Appellate Body
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The Appellate Body of the
World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...
(WTOAB) is a standing body of seven persons that hears appeals from reports issued by panels in disputes brought on by WTO members. The WTOAB can uphold, modify or reverse the legal findings and conclusions of a panel, and Appellate Body Reports, once adopted by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), must be accepted by the parties to the dispute. The WTOAB has its seat in
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. The appellate body been termed by at least one journalist as "effectively the supreme court of world trade". The body established a dispute mechanism that allowed states, regardless of their size and power, to enforce predictable market access or at the very least secure authorization to retaliate for harms. Since 2019, when the Donald Trump administration began blocking appointments to the body, the Appellate Body has been unable to enforce WTO rules and punish violators of WTO rules. Subsequently, disregard for trade rules has increased, leading to more trade protectionist measures. The Joe Biden administration has maintained Trump's freeze on new appointments.


History

The WTOAB was established in 1995 under Article 17 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU).
“A standing Appellate Body shall be established by the DSB. The Appellate Body shall hear appeals from panel cases. It shall be composed of seven persons, three of whom shall serve on any one case. Persons serving on the Appellate Body shall serve in rotation. Such rotation shall be determined in the working procedures of the Appellate Body.”


Blocking of adjudicator appointments

Under the mandate of the Trump administration, the US held up appointments to the WTOAB. David Walker was appointed to chair the WTODSB with the mandate to solve this thorny problem. A journalist said that the delay was an effort to skew arbitration in the favour of the US. On 9 April 2019, US Trade Representative
Robert Lighthizer Robert Emmet Lighthizer (; born October 11, 1947) is an American attorney and government official who was the U.S. Trade Representative in the First presidency of Donald Trump, Trump administration from 2017 to 2021. After he graduated from Geo ...
said in reference to past adjudications over the policy of zeroing that the WTOAB had been "overreaching", as the government of
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...
was punished by the Trump administration over softwood lumber. The Trump defect crystallised on 11 December 2019. In default of an WTOAB adjudication board, the EU and Canada reached an agreement whereby the WTOAB is replicated as closely as possible. Under this agreement, former WTO judges will hear appeals between the two entities after the Trump defect has been crystallized. The Trump administration has repeatedly pleaded for redress and is using the leverage at its disposal.


Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration

In March 2020, the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
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. Its provisions mirror the usual WTO appeal rules and can be voluntarily used between any WTO members to resolve disputes. The
European Commissioner for Trade The European Commissioner for Trade (sometimes referred to as the ''EU Trade Commissioner'') is the member of the European Commission responsible for the Common Commercial Policy (EU), European Union's common commercial policy. Responsibilities ...
Phil Hogan Philip Hogan (born 4 July 1960) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as European Commissioner for Trade between 2019 and 2020, and previously European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development between 2014 and 2019. He p ...
said: "This is a stop-gap measure to reflect the temporary paralysis of the WTO's appeal function for trade disputes ... We will continue our efforts to restore the appeal function of the WTO dispute settlement system as a matter of priority." Since being announced, the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and other WTO member nations have joined the MPIA. A pool of ten arbitrators were announced on 31 July 2020 marking the operational start of the MPIA. The arbitrators appointed were José Alfredo Graça Lima (
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
) Valerie Hughes (
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
), Alejandro Jara (
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
), Guohua Yang (
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
), Claudia Orozco (
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
), Joost Pauwelyn ( EU), Mateo Diego-Fernandez Andrade (
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
), Penelope Ridings (
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
), Locknie Hsu (
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
), and Thomas Cottier (
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
).


Members

The following is a list of members of the WTOAB including their nationality and term of office.Appellate Body Members
WTO


Current

There are currently no Members of the Appellate Body. See '' Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration'' for an alternative arrangement used by some WTO member nations and list of appointed arbitrators.


Previous

* Hong Zhao (lawyer), , 1 December 2016 — 30 November 2020 * Hyun Chong Kim, , 2016 — 2017 * Shree Baboo Chekitan Servansing, , 2014 — 2018 * Seung Wha Chang, , 2012 — 2016
Thomas R. Graham
, 2011 — 2015 & 2015 — 2019 * Ujal Singh Bhatia, , 2011 — 2015 & 2015 — 2019 * Peter Van den Bossche, , 2009 — 2013 & 2013 — 2017 * Ricardo Ramírez-Hernández, , 2009 — 2013 & 2013 — 2017 * Yuejiao Zhang, , 2008 — 2012 & 2012 — 2016
Shotaro Oshima
, 2008 — 2012 * Lilia R Bautista, , 2007 — 2011 * Jennifer A. Hillman, , 2007 — 2011 * David Unterhalter, , 2006 — 2009 & 2009 — 2013 * Merit E. Janow, , 2003 — 2007 * Luiz Olavo Baptista, , 2001 — 2005 & 2005 — 2009 * Giorgio Sacerdoti, , 2001 — 2005 & 2005 — 2009 * John Lockhart (lawyer), , 2001 — 2005 & 2005 — 2006 * Arumugamangalam Venkatachalam Ganesan, , 2000 — 2004 & 2004 — 2008 * Georges Michel Abi-Saab, , 2000 — 2004 & 2004 — 2008 * Yasuhei Taniguchi, , 2000 — 2003 & 2003 — 2007 * James Bacchus, , 1995 — 1999 & 1999 — 2003 * Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, , 1995 — 1997 & 1997 — 2001 *
Julio Lacarte Muró Julio Lacarte Muró (March 29, 1918 – March 4, 2016) was a Uruguayan diplomat and politician. A man of the Colorado Party, he ran for Vice-President in 1966. In 1967 he served as Minister of Industry and Commerce in the cabinet of President ...
, , 1995 — 1997 & 1997 — 2001 * Florentino Feliciano, , 1995 — 1997 & 1997 — 2001 * Christopher Beeby, , 1995 — 1999 & 1999 — 2000 * Said El-Naggar, , 1995 — 1999 & 1999 — 2000 * Mitsuo Matsushita, , 1995 — 1999 & 1999 — 2000


References


External links


Appellate Body on WTO website


*Jens Lehne
Crisis at the WTO: Is the Blocking of Appointments to the WTO Appellate Body by the United States Legally Justified?
Berlin/Bern 2019 World Trade Organization International trade law Foreign direct investment Organizations established in 1995 Treaties entered into force in 1995 {{trade-stub