“I'm very pleased the General Council has today approved the list of chairpersons to head WTO bodies. This is another hurdle cleared in our efforts to meet the mandate and tight deadlines set for us by Ministers in Doha.

“The outstanding work of the General Council Chairman Stuart Harbinson in brokering the agreements on the list of Chairpersons, means that the post-Doha momentum continues in the WTO.

“In three short months, our member governments have agreed on a substantial budget increase, a venue for the next Ministerial Conference (Mexico), the structure for the Doha Development Agenda negotiations and now the roster of chairpersons to lead those negotiations.

“I am grateful to everyone involved in this process of agreeing on these important elements of our work.?