WTO : GC chair under pressure to change decision on DG appointment process (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Several members of the World Trade Organization (WTO), including the United States, appear to have informally conveyed their concerns to the WTO's General Council (GC) chair, Ambassador Petter Olberg of Norway, over the legality of the purported appointment pro cess for the next WTO Director-General, said people familiar with the developmen t.

WTO : "Muddling" progress in discussions on dispute settlement reform (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
Ahead of a Heads of Delegation meeting at the World Trade Organization on 11 October, the co-convenors engaged in the dispute settlement reform discussions presented a rather ambivalent and "muddling" progress report on the crucial "appeal/review" mechanism, which is expected to replace the binding Appellate Body, said people familiar with t he development.

Trade : WTO projects modest outlook for global trade (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The projected outlook for global merchand ise trade shows a modest increase of 2.3 percent in the first half of 2024, whi le indications are that there will be a further moderate expansion in the rest of the year, as well as in 2025, said World Trade Organization (WTO) economists on 10 October.

WTO : DG suffers setback on plan to break the "gridlock" on agriculture (PRIV)
(D. Ravi Kanth, Geneva)
The World Trade Organization's Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on 10 October appears to have suffered a setback on her much-publicized plan to break the "gridlock" in t he agriculture negotiations, as consensus was elusive on the two options prese nted, particularly on the appointment of facilitators, said people familiar with the development.