PRESS RELEASE 
 
PRESS/578 
6 November 2009 
 
(09-5548) 
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT 
WTO disputes reach 400 mark  
On the eve of its 15th "birthday", the World Trade Organization (WTO) earlier this month reached 
the milestone of having the 400th trade disput e brought to the body's dispute settlement 
mechanism.  Since coming into existence in January 1995, the WTO's 153 members initiated an average of approximately 27 disputes per year under the provisions of the Dispute Settlement 
Understanding, the WTO treaty governing the settl ement of all disputes among the organization's 
members.  
"This is surely a vote of confidence in a system  which many consider to be a role model for the 
peaceful resolution of disputes in other areas of international political or economic relations," said WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy to mark the occasion.  "All the political muscle-flexing and 
grandiloquence is discarded at the door once the case enters the WTO." 
 Of the 400 cases filed so far, approximately half ha ve eventually been settled directly between the 
parties, under the system's mandatory consultation requirements, without going to litigation.  Of 
the remainder, 169 have been the subject of panel and, where appealed, Appellate Body proceedings, 17 are currently in adjudication, and 12 are still the subject of active consultation 
between the parties.  
 "The dispute settlement system is widely considered to be the jewel in the crown of the WTO," said 
DG Lamy.  "Some critics claim that the system is monopolized by the developed countries, 
especially the US and EC.  Certainly, these two tr ading giants are the most frequent users of the 
system.  This is not surprising since they are the world's biggest traders, as is increasingly the 
case with China.  But the figures also show th at developing countries do not play coy hand-
maidens to their richer trading partners.  During the period 1995-2009, developing countries have been complainants in more than 45 per cent of al l cases, and have been respondents in more than 
42 per cent of the cases.  
 "No trade negotiator enters a negotiation without some assurance that the agreements he 
negotiates will be underpinned by a credible disp ute settlement system.  The ongoing review of the 
functioning of the WTO's dispute settlement system has given rise to many proposals for clarification and improvement.  But WTO Members agree that, as the bedrock of the multilateral 
trading system, the dispute settlement system will  not be subject to any seismic shift in its 
fundamental structure as a result of the Members' deliberations," said DG Lamy. PRESS/578 
Page 2 of 3 
 
 
WTO members involved in disputes  
(Total No. of disputes: 400 as of 2 November 2009)  
  
Member  Complainant Respondent  
 
Antigua and 
Barbuda  1 0 
Argentina  15 16 
Australia  7 10 
Bangladesh  1 0 
Belgium  0 3 
Brazil  24 14 
Canada  33 15 
Chile  10 13 
China  6 17 
Chinese 
Taipei  3 0 
Colombia  5 3 
Costa Rica  4 0 
Croatia  0 1 
Czech Rep  1 2 
Denmark  0 1 
Dominican 
Republic 0 3 
Ecuador  3 3 
Egypt  0 4 
European 
Communities 81 66 
France  0 3 
Germany  0 1 
Greece  0 2 
Guatemala  7 2 
Honduras  6 0 
Hong Kong, 
China  1 0 
Hungary  5 2 
India  18 20 
Indonesia  4 4 
 
  
 
Member  Complainant Respondent  
 
Ireland  0 3 
Japan  13 15 
Korea  13 14 
Malaysia  1 1 
Mexico  21 14 
Netherlands  0 1 
New Zealand  7 0 
Nicaragua  1 2 
Norway  3 0 
Pakistan  3 2 
Panama  5 1 
Peru  2 4 
Philippines  5 5 
Poland  3 1 
Portugal  0 1 
Romania  0 2 
Singapore  1 0 
Slovak Rep  0 3 
South Africa  0 3 
Spain  0 1 
Sri Lanka  1 0 
Sweden 0 1 
Switzerland  4 0 
Thailand  13 3 
Trinidad & 
Tobago  0 2 
Turkey  2 8 
United 
Kingdom  0 2 
United 
States  93 107 
Uruguay  1 1 
Venezuela  1 2 
 
  
 
 PRESS/578 
Page 3 of 3 
 
Summary of disputes  (as of 2 November 2009) 
 
 - To date, 400 disputes have been brought to the WTO, of which: 
 
 84 appear to have been resolved bilaterally but for which no outcome notified to WTO  
 95 were resolved bilaterally for which outcome notified to WTO 
 23 were resolved bilaterally after a panel was established but before the panel was 
composed 
 12 are currently the subject of active consultations between parties 
 186  went into litigation  
  - Disputes per Year: 
 
Year Disputes 
1995 25 1996 39 1997 50 1998 41 1999 30 2000 34 2001 23 2002 37 2003 26 2004 19 2005 11 2006 21 2007 13 2008 19 
2009 
 
12 
(as of 2 Nov.) 
 
  
 
  
 
For more information on the WTO's Disput e Settlement System and the 400 disputes, 
please see: 
 
Dispute settlement gateway:  http://www.wto.org/disputes  
 
Chronological list of disputes cases: http://www.wto.org/english/tratop _e/dispu_e/dispu_status_e.htm  
 
END