WTO DG RACE - LAMY AND PEREZ DEL CASTILLO TO BE FINAL

UNCLAS GENEVA 001094

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD WTRO USTR
SUBJECT: WTO DG RACE - LAMY AND PEREZ DEL CASTILLO TO BE FINAL
CANDIDATES



1. The General Council chair, Ambassador Mohamed of Kenya, held
informal consultations on the evening of April 29 to present the
results of the second round of consultations over the selection
and appointment of the next WTO Director-General. She recalled
the procedures for selecting a Director-General, and she paid
tribute to Brazil and Ambassador Seixas Correa for accepting the
results of the first round of consultations, explaining that
Brazil's willingness to abide by the agreed procedures has helped
keep the process "smoothly moving forward on its own track,
without disruption to the substantive business of the Doha
Development Agenda." She said that all Members, and all
candidates, are united in their view that the WTO's top priority
is the successful conclusion of the upcoming Ministerial
Conference in Hong Kong.


2. The chair then presented the results of round two, announcing
that candidate from Mauritius, Jaya Krishna Cuttaree, is the
least likely candidate of the three to attract consensus. She
further added that, based on the information presented in this
round, Pascal Lamy is the candidate that enjoyed the highest
level of support among Members, both in terms of preferences and
in breadth of support. 144 of the 148 Members provided views in
this round; of these, 122 are Geneva-based, and 22 are non-
resident delegations. Of the four Members that did not express
views, only one is a non-resident delegation.


3. The chair then announced that the third and final round of
consultations will begin during the week of 9 May, and it will
be based on a revised slate of the two remaining candidates -
Pascal Lamy of France and Carlos Perez del Castillo of Uruguay.
She reminded Members that views expressed during the first two
rounds of consultations will not be used in the final round, and
she urged all Members to come forward and express the views of
their respective authorities regarding the question, "what are
your preferences?" She explained that she hoped to conclude the
third and final round of consultations as soon as possible,
keeping in mind that a final decision is to be taken by May 31 at
the latest.


4. At the end of her prepared statement, she informed the Members
that Cuttaree has withdrawn his candidacy. She paid tribute to
Cuttaree and his government for being gracious in accepting the
results of the process and "leading by example." There were no
comments or statements from the floor. Deily