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Review of the Dispute Settlement Understanding
The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) is one of the most
significant achievements of the Uruguay Round negotiations. In the first ten
years of the DSU, the WTO's adjudicative bodies have produced a significant body of jurisprudence involving both substantive and procedural issues.
At the same time as the WTO Agreements were adopted by
the Ministerial Conference in Marrakesh, the Ministers took
a Decision
on the Review of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures
Governing the Settlement of Disputes, which invited
the Ministerial Conference to complete a full review of
of the DSU within four years after the entry into force
of the WTO Agreement. By January 1999, however, the review
was not completed.
Discussions continued and the Doha
Ministerial Declaration, which launched the Doha Development
Agenda, included an agreement to "negotiations on improvements
and clarifications of the Dispute Settlement Understanding."
The Declaration recognized that "negotiations should
be based on the work done thus far as well as any additional
proposals by members." The text further mandated for
an "early harvest". Negotiations should have been
concluded by May 2003. When this deadline was missed, the
negotiations were extended to May 2004. Again, no conclusion was reached, so the review continues.
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