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India, four other countries voice concern at WTO dispute settlement reform proposal.
Feb 15, 2024

India, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia and South Africa have raised concerns at a latest World Trade Organization (WTO) draft on dispute settlement reform which proposes inclusion of mediators during consultations and the composition and powers of dispute settlement panels.

In a submission made Monday, they said that novel ideas like narrowing the possibility of appeal to 'exceptional circumstances' may lead to confusion and adversely impact the ability of developing countries to access the dispute resolution system.

The draft has proposed that the panel be given powers to categorise cases into standard, complex and extraordinarily complex cases, which many countries have opposed.

On the introduction of an element of mandatory alternate dispute resolution (ADR) and arbitration, the five nations said that it introduces 'numerous guidelines, requirements, and additional processes, which will curtail the flexibility that is a core characteristic of such processes, therefore disincentivizing developing countries including least developing countries from taking recourse to ADR'.

The impact of the introduction of such a multiplicity of provisions has to be examined in greater depth, they said.

The submission comes ahead of a key ministerial conference of WTO later this month where India, along with 100 countries, wants restoration of a fully functional and transparent appellate body which ensures a fair appeals process. New Delhi has also emphasised on retaining the member-driven, consensus-based decision making principles of the WTO.

The dispute settlement mechanism of WTO is defunct due to a non-functional appellate body since December 2019 as the US has been blocking the appointment of judges.

The five nations highlighted that there have been some informal discussions on the appellate review mechanism, which touch on issues of leave to appeal and standard of review.

'This discussion is being conducted in isolation from the issue of the restoration of the appellate body and the permanence of the underlying appellate structure,' they said.

As per the submission, the proposed addition of a 'conciliator or mediator assistance during consultations' complicates the litigative streams. 'The proposed inclusion of political consultation in ADR during the compliance stage will make the process more complex and unpredictable for the countries with smaller economies,' they said.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

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