The head of the World Trade Organization has praised New Zealand's role in the organisation as she preached the gospel of free trade while on a short visit to Aotearoa.
WTO director-general Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was in New Zealand to meet with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and other government ministers about global trade, and to reiterate the importance of the WTO.
"The WTO is enormously relevant…I often liken it to water, you know, you take it for granted until you no longer have it, and you see what you're missing. The WTO's rules underpin 75% of world trade," she said.
"New Zealand has been playing an amazingly constructive role, not just now but over time…So I wanted to say thank you and I want to ask for more support.
"Yes it's a small country, but it punches above its weight consistently. And is listened to."
She said the Covid-19 pandemic exposed certain weaknesses in the global supply chain, and the war in Ukraine has exacerbated them, but it was important to make the case for free trade, which is often blamed when countries struggle. "We [the WTO] are actually part of the solution, not part of the problem."
While geopolitical tensions and rhetoric have been ramping up in recent years, Okonjo-Iweala said there is still a role for bodies like the WTO. "We are the only multi-lateral organisation, as of now, that has managed to get legally binding agreements with all these actors round the table."
The director-general also believes there is movement on the "Appellate Body Crisis" which has left countries in trade disputes with no opportunity to appeal any decisions they disagree with.
That process is widely seen as an important protector for smaller states, when in dispute with larger states.
The US has been blocking appointments to the body for years, and the Trump administration refused to agree to the appointment of any Appellate Body members as their terms expired.
Ultimately that led to a situation where there was no Appellate Body in operation to hear appeals.
However, Okonjo-Iweala said that there had been some movement, citing her own appointment, which was blocked by Trump, and endorsed by President Biden, as a sign of progress.
She said the two-tier complaints system is "not completely stuffed" but acknowledges the loss of the ability to appeal is disconcerting to smaller nations.
"I'm not saying they [the US] don't have the same complaints. But it's one thing to have a set of complaints, it's another to want to solve them. And they are engaging now.
"We hope this will lead to a very solid programme to reform the entire disputes settlement system next year."
In the meantime, countries are finding a way to work around America's roadblocks, with Australia and China recently agreeing to an interim arbitration system for the two disputes Australia has with its much larger trading partner.
"That's a very good sign and we want to encourage our members to talk to each other and resolve these disputes through dialogue as much as possible."
Okonjo-Iweala described her organisation as a "global public good" which has lifted more than 1 billion people out of poverty.
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