Paper Example on WTO Mediation and Dispute Resolution: Investigating Unfair Trade Practices

Introduction

Among the most substantial duties of the World Trade Organization abbreviated as WTO is to mediate and solve international commercial disputes. Any member of WTO has a right to file a complaint against other members who they believe are discarding, unfairly promoting, and violating some of the laid commerce treaties (Amadeo, 2019). However, it is the function of the WTO through an appointed panel to rule if the case is valid or not and also have the power to impose charges on the offending state. For instance, in the case where the United States has accessed to Bangladesh's markets to supply its computer software despite imposing limitations on the importation of Bangladesh rice in the US, the latter may approach the WTO and file a complaint against the former. The WTO staff would, in turn, perform some investigations to assess whether the US has engaged in any form of violation of the multilateral treaties. This may involve a process with three which includes consultation between the two countries, adjudication by an appointed panel, and lastly, execution of the ruling (Khan, 2016). Both countries may arrive at a commonly agreed solution on this issue during the consultation phase or via adjudication encompassing the subsequent execution of both the panel and the Appellate Body final report. Therefore, this paper will describe the legal phases that WTO may take to solve the trade dispute between Bangladesh and the United States.

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Consultation Phase

The first step WTO would take in an attempt to solve the existing between Bangladesh, and the United States is known as consultation. According to WTO, the preferred aim of the Dispute Settlement Understanding abbreviated as DSU is for the countries concerned in the trade disputes to resolve it in a way that is aligned with WTO agreement stipulated in the Article 3.7 of the DSU (World Trade Organization, 2019). This phase would provide both the United States and Bangladesh a chance to deliberate the issue and arrive at a satisfactory agreement in absence of resorting to lawsuit or WTO dispute resolution process. It is thus after this obligatory consultation has proved unproductive within sixty days that Bangladesh, like the complaint, may issue an adjudication request from the panel. However, despite the consultation phase failing to produce a resolution to the trade dispute, there are still hopes for the two states to arrive at an agreement in the next steps when now the WTO intervenes (Khan, 2016).

Panel Phase

The second step of trade dispute resolution between Bangladesh and the United States that WTO would adapt is the panel phase. It may take forty-five days to be formed and an additional six months to conclude its responsibility (World Trade Organization, 2019). In this case, this stage would have arrived if Bangladesh requested the formation of a panel aimed at the adjudication of the trade dispute between it and the United States. The panel officially aids the Dispute Settlement Body abbreviated as DSB arrive at recommendations or rulings (Trommer, 2017). There are various steps that WTO would require Bangladesh and the United States to follow if their dispute reaches the panel stage. The steps include:

• Before the initial hearing, Bangladesh and the United States would submit their case in the form of writing to the panel.
• Initial hearing. DSB would hear the case for Bangladesh as the main complaint and the US, as the defense.
• Rebuttals. The United States and Bangladesh will also be required to present and submit to the panel during the second meeting through an oral argument and written rebuttals, respectively.
• Specialists. Where either the United States or Bangladesh raises scientific or any technical subject, it may force the panel to consult specialists or appoint a specialist review group tasked with the role of preparing an advisory report.
• Submission of the first draft. The appointed panel will submit the descriptive which contains the argument and factual segments of its report to both the United States and Bangladesh, allowing them two weeks to give their remarks. However, this report lacks the results and conclusions (World Trade Organization, 2019).
• Submission of the interim report. The panel also succumbs an interim report that encompasses its results and decisions about both countries, allowing them seven days to inquire for an appraisal.
• Appraisal. The maximum time allowed for review would not exceed fortnight. In this period, the panel may conduct additional deliberations with Bangladesh and the United States.
• Final report. It would be submitted to both the United States and Bangladesh twenty-one days after review. It is provided to every WTO member (World Trade Organization, 2019). However, if the panel agrees that the disputed commerce measure violates any of the WTO obligation or arrangement, it suggests that the measure be made in line with the WTO constitution. Also, it may recommend how this would be performed (Trommer, 2017).

Conversely, after a ruling is made by the panel, either the United States or Bangladesh can appeal. However, appeals may be centered on law points, for instance, a legal interpretation. Every appeal made would be heard by three members from among the seven-member appellate Body established by the DSB and widely representing various members of WTO. The appeal may reverse, adjust, or uphold the legal results and decisions made by the panel. The appeal should not consume more than sixty days (Trommer, 2017). Nevertheless, the DSB may discard or accept the appeal report within one month, but the rejection is only likely by agreement.

Implementation of the Ruling

If the United States is found guilty of violating the WTO Agreement, the panel's ruling will apply in its trade agreement with Bangladesh. If imposing a restriction on Bangladesh exportation of rice to the US is found to be wrong, the United States would be required to swiftly abolish such restrictions. However, if it persists with the imposition, it should compensate or face some fines (Khan, 2016). On the other hand, where after 20 days, there lacks satisfactory compensation between the United States and Bangladesh, the latter may request DSB for permission to retaliate that suspends the sale of America computer software within its bounders. This would primarily be aimed at encouraging the United States to adhere to the panel's ruling. Therefore, the DSB would be required to authorize retaliation within one month after expiry of a reasonable time with exception of instances where there exists an agreement against such request (World Trade Organization, 2019).

Conclusion

There is a distinct process that has been established by the WTO, which should be followed in resolving disputes among their members. The process involves three phases which include consultation, panel, and implementation of panel's ruling stage. The dispute between the US and Bangladesh where the United States impose restrictions on Bangladesh rice imports can be resolved at any point within the first two stages as far both countries reach on a common agreement. However, if the dispute stretches to the third and final stage, the panel makes a ruling where if the United States is found guilty of violating the WTO agreements it would be required to implement such ruling. Therefore, to ensure there is harmonious trade, the United States and Bangladesh should engage in discussion and work on their relations to remove the existing restrictions and resolve the dispute between them.

References

Amadeo, K. (2019). How the WTO Resolves Trade Disputes. Retrieved 27 August 2019, from https://www.thebalance.com/how-does-the-wto-resolve-trade-disputes-3306363

Khan, P. (2016). Effective Utilisation of the WTO Dispute Settlement System by Pakistan: A Public-Private Partnership Approach.

Trommer, S. (2017). Post-Brexit Trade Policy Autonomy as Pyrrhic Victory: Being a Middle Power in a Contested Trade Regime. Globalizations, 14(6), 810-819.

World Trade Organization (2019). The process-Stages in a typical WTO dispute settlement case. Retrieved from: https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/disp_settlement_cbt_e/c6s1p1_e.htm