The Geneva-based WTO is currently facing an institutional crisis
Keystone / Martial Trezzini
Didier Chambovey, Swiss ambassador to the World Trade Organization (WTO), has been appointed by the member states as head of the body responsible for arbitrating complaints.
Chambovey will have to chair the meetings of this committee, which is at the centre of tensions between various parties. The Geneva-based WTO is currently facing an institutional crisis owing to the blocking of the renewal of the judges of the Court of Appeal by the United States under former president Donald Trump.
However, the new administration of President Joe Biden has maintained this approach. The body chaired by Chambovey is responsible for upholding complaints and judgements handed down.
The new WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who took over on March 1, has said she wants each member to clarify its position on reforms on which everyone agrees. She wants to make progress by the ministerial meeting scheduled for November 29 in Geneva because of the uncertainties over the pandemic.
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New WTO head welcomes Swiss newspaper apology over ‘grandmother’ headline
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The World Trade Organization's (WTO) director-general, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has welcomed an apology from several Swiss newspapers.
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It is crucial to preserve the credibility of the World Trade Organization and to improve the way it works, says Swiss ambassador Didier Chambovey.
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