The European Union (EU) and 15 other countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreed on Friday (27.03.2020) on an alternative mechanism to file appeals and resolve trade disputes, after the appeals body was paralyzed by the United States blockade.
The countries of the EU, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, China and Hong Kong, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland and Uruguay They announced their decision in a joint statement.
European Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan said he would continue his efforts to restore the WTO's appeals body, which was paralyzed after the United States renounced the renewal of its judges, and invited other countries in the organization to join the interim agreement.
Hogan called the pact "crucial to ensuring that international trade rules are respected and enforced."
Such a system will ensure that trade disputes can be resolved through an impartial and independent process, which the European Commission believes is “essential to the rules-based multilateral trading system.”
The European Commission said in a statement that it expects the agreement to be officially notified to the WTO in the coming weeks and to be operational, once the respective members of the organisation have completed their internal procedures.
Intl cooperation & global rules will be more important than ever to help world economy recover from # Covid19 crisis. In this spirit, # EU +15 others #WTO members agreed to a contingency measure which maintains respect & enforcement of intl trade rules.?
— Phil Hogan (@PhilHoganEU) March 27, 2020
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