Introduction

This chapter provides a brief overview of the rules governing the implementation of WTO panel and Appellate Body reports. It focuses on the steps that a prevailing complaining party needs to take to secure the implementation of the rulings and recommendations of the panel and the Appellate Body, as adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). It is written for the non-specialist who is interested in the general principles of implementation.

The Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) was negotiated during the Uruguay Round, and entered into force with the WTO on 1 January 1995. It sets out the rules and procedures for WTO dispute resolution. It provides for automatic panel establishment, and for the automatic adoption of panel and Appellate Body reports. Many of the DSU provisions codify the practices that had been developed in dispute settlement proceedings under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). However, the DSU also includes new provisions regarding implementation and compensation that had no parallel in the GATT. It has been these new provisions – that did not have the benefit of being previously tested in practice – that have been the most controversial and problematic in the first ten years of the WTO.