Monday, June 11, 2007

Erskin on the History of WTO Dispute Resolution since 1947

Daniel H. Erskine, Esq., has posted a brief abstract for an article, Resolving Trade Disputes, the Mechanisms of GATT/WTO Dispute Resolution. It appeared in the Santa Clara Journal of International Law. The article itself is not posted, but the author can be reached through his SSRN page. Here's the abstract:
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body grew out of decades of experience and the frustrations of sovereign nations regarding the method of settling international conflicts between states over tariff and trade issues. This article discusses the historical development of the World Trade Organization's dispute resolution system. The first section analyzes a number of agreements and proposals entered into and put forward during the period from 1947 through 1990. The second section addresses the instrument which inaugurates the World Trade Organization's current dispute settlement procedure and further describes a number of submissions by nations for improvements to the mechanism.