WTO
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT BODY - INTERNATIONAL
News:
Global dispute
settlement, India and appellate review
What's
in the news?
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The recently concluded G-20 Declaration,
among its many commitments, reiterated the need to pursue reform of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) to improve all its functions and conduct proactive
discussions “to ensure a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system
accessible to all members by 2024”.
World
Trade Organization:
●
It is the only global international
organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations.
Process
of establishment:
●
The Uruguay Round, conducted from 1987 to
1994, culminated in the Marrakesh
Agreement, which established the World Trade Organization (WTO).
●
The WTO incorporates the principles of the GATT and provides a
more enduring institutional framework for implementing and extending them.
●
The GATT
1994 is an international treaty binding upon all WTO Members. It is only
concerned with trade in goods.
Relations
with UN:
●
It is not
an UN specialized body.
Structure:
●
Ministerial
Conference:
○
The topmost decision-making body of the
WTO is the Ministerial Conference, which usually meets every two years.
●
General
Council:
○
The General Council is the WTO’s
highest-level decision-making body located in Geneva, meeting regularly to
carry out the functions of the WTO.
●
The
Trade Policy Review Body:
○
The WTO General Council meets as the TPRB
to undertake trade policy reviews of Members under the TPRM and to consider the
Director-General's regular reports on trade policy development.
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Dispute
Settlement Body:
○
The General Council convenes as the
Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to deal with disputes between WTO members.
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Appellate
Body:
○
The Appellate Body was established in 1995
under Article 17 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the
Settlement of Disputes (DSU).
○
The DSB shall appoint persons to serve on
the Appellate Body for a four-year term.
○
It is a standing body of seven persons
that hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought by WTO
Members.
○
The Appellate Body can uphold, modify or
reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel, and Appellate Body
Reports, once adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), must be accepted by
the parties to the dispute.
Members:
●
Totally 164 members are in the WTO.
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India
is a founding member.