
The Roots of the Crises in the WTO Appellate Body and Reform Proposals
- 1 chool of Humanities and Social Science, University of Science and Technology Beijing , 100083, China
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Since the WTO Appellate Body "suspension" crisis, how to reform the Appellate Body has become a hot topic among member states. Especially after the official "suspension" of the Appellate Body, member states have put forward proposals to reform the Appellate Body, but these proposals have failed to achieve substantive results, and the reform of the Appellate Body has been stalled. Therefore, analyzing and studying the reform of the WTO Appellate Body is conducive to promoting the reform of the Appellate Body, getting rid of the crisis of the Appellate Body, and also has positive significance to the reform of the WTO dispute settlement system. The three parts of this article are as follows: the first part studies the WTO Appellate Body's fundamental procedures and gives a general overview of the body to lay the theoretical foundation for the subsequent investigation of the WTO Appellate Body's issues; The second portion examines the legal ramifications of the WTO suspension conundrum. The more divisive practical matters, such as overtime hearings, confusing hearing scope, and the influence of Appellate Body decisions on precedent; The third section of the WTO Appellate Body Reform Suggestions includes suggestions from WTO members regarding current trends in the reform, academic theory surrounding the reform, Appellate Body cases, and reform of the practice of combining future reform of the WTO-specific measures.
Keywords
WTO, Appellate Body, Reform
[1]. World Trade Organization, News and Events, Available online at https://www.wto.org /english/res_e/publications_e/anrep20_e.htm.Last visited at 03 September,2023.
[2]. 2019 Trade Policy Agenda and 2018 Annual Report of the President of the United States on the Trade Agreements Program,Office of the United States Trade Representative, July 2019.
[3]. Zhao Hong, "The WTO Appellate Body in 2018 in Development and Challenges," Journal of International Economic Law, No. 4, 2019, p. 2.
[4]. Amrita Bahri,“Appellate Body Held Hostage:Is Judicial Activism at Fair Trial,”Journal of World Trade,vol.53,no.2,2019,pp.293-315.
[5]. 11Joost Pauwelyn, WTO Dispute Settlement Post 2019:What to Expect, Journal of International Economic Law,vol.22,no.3,2019,pp.297-321.
[6]. Claus-Dieter Ehlermann,“The Workload of the WTO Appellate Body:Problems and Remedies,”Journal of International Economic Law,vol.20,no.3,2017,pp.1-30.
[7]. Geraldo Vidigal,“Living Without the Appellate Body:Multilateral,Bilateral and Plurilateral Solutions to the WTO Dispute Settlement Crisis,”Journal of World Investment and Trade,vol.20,no.6,December 2019,pp.862-890.
[8]. Alex Ansong,“The WTO Appellate Body:Are There Any Viable Solutions,”Global Trade and Customs Journal,vol.14,no.4,2019,pp.169-178.
[9]. Bernhard Zangl, Judicialization Matters!A Comparison of Dispute Settlement Under GATT and the WTO, International Studies Quarterly,vol.52,no.4,December 2008,pp.825-854.
[10]. Ernst-Urich Petersman,“How to Promote the International Rule of Laws-Contributions by the World Trade Organization Appellate Review System,”Journal of International Economic Law,vol.1,no.1,March1998,pp.25-48.
[11]. Mariana Clara de Andrade, Precedent in the WTO:Retrospective Reflections for a Prospective Dispute Settlement Mechanism, Journal of International Dispute Settlement,vol.11,no.2,June 2020,pp.262-277.
[12]. William J. Davey, WTO Dispute Settlement: Crown Jewel or Costume Jewelry?, World Trade Review (2022), 21, 291–300,291
[13]. Robert Howse, Appointment with Destiny: Selecting WTO Judges in the Future, Global Policy Volume 12 . Supplement 3 . April 2021, 71-82.
[14]. Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes Article 17 (9).
[15]. Yuka Fukunaga, The Appellate Body’s Power to Interpret the WTO Agreements and WTO Members’ Power to Disagree with the Appellate Body, Journal of World Investment & Trade 20 (2019) 792–819
[16]. Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes Article17 (13)
[17]. Kugler, K. The world trade organization's appellate body melee: how did we get here. International Business Law Journal, 2019(3), 269-286.
[18]. India-Patent Protection for Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Chemical Product by US,WT/DS50/AB/R,19 December1997,para.95.
[19]. Meredith Kolsky Lewis,“The Lack of Dissent in WTO Dispute Settlement,”Journal of International Economic Law,vol.9,no.4,December 2006,pp.895-931.
[20]. USTR,Report on the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization,OFFICE OF THE UNITED S-TATES TRADE REPRESENTATION(28 February 2022), https://ustr.gov/sites/default/files/Report_on_the_Appellate_Body_of_the_World_Trade_Organization.pdf.
[21]. Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes Article5.
[22]. United States-Measures Affecting Imports of Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tyres fromChina-AB-2011-4-Report of the Appellate Body,World Trade Organization,WT/DS399/AB/R,5 September 2011.
[23]. Yu, Peng. (2019) WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism Crisis: Reasons, Progress and Prospects. Intertrade, 05: 10–18.
[24]. Meredith Kolsky Lewis, The Lack of Dissent in WTO Dispute Settlement, Journal of International Economic Law,vol.9,no.4,December 2006,pp.895-931.
[25]. Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, The Workload of the WTO Appellate Body:Problems and Remedies, Journal of International economic law, vol20, no3, September 2017,pp.705-734
[26]. Lewis,MK, A History of Law and Lawyers in the GATT/WTO, American Journal of International Law,vol.112,no.1,29 April 2018,pp.136-142.
[27]. European Communities-EC Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products(Hormones)-AB-1997-4-Report of theAppellate Body,WT/DS26/AB/R,16 January 1998.
[28]. Cezary Fudali, A Critical Analysis of the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism:its Contemporary Function andProspects,”Netherlands International Law Review,vol.49,2002,pp.39-80.
[29]. Alberto Alvarez-Jiménez, The WTO Appellate Body’s Exercise of Judicial Economy, Journal of International EconomicLaw,vol.12,no.2,June 2009,pp.393-415.
[30]. Hélène Ruiz Fabri, The WTO Appellate Body or Judicial Power Unleashed:Sketches from the Procedural Side of theStory, European Journal of International Law,vol.27,no.4,1 November 2016,pp.1075-1081.
[31]. Isabelle Van Damme, Treaty Interpretation by the WTO Appellate Body, European Journal of International Law,vol.21,no.3,August 2010,pp.605-648.
[32]. Henry Gao,C.L.Lim, Saving the WTO from the Risk of Irrelevance:The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism as a‘Common Good’for RTA Disputes, Journal of International Economic Law,vol.11,no.4,December 2008,pp.899-925.
[33]. Sabelle Van Damme, Treaty Interpretafion by the WTO Appellate Body, European Journal of International Law,vol.21,no.3,August 2010,pp.605-648.
[34]. Appellate Body-United States-Standards for Reformulated and Conventional Gasoline-AB-1996-1-Report of the AppellateBody,WT/DS2/ABR,29 April 1996,paras.3.1-3.9.
[35]. Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes Article3 (2)
[36]. General council decision on dispute settlement system of WTO,communication from Thailand,WT/GC/W/769,26 April2019,para.4.1.
[37]. Communication from the European Union,China,Canada,India,Norway,New Zealand,Switzerland,Australia,Republicof Korea,Iceland,Singapore,Mexico,Costa Rica and Montenegro to the general council,World Trade Organization,WT/GC/W/752,11 December 2018,para.2.1.
[38]. General council-fostering a discussion on the function of the appellate body-communication from honduras, world trade organization,WT/GC/W/758,21 January 2019,para.2.3.
[39]. General Council-Informal process on matters related to the functioning of the Appellate Body-Communication from Japan,Australia and Chile-Revision,World Trade Organization,WT/GC/W/768,26 April 2019,paras.2.1-2.2.
[40]. Strengthening and modernizing the WTO:disscussion paper,World Trade Organization,JOB/GC/201,24 September 2018,para.5.2.
[41]. General council-guidelines for the work of Panels and the appellate body-communication from brazil, world trade organization, WT/GC/W/767/REV.1, 25 april 2019,para.2.1.
[42]. General council-informal process on matters to the functioning of the appellate body-communication from Japan, Australia and Chile-Revision, World trade organization, WT/GC/W/768, 26 april 2019, para.2.1.
[43]. Communication from the European Union,China,Canada,India,Norway,New Zealand,Switzerland,Australia,Republicof Korea,Iceland,Singapore,Mexico,Costa Rica and Montenegro to the general council,World Trade Organization,WT/GC/W/752,11 December 2018,para.4.2.
[44]. Fostering a discussion on the functioning of the appellate body,Communication from Honduras,WT/GC/W/761,4February 2019,para.2.3.
[45]. General Council-Informal process on matters related to the functioning of the Appellate Body-Communication fromJapan,Australia and Chile-Revision,World Trade Organization,WT/GC/W/768,26 April 2019,paras.2.7-2.9.
[46]. General Council-Guidelines for the work of Panels and the Appellate Body-Communication from Brazil,World TradeOrganization,WT/GC/W/767/Rev.1,25 April 2019,paras.6.1-6.4.
[47]. Umenze, N. (2021). Is the WTO Appellate Body in Limbo? The Roots of the Crisis in the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and the Available Routes Navigating the Quagmire. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 24, 1-46.
Cite this article
Li,Q. (2024). The Roots of the Crises in the WTO Appellate Body and Reform Proposals. Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences,89,7-18.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Financial Technology and Business Analysis
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).