00-2123 MOREPRESS RELEASE
PRESS/179
25 May 2000
WTO COMPLETES APPOINTMENT OF APPELLATE BODY MEMBERS
The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) today (25 May) completed the appointments to
the Appellate Body by selecting Mr Yasuhei Taniguchi of Japan who joins Mr G M Abi-Saab of
Egypt and Mr A V Ganesan of India who were appointed by the DSB in April this year.  The new
Appellate Body Members will replace Messrs S El-Naggar of Egypt and M Matsushita of Japan
whose terms of office expired on 31 March, and Mr  C Beeby of New Zealand who passed away on
19 March.  The Appellate Body now has a full complement of seven Members.
These appointments will commence in June 2000. Appellate Body Members are generally
appointed for a four-year term, but as Mr Taniguchi is replacing Mr Beeby, he will serve for the
remainder of Mr Beeby's term (which is approximately three and a half years).  The appointments
were made according to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) whic h stipulates that the
Appellate Body shall "comprise persons of recogniz ed authority with demonstrated expertise in law,
international trade and the subject matter of the WTO agreements generally."  The DSU also requiresthat the Appellate Body be broadly representative of the WTO membership.  These appointments
were based on a proposal by a Selection Committee comprising the Director-General, and the
Chairmen of the General Council, the DSB, the Coun cil for Trade in Goods, the Council for Trade in
Services and the TRIPS Council, after consultations with WTO Members.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. Biographical notes on Messrs Abi-Saab, Ganesan and Taniguchi are attached.  Notes on the
four other Appellate Body members – James Bacchus of the United States, Claus-Dieter Ehlermann of
Germany, Florentino Feliciano of the Philippines and Julio Lacarte-Muró of Uruguay – are contained
in Press/32, dated 29 November 1995.
2. The Appellate Body hears appeals from dispute panel reports on issues of law covered in the
panel report and legal interpretations developed by the panel.  Three members of the Appellate Bodyhear and determine any one appeal.  The Appellate Body can uphold, modify or reverse the legal
findings and conclusions of a panel.  Thirty days after it is issued, an Appellate Body report is adopted
by the Dispute Settlement Body, and unconditionally accepted by the parties to the dispute, unless
there is a consensus against its adoption. Since its establishment in November 1995, the Appellate
Body has issued 27 reports.PRESS/179
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MOREBIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
Georges Michel ABI-SAAB
Born in Egypt on 3 June 1933, Georges Michel Abi-Saab is Professor of International Law at
the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Honorary Professor at Cairo University’s
Faculty of Law, and a Member of the Institute of International Law.
Mr Abi-Saab served as consultant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the
preparation of two reports on “Respect of Human Rights in Armed Conflicts” (1969 and 1970), and
for the report on “Progressive Development of Principles and Norms of International Law relating to
the New International Economic Order" (1984). He has also served as a Judge on the AppealsChamber of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and as a
Member of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Monetary Fund and of various
international arbitral tribunals.
Mr Abi-Saab is the author of two courses at the Hague Academy of International Law, and of
several books and articles, including “International Crises and the Role of Law: The United Nations
Operation in the Congo 1960-1964” (Oxford University Press 1978).
Arumugamangalam Venkatachalam GANESAN
Born in India on 7 June 1935, Arumugamangalam Venkatachalam Ganesan served in the
Government of India for 34 years until his retireme nt on 30 June 1993. During his long career, he held
various positions in his Government and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, including:
Commerce Secretary (1991-1993) in charge of India’s foreign trade policy and chief negotiator ofIndia in the Uruguay Round; Civil Aviation Secr etary (1990-1991); Additional Secretary at the
Ministry of Industry (1986-1989) in charge of in dustrial policies, foreign investment in India,
administration of India’s laws on patents, designs and trade marks, closely associated with the TRIPS
agenda in the Uruguay Round; and Inter-Regional Adviser (1980-1985) at the United Nations Centre
on Transnational Corporations in New York.
Since his retirement from government service, Mr Ganesan has been active as a consultant for
the UNDP and for the private and public sectors in India. He was, until recently, a member of the
Permanent Group of Experts under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; a
member of the Indian Government's Trade Advisory Committee on multilateral trade negotiations;
and a member of a WTO dispute settlement pane l examining the European  Communities’ complaint
against Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act.
Mr Ganesan has written numerous newspaper articles and monographs dealing with the
Uruguay Round, the WTO and the Seattle Ministerial Conference. He is the author of several papers
on trade and investment issues published by va rious UN agencies such as UNCTAD and UNIDO, and
has contributed to many books published in India concerning the Uruguay Round and intellectualproperty rights.PRESS/179
Page 4
ENDYasuhei TANIGUCHI
Born in Japan on 26 December 1934, Yasuhei Taniguchi is Professor of Law at Tokyo Keizai
University, and an Attorney at Law in Tokyo. He has been a Visiting Professor at several universities,
including: University of Hong Kong; Georgetown  University Law Center, Washington DC; Stanford
Law School, University of California; Murdoch University, Perth; University of Melbourne; HarvardLaw School; University of Paris XII; and New York University School of Law.
Mr Taniguchi is affiliated to several legal institutions including the Japan Commercial
Arbitration Association; International Council for Commercial Arbitration; the American Law
Institute; and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has handled many international arbitration
cases and is listed in the arbitrators’ panel of the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association; the
American Arbitration Association; the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre; the ChinaInternational Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission; and the Cairo Regional Centre of
Commercial Arbitration.
He has written numerous books and articles in the fields of civil procedure, arbitration,
judicial system/legal profession, and comparative/international law. His publications have appeared inJapanese, Chinese, English, French, Italian and German.