Reforming WTO Conflict Management. Why and How to Improve the Use of “Specific Trade Concerns”

Robert Wolfe

No 2020/53, RSCAS Working Papers from European University Institute

Abstract: With its dispute settlement system in peril, the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in mitigating commercial conflict is more important than ever, but its working practices need reform, notably procedures for discussing trade concerns. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) committees have developed a mechanism for representatives to raise “specific trade concerns” (STCs) about laws, regulations, or practices by their trading partners. These can mitigate sources of friction and help avoid recourse to formal dispute settlement. This article assesses experience with STCs and assesses suggestions for reform of the process and its extension to all WTO committees. The important WTO reform question is whether procedural changes in Geneva can make STCs more effective for all members while facilitating enhanced participation by members who do not now make full use of the possibilities that such procedures offer.

Keywords: Trade conflict; dispute settlement; transparency; international trade cooperation; WTO reform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/67970/ ... quence=1&isAllowed=y (application/pdf)
https://hdl.handle.net/1814/67970 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2020/53

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in RSCAS Working Papers from European University Institute Convento, Via delle Fontanelle, 19, 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by RSCAS web unit ().