WTO Dispute Settlement ‘Facing Unprecedented Challenges’
Event Recap
At an Asia Society Policy Institute event in Washington D.C. on February 7, 2018, experts discussed potential reforms to the World Trade Organization (WTO) trade dispute settlement system. Since the establishment of the WTO in 1995, its dispute settlement mechanism has played an important role in the development and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system.
Today, however, the dispute settlement system is “facing unprecedented challenges” and is seen by many as “failing to keep up with them,” according to ASPI Vice President Wendy Cutler. Former Japanese WTO Ambassador Yoichi Otabe similarly notes that the system is “facing fundamental challenges,” and that WTO members must do a better job of monitoring and reporting on the implementation of standing WTO agreements.
Though John Adank, Director of the WTO Legal Affairs Division, believes that the system is “still very much working,” he admits that “there appears to be no consensus on a way forward.”
Panelists including Stephen Kho, Partner of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, debate potential reforms to the system, with a particular focus on addressing growing tension over the role and composition of the appellate body and the question of whether and how dispute settlement can effectively address controversial Chinese practices. Paul Blustein, Senior Fellow of the Centre for International Governance Innovation, states that, if the WTO is serious about pursuing reform, it “ought to embark on a new round, aimed at addressing issues posed by China’s growing influence on the system.”
Is change likely? Referring to the WTO Appellate Body’s vacancies, trade dispute expert Terry Stewart of Stewart and Stewart adds that a “breaking point has occurred” and that “review and reform will not happen… without a crisis.” (1 hour, 37 min.)