The European Union and 16 WTO members including China and Australia have signed a pact to develop a multi-party interim appeal arrangement at the global trade body.
The arrangement, signed on Friday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, will allow the participating WTO members to preserve a functioning and two-step dispute settlement system at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
This initiative was launched in mid-December 2019 by the EU and a number of other WTO members following the effective paralysis of the WTO Appellate Body due to the blockage of new appointments since 2017.
EU Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan said: "This statement testifies to the high importance that the EU and the participating WTO members attach to retaining a two-step dispute settlement process in WTO trade matters. The multiparty appeal arbitration arrangement will guarantee that the participating WTO members continue to have access to a binding, impartial and high-quality dispute settlement system among them."
"We believe that a functioning dispute settlement system of the WTO is of the utmost importance for a rules-based trading system, and that an independent and impartial appeal stage must continue to be one of its essential features."