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Christopher Roberts is the firm's senior trade analyst, based in the London office. A non-lawyer, Mr. Roberts advises clients, including both governments and individual companies, on developments in the World Trade Organisation (WTO), on specific WTO disputes and on international trade issues generally. He is able to draw on many years of experience working for the British Government on trade and other economic questions. Since joining Covington in 1998, he has advised US, European, and Asian clients on a wide variety of trade problems.
He also chairs the policy committee of the European Services Forum, which represents the views of service industries across the European Union to the EU Commission and member Governments of the European Union on international trade in services, and specifically on the current WTO negotiations on services.
As the UK Director-General of Trade Policy from 1987 to 1997 Mr. Roberts was the most senior British Government official (as distinct from elected politicians) responsible for international trade issues. He was actively involved in trade policy formation in the European Union, in the Uruguay Round negotiations and in the creation of the WTO.
Representative Matters
- Advising a range of clients on how best to ensure that Governments fully represent their interests in the current WTO trade negotiations.
- Counselling clients affected, or potentiallly affected, by formal trade disputes in the WTO (e.g. the Foreign Sales Corporations case) on how best to protect their interests.
- Ensuring that several US clients would not be adversely affected by EU proposals for retaliation in an EU-US dispute over import restrictions on steel.
Previous Experience
- Apart from wide experience on international trade, worked for the British Government on competition policy, international civil aviation and the promotion of British exports and investment overseas (1960-1997)
- Private Secretary to the Prime Minister (Edward Heath) (1970-1973)
- Board member of the National House Building Council (a large British not-for-profit insurance company specialising in home warranties) (1998-2004)
Honors and Rankings
- Companion of the Order of the Bath (British Government honour, 1989)
- Japanese Prime Minister’s award for contributions to international trade policy (1998)
Publications and Speeches
- "Trade in Services," Institute for European Studies, Brussels, Lecture Series Autumn 2006 (November 2006)
- "Prospects for the WTO Negotiations On Services," University of Munster, Germany (September 2005)
- "Development of Trade in Services between China and Europe," China International Services Convention organised by the Chinese Government in Beijing (June 2004)
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