The dispute settlement system of the WTO was faced with major challenges in its first few years. It has functioned very well in spite of serious pressures from the sheer number of cases that were brought; the increasing complexity and economic significance of disputes; the strict,short...

Developing and administering disciplines on the use of subsidies is one of the most difficult areas of international economic policy and rule making. It is also one of the most pervasive problems in international trade. Subsidization has taken on new prominence in the economic policy toolkit as...

There is not one, perfect model for institutional regulatory cooperation, nor is there a single model for eliminating technical barriers to trade or discriminatory sanitary and phytosanitary measures in a preferential trade agreement (PTA). However, recent experience with PTAs has shown that it...

Institutional reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is needed to equip it for the challenges of the future. However, the major problem with rule making and decision making in the WTO is not the consensus rule or the decision-making rules in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO. It...

The WTO is an international organization with its own distinctive culture, which is derived from the practice and experience of the GATT. The WTO, however, is not the old GATT. The multilateral trading system was transformed into an international organization in 1995, and today, the WTO also...

In this comprehensive article written shortly after she left the WTO, the first Director of the Appellate Body Secretariat examines the early jurisprudence on trade remedies, including subsidies/countervail, anti-dumping and safeguards. The first subsidies cases were brought before the Appellate...

How did the phenomenon of amici curiae submissions arise in WTO and NAFTA dispute settlement? The rules did not expressly contemplate submissions by non-state actors or participation by them, but the Appellate Body and panels developed case-by-case authority for admitting them. Amici curiae...

There has been considerable debate about the idea of an appellate mechanism for international investment arbitration. A number of reasons have been posited for establishing such a mechanism, including ensuring the consistency and accuracy of awards as well as the legitimacy of the system as a...

In this reflection, the author observes that “peace and prosperity through trade” was the basic objective on which the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was founded and it remains the fundamental raison d’être of the WTO today. Emerging from World War II, world leaders had a...

How will green energy measures fare when examined under the microscope of the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures? Will they be found to be inconsistent with its obligations? After 20 years of the WTO, it is still early days in the interpretation of this important and...