Editing World Trade Organization (section)

==Dispute settlement==
{{Main|Dispute settlement in the WTO}}
The WTO's dispute-settlement system "is the result of the evolution of rules, procedures and practices developed over almost half a century under the GATT 1947".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s2p1_e.htm |title=1.2 The Dispute Settlement Understanding |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317103153/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s2p1_e.htm |archive-date=17 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1994, the WTO members agreed on the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) annexed to the "Final Act" signed in Marrakesh in 1994.<ref>Stewart-Dawyer, ''The WTO Dispute Settlement System'', 7</ref> Dispute settlement is regarded by the WTO as the central pillar of the multilateral trading system, and as a "unique contribution to the stability of the global economy".<ref>S. Panitchpakdi, ''The WTO at ten'', 8.</ref> WTO members have agreed that, if they believe fellow-members are violating trade rules, they will use the multilateral system of settling disputes instead of taking action unilaterally.<ref name="UnSD">[http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/disp1_e.htm Settling Disputes:a Unique Contribution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314030521/http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/disp1_e.htm |date=14 March 2007 }}, WTO official site</ref>

The operation of the WTO dispute settlement process involves case-specific panels<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s3p1_e.htm |title=3.3 Panels |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317103228/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s3p1_e.htm |archive-date=17 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s1p1_e.htm|title=3.1 The Dispute Settlement Body (DSB)|publisher=WTO official website|date=2005|access-date=7 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407103603/https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s1p1_e.htm|archive-date=7 April 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Appellate Body]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s4p1_e.htm |title=3.4 Appellate Body |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050302040836/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s4p1_e.htm |archive-date=2 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> the Director-General and the WTO Secretariat,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s2p1_e.htm |title=3.2 The Director-General and the WTO Secretariat |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050302040327/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s2p1_e.htm |archive-date=2 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> arbitrators,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s5p1_e.htm |title=3.5 arbitrators |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317103237/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s5p1_e.htm |archive-date=17 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> and advisory experts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s6p1_e.htm |title=3.6 Experts |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317103241/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c3s6p1_e.htm |archive-date=17 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The priority is to settle disputes, preferably through a mutually agreed solution, and provision has been made for the process to be conducted in an efficient and timely manner so that "If a case is adjudicated, it should normally take no more than one year for a panel ruling and no more than 16 months if the case is appealed... If the complainant deems the case urgent, consideration of the case should take even less time.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s3p3_e.htm |title="Mutually Agreed Solutions" as "Preferred Solution" |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317103205/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s3p3_e.htm |archive-date=17 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref> WTO member nations are obliged to accept the process as exclusive and compulsory.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s3p3_e.htm |title=1.3 Functions, objectives and key features of the dispute settlement system |publisher=WTO official website |date=2005 |access-date=7 March 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050317103205/http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c1s3p3_e.htm |archive-date=17 March 2005 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to a 2018 study in the ''Journal of Politics'', states are less likely and slower to enforce WTO violations when the violations affect states in a diffuse manner.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Johns|first1=Leslie|last2=Pelc|first2=Krzysztof J.|date=25 April 2018|title=Free Riding on Enforcement in the World Trade Organization|journal=The Journal of Politics|volume=80|issue=3|pages=873–889|doi=10.1086/697463|s2cid=67756781|issn=0022-3816|url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1eb8/816f7bdc309659a42dc5bf5f8d89a8fcabd8.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200209030428/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1eb8/816f7bdc309659a42dc5bf5f8d89a8fcabd8.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 February 2020}}</ref> This is because states face collective action problems with pursuing litigation: they all expect other states to carry the costs of litigation.<ref name=":1" /> A 2016 study in ''International Studies Quarterly'' challenges that the WTO dispute settlement system leads to greater increases in trade.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chaudoin|first1=Stephen|last2=Kucik|first2=Jeffrey|last3=Pelc|first3=Krzysztof|date=15 April 2016|title=Do WTO Disputes Actually Increase Trade?|journal=International Studies Quarterly|language=en|volume=60|issue=2|pages=294–306|doi=10.1093/isq/sqw009|s2cid=56249395|issn=0020-8833}}</ref>

However, the dispute settlement system cannot be used to resolve trade disputes that arise from political disagreements. When Qatar requested the establishment of a dispute panel concerning measures imposed by the UAE, other GCC countries and the US were quick to dismiss its request as a political matter, stating that national security issues were political and not appropriate for the WTO dispute system.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ameinfo.com/money/economy/the-first-middle-east-victims-are-oil-exporters/|title=A US-less WTO: The first Middle East victims are oil exporters|website=ameinfo.com|language=en|access-date=5 September 2018|date=2 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905180021/https://ameinfo.com/money/economy/the-first-middle-east-victims-are-oil-exporters/|archive-date=5 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Since 2019, when the [[First presidency of Donald Trump|Donald Trump administration]] blocked appointments to the body, the Appellate Body has been unable to enforce WTO rules and punish violators of WTO rules.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hopewell |first=Kristen |date=2024-07-03 |title=The (surprise) return of development policy space in the multilateral trading system: what the WTO Appellate Body blockage means for the developmental state |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09692290.2024.2303681 |journal=Review of International Political Economy |language=en |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=1245–1270 |doi=10.1080/09692290.2024.2303681 |issn=0969-2290}}</ref> In March 2020, the [[European Union]] and 15 other WTO members agreed to a ''Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement'' (MPIA). This gave access to an alternative appellate mechanism (arbitration as an appellate mechanism) while the Appellate Body is not functional.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Parliament |first=EU |title=International trade dispute settlement: World Trade Organisation Appellate Body crisis and the multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2024/762342/EPRS_BRI(2024)762342_EN.pdf |access-date=15 September 2024 |website=European Parliament}}</ref>