Interview : the Dispute Settlement System

My Notes :

• Prof John H. Jackson is an influential scholar in the realm of international trade particularly in WTO's DSS
• WTO's DSS is the most powerful dispute settlement system at the international level (and the success of this power of DSS has attracted its usage to a point of it being a threat to its own success)
• Q : With Doha Round impasse, it is possible that what DSS is doing now amount to legislating through the judiciary ? (Note that the judicial powers of WTO are expressed thru its Dispute Settlement Body. From here) A : There's a risk, but it is not yet happening. 
• Q : Protectionism policy - 3% of world import are now affected - is it a threat, coz it may get the system clogged with cases, making people wonder if the system is indeed sustainable ? A: I don't think it is that dangerous a situation. There has been quite a remarkable hesitation to give too much protectionism. The success of the system can be attributed to the system's holding back too much protection.  On the other hand we could also be on the verge of something more mean. That, we have to watch out.  
• Read more on protectionism. Notes later.  

• Emergence of 21st century issues such as investment, climate change, environmental, internet commerce, these issues may be brought before the DSS - these cases are coming to DSS, competence of the system, providing business efficacy factors such as predictability, but may be hindered by failure to get decisions among members due to consensus rules
• environmental issues, financial regulations - these areas, interaction to trade area   
• He mentions WTO's legalistic approach. What does it mean ? Read here. 

• "The WTO has introduced a more legalistic approach to trade dispute settlement than its predecessor GATT. In GATT, because of the absence of paper machinery for dispute settlement, disputes look long to clear. This also mean, however, that GATT required more diplomacy than law to settle disputes. This at least ensured that all concerns were fully ventilated before a settlement could be reached. The price for ensuring justice was delay and often non-implementation of the agreements reached.

• "The WTO has changed  all that. It has introduced a remarkably efficient and predictable legal system of DS with a built-in mechanism for sanctions and procedures for cross-sectoral retaliation. This is regarded generally as one of the more positive aspects of the WTO system. Disputes can, in theory, be brought to WTO panels for (relatively) speedy dispensation of settlement."

• In other international fora, why can't they have a dss that is as effective as WTO's DSS ? In GATT panel  ruling the person, in the wrong can block the ruling, in the middle 80's the reverse consensus but remedied during the Uruguay Round they failure succeeded where - consensus vote - elaborate procedure of uneasiness of states began to change unilateral, the rate of compliance is remarkably high
• failure to arrive at decisions in commerce 
• trade disputes airline cases flow into politics 
• improving the DSS, how ?
• hormon-treated beef issue, US vs EU; read here
• Boeng vs Airbus saga, read here
• Banana issue, read here
• Q : Regional negotiations and bilateral undertakings, are they  a threat to the multilateral trading system ? They are all heading towards free trade. The subset of the world, they can tailor the already existing rules of WTO eg rules of decision making, ie WTO plus or WTO minus.