World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo attends a press conference on global trade growth forecasts for 2019-2020, on April 2, 2019 in Geneva. (FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP)

GENEVA/BRUSSELS - Roberto Azevedo, the director-general of the World Trade Organization, said on Thursday he would be leaving his post at the end of August, a year earlier than planned, saying his personal decision was also in the interests of the WTO.

The Brazilian, 62, has headed the Geneva-based trade body since 2013 and is serving a second term that was due to conclude at the end of August 2021.

Roberto Azevedo's departure would come at a testing time for the 25-year-old body, which has seen its role in settling disputes undermined after its Appellate Body was paralysed in December by a decision by Washington to block the appointment of judges

Azevedo, in an interview, sought to explain the timing. “It’s the best thing for me, my family and the organization,” he said, adding that it’s not for health reasons or other political ambitions. “We are doing nothing now -- no negotiations, everything is stuck. There’s nothing happening in terms of regular work.”

His departure would come at a testing time for the 25-year-old body, which has seen its role in settling disputes undermined after its Appellate Body was paralysed in December by a decision by Washington to block the appointment of judges.

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The WTO club of 164 members, which is designed to set global trading rules, has not produced any major international accord since abandoning “Doha Round” negotiations in 2015.

Its members are negotiating an agreement to cut subsidies for fishing to allow a revival of depleted fish stocks, while a smaller group are discussing a possible deal on e-commerce. However, key differences remain and they are far from the consensus required to agree both deals.

Some members, notably the United States, Japan and the European Union, are pushing for more fundamental reforms. 

Successor search

Azevedo’s surprise early departure clouds the organization’s future and may set up a relatively hasty process to replace him. Typically, the procedure to select the WTO’s top job begins six to nine months before the expiration of the current director-general’s term. In his remarks to delegates announcing his departure on Thursday, Azevedo urged the WTO members to begin the selection process immediately.

At least three candidates have previously announced their intention to replace Azevedo:

• Abdelhamid Mamdouh, an Egyptian attorney at King & Spalding LLP and former Director of the Trade in Services and Investment Division of the WTO

• Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria, a WTO deputy director-general

• Eloi Laourou, Benin’s ambassador to the UN

The search may be complicated by the fact that it will largely be conducted online because of the WTO’s pandemic restrictions on in-person meetings.

If WTO members are unable to pick a new director-general by Sept 1, one of four deputy directors-general may serve as an interim caretaker

If WTO members are unable to pick a new director-general by Sept 1, one of four deputy directors-general may serve as an interim caretaker. They are Agah of Nigeria, Karl Brauner of Germany, Alan Wolff of the US and Yi Xiaozhun of China.

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Neither an American nor a Chinese national has ever served as the WTO’s director-general since it was formed in 1995.

Simon Evenett, professor of international trade and economic development at Switzerland’s University of St. Gallen, said the next director-general would need to put the WTO back together again, with the principle trade battles now in national capitals, not Geneva.

“The next leader of the WTO must command respect in the corridors of power of the major players. This is not the time to promote another ambassador. Someone with very senior government experience or global status is needed,” Evenett said.