The office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) on Tuesday (11.02.2020) accused the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization, which decides trade disputes between member countries, of "persistent overreach" and failure to comply with WTO rules.
Washington, whose blocking of the appointment of new judges essentially shut down the Appellate Body in December, said WTO members must address underlying problems to ensure lasting reform of the WTO dispute settlement system.
Criticism from the United States came in its primer report full report on the Appellate Body ahead of a WTO ministerial meeting in Kazakhstan in June, where problems in the Appellate Body will be a major issue.
In the report, the USTR said the Appellate Body had strayed far from its intended role: as a check in the rare event that a WTO panel report contained an egregious error.
USTR said the Appellate Body had continually expanded the scope of cases it will review, dragging out the dispute settlement process and reducing confidence in the outcomes of a dispute.
The European Union, China and 15 other WTO members agreed last month to create a temporary mechanism to resolve trade disputes after U.S. action left the WTO unable to act as an arbiter of global trade.
The USTR said the proper functioning of the Appellate Body had a disproportionate impact on the United States, as more than a quarter of all cases involved challenges to U.S. laws and other measures, and called for an “honest” dialogue on the issues.
“The United States has raised concerns about the functioning of the Appellate Body for more than 20 years. For too long, these concerns have been ignored, problems have worsened, and the WTO dispute settlement system has suffered as a result,” the report said.
«WTO members must accept the Appellate Body's failings if we are to achieve lasting and effective reform of the WTO dispute settlement system.", He said.
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo said last week that he was in constant contact with the USTR and believed U.S. officials shared a sense of urgency about reforming the global trade body.
Azevedo said he agreed with the need for structural changes at the WTO to reflect global economic developments, including the rise of China and the emergence of the digital economy.
Source: Reuters
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