Brussels/Geneva, 22/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - Supachai Panichpakdi, from Thailand, who will take over the reigns of command at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on 1 September, had appointed four Deputy Director Generals, which include Britain, Roderick Abbott and the American Rufus Xera. The experience of these two trade negotiations "veterans" will certainly turn out to be valuable with regard to the management of Trans-Atlantic disputes that are already out in the open (FSC, steel) or simmering, such as carrying out the Doha Cycle for which the deadline is in 2005 and which coincides with the mandate of the new management team in Geneva. A biographical note published in Geneva has pointed out that Mr Abbott, who has worked for the European Commission for almost thirty years, most recently as Assistant Director General for Trade, "was involved in almost all the aspects of multi-lateral trade policy" including the "banana affair". Rufus H. Xera, former Washington Permanent Representative at GATT and number two at the US Trade Representatives Office (USTR), has served under different Administrations, both Democrat and Republican, as well as having participated in the successful ALENA negotiations and the Uruguay multi-lateral Round. He then went to the private sector, where he worked from 1995 in Brussels as a commercial lawyer and Advisor to the Monsanto Group. The new Director General of the WTO will be assisted by Kipkorir Aly Azad Rana, Kenyan political scientist and negotiator in different international bodies, including the WTO and UN. He will be accompanied by the Brazilian, Francisco Thomson-Flôres, a key mover behind the Cairns Group and Mercosur. The four Deputy Director Generals are expected to tae up their posts on 1 October for a mandate of three years.