LACK OF MOVEMENT IN DISPUTE SETTLEMENT REVIEW

On 10 and 11 March, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) special session on the review of the dispute settlement system continued discussions, in which a proposal for reform by Chile and the US featured prominently. The proposal, (TN/DS/W/28, searchable at http://docsonline.wto.org), suggests, inter alia, that the dispute settlement system should be more flexible and should accord parties involved the chance to review findings by panels and the Appellate Body, especially given that "the reasoning and findings of reports may at times go beyond what the parties consider to be necessary to resolve the dispute, or, in some circumstances, may even be counterproductive to resolution of the dispute". Whereas the proposal does not include specifics on a procedure by which parties could delete findings from Panel or Appellate Body reports that they do not consider helpful to resolving the dispute, it proposes that the Appellate Body should develop such procedures.

Members are currently reviewing the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), with a 31 May 2003 deadline (Doha Declaration paragraph 30). Faced with the rapidly approaching deadline for the completion of the entire review exercise, delegations have expressed increased pessimism on the possibility of completion, as important divisions remain. Even Members that have proposed similar specific changes to the DSU in separate proposals have been unable to agree to identical language. One example of this is that the EU and Japan in their informal consultations on the so-called sequencing issue -- which refers to the harmonisation of conflicting timelines of Article 21.5 of the DSU that stipulates a review of whether a country has complied with a panel ruling, and Article 22 which spells out how retaliation should be requested by a Member -- have been unable to agree.

In this context, Members have called on Ambassador Péter Balás (Hungary), Chair of the special session, to prepare a draft framework text, possibly by mid-April, with the recommendation that unresolved issues should be negotiated beyond May, and be made part of the single undertaking in the wider Doha Round negotiations.The Chair indicated that he would conduct further consultations -- including with regional groupings such as the African Group -- before issuing the framework text.

ICSTD reporting.