The WTO multi-party interim appeal arrangement gets operational

The contingency measure will apply until the WTO Appellate Body becomes operational again

On July 31, the participants in the multi-party interim appeal arrangement (MPIA) notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of the ten arbitrators who will hear appeals of WTO panel reports under the MPIA.

This marks the final step to make the MPIA operational for disputes between the participants. While the MPIA remains a stop-gap solution in the absence of an operational WTO Appellate Body, it allows participants to benefit from an appeal process in the WTO dispute settlement system.

Under the MPIA, the pool of arbitrators comprises persons of recognized authority, with demonstrated expertise in law, international trade and the WTO Agreements. In a process that started in June this year, MPIA participants put forward candidates, conducted interviews, and agreed on the ten individuals who will serve as arbitrators under the arrangement. In any WTO dispute between participants where a party triggers an appeal against a WTO panel report, three members of the pool are selected randomly to hear an appeal under the arrangement.

The MPIA is in effect since April 30, 2020. As of July 31, twenty-three WTO members are participants in this arrangement to the WTO, which provides them with a functioning and independent two-tier dispute settlement system in disputes between them. It will apply on an interim basis until the WTO Appellate Body can resume operation, following some kind of agreement between WTO members and the Government of the United States. The paralysis of the WTO Appellate Body is due to the blockage by the Unites States of any new appointments of judges, since 2017.