Speech by Ambassador Ihara at the 11th Annual Update on WTO Dispute Settlement (3 May 2018)

　On 3rd May 2018, the 11th Annual Update on WTO Dispute Settlement was held at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. At the outset, Ambassador Ihara made a speech reflecting on the activities of the Dispute Settlement Body in 2017 as the chairperson for that year. The following is a brief summary of his speech:
“The year 2017 was a challenging one for the WTO dispute settlement system. It confronted systemic difficulties such as sequencing issues and the invocation of national security provisions in the GATT 1994 by WTO members. However, the most urgent challenges were the impasse in the selection process for appointments of new Appellant Body members and the concerns raised by members regarding the Appellant Body's functions. To solve these substantial issues, we need to maintain the balance between the three pillars of the WTO, namely negotiations, implementation and dispute settlement. Additionally, it is essential for members to increase dialogue and deepen mutual trust to promote collaboration, which would also serve to help maintain the rule-based multilateral trading system in the face of recent worldwide protectionist movements.”