EU, China urge appointment of WTO appellate body members, while the US objects

The EU, China and other WTO members on Wednesday delivered a joint statement, emphasizing the urgent need to unblock the appointment of WTO Appellate Body members.

At a meeting of the WTO General Council, those members, including the EU, China, Canada, Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland, Australia, South Korea, Iceland, Singapore and Mexico, voiced their deep concern that “continued vacancies in the Appellate Body present a risk to the WTO as a whole.”

While reaffirming their commitment to the rules-based multilateral trading system, they underscored the dispute settlement system as a central pillar of the WTO.

“Such a system is also essential in building confidence amongst members in the negotiating pillar,” they said.

The joint statement was released as previously planned after members including the EU, China and India submitted two joint proposals on reforming the WTO dispute settlement mechanism on Nov. 22. The two proposals were presented at the Wednesday meeting of the General Council.

The first proposal offers proper solutions to transitional rules of outgoing Appellate Body members and the second aims to strengthen the independence of the Appellate Body. However, the proposals were rejected by the US.

Asked about China’s role at the WTO on Thursday, Lu Kang, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said that China has contributed greatly in preserving the global multilateral trade mechanism and will continue to push forward reforms at the WTO.

“The Chinese side will continue on the path of multilateralism and support the WTO to undertake necessary reforms,” Lu told a press briefing.

Xinhua – Global Times