Click to return to Reading Room index
Go to DAGA main index
     

http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=102564

Thrills, spills of WTO haggling now open to public view

The Financial Express
Economy Bureau
September 15, 2005

NEW DELHI, SEPT 14: In a bid to increase transparency in its proceedings, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) this week opened the legal proceeding of a dispute settlement panel (DSP) for public viewing for the first time.

Journalists, representatives of non-government organisations (NGOs) and scholars were allowed to watch the proceedings of the DSP from a separate room at WTO headquarters via closed-circuit broadcast, an official release said.

The decision to allow public viewing of proceedings was taken by the members of the DSP after a request from the parties involved in the dispute, which include Canada, European Communities and the US.

The proceedings for this meeting of the panel are scheduled to continue until September 15 and are part of the case — “Continued suspension of obligations in the EC - hormones dispute” — a dispute brought by the EC against Canada and the US. The panel stage of dispute settlement cases normally takes 6-9 months to complete.

According to ambassador Don Stephenson of Canada, “The closed process leaves the public, even parliamentarians and interested NGOs to imagine the worst of the process, and to question its legitimacy.”

He added that countries presenting reasoned arguments before impartial judges and under international law, is something that should be celebrated, not hidden away.

David Shark of the United States said that his country had been seeking open panel meetings for quite some time and at each panel meeting or proceeding that the US participated in, it had proposed this to its fellow disputants. “We are particularly pleased that the panel itself has taken the decision to open the meeting to the public,” he said.

Fabian Delcros of the European Communities said it was important that the public and interested organisations see that the WTO procedures are objective, impartial and professional. He added that it was also important for interested WTO members to be in a position to simply attend the proceedings, take note, and see for themselves what’s happening.

Return to ReadingRoom | Back to Index