Article 21.3 of the DSU provides that a Member found to be in violation of
its WTO obligations must comply with the rulings and recommendations of the
Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) immediately.
When immediate compliance is impracticable, however, the Member shall have
a “reasonable period of time” to implement the DSB's rulings and recommendations.
The “reasonable period of time” may be “the period of time proposed by the
Member concerned, provided that such period is approved by the DSB” or “a
period of time mutually agreed by the parties to the dispute”. If neither of
these two options is possible, Article 21.3(c) provides that the “reasonable
period of time” shall be “a period of time determined through binding
arbitration”. Arbitrators are selected by the parties to the arbitration or,
if they cannot agree on an arbitrator, the Director-General appoints the
arbitrator. Thus far, every arbitration under Article 21.3(c) has been
conducted by an Appellate Body Member acting in his individual capacity. The
following table provides a list of ongoing arbitrations and Awards that have
been issued pursuant to Article 21.3(c), arranged
according to the year the arbitrator was appointed.
----------------------------------------------------- Note: 1. Parties reached an agreement on the reasonable period of time for compliance
during the proceedings. Therefore, the Arbitrator issued a brief report
noting that it was not necessary to issue an award.
Disclaimer The pages on this web site regarding the Appellate Body and the Appellate
Body Secretariat are intended solely for information. These pages do not
constitute an authoritative interpretation of the WTO Agreements, including
the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes,
or the Working Procedures for Appellate Review.