A third USMCA Chapter 31 state-state dispute is underway, with the panel having been composed in the Autos Rules of Origin dispute on March 22. There are five panelists on this one (which differs from the three panelists on the previous two cases):
- Mr. Elbio Rosselli – Chairperson;
- Ms. Kathleen Claussen – appointed by Canada;
- Ms. Ann Ryan Robertson – appointed by Mexico;
- Mr. Jorge Miranda – appointed by the United States;
- Mr. Donald McRae – appointed by the United States.
As I explained here, USMCA carries over from NAFTA an approach under which parties select citizens of the other party(ies) as panelists.
This case differs from the earlier ones because it involves two complainants, with Mexico having filed the initial panel request and Canada joining as a complaining party soon after. That took the panel composition process into Article 31.9, para. 2 for the first time.
With regard to the people selected as panelists in the Autos ROO dispute, we know for sure who the U.S. put on the roster because the U.S. provided a list. The only panelist selection from that list is Ann Ryan Robertson.
As for the other panelists appointed by the parties from the roster, Elbio Rosselli has a lot of experience with WTO panels and was the chair of the USMCA Dairy TRQ panel. Kathleen Claussen is a first-timer as a panelist (congrats to her!). There is no public information I have come across as to whether it was Canada or Mexico who put these two on the roster.
Finally, as for Jorge Miranda and Donald McRae, they are not on the roster. Recall that Article 31.9, para. 3 says:
3. A panelist shall normally be selected from the roster. A disputing Party may exercise a peremptory challenge against an individual not on the roster who is proposed as a panelist by a disputing Party within 15 days after the individual has been proposed, unless no qualified and available individual on the roster possesses necessary specialized expertise, including as required by Article 31.8.3 (Roster and Qualifications of Panelists), in which case a disputing Party may not exercise a peremptory challenge but may raise concerns that the panelist does not meet the requirements of Article 31.8.2 (Roster and Qualifications of Panelists).
McRae is a Canadian law professor who was a panelist in the USMCA U.S. - Solar Safeguard dispute, a NAFTA Chapter 20 dispute, and on five WTO panels. Jorge Miranda is from Mexico, and has worked at the WTO Secretariat and served on a number of NAFTA Chapter 19 binational panels (most recently this one).
