Thread by @bbaschuk

Good morning from snowy Geneva where it is now a settled fact that the @wto appellate body will be paralyzed at midnight 🕛

@wto Last night @wto Spokesman Keith Rockwell confirmed the US blocked an effort to restart the appointment of AB members.

"It's a serious crisis but the WTO has been through many crises in its short history," Rockwell said. "The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."

@wto For the play-by-play of yesterday's @wto General Council meeting check out this thread from day one of the three-day meeting

https://twitter.com/bbaschuk/status/1203949732307058688

@wto With the appellate debate behind them, @wto members will spend today and tomorrow discussing various other trade issues including these important items:

-8(D): 6-month rollover of the WTO e-commerce moratorium

-20: WTO 2020 budget

Full agenda here: bit.ly/2s4wPnb

Update: @wto members have agreed to roll over their moratorium on e-commerce duties until their 12th ministerial conference in Kazakhstan.

Here’s a statement from a group of 54 countries that call themselves “Friends of the System” & commit to using the WTO dispute settlement system in “good faith.”

This statement is noteworthy b/c it implies the US isn’t acting in “good faith” re: the appellate body, which is bad.

Here's the big development from this week's @wto General Council meeting:

The EU, China(!) and a group of like-minded nations are in talks to create a plurilateral dispute system to replicate the soon-to-be paralyzed appellate body.

Story here:
bloom.bg/2E4ZXxi

@wto WTO Amb. Zhang Xiangchen said China will support the EU’s appeal-arbitration model, which replicates the work of the WTO’s soon-to-be defunct appellate body.

“This is not the best option” but “this is an interim solution that can help countries to deal with their disputes."

@wto The model is rooted on an existing WTO rule -- Article 25 of the DSU -- that permits nations to agree to a voluntary form of arbitration.

Under this approach, @WTODGAZEVEDO can select a panel of previously vetted former ABMs to apply the same procedures of the appellate body.

@wto @WTODGAZEVEDO While the conversations are still preliminary, the plan has drawn interest from other WTO members like Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Japan and Turkey.

But...

The US won't participate in this approach so it won't help solve any disputes that countries have w/ the US.

@wto @WTODGAZEVEDO But the EU has a plan for that, too.

Later this week the European Commission will move toward strengthening its trade-policy arsenal by allowing for penalties against nations that undermine WTO rulings by appealing them into a legal void.

EU statement: bit.ly/2LHN9kH

@wto @WTODGAZEVEDO So while the @wto appellate body will now go into hibernation -- a new model for binding WTO dispute settlement may soon proliferate and thrive in the AB's absence.

In the words of WTO Spokesman Keith Rockwell: "The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated."

.@wto members have gaveled their budget for 2020 (bloom.bg/2LlpGFV) and WTO’s last General counsel meeting of the year is officially over.

@WTODGAZEVEDO will hold a press conference shortly.

.@WTODGAZEVEDO begins his press conference detailing the decisions (and lack thereof) made during the WTO’s last General Council meeting of the year.

“The appellate body situation does not mean the end of rules-based dispute settlement at the WTO.”

DG unveils his wishlist for the @wto 12th ministerial conference.
Says he’s hoping for a deal on fisheries, progress on e-commerce talks, and progress towards a permanent solution to the appellate body crisis.

I’d post quotes but TBH it was a snoozer.

And with that I’m going to close out this thread.

Happy holidays 🎄 from the @wto