Trade Disputes under WTO: Trends and Features

Abstract

The Dispute Settlement Mechanism is one of the best elements of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) system since it addressed the earlier concerns under the GATT system, of lack of transparency, non-enforceability, discriminatory nature and high degree of ambiguity. In this paper we evaluate the trends and features of trade disputes initiated at the WTO Dispute Settlement Body during 1995-2003 and then relate the disputes to world trade. The paper first examines the disputes on the basis of major defendants and complainants involved. It reveals a high frequency with which advanced nations or blocs like the United States (US) and European Communities (EC) got involved as complaint or defendant in trade disputes. The paper next groups the disputes based on broad issues on which the disputes have been initiated. The analysis reveals a large number of disputes on certain widely debated or contraversial issues such as Trade related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and import c...