Reflections on Developing Countries’ Initiation of Disputes in the WTO Dispute Settlement System

Abstract

The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has presented a major improvement in international trade liberalization to the benefit, as claimed, of all its members. Such improvement is reflected in the comprehensive legal framework of the WTO trading system, which is based on detailed rules regulating various aspects of international trade, and a dispute settlement system ensuring the implementation of such rules and safeguarding rights and interests associated with the system’s membership. Each of these two elements complements the other. The dispute settlement system needs to be based on comprehensive rules that provide a clear detail on members’ rights and obligations, and such rules are useless in the absence of an effective dispute settlement process that guarantees the protection of members’ rights and the enforcement of their obligations. The efficiency of the WTO dispute settlement system is not only measured by its mechanism’s detail and strictness, but also by its accessibility and ability to accommodate the different positions of all WTO members in a way that ensures an optimal utilization of the system. Developing countries are still struggling in accessing the WTO dispute settlement system and reinstating their violated WTO-protected rights and interests, which undermines not only the integrity of the dispute settlement system, but also the whole organization. This study focuses on the participation of developing countries in the WTO dispute settlement process, outlining the main issues that affect such participation. In doing so, the initiation stage, where countries make the decision to participate or not, is going to be the focus, as it provides a clear indication on the general position of developing countries in the process of dispute settlement in general. WTO, Dispute Settlement, Developing Countries, Developed Countries, Initiation Stage