Alan Yanovich

Accomplishments of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism

The Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) had remarkably ambitious goals for their newly minted dispute settlement system. In the Marrakesh Declaration of 15 April 1994 , Ministers ‘salute[d] the historic achievement’ represented by the conclusion of the Uruguay Round, stating that it would ‘strengthen the world economy and lead to more trade, investment, employment and income growth throughout the world.’ Notably, in that same document, Ministers ‘welcomed’ ‘in particular’ the new dispute settlement system. Ministers underlined ‘the stronger and clearer legal framework they [had] adopted for the conduct of international trade, including a more effective and reliable dispute settlement mechanism .’ This pride-of-place enjoyed by dispute settlement in the WTO system stands in marked contrast to the role that dispute settlement considerations played at the Havana Conference in 1947, when the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) came into being. Ambassador Julio Lacarte-Muro, the first Chairman of the Appellate Body, who was present at the Havana Conference, has said that dispute settlement was a minor consideration in 1947 that did not receive much attention. Not surprisingly, therefore, dispute settlement was treated in just two Articles (XXII and XXIII) of the GATT 1947. It could hardly have been more different at the conclusion of the Uruguay Round in 1994. Dispute settlement had clearly become a pivotal element of the Uruguay Round agreements.