Hidden Jewel in the Crown: Role of WTO committees in dispute resolution

The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body has been regarded as the WTO's crown jewel, bringing stability and predictability to the resolution of disputes among WTO Members. But what about the other jewels in the crown?

This Working Paper (1) looks at one such jewel – the specialized committees. The importance of committee work has never been more critical than it is today, with Members at loggerheads during negotiations and with an over-burdened DSB functioning with a paralyzed Appellate Body (AB). The WTO's credibility is not only dependent on the smooth functioning of its dispute settlement system but also on the existence of other mechanisms that aid in dispute avoidance and provide a platform for Members to engage regularly to resolve their issues. In this regard, it is vital to recognize the role of different bodies, such as committees that act as checkdams, to minimize the influx of disputes and allow only unavoidable concerns to become trade disputes.

The thrust of the paper is to examine the extent to which the SPS Committee contributes to dispute resolution under the WTO framework by drawing inferences from numerous SPS notifications, SPS Committee meeting minutes, Secretariat notifications, Panel and AB reports, and existing literature on the topic to establish a link between the role of the SPS Committee and dispute resolution. In particular, the paper examines a specific mechanism – the Specific Trade Concerns (STC) mechanism and its role in facilitating conflict resolution.

(1) The present Working Paper is a truncated version of the author’s Master's thesis on the same topic and deals with key findings presented in the thesis with respect to the role of Specific Trade Concerns.