Title：The First Case under Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement and Its Implications for  the Reform of WTO Dispute Settlement System

Author：Jianguo Hu

Abstract：The Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), which was established by several WTO members including China and the European Union, has absorbed and drawn on the relevant proposals of the Walker Plan, aimed at responding to some “concerns” of the United States about the Appellate Body (AB). The Colombia — Frozen Fries is the first case putting MPIA into effect, which not only tested the innovative institutional arrangements of MPIA, but also clearly deviated from the sequential approach adopted by the AB with respect to Article 17.6 (ii) of the Anti-dumping Agreement. The arbitral tribunals in this case and the Turkey — Pharmaceutical Products also deviated from the other two rulings of the AB by ways of clarification. In terms of the reform of the WTO dispute settlement WTO dispute settlement system (DSS), the procedural and substantive measures proposal mechanism set up innovatively by the MPIA should be actively and flexibly applied. On the issue of precedent, clear deviation from the AB rulings should follow the standard of “cogent reasons”, but some rulings of the Appellate Body can be prudently deviated from and improved by means of clarification. In addition, the phrasing of WTO rulings should also be optimized.

Keywords：Multi-party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), DSU Article 11 Claims,Deviation from Precedent, WTO Dispute Settlement System (DSS)