INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WTO chief has actually called for reforming the body to avoid future trade warsThe head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) stressed the
significance of reforming the global trade body to prevent further trade wars but alerted it would be really hard in the middle of high
geopolitical tensions.The 27-year-old global trade body, under pressure to show its significance, was because of have held a significant
ministerial conference this week and a strategy to update the worldwide trade rule book was amongst the key subjects
It was held off due to travel curbs connected to the COVID variant Omicron, even more moistening currently dim hopes for progress.Asked if
the WTO was capable of reform, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala stated in an interview at the Reuters Next conference: Definitely
Whether it will be simple to do is another thing
I believe it will be really hard due to the fact that of the absence of trust amongst members
The WTO's top appeals chamber, the Appellate Body, has been handicapped because 2019 when the administration of previous United States
President Donald Trump blocked judge appointments.Okonjo-Iweala told Reuters the WTO's conflict settlement system had to be conserved to
prevent future trade wars, adding that Washington's legitimate issues about overreach needed to be addressed.Describing the current
environment as fraught with geopolitical tensions , she cautioned of the danger of the rules-based trade system being replaced by a
power-based system and stated smaller nations would lose the most from this
It's absolutely important that we support multilateral trade and we don't take it for granted, she said.Okonjo-Iweala, director-general
because March, said she saw lots of opportunities for the Geneva-based trade body, consisting of in the area of climate change such as
through the development of an international carbon price.From laying down the law on nonrenewable fuel source subsidies to promoting
low-carbon supply chains, there is no shortage of ways in which the WTO might be at the forefront of the global battle against climate
