G20 leaders commit to reform WTO’s dispute settlement system by 2024

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World Trade Organization's dispute settlement system, which has been dysfunctional since 2019, leading to protectionism in global trade by 2024, as per a joint declaration released on Saturday. “We reiterate the need to pursue WTO reform to improve all its functions through an inclusive member-driven process, and remain committed to conducting discussions with a view to having a fully and well-functioning dispute settlement system accessible to all members by 2024," the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration said.

The leaders pledged to work constructively to ensure positive outcomes at the WTO’s Thirteenth Ministerial Conference. The WTO’s appellate body is dysfunctional as membership to the body has dwindled with the US blocking the appointment of new members as it believes that WTO is biased against it.

Therefore, several cases are pending. According to a Columbia Law School report the three major trading powers – the US, China, and the EU – accounted for one third of the total number of dispute settlement cases launched in the 2017–19 period.

“Most complaints were brought by large WTO members – two thirds of the total involvedcountries (blocs) with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) exceeding USD 1 trillion. Overall, only twenty-five of 136 WTO members (counting the EU28 as one) brought at least one complaint, of which seventeen launched more than one.

Thus, almost 20% of the membership brought a dispute in a three-year period; some 80% of the membership did not," the report added. Mint had earlier reported that a record number of World Trade Organization (WTO) members have raised concerns about rising protectionist moves in global trade, propelling the issue to centre stage at the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC13) in