While I was hanging out at the ELSA WTO Moot Court All-American regional round at AU law school yesterday, a DC trade lawyer said something interesting: Switzerland almost never participates in WTO disputes, even as a third party. That sounded familiar, but I thought I'd look up the numbers.
Taking into account all circulated WTO panel reports, Switzerland has been a third party in just two disputes: US - Copyright, and Canada - Pharmaceuticals. (Notably, both are IP disputes).
By comparison, Norway has been a third party in 27 disputes; New Zealand in 22; Chile in 22; and Hong Kong in 11.
Also, with regard to WTO complaints, Switzerland has brought a total of 4 (none since 2002), and no one has brought a complaint against it.
On the other hand, there are plenty of Swiss panelists. Switzerland has 42 total WTO panelist positions (again, based on circulated panel reports), which is third highest.
