Developing Countries, Dispute Settlement, and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law

Developing Countries, Dispute Settlement, and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law

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Critical appraisals of the current and potential benefits from developing country engagement in the World Trade Organization (WTO) focus mainly on the Doha Round of negotiations. This paper examines developing country participation in the WTO dispute settlement system to enforce foreign market access rights already negotiated in earlier multilateral rounds. The dispute data from 1995 through 2008 reveal three notable trends: developing countries sustained rate of self-enforcement actions despite declining use of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) by developed countries, developing countries increased use of the DSU to self-enforce their access to the markets of developing as well as developed country markets, and the prevalence of disputes targeting highly observable causes of lost foreign market access, such as antidumping, countervailing duties, and safeguards. The paper also examines potential impacts of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) into the WTO system in 2001. A close look at the data reveals evidence on at least three channels through which the ACWL may be enhancing developing countries' ability to self-enforce foreign market access: increased initiation of sole-complainant cases, more extensive pursuit of the DSU legal process for any given case, and initiation of disputes over smaller values of lost trade.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bown, Chad P., McCulloch, Rachel
Format: Policy Research Working Paper biblioteca
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2010-01
Subjects:ACCOUNTING, AGREEMENT ON AGRICULTURE, AGREEMENT ON TEXTILES, AGREEMENT ON TRADE-RELATED ASPECTS, AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES, ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES, ANTI-DUMPING MEASURES, APPELLATE BODY, BARRIER, CAPACITY BUILDING, CLIENT COUNTRIES, CLIENT COUNTRY, COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE, COMPLIANCE PANEL, CONSUMER DEMAND, CONTRACTING PARTIES, COST REDUCTION, COUNTERVAILING DUTIES, COUNTERVAILING MEASURES, COUNTRY MARKET, COUNTRY MARKETS, CUSTOMS, DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, DEVELOPING COUNTRY, DEVELOPING COUNTRY MARKETS, DEVELOPMENT ROUND, DISPUTE RESOLUTION, DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT PROCESS, DISPUTE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM, DOLLAR VALUE, DOMESTIC SUPPORT, ENFORCEMENT MECHANISM, ENFORCEMENT PROCESS, EXPORT DATA, EXPORT GROWTH, EXPORT MARKET, EXPORT MARKETS, EXPORT RESTRAINTS, EXPORT SALES, EXPORT SUBSIDIES, EXPORTER, EXPORTERS, EXPORTING COUNTRIES, FINANCIAL SUPPORT, FOREIGN GOVERNMENT, FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, FOREIGN MARKET, IMPORT PROHIBITION, IMPORT PROTECTION, IMPORT RESTRICTIONS, IMPORTING COUNTRY, INDUSTRIAL SECTOR, INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, INTENSIVE INDUSTRIES, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS, INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC LAW, INTERNATIONAL TRADE, INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW, LEGAL ASSISTANCE, LEGAL COUNSEL, LEGAL SYSTEM, MARKET ACCESS, MARKET ACCESS OPPORTUNITIES, MEMBER COUNTRIES, MIDDLE-INCOME DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, PANEL PROCESS, PANEL REPORT, PANEL REPORTS, PER CAPITA INCOME, POLICY CHANGES, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, POLICY REFORM, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POOR COUNTRIES, POTENTIAL BENEFITS, PRIVATE LAW, PROPERTY RIGHTS, PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGIES, PUBLIC RECORDS, PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, REGULATORY BARRIERS, REPUTATION, ROUND AGREEMENT, ROUND NEGOTIATIONS, RULES OF ORIGIN, SAFEGUARD MEASURES, SETTLEMENT, SETTLEMENT SYSTEM, SMALL CLAIMS PROCEDURE, TAX, TAX TREATMENT, TELECOMMUNICATIONS, TRADE AGREEMENTS, TRADE BARRIERS, TRADE DISPUTE, TRADE DISPUTES, TRADE POLICY, TRADE RESTRICTION, TRADE RESTRICTIONS, TRADING, TRADING PARTNER, TRADING PARTNERS, TRANSITION ECONOMIES, TRANSPARENCY, TRIPS AGREEMENT, VALUATION, VOLATILITY, WORLD ECONOMY, WORLD TRADE, WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION, WTO, WTO COMMITMENTS, WTO COMPLIANCE, WTO MEMBERS, WTO MEMBERSHIP, WTO RULES, WTO SECRETARIAT,
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2010/01/11618030/developing-countries-dispute-settlement-advisory-centre-wto-law
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19938
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Summary:Critical appraisals of the current and potential benefits from developing country engagement in the World Trade Organization (WTO) focus mainly on the Doha Round of negotiations. This paper examines developing country participation in the WTO dispute settlement system to enforce foreign market access rights already negotiated in earlier multilateral rounds. The dispute data from 1995 through 2008 reveal three notable trends: developing countries sustained rate of self-enforcement actions despite declining use of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) by developed countries, developing countries increased use of the DSU to self-enforce their access to the markets of developing as well as developed country markets, and the prevalence of disputes targeting highly observable causes of lost foreign market access, such as antidumping, countervailing duties, and safeguards. The paper also examines potential impacts of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) into the WTO system in 2001. A close look at the data reveals evidence on at least three channels through which the ACWL may be enhancing developing countries' ability to self-enforce foreign market access: increased initiation of sole-complainant cases, more extensive pursuit of the DSU legal process for any given case, and initiation of disputes over smaller values of lost trade.

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