Essays on the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Understanding: How (Not) to Sell the Right to Retaliate - the Effects of Interested Third Party Participation in Wto Disputes

The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement system can be viewed as a major achievement of the 1986 Uruguay Round. Especially in the ongoing dispute settlement understanding (DSU) review, WTO member countries have raised many issues, suggestions, and requests that promise to further improve the functioning of the dispute settlement system. Many of the proposals under review concern either different kinds of remedies that can be awarded as a response to a violation, or the access of member countries to the dispute settlement process. From the proposals that have been submitted over the years, two requests stand out and deserve particular attention since their potential effects are complex and unexplored: Mexico's proposal in 2002 that WTO retaliation rights should be made tradable, and the request for increased third party participation in disputes. This book examines these two issues in detail and provides answers on whether and how the right to retaliate can be made tradable, and how the participation of WTO member countries as third parties to a trade dispute can affect the likelihood of settlement.