On Monday, the World Trade Organization (WTO) got a new lease on life. Its 164 members elected former Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as director-general, filling a slot that had been vacant for half a year. Okonjo-Iweala has her work cut out for her: The WTO has struggled with drift and flirted with irrelevance, both of which were compounded by the open hostility of the Trump administration.
Trump’s departure from the White House allowed a new leader to take office in Geneva, but that is only a first step. Structural change is needed if the WTO is to work as intended — and that requires its members to get serious about reform, not only of the organization but of their own trade policies.
A world trade body was supposed to have been set up with other international economic organizations after World War II but it never happened. A broad framework, the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT), instead set rules for engagement. In 1994, consensus was reached on the need for a trade organization and the WTO commenced operations the next year. It had successes, in particular its dispute resolution mechanism which adjudicated trade fights between members.