WTO, call for reforms - Head of the Organization: We must improve decision-making procedures
The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has called for reforms to the 30-year-old institution. She highlighted the consensus rule, which requires unanimous approval by all members to reach global trade agreements.
"We need to reform the system, we cannot be satisfied with the current situation," Okonjo-Iweala said at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh.
"One of the procedures that requires change is the consensus decision-making system, which in practice works like unanimity, as everyone has to agree. This greatly slows down the decision-making process," the WTO chief added.
She also called for the organization's 166 members to engage with the United States on their criticisms of the institution, many of which she recognized as valid.
Okonjo-Iweala reiterated that the global trading system is experiencing the biggest disruption in eight decades, describing it as "hit but not destroyed."
She praised the fact that most members have not used retaliatory measures in the face of tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on trading partners.
"It is very positive that almost three-quarters of world trade in goods is still conducted under WTO terms," said the head of the organization.
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