Accomplishments of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism

The Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) had remarkably ambitious goals for their newly minted dispute settlement system. In the Marrakesh Declaration of 15 April 1994, Ministers ‘salute[d] the historic achievement’ represented by the conclusion of the Uruguay Round, stating that it would ‘strengthen the world economy and lead to more trade, investment, employment and income growth throughout the world.’ Notably, in that same document, Ministers ‘welcomed’ ‘in particular’ the new dispute settlement system. Ministers underlined ‘the stronger and clearer legal framework they [had] adopted for the conduct of international trade, including a more effective and reliable dispute settlement mechanism.’