WTO Deputy Director-General Angela Ellard has underlined the important role of the WTO in helping to address global challenges and the needs of developing members.
She was speaking at a fireside chat with Georgetown Law professors Jennifer Hillman and Katrin Kuhlmann on October 30 at the Center on Inclusive Trade and Development in Washington, D.C.
Speaking to an audience of students and faculty members, DDG Ellard shared insights from her extensive experience throughout her career and in her current role at the WTO.
Reflecting on the evolution of the WTO over the past three decades, DDG Ellard highlighted the profound shifts in global trade, particularly in services, digital trade and intellectual property, creating opportunities for growth and development. She stressed that WTO rules must address the needs of economies and communities that have not yet fully benefited from trade and must tackle persistent global challenges.
The WTO, she noted, remains unique in providing a platform where all members — large or small, developed or developing — have an equal voice and stake in shaping global trade rules.
DDG Ellard pointed to the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, concluded in June 2022, as a landmark example of how the WTO can address issues affecting the global commons.
“Consensus is difficult, but achievable, especially on issues of global importance like ending the most harmful forms of unsustainable fisheries subsidies,” she said. DDG Ellard urged swift action to bring the Agreement into force, noting that 25 more members must still submit their instruments of acceptance to the WTO for it to enter into force. She also cited the need to conclude the second wave of negotiations on fisheries subsidies to achieve a comprehensive agreement.
DDG Ellard also emphasized the importance of collaboration by WTO members to address environment- and climate-related challenges, highlighting the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment as a vital forum for these discussions.
She pointed to the range of carbon pricing mechanisms currently in place worldwide —more than 70 — and underscored the opportunity for the WTO and its members to explore frameworks that enable different systems to work together effectively.
DDG Ellard concluded that, given the WTO’s pivotal role in the global economy, it is in everyone’s interest to pursue the reform and strengthening of the organization. She emphasized that a strong WTO, which cannot be taken for granted, is a cornerstone for fostering a more stable and resilient global economy.
