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WTO - General

14 posts

Congressmen Blumenauer and Doggett Introduce Legislation To "End 'Favored Nation' Trade Relations with Russia, Bar Russia From WTO"

U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Lloyd Doggett are introducing legislation to "end Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with the Russian Federation and to initiate a process to formally deny Russia access to the World Trade Organization (WTO), following its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine." The legislation is here.

The G7 on Trade: Some Hope for US Return to Binding Multilateral Dispute Settlement?

Judged by the recent past, the G7 meeting in the UK (with key US allies) was a resounding success. But then again, the Trump administration created a low bar. In 2019, there was no G7 communiqué for the first time—because of divisions on trade. And in 2020 there was

A Historical Perspective on India‘s and South Africa’s Threat to Block the Implementation of the Joint Statement Initiatives in the WTO, and a Potential Way Forward

Late last week, India and South Africa circulated a paper on the “Legal Status of ‘Joint Statement Initiatives’ and their Negotiated Outcomes” that was widely perceived as a threat to block the implementation of the four Joint Statement Initiatives in the WTO (Peter Ungphakorn has described it as “pouring cold

Americans on the WTO Indicative List of Panelists

Back in April of 2017, I said this: while the indicative list of panelists does not have much correlation to people who actually serve as panelists, a former intern of mine named Christina Woo put together this cool table of Americans on the indicative list since the GATT era. The

The Obama Administration's Attack on Appellate Body Independence Shows The Need for Reforms

By Steve Charnovitz, George Washington University Law School The Obama Administration has not yet apologized for its unilateral action in May 2016 to unseat Appellate Body Member Seung Wha Chang, a distinguished jurist from South Korea. Although this hostile act by the United States has been roundly criticized by other

New AU funding system and the WTO

At its July 2016 summit in Kigali, Rwanda, the AU Assembly held a special retreat to consider new proposals intended to ensure that the AU “is financed in a predictable, sustainable, equitable and accountable manner with the full ownership by its Member States”. The new funding proposal adopted by the

The WTO congratulates itself on panel diversity - unfortunately its math is wrong

In this news release, https://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news16_e/disp_21jun16_e.htm, the WTO announces that it has just appointed its 100th female dispute settlement panelist and compares itself favorably with other international tribunals, stating "[t]he WTO's dispute settlement system has

Mission Creep at the WTO

On Saturday, the WTO joined three other international organizations in issuing a Statement about the H1NI virus. The other three IGOs were the FAO, the OIE, and the WHO. The Statement can be found at http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news09_e/jt_stat_02may09_e.htm. According

Carolyn Deere on the WTO DG Non-Race

It is being reported that Pascal Lamy is the only candidate for DG. Carolyn Deere comments: This year, with only one nominee at hand, WTO Members must nonetheless ensure that there is vigorous debate on the challenges facing the organization and the changes that the Director-General should pursue. They must

Lamy Seeks a Second Term as DG

From his letter to the General Council Chair (scroll down to page 3): During the last three years I believe that I have done my best to serve these objectives with dedication and conviction. And although today we are closer to our goal, much remains to be done, not only