General Council

At an informal meeting of the Heads of Delegation on 8 May 2013, the three facilitators in the process of selecting the next WTO Director-General recommended Ambassador Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo (Brazil) as the candidate who can gain consensus approval of WTO members.

Nine countries nominated candidates for the position of Director General of the WTO by the deadline 31 December 2012. These candidates will present themselves to the Members of the WTO in a meeting of the General Council 29, 30 and 31 January January. The meetings will be chaired by Norwegian Ambassador Elin Østebø Johansen in her capacity as Chair of the General Council.

Chair of the General Council, Norwegian ambassador Johansen (right), has announced the calendar for the selection of the new Director General of the WTO. The term of current Director General Pascal Lamy (left) ends 31 August 2013.

On 14 February 2012 Norway’s permanent representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO), ambassador Elin Østebø Johansen was elected Chair of the General Council for a period of one year. The General Council is the highest-level decision-making body of the WTO. Previously, Norwegian ambassadors Kåre Bryn and Eirik Glenne have held the same position (in 2000-2001 and 2006-2007 respectively).   The coming year will present considerable challenges to the WTO with the Doha negotiations at an impasse and as significant concerns remain regarding the state of the global economy and world tra

Norway’s ambassador Elin Østebø Johansen commented on the state of play at the 4 May General Council.

At the General Council's December meeting Norway's ambassador Elin Østebø Johansen commented on the Doha negotiations in the context of the financial crisis.

The accession of Ukraine to the WTO was agreed by the General Council on 5 February 2008, in the presence of President Viktor Yushchenko. This completed a long process of negotiations in which Norway participated actively, and the Norwegian delegation expressed satisfaction that Ukraine is soon a Member. Here is the statement that Ambassador Eirik Glenne held at the Council meeting.