Uruguay became the first country on Wednesday formally to put forward a candidate for the top global trade job as the search for a new head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) got underway. The South American country proposed its former WTO ambassador Carlos Perez del Castillo to take over from Supachai Panitchpakdi when the former deputy premier of Thailand stands down at the end of August 2005 after three years in the post.
"I can confirm that Uruguay has submitted the candidacy of Carlos Perez del Castillo," WTO spokesman Nuch Nazeer said as a month-long period for registering names began.
Perez del Castillo, a former president of the WTO's executive General Council, is expected to be joined soon by Mauritian Foreign Minister Jaya Krishna Cuttaree and Brazil's ambassador to the WTO, Felipe Seixas Correa, the only others to have publicly declared their interest.
Mauritian ambassador Naresh Serransing told Reuters that he expected to register the minister's candidacy at the WTO by Friday, but there was no immediate word from the Brazilians on when Seixas Correa would formally enter the battle.
Although Supachai still has nine months to serve, the Geneva-based trade body is anxious to avoid the acrimony that the selection process generated last time and has given itself plenty of time to make a choice.
It has laid down a clear timetable, with a one-month period for declaring candidacies to be followed by three months of campaigning.
The WTO's General Council, on which all 148 member states sit, should make its decision by the end of May, with the new chief taking office on September 1 for a full four-year term. "Nobody wants to see a repetition of what happened last time," said one senior Geneva diplomat, referring to the 1999 election when the membership was split between supporters of Supachai and backers of former New Zealand premier Mike Moore.
Unable to reach any decision, the WTO eventually opted to let them serve for three years each, with Moore going first. Perez del Castillo said recently that he had the backing of more than 50 countries, including most of Latin America.
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