Tim Groser has been New Zealand's Ambassador to the WTO, and the chair of the WTO committee within which the important agricultural negotiations are taking place.
Now this long-time civil servant has decided to resign his position as Ambassador and enter politics, running against the current government.
The position as chair of the agricultural committee apparently doesn't require an Ambassador, and is selected by the WTO membership, not the New Zealand government. However, the New Zealand governing party was, not unnaturally, not happy about Groser's decision.
It's reaction over has been to suggest that it would oppose Groser's continued employment with the agriculture committee. Audrey Young reports for the New Zealand Herald: "Government wants diplomat out of job". (May 24)
The Government will tell the World Trade Organisation it has no confidence in former trade ambassador Tim Groser and does not want him to keep his job as chairman of the agriculture negotiations committee after he quit his diplomat's post to seek election as a National Party MP.
"In the end it's up to the WTO who it appoints to certain positions," Prime Minister Helen Clark told a post-Cabinet press conference.
"But whether the WTO would want to go down the track of employing someone who can't enjoy the confidence of a member state and has resigned as ambassador is something the WTO would need to consider."
Here is a similar story from the National Business Review: "PM signals complete exit for Groser" (May 24).
Later stories indicate that the New Zealand government intends to support Groser's tenure at the committee through July. Here Martin Kay reports: "PM backs down on National's WTO man " (May 25).
Tim Groser looks set to stay in Geneva to shepherd talks worth billions of dollars to New Zealand, after the Government backed away from calls to dump him.
In a letter to the World Trade Organisation's general council, New Zealand representative Tony Lynch says the Government accepts there is a case for Mr Groser to remain as chairman of agriculture negotiations while moves to end subsidies and tariffs approach their climax.
The letter offers to pay for Mr Groser to stay in Geneva till a crucial meeting on the Doha round in July.
At this point, Groser's departure would not be good for the agriculture negotiations. These are extremely difficult because of the range and complexity of the issues, and the varied interests of the participants. They are also at a crucial point. The Committee is working towards a first cut at an agreement by late July - important to keep the overall negotiations on track for the meeting of WTO member trade ministers at the end of the year. The New Zealand government's agreement to support Groser for a while recognizes this.
Nikki Mandow profiles Groser here: "Our man in Geneva" (Unlimited Magazine, Sept. 1, 2004)
Here's what he's been doing for a living:
Groser was not in the chair in Mexico [for the Cancun meetings - Ben]. In fact, when he took over the job in February this year [Feb 2004 - Ben] negotiations had been going on for two-and-a-half years, without a single point of agreement.
Believing it was impossible to negotiate with 148 countries in a room, Groser spent four months after taking office hunting out trade ministers around the world, and pulling people into what he calls “nodal points of agreement” — groups of countries with largely the same view on a particular topic. By finding one person to negotiate for each node, he could get much smaller negotiating groups and start building consensus. By the time of the Geneva talks in July, Groser had a key group of five countries he believed could be broad representatives for the other 143 nations. If these countries could nut out a deal, he believed unanimity might be possible. The five: the big boys (the US and Europe); Brazil and India (representatives of the increasingly powerful G20 group of developing nations); and Australia, chair of the Cairns Group of largely agricultural exporting nations (including New Zealand) looking to reduce trade barriers.
By June Groser reckoned he had enough agreement to put out an 11-page personally-drafted document as a basis for discussion. More intense negotiations followed (including talks with the African cotton exporters), and two weeks later he put out a second paper, which became the basis for the Geneva negotiations from July 27.
However, by the final day there was still no agreement. So, around 9pm that night Groser pulled 18 Ministers (including our own Jim Sutton) into a negotiating chamber and told them to come up with a deal. At 4am there was no deal, and even Groser was getting concerned.
“Tim kept us in that room and forced us to keep negotiating paragraph by paragraph,” says Verheul. By 7am the deal was done.
Negotiators say Groser’s style is a mixture of almost obsessive determination, single-minded effort, a sense of drama and huge good humour. “He’s easy to get along with, outgoing, gregarious,” says Verheul. “He’s good at judging the mood, changing direction if the process is stuck, or using a humorous story about a previous negotiating experience to break the tension.”
Here's another profile by Fran O'Sullivan of the New Zealand Herald : "Groser seeking a stage much closer to home". O'Sullivan reviews the Groser episode here: "Labour’s tribalism far from rational". Audrey Young reports on the the NZ government's evolution on this issue on Monday, May 23: "Industry lobby backed Groser" (NZ Herald, May 26).
Peter Gallagher considers the pros and cons of keeping him on as chair: "'Lame duck' chairman of WTO agriculture talks digs in".
Revised and updated late on May 24, 25.
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