RESTRICTEDWORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/GC/M/36/Add.3
31 March 1999
(99-1326)
General Council
27 March 1999
MINUTES OF MEETING
Held in the Centre William Rappard
on 27 March 1999
Chairman:  Mr. Ali Mchumo (Tanzania)
1. Appointment of the next Director-General
The Chairman said that since 24 March he and Mr. Rossier had carried out a new series of
intensive consultations and had thought it useful, despite the inconvenience of holding a meeting on a
Saturday, to present a progress report1 on the question of the appointment of the next Director-General
a few days before the agreed deadline of end-March.  In this latest phase of consultations, while he
and Mr. Rossier had continued to monitor the levels of support enjoyed by the remaining two
candidates, they had addressed the main issue of  exploring who of the two candidates would enjoy
consensus as the most acceptable person to be appointed the next Director-General.  On the levels of
support enjoyed, there had been no significant change  in the hierarchy and distance between the two
candidates compared to what had been reported on 24 March.  Regarding the possibility of forging
consensus on one of the two candidates, he reported the following phenomenon:  On the basis of the
consultations undertaken so far in trying to forge consensus on Dr. Supachai, it had come to their
notice that there were Members who would have difficulties in accepting him as the next Director-
General.  At the same time, when they had explored the possibility of forging consensus aroundMr. Moore, they had also noted that there were Members who would have difficulties in accepting
him as the next Director-General.  It was their sense that the difficulties expressed against one or the
other of the candidates did not amount to a veto, but were nevertheless strong enough to deny
consensus on either of the two candidates as of the present.  In the light of this situation, it was
imperative that all redoubled their efforts towards removing the remaining difficulties.  It wasespecially imperative on those Members who had difficulties with one or the other of the candidates
to be flexible and accommodating, so that the next  Director-General could be selected without a vote
and without a veto, as Members had pledged to do.  Members now needed to put the interests of the
WTO and of the multilateral trading system above all other interests and work towards removing the
difficulties impeding consensus on one or the other of the candidates.  Members should use theremaining few days to reflect on this situation, interact more dynamically among themselves and
come to an agreement on the person best suited to be the next Director-General.  He and Mr. Rossier
were confident they would be able to arrive at a consensus on one of the two remaining candidates
and would continue tirelessly with their consultations with Members throughout the weekend and on
Monday and Tuesday.  He hoped that at the 31 March meeting of the General Council, Memberswould be in a position to reach a consensus on the next Director-General w ho would subsequently be
formally appointed at the General Council meeting on 14 April 1999.
                                                     
1 Circulated to delegations in Job No. 1814.WT/GC/M/36/Add.3
Page 2
The representative of Pakistan said that he was heartened by the Chairman's optimism that he
would be able to propose a consensus candidate by 31 March.  Pakistan had sought to promote such a
consensus and had felt that on the basis of equity and fairness, consensus could have been built even
earlier around a leading candidate.  The leading candidate in each progress report thus far had been
Mr. Supachai, who also enjoyed broad geographic support.  He reiterated that this was supposed to bethe turn of the candidate from a developing country.  As such, it would be fair if endeavours to
promote consensus were focussed on Mr. Supachai.  He asked whether the difficulties mentioned by
the Chairman regarding Mr. Supachai's candidacy were of an insuperable nature or amounted to a
veto.  If this was not the case, it should be possible to promote a consensus around his candidacy.
The representative of Egypt said that the credibility of the WTO should not be sacrificed.
Egypt had pleaded for the democratisation of international relations and decision-making both in the
WTO and elsewhere.  The WTO Agreement did not allow any Member the right of veto.  Decisions
were to be taken by consensus and if this was not possible, by vote.  Where there were differences, the
democratic process required a yielding to the majority if one could not join it.
The representative of Malaysia, on behalf of the ASEAN Members ,  said that his delegation
appreciated the efforts to bring this process to a conclusion and was encouraged by the latest
assessment.  To arrive at an early decision there should be a deadline earlier than envisaged.  It would
be useful to have more information on the level of support for the two candidates.  Given the time and
resources put into this process and that there was a leading candidate, on should try to build consensus
around the leading candidate as quickly as possible.
The representative of Mexico said that his delegation had taken note that some Members had
difficulties with one or the other candidate.  Members would have to put the collective interest in
maintaining a strong multilateral system that promoted the interests of trade ahead of any narrower
interest.  Flexibility would have to be shown where there was the least density of support.  One had toconsider how positions had evolved since the beginning of this process.  Another criterion was that
there had been expectations since the appointment of the last Director-General that the next Director-
General might be from a developing country.  His delegation might not be able to take an immediate
and definitive position when the next progress report was made.
The representative of Cuba agreed with Mexico  that flexibility should be shown by those who
were less well represented in the overall scenario.  A clear message should be sent to the international
community regarding the expectations that the next Director-General would be from a developing
country.  Consensus should be built around the leading candidate.  Cuba supported the statements by
Egypt and Pakistan.
The representative of Jamaica said that is should be clear beyond question that no country had
the capacity to exercise a blocking position.  Any country that would use a consultative process in a
non-transparent way would undermine the concept of decision-making by consensus and would
confer on itself a heavy responsibility.  There was no veto in the WTO, and the procedures for
decision-making were clear, which was to work on the basis of consensus, slowly, patiently and
methodically.
The representative of Zimbabwe recalled that he had appealed that this process not be made
into a north-south issue, but said that one should not sacrifice the key principles of equity, fair play
and democracy.  One had to be mindful of the expectations of developing countries at the outset of
this process.  There was still an opportunity to send a powerful message that the organizationbelonged to both developed and developing countries and that its leadership should not be the
preserve of only one group.  There should not be problems in building consensus around the leading
candidate.  He appealed to those who should show the greatest flexibility based on the trends so far
regarding support levels enjoyed by the two candidates.WT/GC/M/36/Add.3
Page 3
The Chairman said that he and Mr. Rossier would continue their consultations, mindful, as all
were, of the need to conclude this process by end-March in order to avoid a crisis of leadership and
confidence in the system.  He had appealed to Members for flexibility so that an acceptable solution
could be found on the basis of consensus.  Regarding Malaysia's request for more information on the
levels of support, he said that injecting figures into the assessment at the present juncture might not
bring a consensus any closer.  The figures themselves would not constitute a significant change, given
the current situation.  He asked Members to give him time.  His aim was to come back on 31 March
with the name of a candidate on which there could be consensus.  He encouraged delegations to
continue to be interactive with himself and Mr. Rossier and with each other.  He was hopeful that a
consensus could be reached provided all operated in an way that was mindful of the need to preserve
the system and the organization.
The General Council took note of the statements and adjourned .
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