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WTO Dispute Settlement: Emerging Practice and Procedure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2017

Debra P. Steger
Affiliation:
Debra Steger Peter Van den Bossche with the Appellate Body Secretariat, World Trade Organization, Geneva
Peter Van den Bossche
Affiliation:
Debra Steger Peter Van den Bossche with the Appellate Body Secretariat, World Trade Organization, Geneva

Abstract

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Type
WTO Dispute Settlement: Three Years in Review
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1998

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References

1 Procedures under Article XXIII (decision of 5 April 1966) GATT Basic Instruments and Selected Documents (BISD) 14S/18; Understanding Regarding Notification, Consultation, Dispute Settlement and Surveillance (adopted on 28 November 1979) BISD 26S/210; Improvements to the GATT Dispute Settlement Rules and Procedures (decision of 12 April 1989) BISD 36S/6L

2 WT/AB/WP/3, 28 Feb. 1997. This is a consolidated, revised version of the Working Procedures for Appellate Review, and replaces WT/AB/WP/1, dated 15 Feb. 1996.

3 Adopted 25 Sept. 1997, WT/DS27/AB/R, paras. 132 and 133.

4 Id. para. 135.

5 Id. para. 10.

6 Id. para. 12.

7 Id. para. 142.

8 Id. para. 141.

9 Adopted 16 Jan. 1998, WT/DS50/AB/R, at para. 90.

10 Id. para. 91.

11 EC—Bananas, at para. 141.

12 Id. para. 143.

13 Brazil—Measures Affecting Desiccated Coconut {BrazilCoconut), adopted 20 Mar. 1997, WT/DS22/AB/R, at 22.

14 See, e.g., Brazil—Coconut, supra note 13, at 22, and India—Patents, at para. 92. The Appellate Body found in IndiaPatents that the panel’s ruling at the outset of the first substantive meeting, that all legal claims would be considered if they were made prior to the end of that meeting, was inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the DSU. Although panels enjoy some discretion in establishing their own working procedures, this discretion does not extend to modifying the substantive provisions of the DSU. Nothing in the DSU gives a panel the authority either to disregard or to modify the explicit provisions of the Understanding, such as Article 7 thereof, pursuant to which the jurisdiction of a panel is established by that panel’s terms of reference.

15 United StatesMeasure Affecting Imports of Woven Wool Shirts and Blouses (USShirts and Blouses), adopted 23 May 1997, WT/DS33/AB/R, at 14.

16 Id.

17 Id. at 14.

18 EC Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products (EC Hormones), adopted 13 Feb. 1998, WT/DS26/AB/R, WT/DS48/AB/R, at para. 104.

19 US—Shirts and Blouses, supra note 15, at 14; see also IndiaPatents, supra note 14, at para. 74.

20 EC Hormones, supra note 18, at para. 104.

21 Only Article 17.6(i) of the Anti-Dumping Agreement has language on the “standard of review” to be employed by panels, but this provision is specific to the Anti-Dumping Agreement. See Anti-Dumping Agreement, Article 17.6(i).

22 Hormones, supra note 18, at para. 116.

23 Id. para. 117.

24 Id. para. 118.

25 Id. para. 133.

26 Id.

27 The Appellate Body observed that previous GATT 1947 and WTO panels have frequently addressed only those issues that such panels considered necessary for the resolution of the matter between the parties, and have declined to decide other issues. See US—Shirts and Blouses, supra note 15, at 18.

28 See e.g., US—Shirts and Blouses, supra note 15, at 18, and IndiaPatents, supra note 14, at para. 87. In EC Hormones, supra note 18, at paras. 250 and 252, the Appellate Body agreed with the panel’s application of judicial economy, and held that the panel did not err in refraining from making findings on Article 2.2 and 5.6 of the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures.

29 US—Shirts and Blouses, supra note 15, at 19.

30 ArgentinaMeasures Affecting Imports of Footwear, Textiles, Apparel and Other Items (ArgentinaImport Measures), WT/DS56/AB/R, at para. 84. With respect to seeking the opinion of a specialized agency, such as the International Monetary Fund, the Appellate Body has said that this is within a panel’s discretion under Article 13 of the DSU, except where there are specific provisions in the WTO Agreement requiring such consultation (e.g., Article XV:2 of the GATT 1994).

31 EC Hormones, supra note 18, at para. 147.

32 IndiaPatents, supra note 14, at para. 94.

33 Id. para. 95; see also ArgentinaImport Measures, supra note 30, at n.68.

34 ArgentinaImport Measures, supra note 30, at para. 80.

35 Id. para. 79.

36 Id.

37 23 May 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331.

38 United StatesStandards for Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline (USGasoline), adopted 20 May 1996, WT/DS2/AB/R, at 17. Referred to in Japan—Taxes on Alcoholic Beverages (Japan—Alcohol), adopted 1 Nov. 1996, WT/DS8/AB/R, WT/DS10/AB/R, WT/DS1 l/AB/R, at 10.

39 USGasoline, supra note 38, at 17.

40 Japan—Alcohol, supra note 38, at 11-12.

41 IndiaPatents, supra note 14, at para. 45.

42 Id.

43 USGasoline, supra note 38, at 23; JapanAlcohol, supra note 38, at 12.

44 JapanAlcohol, supra note 38, at 12.

45 EC Hormones, supra note 18, at para. 104.

46 lndia—Patents, supra note 14, at para. 66.

47 Japan—Alcohol, supra note 38, at 14; see also US—Shirts and Blouses, supra note 15, at 19-20.

48 Japan—Alcohol, supra note 38, at 14-15.