How the WTO settles trade disputes: the Dispute Settlement Body, panels and the Appellate Body

Background

Settling disputes is the responsibility of the Dispute Settlement Body, which is the General Council in another guise and consists of all WTO members. The Dispute Settlement Body alone can establish panels of experts, accept or reject their findings, monitor implementation of rulings and authorize retaliation. A dispute begins with consultation between the governments concerned, for which up to 60 days is allowed before a panel can be requested. Panels consist of three, and possibly five, experts from different countries, and the panel's final report should normally reach the parties within six months. A panel report becomes the Dispute Settlement Body's ruling within 60 days unless there is a consensus to reject it, so the losing side cannot block adoption on its own. Under these rules appeals go to a permanent seven-member Appellate Body whose members hold four-year terms, and each appeal is heard by three of them. An appeal must rest on points of law and cannot re-examine existing evidence; it should normally take no more than 60 days and at most 90 days. The procedure is set out in the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, agreed in the Uruguay Round, which replaced a GATT procedure with no fixed timetables and rulings that were easier to block. The WTO notes, however, that the Appellate Body is currently unable to review appeals because of ongoing vacancies; the term of the last sitting Appellate Body member expired on 30 November 2020.