WTO member states have endorsed the trade body's current director-general Pascal Lamy to head the organisation for four more years.

The WTO's General Council, comprising all 153 members, voted unanimously in support of the Frenchman.

Lamy ran for the post unopposed, partly, as aides have quoted him as saying, "because no one else wants this job."

It was the first time in the WTO's 15-year history that the candidacy had not been contested.

With protectionism on the increase in the midst of a major global downturn and world trade talks stalled, the widely respected head of the World Trade Organisation will have his work cut out to achieve a breakthrough during his second term of office.

Doha remains stumbling block

Since he took over the reins in September 2005, Lamy has been seeking a conclusion to the Doha round of trade liberalization negotiations. When first appointed, the former European Union Trade Commissioner said nailing down a global trade deal, on which negotiations began seven years ago, would be the "number one, number two and number three" priorities of his four-year term.

But agreement has been elusive. Lamy's latest attempt at breaking the deadlock through a ministerial meeting of key economies in July 2008 ended in bitter disagreement between India and the United States.

Speaking to the Council earlier this week, the director-general reiterated the importance of concluding the Doha round. "Beyond the trade-offs required to conclude the Doha round and also beyond the market access that it will bring, lies its hugely important systemic value" he said.

Creeping protectionism

In a report to WTO members in March, Mr Lamy noted that protectionism was on the rise. He said "the danger today is of an incremental build-up of restrictions that could slowly strangle international trade," noting that this could hamper economic recovery.

EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton, who has called Lamy a "tireless advocate of the benefits of open and rules-based trade," welcomed the reappointment.