GENEVA (Reuters) - Nigeria's candidate to head the World Trade Organization urged U.S. President Donald Trump or his successor on Wednesday not to leave the Geneva-based body, saying reforms were possible.
Washington has been a regular critic of the WTO and is along with other members is urging reforms to its 25-year-old global trade rule book. It has also blocked appointments to its top appeals court, paralysing its functions.
However, despite Trump's plans to leave another Geneva-based body, the World Health Organization, over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. government sources say his administration remains committed to reforming the WTO, not abandoning it altogether.
"Surely it's not the time now to leave a WTO that matters. We need an institution that can promote a rules-based system...," Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told a news briefing when asked for her message to the current U.S. president or any future one.
"Don't leave now. Let's try to fix what needs fixing."
Okonjo-Iweala is one of eight candidates competing to become the trade watchdog's next leader and has been taking questions from the WTO's 164 members in Geneva this week.