Dispute Settlement in the WTO:
Challenges and Opportunities for the LDCs
 

Syed Saifuddin Hossain
Research Associate
 

With the establishment of the WTO in 1995, the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) introduced several new features in the pre-existing GATT 1947 system making it more acceptable in legal terms to the members of the apex trade body. However, it is a matter of close scrutiny as to what extent this regime has been successful for the least developed countries (LDCs) in realising their aspirations to engage in the multilateral trading system in a meaningful way. While the Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) is being extensively used by the developed and developing countries in order to protect their trade and the systemic interests, the underlying provisions of the DSU somewhat the LDCs to participate in the game. However, there are some windows of opportunity, in the WTO as well as in a number of other arenas, for these marginalised members to become active participants. The objectives of this paper is, thus, are to: (a) present an overview of the WTO-DSM, (b) analyse the current state of play in the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), (c) highlight the challenges that the LDCs face and the opportunities that exist for them, and (d) put forward a set of strategic proposals that the LDCs might find helpful in strengthening their capacity to benefit from the WTO-DSM.