All other WTO appeals would have to await the resumption of a fully functional appellate body. It’s also possible that WTO members could trigger a majority vote to begin appointing new members to the appellate body. Under his predecessor, Barack Obama, the U.S. rejected the reappointment of two appellate body members due to concerns that they had exceeded the scope of their mandate. He was nominated in 2003 to serve as an appellate body member, but WTO members chose a different candidate. Other countries acknowledge that the appellate body has its flaws, including the length of proceedings and its approach to legal interpretations.

Source: Washington Post December 06, 2019 08:48 UTC