RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/DSB/M/218 
15 September 2006 
 (06-4403) 
Dispute Settlement Body 
31 July 2006  
 
 
MINUTES OF MEETING 
 
Held in the Centre William Rappard  
on 31 July 2006  
 
Chairman:  Mr. Muhamad Noor Yacob (Malaysia) 
 
 
1. Appointment of an Appellate Body member 
1. The Chairman  recalled that at its meeting on 17 Februa ry 2006, the DSB had agreed to launch 
the process of selecting an Appellate Body member  to succeed the late Mr. John Lockhart for the 
remainder of his term.  At that meeting the DSB ha d also agreed that the deadline for nominations of 
candidates would be 31 March 2006.  Subsequently, at  its meeting on 10 April, the DSB had agreed to 
extend the deadline for nominations until 30 April 2006.   He further recalled that at the 17 February 
meeting, the DSB had established the Selection Co mmittee composed of the Chairs of the General 
Council, the Goods Council, the Services Council a nd the TRIPS Council; the Director-General and 
the Chairman of the DSB.  The Selection Committee had been entrusted with the task of carrying out 
the selection process with a view to making a recommendation on appointment to the Appellate Body, in accordance with the procedures set out in document WT/DSB/1.  The Selection Committee had 
approached this matter with great care and had based its work on the guidelines and rules and 
procedures contained in the DSU and WT/DSB/1 w ith a view to finalizing the selection process as 
soon as possible.  The Selection Committee had conducted thorough interv iews with the eight 
candidates nominated and had made itself available to  hear the views of Members on candidates.  He 
noted that 49 delegations had prov ided their views to the Selecti on Committee either orally or in 
writing.  The task of the Selection Committee had been challenging given the excellence of all eight 
candidates and, on behalf of the Selection Commi ttee, he wished to extend full appreciation and 
gratitude to all candidates as well as to thank thei r respective governments.  As delegations were 
aware, on 20 July 2006, following its deliberati on on all candidates, the Selection Committee had 
reached a recommendation that Mr. David Unterhalte r be appointed as a member of the Appellate 
Body to fill the vacancy left by the late Mr . John Lockhart.  The Committee's recommendation had 
immediately been communicated to all delegations by fax on the same day.  The airgram convening a 
special DSB meeting to consider this matter had subse quently been issued on 21 July 2006.  In light 
of the recommendation of the Selection Committee, he  proposed to proceed in the following way:  
first he would propose that the DSB take a decision on the recommendation of the Selection 
Committee and, immediately after, he would open th e floor to delegations who would wish to make 
statements for the record.  He said that he hoped th at this way of proceeding would be agreeable to all 
delegations. 
2. The DSB so agreed
. 
3. The Chairman  proposed that, as recommended by th e Selection Committee, the DSB decide 
to appoint Mr. David Unterhalter as a member of th e Appellate Body for the remainder of the late 
Mr. John Lockhart's term of office, namely up to 11 December 2009. 
4. The DSB so decided . WT/DSB/M/218 
Page 2  
 
  5. The Chairman
 thanked delegations and invited them to make statements for the record if they 
so wished. 
6. The representative of Mexico  said that his country attached great importance to the dispute 
settlement mechanism and believed that the Appe llate Body was a key institution within that 
mechanism.  He recalled that wh en a vacancy had become available after the regrettable death of 
Mr. John Lockhart, it had seemed to Mexico that the best way to pay tribute to him would be to put 
forward the candidacy of one of Mexico's nationals with vast experience in WTO law:  Mr. Alejandro 
de la Peña.  Mexico had supporte d him throughout the selection process and wished to thank him for 
agreeing to come forward.  Mexico also wished to  extend its gratitude to the other candidates.  He 
noted that the process benefited from the diversity of profiles of candidates and had been the most 
competitive in the Appellate Body's history.  Though Mexico was disappointed that the Selection 
Committee had not recommended Mexico's candidate, it recognized the professional approach with 
which the Selection Committee had performed its ta sk and welcomed its re commendation in favour of 
Mr. David Unterhalter of South Africa.  Mexico had always insisted that all Appellate Body members 
should strictly comply with the requirements of Ar ticle 17.3 of the DSU.  His delegation had had the 
opportunity to interact with Mr. Unterhalter in so me of the cases in which Mexico had participated 
either as a party or a third party, and believe d that Mr. Unterhalter met the requirements of 
Article 17.3 of the DSU.  Thus, Mexico had nothing  but praise for him.  Mexico believed that the 
system would be reinforced by a competitive and transparent selection process and was confident that 
Mr. Unterhalter would add to the value of and wo uld strengthen the proceed ings of the Appellate 
Body. 
7. The representative of Australia  said that the Appellate Body had been described by many as 
the "Jewel in the Crown" of the WTO.  It was a body quite unique in international law and one which 
had, within a little more than ten years, maintained excellent standards, both in terms of its efficiency 
and the quality of its reports.  The excellent work  of the Appellate Body could to a large degree be 
attributed to the qualities, skills and experiences of the individuals serving upon it.  Accordingly, it 
was of the utmost importance for Members to ensure  that vacancies on the Appellate Body were filled 
by persons of the highest calibre, through a rigorous merit-based selection process.  This required that 
Members made the effort to put forward qualified candidates and to assist the broader membership in assessing those candidates.  It also required th e Selection Committee, the Secretariat and WTO 
Members to make time available, even during busy negotiating periods, to conduct meetings and 
interviews with candidates.  Not least of all, it required candidates to make themselves available, and 
often travel considerable distances, to take part in such meetings and interviews.  His delegation 
wished to place on the record its appreciation of  the way in which the Selection Committee had 
conducted this process.  Australia also recorded its appreciation of all the candidates who had been 
put forward and their Member governments, in ensuring that there was an excellent field. And of course, he could not allow this occasion to p ass without thanking those Members who had given 
favourable consideration to the Australian candida te, Professor Andrew Rogers.  The recommendation 
of the Selection Committee was that Mr. David Unte rhalter be appointed to the Appellate Body.  
Australia fully and unequivocally supported that recommendation.  Australia joined others in 
congratulating Mr. Unterhalter and looked forwar d in due course to welcoming him to Geneva. 
8. The representative of South Africa
 said that first her country wished to thank the Selection 
Committee for the very professional, transparent an d efficient manner in which it had conducted the 
interviews and consultations on the vacancy in the Appellate Body.  Second, South Africa wished to 
pay tribute to the other candidates' professionalism an d the high quality of their candidatures.  All the 
other candidates had strong capabilities and experience and reflected a genuine interest to strengthen 
the multilateral trading system.  South Africa w as very proud that its candidate, Mr. David 
Unterhalter, had been appointed to the Appellate  Body. Her country was proud because South Africa 
was a young democracy and David was a child of this new democracy, reflecting its culture of 
tolerance, the rule of law and social justice.  Her country was also proud because in a short time it had  WT/DSB/M/218 
 Page 3 
 
 
  been able to produce a person of the calibre of Davi d, with the skills set, competence and dedication, 
to make a contribution to one of the new South A frica's passions, the strengthening of the multilateral 
rules-based trading system.  David also represente d the commitment to impartiality and integrity and 
her country was confident that he would serve all WTO Members equally well as they confronted 
many complex challenges of the tr ading system in the years ahead. 
9. The representative of China  said that his country wished to take this opportunity to thank the 
Selection Committee for its energy and time in making this recommendation.  Although the WTO 
negotiations had proceeded slowly, the recommendati on of the Selection Committee had been reached 
very quickly, which might be a good display that the WTO was still efficient in relation to some 
issues.  China wished to thank all candidates fo r their active participation, especially for their 
dedication to the multilateral trading system, and th e professionalisms they had shown in the process.  
As one of the seven Members nominating candidat es, China wished to express congratulations to 
Mr. David Unterhalter for his appointment as a new me mber of the Appellate Body.  In the meantime, 
China would continue to pay attention and to  support an effective WTO dispute settlement 
mechanism, which benefited all Members. 
10. The representative of Japan  said that his country wished to thank the Selection Committee for 
its hard work and an open, fair and transparent selection process.  Japan also wished to thank the 
seven Members that had put forward excellent and qualified candidates.  Japan welcomed the appointment of Mr. David Unterhalter, who had rich  experience as a panelist.  Japan hoped that 
Mr. Unterhalter, making use of that experience, would contribute to the Appellate Body's work, considering the Rules of Conduct, in particular independence and impartiality.  Japan looked forward 
to working with Mr. Unterha lter in a very near future. 
11. The Chairman
 said that, on behalf of the Selection Co mmittee, he wished to thank delegations 
for the sentiments expressed to  the Selection Committee and th anked the DSB for endorsing the 
recommendation of the Selection Committee. 
12. The DSB took note  of the statements. 
__________