Lamy Still WTO Leader

The World Trade Organization’s (WTO) incumbent Director-General Pascal Lamy will once again lead the body for the next four years, the Associated Press reports. The organization’s 153 members didn’t put forward another candidate by the Dec. 31, 2008 deadline.
Lamy, a 61-year-old member of the French Socialist Party, will have to be confirmed by members before the end of May. If approved, his second term will start on Sept. 1. Lamy’s leadership of the WTO, which sets rules for global commerce, has been dogged by members’ failure to conclude the so-called Doha round of free trade negotiations launched in Doha, Qatar’s capital city, more than seven years ago.
Before becoming WTO chief, Lamy was the European Union’s trade commissioner for five years. ♦