Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 9 • Number 16 • 11th May 2005

WTO In Brief

DSU REVIEW NEGOTIATIONS: DISCUSSIONS ON PROPOSALS CONTINUE

The special (negotiating) session of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) met on 9-10 May to continue discussions on how to improve and clarify the rules governing dispute settlement. On 9 May, Members discussed one new proposal as well as several recently-tabled ones. Australia submitted the new paper, which suggested ways to save time during Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) procedures. For instance, it called for halving the timeline for cases under the WTO Agreement on Safeguards — a suggestion about which various Members expressed reservations. Some Members were concerned that the proposal contained no special and differential treatment provisions for developing countries. Australia argued that such expedited procedures already existed for perishable goods and that safeguard measures were unique in that unlike antidumping or countervailing duty measures, they affected the entire membership. Other proposals discussed included a joint EU and Japan paper regarding the sequencing of compliance and retaliation procedures and an EU paper on panel composition — both previously discussed at the 5 April meeting (see BRIDGES Weekly, 5 April 2005).

Chair Ambassador David Spencer of Australia discussed the possibility of submitting a DSB special session report on activities and expected achievements to the WTO General Council in July. Spencer said that this would be appropriate in light of the July target for ‘first approximations’ of an eventual agreement in other negotiating areas. He also called on Members to revisit old proposals. Spencer further announced his intention to hold informal consultations before the group’s next meeting on 21-22 June. These informal consultations would address matters such as whether the special session should submit a negotiated report to the July General Council or whether the Chair should prepare such a report on his own responsibility.

ICTSD reporting.