Last week, I said this in a post:
In the DS583 case, Turkey - Pharmaceutical Products, a communication from the Panel indicates that the Panel had issued its final report to the parties on November 11, 2021, with circulation to the Members (and public) scheduled to take place "as soon as its translation into French and Spanish was finalized, and that translation was expected to be finalized in mid-January 2022."
In the DS595 case, EU - Certain Steel Products, a communication from the Panel says that the panel report "was scheduled to be circulated on 21 December 2021."
In late December 2021, however, both disputes were suspended under DSU Article 12.12.
Then, as noted, on March 22, 2022, Turkey and the EU notified Article 25 procedures in both disputes. Both sets of procedures include the following language:
5. The arbitration shall be initiated by filing of a Notice of Appeal with the WTO Secretariat no later than 30 days after the suspension of the panel proceedings referred to in paragraph 4 has taken effect. The Notice of Appeal shall include the final panel report in the working languages of the WTO. The Notice of Appeal shall be simultaneously notified to the other party or parties and to the third parties in the panel proceedings. Rules 20-23 of the Working Procedures for Appellate Review shall apply mutatis mutandis.
The parties agree that, because the present panel proceedings have already been suspended, the time limit for the filing of a Notice of Appeal shall be no later than 30 days from the date on which this agreement is notified to the DSB.
I'm not totally sure what's about to happen here, and we'll find out for certain 30 days from March 22, but my sense is that notices of appeal are not coming, and the disputes will remain in permanent suspension. But the specific details of the documents are difficult to parse, and it's possible I've misunderstood what the parties are doing here. We'll find out soon enough.
Looks like I was wrong about DS583 (at least)! Turkey's DSU Article 25 notice of appeal in DS583, with the panel report attached, was posted on the WTO website today and is here. It starts this way:
Pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Arbitration Agreement, Turkey hereby notifies the Dispute Settlement Body of its decision to initiate an arbitration under Article 25 of the DSU to decide an appeal with regard to certain issues of law and legal interpretation covered in the Panel Report in the dispute Turkey – Certain Measures concerning the Production, Importation and Marketing of Pharmaceutical Products.
Pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Arbitration Agreement and Rule 20 of the Working Procedures for Appellate Review, Turkey simultaneously files this Notice of Appeal and its Appellant Submission with the European Union and the third parties in the panel proceedings and with the WTO Secretariat. The Notice of Appeal includes the final report of the Panel in the working languages of the WTO.
The Article 25 procedures in the case are here.
This should be interesting. We are in uncharted territory.
