September 23, 2002
In a flagrant breach of rules, the WTO's newly appointed chef de cabinet, Stuart Harbinson, will today chair a session of the Committee on Agriculture. Harbinson, who was formerly Hong Kong's ambassador to the WTO took leave of his government post and assumed the position as right hand man to the new WTO director general Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi on 10 September. Despite concerns about potential conflict of interest, Mr Harbinson has refused to relinquish his position as chair of the agriculture committee, a position he assumed while still Hong Kong's ambassador early this year.
Many Developing Countries Uneasy Over Dangerous Precedent
Many developing country officials in Geneva are uneasy with this situation. For them, it is not an issue over personalities but the fact that this is setting a dangerous precedent of involving Secretariat staff directly in negotiations. Several delegations have raised their concerns privately with Dr Supachai. At least one other country has also formally written a letter to the Chair of the General Council, stating its displeasure at such an arrangement.
After a heated debate in January this year over the controversial appointment of (then) director general Mike Moore as ex-officio chair of the trade negotiating committee, the General Council agreed that this appointment of the Director General, a secretariat staff member, as chair of a WTO intergovernmental negotiating committee, was an exception rather than the rule. What's more, Article VI.4 of the Agreement Establishing the WTO states that "The responsibilities of the Director General and of the staff of the secretariat shall be exclusively international in character."
One developing country diplomat has privately said that the issue has not been raised in any formal WTO meeting because key developing country coalitions are being split, "Some countries whom we thought were our friends are no longer with us on this. They have come under bilateral pressure." Another delegate, explaining why the issue is under wraps said, "I get the impression that no one is willing to be the spoiler. The major powers see such a high stake in this. Many developing countries are still feeling the post-September 11 threat, that 'you are with us, or you are against us'".
A Replay of the Bad Doha Process
It is clear that the powerful countries in the WTO are determined to make sure that the outcome of the next WTO ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, serves their interests. In the lead-up to Doha, as chair of the General Council, Harbinson was able to produce a clean text, like a rabbit out of a hat, which reflected few of the developing countries concerns but had the backing of the major players. Having a known quantity like Harbinson chairing agriculture committee -- one of the most critical and contentious issues - will certainly give the them confidence that a "consensus" will be reached, even when none exists.
An African government official privately recounted his experience of Harbinson's chairmanship before Doha, "He gives you the impression that he is sincerely consulting your views. But the tendency in the end is that the document does not reflect the spirit of what you were saying". According to Aileen Kwa, Geneva representative of the Asian research centre Focus on the Global South, "It's no accident that Harbinson is chair of the agriculture committee and that disquiet about this breach of WTO decisions is being hushed up."
"He is seen by the developed countries as the person who had the 'moral authority' to pull-off Doha. In the lead-up to Cancun, agriculture will be the most contentious issue and they will need Harbinson to use his famous diplomatic skills to persuade developing countries to accept another one-sided, so-called 'compromise' text which doesn't serve their interests."
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