The only thing that is certain in this beginning of the year at the World Trade Organization – a body that is yet awaiting the nomination of its next director-general – is that many members disagree. So they file legal disputes.
WTO Corner blog
WTO Corner: moving disputes online, World Food Programme purchases, director-general
The General Council has run into a third day of meetings in Geneva today. At the time of writing, WTO members were still meeting. Despite the intensity of the session, there is a sense of failure as the organisation has not been able to agree on anything except the budget …
WTO Corner: Members eye December 2021 for MC12, Section 232 cases postponed again
Ambassadors to the World Trade Organization are meeting for an intensive two-day General Council meeting where few actual decisions are expected, except the most expedient: adoption of next year’s budget, and, if all goes well, a decision on Thursday (17 December) to ban export restrictions on food items purchased by …
WTO Corner: US Ambo good-bye, no miraculous catch of fish, services domestic regulation
Ahead of the last General Council meeting of the year – the agenda of which is now finally out -, US Ambassador to the WTO Dennis Shea, who represented the Trump administration in Geneva and oversaw the blockage of the Appellate Body, made a farewell speech as he prepares to …
WTO Corner: E-commerce text, investment facilitation, no TRIPS waiver
Some developments at the WTO this week…. Negotiators adopt second version of e-commerce agreement draft text Many observers note that negotiations on a text that would set rules for digital trade in the 21st Century have had difficulties making meaningful headway this autumn. Eighty-six WTO members have been looking in …
WTO Corner: US removes essential medicines from GPA, fish, TRIPS, EU climate initiative
Here some notable news on WTO issues this week. US to remove ‘essential’ medical products from its Government Procurement Agreement commitments Whereas official WTO corporate communications focus on the ‘news’ that Switzerland and the United Kingdom will now formally be part of the ‘revised GPA’ of 2014, there is a …
WTO Corner: Last Appellate Body member farewell, Korea steel case appeal
Last woman standing: Appellate Body member Hong Zhao says good-bye China’s Appellate Body member was the last woman standing until yesterday. Hong Zhao, a Chinese scholar, was long a thorn in the eye of the United States. Since the terms of two colleagues expired in early December last year, Ms …
WTO Corner: 25 years, trade resilience, FDI restrictions, e-commerce
This week at the WTO in Geneva might be celebrated as one of comparatively good news in a world of low expectations. We already covered the fact that two environment initiatives were launched. Celebrating 25 years of WTO The date almost went under as despite its young years, the world’s …
WTO Corner: Hong Kong sues US, fish talks, COVID and US election hiatus
Hong Kong contests US ‘China’ label for its goods exports Hong Kong has filed a dispute against a new United States rule that obliges goods exports from Hong Kong to be labelled as coming from ‘China’. Hong Kong, a WTO member, is a separate customs territory and nominally a different …
WTO Corner: EU decision on WTO DG, intellectual property, SDGs, TFA
A selection of new developments at the WTO. EU delays decision on WTO director-general EU member states were supposed to decide today which of the two finalists for the WTO’s top job they would back. But the relevant TPC meeting in Brussels was postponed for another day, to let member …
