There seems to be a bit of momentum with the MPIA these days. There was the recently issued Colombia - Frozen Fries award, which MPIA Arbitrator Joost Pauwelyn told us about. And now Japan is joining the arrangement, as METI just announced:
On March 10, the Japanese Cabinet approved Japan’s participation in the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement pursuant to Article 25 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes.
Today, Japan will notify the WTO Dispute Settlement Body of its intent to join the MPIA....More than three years have passed since the Appellate Body ceased functioning, and the annual number of WTO dispute settlement cases has dropped to less than half of what it was before the current situation began. In addition, two of the dispute cases that Japan has filed with the WTO have already been “appealed into the void,” and those cases have been virtually left in limbo. In the future, further panel reports will be issued on the other two dispute cases that Japan has filed with the WTO.
As an interim measure until the dispute settlement function is restored, the Japanese government decided to join the MPIA. The Japanese government will notify the WTO Dispute Settlement Body of its intent to join the MPIA pursuant to the Cabinet Approval as of today.
Japan will continue to work actively toward the earliest possible restoration of the WTO dispute settlement function and will also contribute to maintaining a rules-based international economic order through the utilization of the MPIA.
Why is Japan making this announcement right now? Hard to say for sure, and there could be a number of things going on, but as Dmitry Grozoubinski pointed out to me, the ongoing panel hearing Japan's complaint in China - AD Measures on Stainless Steel (DS601) has said that it "expects to issue its final report to the parties by the first quarter of 2023." It's definitely worth keeping an eye on developments in that case. No doubt Japan would like to avoid China appealing into the void if it loses, and joining the MPIA now could be a way to prevent that.
(METI's announcement refers to further panel reports being issued on "the other two dispute cases that Japan has filed with the WTO." The second one is DS584, which is against India, but unlike China, India is not a party to the MPIA).
