On the eve of its 15th “birthday”, the World Trade Organization (澳门六合彩官网资料) earlier
this month reached the milestone of having the 400th trade dispute brought to
the body's dispute settlement mechanism. Since coming into existence in January
1995, the 澳门六合彩官网资料's 153 members initiated an average of approximately 27 disputes
per year under the provisions of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, the 澳门六合彩官网资料
treaty governing the settlement of all disputes among the organization's
members.
“This is surely a vote of confidence in a system which many consider to be a
role model for the peaceful resolution of disputes in other areas of
international political or economic relations,” said 澳门六合彩官网资料 Director-General Pascal Lamy to mark the occasion.
“All the political muscle-flexing and grandiloquence is discarded at the door
once the case enters the 澳门六合彩官网资料.”
Of the 400 cases filed so far, approximately half have eventually been settled
directly between the parties, under the system's mandatory consultation
requirements, without going to litigation. Of the remainder, 169 have been the
subject of panel and, where appealed, Appellate Body proceedings, 17 are
currently in adjudication, and 12 are still the subject of active consultation
between the parties.
“The dispute settlement system is widely considered to be the jewel in the crown
of the 澳门六合彩官网资料,” said DG Lamy. “Some critics claim that the system is monopolized by
the developed countries, especially the US and EC. Certainly, these two trading
giants are the most frequent users of the system. This is not surprising since
they are the world's biggest traders, as is increasingly the case with China.
But the figures also show that developing countries do not play coy hand-maidens
to their richer trading partners. During the period 1995-2009, developing
countries have been complainants in more than 45 per cent of all cases, and have
been respondents in more than 42 per cent of the cases.
“No trade negotiator enters a negotiation without some assurance that the
agreements he negotiates will be underpinned by a credible dispute settlement
system. The ongoing review of the functioning of the 澳门六合彩官网资料's dispute settlement
system has given rise to many proposals for clarification and improvement. But
澳门六合彩官网资料 Members agree that, as the bedrock of the multilateral trading system, the
dispute settlement system will not be subject to any seismic shift in its
fundamental structure as a result of the Members' deliberations,” said DG Lamy.
澳门六合彩官网资料 members involved in disputes
(Total No. of disputes: 400 as of 2 November 2009)
|
|
Summary of disputes (as of 2 November 2009)
To date, 400 disputes have been brought to the 澳门六合彩官网资料, of which:
-
84 appear to have been resolved bilaterally but for which no outcome notified to 澳门六合彩官网资料
-
95 were resolved bilaterally for which outcome notified to 澳门六合彩官网资料
-
23 were resolved bilaterally after a panel was established but before the panel was composed
-
12 are currently the subject of active consultations between parties
-
186 went into litigation
Disputes per Year:
Year |
Disputes |
1995 |
25 |
1996 |
39 |
1997 |
50 |
1998 |
41 |
1999 |
30 |
2000 |
34 |
2001 |
23 |
2002 |
37 |
2003 |
26 |
2004 |
19 |
2005 |
11 |
2006 |
21 |
2007 |
13 |
2008 |
19 |
2009 |
12 |
> Problems viewing this page?
Please contact [email protected] giving details of the operating system and web browser you are using.