In a big victory for transparency, the Appellate Body has decided, in response to the parties' requests, to open its oral hearing in the Hormones Sanctions cases (DS320 and DS321) to public observation. Here's the EU press release:
EU welcomes first opening of WTO Appellate Body hearing to the public
The European Union has today welcomed the decision of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to open to the public for the first time an oral hearing in a WTO dispute appeal. The public will be able observe the hearing that will take place on 28 and 29 July 2008 over US and Canadian sanctions on EU goods, following a dispute on hormone-treated meat. It is the first time in the history of the WTO that the public will be able to follow such a hearing before the Appellate Body, the highest judicial body of the WTO. The EU and several other WTO Members argue that opening up hearings allows for greater transparency in WTO dispute settlement, and shows that trade disputes are conducted in a fair, unbiased and professional manner.
The Appellate Body made the decision to open up the hearing following a joint request by the EU, the United States and Canada. The WTO panel that first ruled on this dispute made a similar decision on 1 August 2005, with the result that that panel’s hearings in 2005 and 2006 were open to public observation.
The EU believes that public hearings are useful in order to strengthen public confidence in the WTO. Open hearings in WTO disputes bring WTO panels and the Appellate Body closer to other international tribunals and national courts, whose hearings are generally public.
Background
The Appellate Body renders final decisions on legal questions in WTO disputes; it clarifies trade rules that have important effects on governments and citizens of WTO members. The present dispute illustrates this importance, as it relates to questions of high public concern, including the legitimacy of a law protecting the health of citizens by banning the use of growth-promoting hormones in cattle. The US and Canadian trade sanctions which the EU is challenging in this dispute were imposed in 1999 following an EU ban on meat treated with growth hormones. The sanctions were maintained even after the EU had adopted a new measure based on a new risk assessment of the hormones in question.
No link yet, but the press release will probably be up on the DG Trade web site later. More details on how to attend are sure to follow.
The groundwork for this decision was laid when a number of panels (including the one in this same dispute) opened their hearings to the public. But the legal provisions for Appellate Body proceedings are slightly different, so there was no guarantee the Appellate Body would follow suit.
The U.S./EU submissions on this issue can be seen online:
- EU request for an open hearing
- EU comments on third party submissions
- EU statement at the hearing
- U.S. request for an open hearing
- U.S. comments on third party statements
- U.S. statement at the hearing
UPDATE: Here's a link to the EU press release.
And here's USTR's notice about the hearing.
