Zimbabwean lawyer and writer, Petina Gappah has landed a global assignment to adjudicate in an ongoing dispute between Russian Federation and the United States of America.
Gappah who is currently leading a team working on a new investment policy posted on Facebook that she will be part of a three member team that also includes the Ambassador of Uruguay and another from Pakistan.
“It’s now official, so I can share it here. The Director-General of the World Trade Organization has appointed me to a three-member panel to adjudicate a dispute between the Russian Federation and the United States of America.
It is a huge, billion-dollar dispute, part of an ongoing and increasingly fractious trade conflict between the two countries,” said Gappah.
She expressed delight in her appointment which has over 21 members from China, India, Japan and the European Union registered as third parties.
“The actions taken by the Trump administration have raised significant interest; not only have other WTO Members complained about the same issues and established their own panels, no less than 21 WTO Members have registered as third parties in our panel, among them major trading parties like China, India, Japan, Brazil and the European Union.
“It is a real honor to serve on this panel with my co-panelists, Ambassador Ehlers of Uruguay, our chair, and Ambassador Shah of Pakistan. Panelists serve in a part time capacity, working from wherever they are based and traveling to Geneva as needed for meetings and hearings,” said Gappah.
