Arbitrators have in substance ruled in favour of the EU (in a case against Colombia anti-dumping duties) in the first World Trade Organization (WTO) appeal dealt with under the 'Multi-party interim appeal arbitration arrangement', known as the 'MPIA'.

The arrangement is in place on an interim basis until the WTO Appellate Body can resume operation, following some kind of agreement between WTO members and the Government of the United States. The paralysis of the WTO Appellate Body is due to the blockage by the Unites States of any new appointments of judges, since 2017.

The MPIA's final and binding award confirms that the anti-dumping duties imposed by Colombia on frozen fries from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands breach WTO rules and improperly restrict access to the Colombian market.

Even though the WTO Appellate Body is currently hobbled by a long-running blockage on appointments, this appeal could be dealt with in accordance with WTO rules. That is because both Colombia and the European Union (EU) are in the 'MPIA'. This arrangement is open to all WTO Members while the Appellate Body remains blocked.

Participating WTO Members agree appeal arbitration procedures in WTO disputes between them. This safeguards their WTO right to binding, two-tier and independent dispute settlement in any such disputes, in the continued absence of a functioning WTO Appellate Body.

As such, it provides an important and interim back stop for the multilateral rules-based trading system, and avoids situations where this system is undermined by 'appeals into the void', i.e. into the void left by the non-functioning Appellate Body.

Currently, 52 out of 164 WTO Members are covered by the MPIA (Australia; Benin; Brazil; Canada; China; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; the EU (whose 27 Member States are also WTO Members); Guatemala; Hong Kong; Iceland; Macao; Mexico; Montenegro; New Zealand; Nicaragua; Norway; Pakistan; Peru; Singapore; Switzerland; Ukraine; and Uruguay).

 

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