Dispute Settlement Body
Under the “Understanding On Rules
And Procedures Governing The Settlement Of Disputes”,
the General Council of the WTO acts as the Dispute Settlement
Body (DSB). Countries bring disputes to the WTO if they
think their rights under the agreements are being infringed.
Judgements by specially appointed independent panels of
experts are based on the interpretations of the agreements
and individual countries’ commitments.
The system encourages countries to settle
their differences through consultation before and at each
stage of the dispute settlement process. This process is
a carefully mapped-out, phased procedure that includes the
chance to appeal the ruling on legal grounds. By July 2000,
32 out of 203 cases had been settled through consultations,
i.e. without going through the entire panel process.
Dispute Settlement
Typically, a dispute arises when one country
adopts a trade policy measure or takes some action that
one or more of the other members consider to be breaking
the WTO agreements, or a failure to live up to their obligations.
A third group of countries can declare that they have an
interest in the case and enjoy some rights.
Under GATT, the dispute settlement process
was unclear, rulings were easy to block and cases continued
inconclusively for long periods. The Uruguay Round introduced
a faster, more structured process with pre-specified deadlines
for the time taken to resolve a case as well as greater
flexibility in the deadlines during the various stages.
When a particular dispute runs through the entire process
of dispute settlement, the maximum time for settlement should
not exceed 1 year and in situations where the ruling is
appealed, it should not take more than 15 months.
Under the GATT procedure, an objection to
a ruling by even one member could block the ruling. Under
the Uruguay Round procedure, any member wanting to block
a ruling would have to convince all the other WTO members,
including its adversary in the dispute, to do so.
Dispute Settlement Process
The DSB appoints panels of experts to consider
a case. The DSB has the sole authority to accept or reject
the panels’ findings or the results of an appeal. It
monitors the implementation of the rulings and recommendations,
and has the power to authorize retaliation when a country
does not comply with a ruling.
Consultation: - Before taking any other
actions the countries in dispute should try to settle their
differences through talks. If that fails, they can also
ask the WTO director-general to mediate or try to help in
some other way. The countries involved have a time limit
of 60 days for this process.
Dispute Settlement through Panels of Experts:
- When the countries involved in a dispute have been
unable to reach an agreement through consultations, the
complaining country can ask for a panel to be appointed.
The other country can prevent the creation of a panel only
once. If the DSB meets for a second time over the dispute,
it cannot prevent the formation of a panel except if there
is consensus to do so. The panel should not take more than
6 months to reach a conclusion and send a report to the
parties involved. In case there is an urgency to resolve
the case, it should not take more than 3 months.
