Dispute settlement
Foreword
This updated edition of WTO Dispute Settlement: One-Page Case Summaries has been prepared by the Legal Affairs Division of the WTO with assistance from the Rules Division and the Appellate Body Secretariat. This new edition includes all panel and Appellate Body reports adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body up to 31 December 2020. It also includes a separate section with summaries for panel reports that have been circulated to WTO Members and made available on the WTO website but that have not been adopted by the DSB as they remain subject to pending appeals. Given the unfilled vacancies on the Appellate Body these appeals cannot be advanced or completed in current circumstances.
Jurisdiction in WTO dispute settlement
This chapter addresses jurisdiction of the WTO rules and procedures under the WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU).
Foreword by the Director-General
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is the world’s first general multilateral trade agreement. It was signed in 1947 and came into force on 1 January 1948. As the contracting parties began to implement what is more widely known as the GATT 1947 it is unlikely they would have foreseen the full magnitude of the political and economic importance of their accord and its enduring impact as a fundamental framework for multilateral trade right up to the present day.
A Handbook on the WTO Dispute Settlement System
The WTO dispute settlement system has become one of the most dynamic effective and successful international dispute settlement systems in the world over the past twenty years. This second edition of A Handbook on the WTO Dispute Settlement System has been compiled by the dispute settlement lawyers of the WTO Secretariat with a view to providing a practice-oriented account of the system. In addition to describing the existing rules and procedures this accessibly written handbook explains how those rules and procedures have been interpreted by dispute settlement panels and the Appellate Body and how they have evolved over time. The handbook provides practical information to help various audiences understand the day-to-day operation of the WTO dispute settlement system.
Suspension of concessions and retaliation under the Agreement on Safeguards: The recent US – Steel Safeguards case
The United States by Presidential Proclamation of 5 March 2002 adopted far-reaching safeguard measures on ten steel product groupings in the form of additional tariffs of up to 30 per cent for a duration of three years becoming effective 20 March 2002.
The WTO dispute settlement system and its operation: A brief overview of the first ten years
The WTO dispute settlement system plays a central role in clarifying and enforcing the legal obligations contained in the various WTO agreements. It is generally agreed among WTO Members that the WTO dispute settlement system has functioned reasonably well in its first ten years although the jurisprudence emanating from this system has not been without its critics from both the public and private sectors of a large cross-section of the WTO membership. The purpose of this chapter however is not to analyse or comment on the jurisprudence that the system has produced; such analysis and commentary must be left to the Members themselves and to legal scholars and commentators. Rather the purpose of this chapter is to provide a brief overview of the system and how it has operated in the first ten years of its existence (1995–2004) including the extent to which the system has been used by Members; the nature of the cases brought to the system; and Members’ compliance record with respect to adverse panel and Appellate Body reports.
Introduction to the WTO Dispute Settlement System
The best international agreement is not worth very much if its obligations cannot be enforced when one of the signatories fails to comply with such obligations. An effective mechanism to settle disputes thus increases the practical value of the commitments the signatories undertake in an international agreement. The fact that the Members of the WTO established the current dispute settlement system during the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations underscores the high importance they attach to compliance by all Members with their obligations under the WTO Agreement.
Acknowledgements/Disclaimer
This publication was prepared by Arti Gobind Daswani Roy Santana and János Volkai of the WTO Secretariat with the support of WTO Deputy Director-General Karl Brauner Valerie Hughes (former Director of the WTO’s Legal Affairs Division) Suja Rishikesh Mavroidis (Director of the WTO Market Access Division) and John Adank (Director of the Legal Affairs Division). Special acknowledgment is owed to WTO staff members Jesse Kreier and Olga Falgueras Alamo from the Rules Division for their contribution to the compilation of relevant documents.