{"id":64078,"date":"2026-02-11T18:12:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T18:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/wto-chief-urges-reform-to-prevent-global-trade-chaos"},"modified":"2026-02-11T19:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T19:20:18","slug":"wto-chief-urges-reform-to-prevent-global-trade-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/mauritius\/all-news\/wto-chief-urges-reform-to-prevent-global-trade-chaos","title":{"rendered":"WTO Chief Urges Reform to Prevent Global Trade Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Mauritius. <\/strong> <\/span>The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned on Wednesday that the global trading system could descend into &#8220;chaos&#8221; without common rules, urging members to reform the institution to keep pace with geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change.<\/p>\n<p>Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaking at a media briefing of the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the UN in Geneva, said multilateral organizations remain essential despite questions about their relevance.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At a time of geopolitical tensions, international cooperation has never been more needed,\u201d she said, adding that fora such as the WTO allow countries to &#8220;come together&#8230; to try to handle these problems.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But she stressed that the status quo is not sustainable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMultilateral organizations like ours need to change to be fit for purpose,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Okonjo-Iweala warned that without the WTO&#8217;s rules-based system, businesses would face uncertainty over tariffs, product standards, and customs procedures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll be very honest with you, there\u2019ll be chaos,\u201d she said, noting that every country could simply do as they pleased.<\/p>\n<p>She pointed to the protectionist spiral of the 1930s as a cautionary example, saying: &#8220;No one wants to see a rerun of a bad movie.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The director general said a ministers&#8217; meeting later this year is expected to endorse a work program for &#8220;comprehensive reform or deep reform&#8221; rather than immediate solutions.<\/p>\n<p>She also pointed to broader global shifts and inequality as drivers of tensions that require updated rules and cooperation.<\/p>\n<p>The WTO, she added, must not only address weaknesses but also seize opportunities in areas such as digital and green trade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have not only to be resilient, we have to be robust&#8230; and to be robust, we must reform,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Mauritius<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Mauritius. The head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) warned on Wednesday that the global trading system could descend into &#8220;chaos&#8221; without common rules, urging members to reform the institution to keep pace with geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaking at a media briefing of the Association of Accredited Correspondents [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":64077,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[6293,241,4309,4308],"class_list":["post-64078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-global-trade-system","tag-mauritius","tag-ngozi-okonjo-iweala","tag-wto"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>WTO Chief Urges Reform to Prevent Global Trade Chaos - Mauritius<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Mauritius. 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