Honduran Dacio Castillo is new Chair of the WTO General Council

By Bufete Mejía & Asociados

On March 4, 2021, the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) highest-level decision-making body, the General Council, appointed its new Chair along with heads of various other WTO bodies for a year-long term. He is Honduran Dacio Castillo, who succeeds New Zealand’s David Walker. Castillo was previously Chair of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body.

The General Council meets regularly to carry out the functions of the WTO. It has representatives (usually ambassadors or equivalent) from all member governments and has the authority to act on behalf of the ministerial conference which only meets about every two years.

Along with the Chair of the General Council, the WTO has also a new Director-General. It’s Nigerian Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first-ever woman and African to be elected as Director-General of the WTO. Her term will expire on 31 August 2025. Okonjo-Iweala finished her first week at the WTO by meeting with ambassadors and groups of members for solutions-oriented conversations aimed at finding ways for the organization to deliver results in 2021 and beyond.