Decision Making Review Report

The GC chair has issued a report on what transpired at the one-day retreat he convened last week primarily to discuss the decision-making processes at the WTO.  In his report, the chair says that he “detected a collective desire to enhance decision-making. processes in Geneva, build and restore trust, uphold consensus decision making in a manner that delivers results and ensure the WTO remains fit for purpose.”

The report makes several suggestions, including on the “consensus: understanding and implementation”, “transparency” and “improving the consensus mechanisms”. The report says “the concept of consensus was discussed extensively, with a focus on distinguishing it from unanimity” and “consensus should not be (mis)used as a tool for vetoing but rather as a means to build convergence and foster genuine agreement.”