China, the European Union (EU) and ten other members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) submitted a joint proposal to the organization recently, calling on the WTO to start the member selection process for its Appellate Body as soon as possible, the China Business Network reported Monday night.
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said in a statement that the purpose of the proposal was to address the concerns of WTO members over the organization's appellate procedure and to maintain and strengthen the independence and impartiality of the Appellate Body.
The MOFCOM underscored the critical role of the Appellate Body in solving trade disputes among WTO members, saying that the dispute settlement mechanism, which serves as the cornerstone of the WTO, is playing a crucial role in maintaining the reliability and predictability of the current multilateral trade system, quickly solving the trade disputes among WTO members, and ensuring the effective operation of the WTO.
Because of the continued objection by the United States over the appointment and reappointment of members of the Appellate Body starting from last July, the body, which is supposed to be composed of seven members under the WTO rules, is on the verge of a collapse by having only three members at the moment.
The MOFCOM warned in the statement that by hindering the appointment of members of the Appellate Body, some WTO members are posing not only a severe threat to the working of WTO's dispute settlement mechanism but also a systemic threat to the operation of the multilateral trade system.
The EU also cautioned in its statement that the Appellate Body is moving toward a cliff, saying that without a dispute settlement mechanism, the world will probably lose a system which has been maintaining the stability of the global trade system over the past several decades.
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