AKIPRESS.COM - Director General of the World Trade Organisation Roberto Azevedo says it will take "a few months" to fix its main body for settling trade disputes.

It has ground to a halt because the US has blocked the appointment of new judges,BBC reports.

A minimum of three are needed and today there is just one in place.

The Appellate Body has the final say on disputes that cover billions of dollars of international trade and its decisions are supposed to be binding.

However, now that it has ceased to function and can't take on new cases Mr Azevedo conceded that "significant changes in the dispute settlement mechanism" will be needed and that "intensive consultations" will start immediately.

These are likely to include "looking at issues like how fast can the disputes settlement work", he said.