THE World Trade Organisation expects delays in rulings and "serious difficulties" for appeals in the next two years because of the increase in trade dispute volume and complexity and the lack of money to process them.
WTO: Trade dispute volumes, complexity now beyond budget capacityTHE World Trade Organisation expects delays in rulings and "serious difficulties" for appeals in the next two years because of the increase in trade dispute volume and complexity and the lack of money to process them.
"The Appellate Body can expect to receive around 20 appeals during the biennium 2014-15 including several of massive size," said the budget proposal.
"Such an increase in the number of appeals, on top of the increasing complexity, will put a huge strain on the resources of the Appellate Body and its Secretariat," said WTO chief Roberto Azevedo, Reuters reports.
Pleas for adjudication include disputes over subsidies for Boeing and Airbus, a challenge to Australia's tobacco packaging laws and a dispute about Chinese exports of rare earth metals.
WTO rulings going to appeal now average about 364 pages, twice as long as in the early days of the WTO, and cases routinely involve more complainants and third parties, generating more written and oral submissions and exhibits.
"We expect that the rises in those areas might be significantly more important than currently budgeted for and that additional savings might be required while executing the budget," said Mr Azevedo.
Under budget rules, member states contribute in proportion to their share of international trade and the WTO must have no expenditure growth until 2016, capping annual spending at CHF197.2 million (US$218.5 million).
The budget also faces more expense of holding the global trade ministerial meeting in Bali in December, aimed at breaking a 12-year deadlock in global trade talks.