Turkey and dispute settlement mechanism
Turkey and the Dispute Settlement Mechanism
The Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) of the WTO constitutes the guarantee of the legal structure arising from the WTO Agreements. This mechanism is only applied to trade disputes between WTO Member states and arising from government policies but the disputes between person and firms are out of the scope of DSM. The main purpose of the mechanism is to ensure that WTO Members act in accordance with the WTO Agreement, to protect the rights and obligations of the Members under the WTO Agreements and to ensure reliability and predictability of the multilateral trading system. DSM can only be applied to the disputes stemming from the Agreements listed in Appendix 1 to the DSU. The mechanism which is automatic, obligatory and has appeal; compensation and retaliation mechanisms functions quite effectively.
DSM is made up of 5 stages which are; consultations, Panel, appeal, the approval by the Dispute Settlement Body and implementation.
While the countries which most use the DSM are developed countries, it has been observed that developing countries such as Brazil, India and Mexico increasingly invoke the mechanism in recent years.
Turkey has been a WTO Member since 26 March 1995. As of 12 January 2012 Turkey has taken place in the DSM 11 times. In this regard, Turkey was the complainant in two of these disputes and the respondent in nine of them. Eight out of these eleven disputes were resolved during the consultations stage while three of them were taken to the Panel. Besides, Turkey participated in forty-five disputes as the third party.
Disputes Resolved at the Consultations Stage
Symbol
The Complainant
The Name of the Dispute
DS29
Hong Kong
Restrictions on Imports of Textile and Clothing Products
DS43
United States
Taxation of Foreign Film Revenues
DS47
Thailand
Restrictions on Imports of Textile and Clothing Products
DS208
Brazil
Anti-Dumping Duty on Steel and Iron Pipe Fittings
DS237
The Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) of the WTO constitutes the guarantee of the legal structure arising from the WTO Agreements. This mechanism is only applied to trade disputes between WTO Member states and arising from government policies but the disputes between person and firms are out of the scope of DSM. The main purpose of the mechanism is to ensure that WTO Members act in accordance with the WTO Agreement, to protect the rights and obligations of the Members under the WTO Agreements and to ensure reliability and predictability of the multilateral trading system. DSM can only be applied to the disputes stemming from the Agreements listed in Appendix 1 to the DSU. The mechanism which is automatic, obligatory and has appeal; compensation and retaliation mechanisms functions quite effectively.
DSM is made up of 5 stages which are; consultations, Panel, appeal, the approval by the Dispute Settlement Body and implementation.
While the countries which most use the DSM are developed countries, it has been observed that developing countries such as Brazil, India and Mexico increasingly invoke the mechanism in recent years.
Turkey has been a WTO Member since 26 March 1995. As of 12 January 2012 Turkey has taken place in the DSM 11 times. In this regard, Turkey was the complainant in two of these disputes and the respondent in nine of them. Eight out of these eleven disputes were resolved during the consultations stage while three of them were taken to the Panel. Besides, Turkey participated in forty-five disputes as the third party.
Disputes Resolved at the Consultations Stage
Symbol
The Complainant
The Name of the Dispute
DS29
Hong Kong
Restrictions on Imports of Textile and Clothing Products
DS43
United States
Taxation of Foreign Film Revenues
DS47
Thailand
Restrictions on Imports of Textile and Clothing Products
DS208
Brazil
Anti-Dumping Duty on Steel and Iron Pipe Fittings
DS237