Towards a Mega-Plurilateral Dispute Settlement Mechanism for the WTO?

摘要

The Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is facing the critical impasse, i.e., of the blockage of appointment of the Appellate Body (AB) members by the United States (US), which would impede its normal functioning in the foreseeable future. To address this imminent issue, this article proposes establishing within the WTO a mega-plurilateral dispute settlement mechanism in which the original Members of the WTO may choose not to participate. This new mechanism would resemble every other aspect of the current DSM. It should be noted the impasse needs to be addressed within a short period of time and this article highly advocates an earlier renegotiation of this new plurilateral dispute settlement agracceement.