Since December 11, the Court of Appeal of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) is no longer operational due to the blocking of appointments of judges by Washington.
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To remedy this, the EU and 16 countries, including China, agreed on January 24 to set up this temporary court of appeal. " An emergency measure necessary in the face of the paralysis of the appeal body " of the WTO, had then explained the European Trade Commissioner, Phil Hogan. EU countries gave the green light on Wednesday to the establishment of this temporary Court of Appeal to settle trade disputes, which should help bypass the blockage.
The other participating countries or jurisdictions are Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan and Uruguay.
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The EU said any WTO member wishing to join was welcome, adding that the mechanism should be operational in the coming weeks.