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Following consultations with WTO Member Governments, Dr Supachai
selected the following deputies: Messrs. Roderick Abbott; Dr Kipkorir
Aly Azad Rana; Francisco Thompson-Flôres; and Rufus H. Yerxa.
Dr Supachai, who takes up his official duties as Director-General
on 1 September 2002, hoped that his new deputies would be able to
start familiarizing themselves with their work in September alongside
the current Deputy Directors-General, in order to ensure continuity
during the transitional period. The current deputies, whose terms of
office expire on 30 September 2002, are: Messrs. Ablassé Ouedraogo;
Paul-Henri Ravier; Miguel Rodriguez Mendoza; and Andrew Stoler.
Dr Supachai expressed his gratitude for the dedication shown by the
current Deputy Directors-General and his full confidence in the new
team. “I am sure that the new Deputies, together with the current
Directors and staff of the WTO, will carry forward the work of the
Organization very effectively and be able to meet and overcome the
many challenges that lie ahead,” he said.
Roderick Abbott
Biographical Note
In a 40-year career with the Board of Trade, London, and later
(since 1973) with the EC Commission, Roderick Abbott has been involved
in almost every aspect of multilateral trade policy, with particular
emphasis on negotiations and trade disputes.
Until recently he was the deputy Director General in DG Trade at
the Commission, and before that Ambassador/Head of Delegation in
Geneva from 1996 to 2000. In that capacity he has attended each of the
four WTO Ministerial Conferences so far, from Singapore to Doha, and
he was heavily engaged in the work of the new WTO Dispute Settlement
Body, especially some of the important early cases such as the EC
banana import regime.
During the 1990s and the Uruguay Round he was a member of the
Commission steering group, with oversight of the EC negotiating
positions across the board, and in the final stages was the lead
negotiator for the tariff negotiations. He presented the first three
Trade Policy Reviews of the EC in the period 1991-95.
During the 1980s he was regularly a participant in QUAD meetings of
Trade Ministers, and attended the GATT Ministerial meetings in 1982
and 1984. He was lead Commission negotiator for the GATT aspects of EC
enlargements in 1981 and 1985 ( and again in 1995). He was Commission
representative on the OECD Trade Committee, later also in the ECSS,
and attended the UNCTAD conference in Belgrade, 1981.
He was a participant in the Tokyo Ministerial meeting that launched
the Tokyo Round in 1973 and during the negotiations (1975 to 1979) was
attached to the EC delegation in Geneva, with special responsibility
for non-tariff barrier agreements, quantitative restrictions and for
negotiating new rules on safeguard measures.
He was first posted in Geneva in the late 1960s, during the
implementation phase of the Kennedy Round, and was Chairman of the
GATT Balance of Payments committee in 1970-71.
Roderick Abbott received a BA from Oxford University in 1962
(“Greats”).
Kipkorir Aly Azad Rana
Biographical Note
Kipkorir Aly Azad Rana has had a distinguished career in the
Government of Kenya serving as a senior representative of his
government at various international organizations, including the WTO
and the UN. He is currently a global consultant for bilateral and
multilateral trade and investment policies and negotiations.
After serving as Deputy Head of Mission in Tokyo (1993-1996), Dr
Rana was appointed Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New
York and Alternate Delegate/Coordinator of the Kenyan Delegation to
the UN Security Council (1997). He returned briefly to Nairobi in 1998
to serve as Permanent Secretary, Office of the President, Development
Coordination, before being appointed Ambassador/Permanent
Representative to the UN in Geneva (1998-2000).
During the period 1999-2001, Dr Rana served as Coordinator of
African Delegations to the WTO; Leader of the Group of Experts from
Africa to the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Seattle, USA; Leader of the
Delegation to the Kenya Trade Policy Review at the WTO; and Senior
Trade Policy Advisor to the Minister for Trade and Industry.
Dr Rana has represented his Government at numerous international
meetings and conferences, including UNCTAD X in Bangkok, Thailand
(2000); G15 Summit Meetings in Cairo, Egypt, (1998) and in Jamaica
(2000); International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary
Conference in Kyoto, Japan (1994) and in Minneapolis, USA (1998); and
the 3rd UN Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses
of Outer Space in Vienna, Austria (1999) where he was Leader of the
National Delegation.
Dr Rana’s academic qualifications include a Master of Political
Science (1975) and a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University of
California at Los Angeles (1990).
Francisco Thompson-Flôres
Biographical Note
Francisco Thompson-Flôres has extensive experience as a diplomat
and trade negotiator for the Brazilian Government. He is currently
Ambassador in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Mr Thompson-Flôres joined the Ministry of External Affairs in
1959, specializing in economic and trade affairs, and was appointed
Under-Secretary-General of the Ministry from 1985-1988. He has served
as a diplomat at the Brazilian Embassies in London (1961-1964),
Brussels (1964-1967) and Washington (1973-1976), and as Ambassador in
Buenos Aires (1988-1992), in Bonn (1992-1995), to the Holy See
(1995-1998), and in Montevideo since 2000.
During the period 1979-1999, Mr Thompson-Flôres also served as
Secretary for Economic and Technical International Cooperation,
Secretariat of Planning, Presidency of the Republic (1979);
Coordinator of International Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture
(1979-1983); and Personal Representative of the President of the
Republic on matters concerning the Latin-America and the
Caribbean-European Union Summit (1998-1999).
Mr Thompson-Flôres has extensive experience as a trade negotiator
serving as: Founding Member of the Cairns Group; Chief Negotiator
within the framework of the negotiating process between Brazil,
Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, leading to the creation of Mercosur
(1985-1988); Member of the Advisory Committee for Integration Affairs
of the Presidency of Inter-American Development Bank; Member of the
Advisory Board of the Mercosur Economic Research Network; and Chairman
of the Negotiating Group on Agriculture within the framework of the
Free Trade area of the Americas (1999-2000).
Mr Thompson-Flôres’ academic qualifications include a Degree in
Philosophy from the University of Poitiers, France, and a Degree in
Economics from the London School of Economics, United Kingdom.
Rufus H. Yerxa
Biographical Note
Rufus H. Yerxa is an experienced trade diplomat and lawyer who has
served as a senior US trade official in both Republican and Democratic
administrations. He has also been staff director of a key
Congressional committee on international trade matters and a private
attorney.
From 1989 to 1993, Mr. Yerxa was posted in Geneva as the United
States Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the GATT, where he
represented the United States in regular GATT meetings, disputes and
negotiations. In that role he played a vital role in the Uruguay Round
Negotiations. In 1993 he returned to Washington to serve as the senior
Deputy United States Trade Representative, the administration’s
second ranking trade negotiator. In that capacity, he was responsible
for completing negotiations on both the NAFTA accord and the Uruguay
Round/WTO agreement, as well as for securing Congressional approval of
both agreements.
Before joining USTR, Mr. Yerxa had been a leading Congressional
expert on international trade. From 1981 to 1989 he was with the
Committee on Ways and Means of the U.S. House of Representatives,
where he served as Staff Director of the Trade Subcommittee. He guided
the drafting and enactment of several major pieces of trade
legislation, including the landmark Omnibus Trade Act of 1988.
Since 1995, Mr. Yerxa has been a practicing lawyer. He spent three
years as a Brussels-based partner in a major U.S. law firm, where he
represented U.S. clients on European regulatory matters and
international trade. In 1998 he joined Monsanto Company, where he
served as European General Counsel and later as International Counsel.
Mr. Yerxa received his B.A. from the University of Washington
(1973), his J.D. from the University of Puget Sound (1976) and a
Masters Degree in International Law from Cambridge University (1977).
He is a member of the D.C. and Washington State bars.
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