WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONTN/DS/W/47
11 February 2003
(03-0887)
Dispute Settlement Body
Special SessionOriginal:  English
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT UNDERSTANDING PROPOSALS:  LEGAL TEXT
Communication from India on behalf of  Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt,
Honduras, Jamaica and Malaysia
The following communication, dated 7 February 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of India on behalf of Cuba, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Honduras, Jamaica and Malaysia.
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Article 3.6 of DSU :
"6. Terms of settlement of mutually agreed solutions to matters formally raised under the
consultation and dispute settlement provisions of the covered agreements shall be notified by a party
to the dispute  within 60 days after the date of su ch agreement and in sufficient detail  to the DSB
and the relevant Councils and Committees, where any Member may raise any point relating thereto."
Footnote to Article 13 of the DSU .
“Seek” shall mean any information and technica l advice that is sought or asked for, or
demanded or requested by a panel. A panel shall not accept unsolicited information.
The first sentence of Article 17. 2 of the DSU
2. The DSB shall appoint persons to serve on the Appellate Body for a four-year term, and
each person may be reappointed once  six-year term and such persons shall not be eligible for
reappointment .
Article 17.4 of the DSU
4. Only parties to the dispute, not third parties, may appeal a panel report. Third parties which have
notified the DSB of substantial interest in the matter pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 10 may make
written submission to, and be given an opportunity to be heard by, the Appellate Body  shall have an
opportunity to be heard by the Appellate Body and to make written submissions to it. These
submissions shall be reflected in the Appellate Body report.
Footnote to Article 17.6
A notice of appeal, which initiates the appeal process, shall identify the issues of law covered in
the panel report and legal interpretations developed by the panel sufficiently clear enabling the
other party and the third parties to a dispute to understand the issues under appeal.TN/DS/W/47
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Further footnote to Article 17.6 of the DSU
The Appellate Body shall neither seek nor a ccept information from anyone other than the
parties and third parties to a dispute.
Paragraph 10 of Appendix 3 of the DSU :
In the interest of full transparency, the presen tations, rebuttals and statements referred to in
paragraphs 5 to 9 shall be made in the presence of the parties.  Moreover, each party’s written
submissions, including any comments on the descrip tive part of the report and responses to questions
put by the panel, shall be made available to the other party or parties. Any document, notes,
information, etc., other than case summaries, su bmitted by the Secretariat to the panel shall be
provided promptly to the parties to the dispute, whose views on such documents, notes,
information, etc., shall be taken into consideration by the panel.
S&D Provisions
Article 22. 3 bis of the DSU :
“Notwithstanding the principles and procedures contained in paragraph 3, in a dispute
involving a developing country Member as complaining party and a developed country Member as a
party complained against, the complaining party shall have the right to seek authorization for
suspension of concessions or other obligations with respect to any or all sectors under any covered
agreements, if the party complained against fails to bring its measures into compliance with the
rulings and recommendations of the DSB or a covered agreement.”
Article 3 bis: Litigation  Costs:
In a dispute involving a developing country Member and a developed country Member as a
complaining party and as a party complained against, respectively, or vice versa, and where that
dispute does not end with a panel or the Appellate Body finding against the former, the panel or the
Appellate Body shall award litigation costs to the developing-country Member to the tune of
US$500,000 or actual expenses, whichever is higher1. The litigation costs shall include lawyers’ fees,
charges and all other expenses for, preparation of necessary documents2 and participation in, the
consultations, panel and the Appellate Body proceedings. The litigation costs shall also include travel,
hotel, perdiem and other expenses for a reasonable number of the Capital based officials.
Article 4.10
During consultations Members should  shall give special attention to developing-country
Members' particular problems and interests in the following manner:
                                                     
1 The expenses shall be calculated for each stage of dispute settlement proceedings, which include
consultation, panel and the Appellate Body proceedings as well as the pr oceedings under Articles 21.3(c), 21.5,
22.6 and 25 of the DSU. The original panel and the panel established pursuant to Article 21.5 of the DSU shall
take into account the expenses relating to the consu ltations preceding those panel proceedings for award of
litigation costs. The award of litigation costs is binding on the parties and not subject to appeal.
2 The documents include request for consultations, oral or written submissions and all other documents
necessary for preparation and participation in the dispute settlement proceedings. They shall also include oral orwritten advice rendered prior to, during or after consultations, panel or the Appellate Body proceedings relating
to the dispute.TN/DS/W/47
Page 3
(a)         if the complaining party is a developed country  Member and if it decides to seek
establishment of a panel, it shall explain in the request for establishment of panel as well
as in its submissions to panel and the Appellate Body as to how it had taken into account
or paid special attention to the particular problems and interests of the  developing
country Member concerned;
(b)         if the developed country Member is a defending party, it shall  explain in its
submissions to the panel as to how it had taken into account or paid special attention to
the particular problems and interests of the developing country Member concerned;
(c)         the Panel, while adjudicating the matter referred to it, shall make a ruling on
this issue.
Article 12.10 of the DSU
In the context of consultations involving a measure taken by a developing-country Member,
the parties may agree to extend the periods established in paragraphs 7 and 8 of Article 4.  If, after the
relevant period has elapsed, the consulting parties cannot agree that the consultations have concluded,
the Chairman of the DSB shall decide, after consultation with the parties, whether to extend the
relevant period and, if so, for how long. In addition, in examining a complaint against a developing-
country Member, the panel shall accord sufficient time for the developing Member to prepare and
present its argumentation.  The provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 20 and paragraph 4 of Article 21
are not affected by any action pursuant to this paragraph  If, after the relevant period has elapsed,
the parties fail to agree that the consultations h ave concluded, the Chairman of the DSB shall, at
the request of the developing country Member concerned, decide to extend the relevant period
for not less than 15 days, in cases of urgency as envisaged in paragraph 8 of Article 4, and not
less than 30 days in all other cases.  In addition, in examining a complaint against a developing-
country Member, the panel shall allow sufficient  time, not less than two additional weeks in
normal circumstance, for the developing-count ry Member to prepare and present its first
written submission and one additional week there after at each stage of written submission or
presentation. The additional time taken above shall be added to the time-frames envisaged in
Article 20 and paragraph 4 of Article 21.
Article 21.2 of the DSU
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Article,  particular attention should  shall  be
paid to matters affecting the interests of developing-country Members with respect to measures which
have been subject to dispute settlement in the following manner:
(a)         if the party complained against is a developing country Member and the complaining
party, a developed country Member,
(i)          the reasonable period of time under paragraph 3 this Article below should
normally not be less than 15 months. If the me asure at issue requires change of statutory
provisions or change of long held practice/policy, the reasonable period of time should
be at least two years.   The arbitrator under paragraph 3 (c) of this Article may indicate,
where the situation warrants, the requirement of a reasonable period of time beyond
two years;
(ii)         the complaining party should  request consultations with the party concerned
prior to seeking recourse to the proceedings under the terms of paragraph 5 of this
Article. The time for completion of such proceedings should be increased from 90 daysTN/DS/W/47
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to 120 days. The panel should give consideration as may normally be given to the
particular situation of developing country Members.
(iii)        Filing of status report under the terms of paragraph 6 of this Article should be
in alternative meetings rather than in every regular meeting of the DSB.
(c)         if the complaint is by a developing country Member against a developed country
Member:
reasonable period of time under the terms of paragraph 3 below should not exceed 15
months .  Existing 90 days time limit for proceedings in accordance with paragraph 5 of
this Article should be observed strictly.  In case of delay the developed country Member
concerned should offer mutua lly acceptable compensation for continuing trade loss to
the developing country complainant.
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