks
World Trade Organization leaders are leaning toward appointing special “facilitators” to help guide negotiating groups toward substantive progress during the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11) set for next month in Buenos Aires, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said during a formal…
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meeting of the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee Nov. 28. “Limited progress” has been made toward reaching agreed outcomes on substantive issues that WTO members have expressed an interest in addressing during MC11, Azevedo said. “We still have a lot of issues in play for the ministerial -- many issues to deal with, in a very concentrated time period,” he said. MC11 Chair Susanna Malcorra will ultimately decide on whether to appoint “a few ‘minister facilitators’” to work with different negotiating group leaders at the conference, and “it would be reasonable” to expect such facilitators for agriculture, development, e-commerce and rules, among other areas, Azevedo said.