* Six nominations for two jobs at WTO's appeal court
* Four from Latin America, two from Europe
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA, April 9 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has attracted nominations of six high-calibre trade law experts to fill two forthcoming vacancies in its top court, the appellate body, trade sources said on Thursday.
Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica and Mexico have each nominated a candidate, and the European Union has nominated two -- one from Belgium and one from the Netherlands.
The seven-member appellate body gives final rulings in disputes involving the international trade rules umpired by the WTO, in which billions of dollars can be at stake.
With the current recession sharpening fears of protectionism, the WTO's dispute system has taken on added importance as its 153 members guard against unfair practices or abuses of trade remedies.
Appellate body judges do not represent individual countries or governments but WTO members see it as prestigious to secure a nomination on the body.
A six-member interview panel, chaired by the current head of the WTO's dispute settlement body, Canadian ambassador John Gero, will interview the six candidates over the next few weeks.
The panel will then consult among members, who will also be able individually to interview candidates, and propose two names at the end of May that would then be approved by the Dispute Settlement Body in June.
Trade sources said the selection would reflect the experience and calibre of the candidates in contrast to a highly politicised row in November 2007 when Taiwan temporarily vetoed the appointment of a an appellate judge from China.
"It's entirely based on the criteria of competence. There's no politics being played," said one senior trade source.
One vacancy must be filled in July, replacing a Brazilian lawyer who left earlier this year, and one in December to replace the Italian law professor Giorgio Sacerdoti. Appellate judges serve four-year terms, which may be renewed once.
Brazil, whose size and role as the biggest exporter of a number of farm commodities make it a key WTO player, is fielding supreme court judge Ellen Gracie Northfleet.
The nomination of Gracie, 61, who has led a number of reforms to make Brazil's justice system more efficient, underlines Brazil's determination to secure another place on the body after Luiz Olavo Baptista stepped down in February for health reasons.
Argentina has nominated its former representative at the International Monetary Fund, Hector Torres.
Costa Rica is nominating its long-serving WTO ambassador, Ronald Saborio Soto. Saborio currently chairs negotiations at the WTO on reforming the dispute settlement system.
Mexico is nominating Ricardo Ramirez, the former deputy general counsel for trade negotiations in the economy ministry.
Ramirez heads the international trade practice for Latin America at U.S. law firm Chadbourne & Parke.
The European Union has nominated two law professors, Peter Van den Bossche of Belgium and Pieter-Jan Kuijper from the Netherlands.
Van den Bossche, who teaches at Maastricht University, is a former counsellor to the appellate body and former acting director of the appellate body's secretariat.
Kuijper, who teaches at the University of Amsterdam, was previously head of the WTO's legal division and principal legal adviser to the European Commission's legal service.
Shortly before President George W. Bush left office, the United States called in January for reforms to the appellate body, proposing appeal judges be recognised as holding full-time positions and each have a law clerk to support them.
Former U.S. trade representative Susan Schwab said at the time the changes would enable the appellate body to attract more high-quality candidates and give them more resources to tackle the complex disputes. (Editing by Stephanie Nebehay and Jon Boyle)