No panic over Trump threat: WTO chief

US President Donald Trump's comments about potentially leaving the World Trade Organisation were consistent with what the United States has said previously and did not reflect new concerns.

Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO) Roberto Azevedo has said this in response to Trump's threat that he could pull out of the world trade body.

"If they don't shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO," Trump said on Thursday, reports Reuters.

Trump previously called the WTO a 'disaster' and a 'catastrophe', potentially undermining one of the foundations of the modern global economy which the US was instrumental in creating.

Azevedo said there was no reason for 'panic'.

"The US concerns about areas in the WTO that they would like to improve are not new. And I think what he said is consistent with what they have expressed before," he added.

During his election campaign, Trump told NBC's Meet the Press programme that if the WTO rules blocked his policies, he would renegotiate US membership or pull out.

Trump's ambassador has said the United States will not shy away from being disruptive to shake up what it sees as a complacent organisation, and has precipitated a crisis by blocking appointments of WTO appeals judges, forcing other countries to discuss potential reforms to assuage Trump.

Many diplomats say that although they dislike the US tactics, they agree that the WTO needs reform, and hope that the situation can be used to make the 23-year-old trading club more efficient and effective.

The WTO is run on the basis of "consensus", meaning that every one of its 164 members has an effective veto and it is almost impossible to get agreement on any change to the rules.

Azevedo said many WTO members were now talking about improvements, which was a good development.

"Everyone that would like to see improvements in the WTO is very welcome to present their ideas and their suggestions to improve the organisation, sit down with the other members and get the job done," he said.