WTO Watch: Epic Battle Looms

This piece does an decent job of trying to unpack the WTO’s somewhat obscure dispute resolution system, which is now about to tackle the epic multibillion-dollar struggle between the U.S./Boeing and the EU/Airbus over aircraft subsidies.

The WTO dispute resolution system is a hybrid between binding arbitration and a permanent stand alone court like the ICJ. The panelists are, as the article suggests, picked for particular cases, although there is a permanent membership for the Appellate Body. Still, does anyone know who they are? Here’s as partial list. So there is little glamour, although lots of power (at least compared to other international tribunals).

One question to keep in mind as this process moves forward. Who will be the panelists for the initial dispute resolution panel? Given that both the U.S. and E.U. have a decent record of compliance with such decisions, and given the murkiness of trade law on these questions, the identity of the panelists could be crucial, if not decisive. Yet I doubt there will be no press coverage of the panelists, or of their deliberations, largely because the whole process moves into a far less public phase at this point. It is not obvious to me that the identities of the panelists are even known (except by the parties) prior to their decision. If someone can find the most recent list of panelists on the byzantine WTO website, please let me know.

The theory, I believe, is that none of this is relevant to outsiders — it is simply a matter between governments. But I’m not sure that is true anymore, given the stakes of this and other WTO cases that loom in the near future, for various important groups: e.g. sugar planters, aircraft workers, etc.