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, 7 tweets, 5 min read
Latest on the WTO Appellate Body crisis (it will be unable to hear new appeals from Dec 10 if new appointments stay blocked)

Yesterday (Oct 15), NZ Ambassador David Walker, circulated a new report on his informal talks to try to break the deadlock docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/F…

1/6 Screenshot of opening part of the linked document
Walker chairs the Dispute Settlement Body (all WTO members) which oversees WTO legal disputes and is the “facilitator” consulting delegations on a solution.

He has circulated a draft General Council decision. His report highlights key points.

docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/F…

2/6 Screenshot of paragraphs 1.13 to 1.16
Bullets 1, 2 would oblige members to fill vacant seats in the seven-member Appellate Body.
Bullets 3, 4 would tighten the Appellate Body’s obligation to issue a ruling in 90 days (a US concern)

docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/F…

3/6 Same screenshot
Bullets 5-7 would constrain “overreach”, the US complaint about the Appellate body altering members’ negotiated rights and obligations by over-interpreting gaps in WTO agreements.

This issue is much debated among trade lawyers.

docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/F…

4/6 Same screenshot
Whether the US (or this US Administration) would be prepared to respond to any of these points remains to be seen. Its statement in the General Council yesterday was pretty uncompromising.

geneva.usmission.gov/2019/10/15/sta…

5/6 Screenshot of key paragraphs from linked page, disputing whether there is convervence
Walker's previous report is here: docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/F…

Background and explanations are here: tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/bot…

6/6
P.S. This is the revised draft General Council decision proposed by Ambassador David Walker.

The General Council comprises all WTO members, is the top decision-making body when the Ministerial Conference doesn't meet, decides by consensus.

See Annex: docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/F… Screenshot of first third of the draft decision (Annex)Screenshot of second third of the draft decision (Annex)Screenshot of final third of the draft decision (Annex)
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Peter Ungphakorn
@CoppetainPU
Genius!
More genius!

The musical antidote to the crisis you never wanted

The full symphony
Read 3 tweets
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Peter Ungphakorn
@CoppetainPU
This is about using a provision on voluntary arbitration in the WTO dispute settlement agreement as a way of getting around the likelihood that new appeals will not be possible after December 10.

Canada-EU was announced in the summer. Now Norway-EU have followed suit.

1/3
An updated background and explanation is here: tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/bot…

2/3
The updated backgrounder also now includes the latest draft decision to solve the problem, produced by New Zealand ambassador David Walker, who has been consulting WTO members since the beginning of the year.

The US poured cold water on this

tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2019/08/21/bot…

3/3 Screenshot of the bullet points summarising David Walker's revised draft proposal, in his fourth report to the General Council
Read 3 tweets
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Peter Ungphakorn
@CoppetainPU
Green parties have made historic gains, according to the latest forecast.

Overall, the left and the centre have gained ground, prompting speculation about a reshuffle of the multi-party government.

swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/s…
Projection: left-wing Green Party wins 13% of the lower house vote – up nearly 6% on 2015, their best result ever. The centrist Liberal Greens are also set increase their share to 7.9% from 4.6%.

The right-wing People's Party to remain the largest group. Social Democrats second. Screenshot of graphic of results according to the 3rd projection from the page linked in the previous tweet
And here's👇🏽the head of the Greens this evening on the possibility of altering the composition of the multi-party government for the first time in years.

Note Switzerland has 2 Green parties: the leftist Greens (bigger) and the centrist Liberal Greens.

swissinfo.ch/eng/federal-co…
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Simon Lester
@snlester
Jim Bacchus and I have a short @CatoTrade paper out today on the WTO Appellate Body and the role of precedent: cato.org/sites/cato.org… Here's a thread. /1
Relying on past cases as precedent is a core feature of domestic legal systems. The Appellate Body was aware from the outset, however, of the sensitivity of the issue in international law. /2
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Isabelle Mateos y Lago
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I will be tweeting the best bites.
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Peterson Institute
@PIIE
THREAD: The WTO found that China's grain policies are a violation of WTO rules....so why is the US attacking the dispute system as unfair? (1/13)
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Bryce Baschuk
@bbaschuk
The WTO’s last dispute settlement body meeting of the year just wrapped up and - no surprise here - Members failed to confirm any new appointments to the @wto appellate body.
@wto There were some interesting developments though...
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Much like the U.S. steel cases -- Saudi Arabia has cited the @wto's Article 21 national-security exemption.

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bloom.bg/2GAV2si
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Bryce Baschuk
@bbaschuk
The @EU_Commission's draft @wto reform proposal is an important, good faith effort to forestall a crisis that has the potential to undermine the WTO's ability to arbitrate trade disputes. The question is whether it will satisfy @USTradeRep's fundamental concerns about the WTO.
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Julie Laumann 🌎
@Otpor17
"Trump has used Harley-Davidson as an example of a US business that is being harmed by trade barriers. Yet Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales"

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