WTO members warn new rules would be worthless without Appellate Body

摘要

GENEVA - Some World Trade Organization members are calling for a resolution to an Appellate Body standoff before any new rules are negotiated, warning those rules would not be enforceable if the system underpinning the WTO was paralyzed. Several members raised the issue at a General Council meeting on Dec. 12, suggesting the paralysis of the system must be avoided if new rules are to move forward, according to WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell. "They were concerned that this extremely important pillar of the WTO will be harmed and many of them said this would have knock-on effects in terms of negotiations," Rockwell told reporters. "It would have a knock-on effect in terms of existing rules, but also in terms of appetite for negotiating new rules or more reforms if there was no guarantee that whatever was negotiated could be enforced."