EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND CERTAIN MEMBER STATES – MEASURES AFFECTING TRADE IN LARGE CIVIL AIRCRAFT RECOURSE TO ARTICLE 21.5 OF THE DSU BY THE UNITED STATES COMMUNICATION FROM THE APPELLATE BODY
Document: COMMUNICATION FROM
Date: 17 January 2017
Document codes: WT/DS316/31
Complainant: U.S.
Respondent: EU, France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom
Third parties: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, South Korea
Dispute stage: Retaliation & Arbitration
Agreements cited: Art. 3.1, 3.2, 5, 6.3  Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM)Art. XVI:1  GATT 1994Art. 1, 2  Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM)Art. III:4  GATT 1994

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND CERTAIN MEMBER STATES – MEASURES
AFFECTING TRADE IN LARGE CIVIL AIRCRAFT
RECOURSE TO ARTICLE 21.5 OF THE DSU BY THE UNITED STATES
COMMUNICATION FROM THE APPELLATE BODY
The following communication, dated 21 December 2016, from the Chair of the Appellate Body
addressed to the Chair of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated to Members in accordance
with Article 17.5 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of
Disputes.

I am writing to you pursuant to Article 17.5 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing
the Settlement of Disputes (DSU), which stipulates that, as a general rule, the Appellate Body will
circulate its report no later than 60 days after the appellant has fo rmally notified the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB) of its decision to appeal. Article 17.5 states, furthermore, that, when the
Appellate Body considers that it cannot provide its report within 60 days, it shall inform the DSB in
writing of the reasons for the delay together with an estimate of the period within which it will submit
its report.
The European Union notified the DSB on 13 October 2016 of its decision to appeal certain issues of
law covered in the Panel Report and legal interpretations developed by the compliance Panel in this
dispute, with the result that day 60 in this proceeding f ell on Tuesday, 13 December 2016. On
10 November 2016, the United States filed a Notice of Other Appeal in this dispute.
The Appellate Body is not able to circulate it s report by the end of the 60-day period, or within the
90-day timeframe provided for in the last sentence of Article 17.5 of the DSU, due to the exceptional
size and complexity of these compliance proceedings. In this respect, we refer to the considerable
volume of the Panel record and the size of the Panel Report, the number of issues appealed, and
the many complex substantive and procedural aspects of these appellate proceedings, including
the time needed for adopting and complying with additional proced ures to protect business
confidential information (BCI) and highly sensitive business information (HSBI), together with the
consequential extensions of the deadlines for filing submissions . We further note the substantial
workload faced by the Appellate Bo dy, the overlap in the composition of the Divisions hearing
several concurrent appeals, and the shortage of staff in the Appellate Body Secretariat.
The circulation date of the Appellate Body report in this appeal will be communicated to the
participants and third participants in due course.