The World Trade Organization noted positive developments on the COVID-19 vaccine intellectual property waiver during small group and bilateral meetings at the Oct. 13-14 meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. TRIPS Council Chair Dagfinn Sorli of Norway said that WTO member state consultations will continue with the goal of achieving a consensus before the 12th Ministerial Conference begins Nov. 30 (see 2110140047). The recent small group and bilateral meetings focused on consolidating the two IP waiver proposals -- one from South Africa and India, the other from the European Union. Discussions seek to balance concerns over vaccine access from less developed nations and innovation incentive concerns from developed nations.
Alan Wolff, a former deputy director-general at the World Trade Organization, called on China to join the WTO Pharmaceutical Agreement, play a constructive role in the fisheries negotiations, and lead in restarting the Environmental Goods Agreement.
The World Trade Organization on Oct. 15 published the agenda for the next meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body, set to be held Oct. 26. Agenda items include reviewing the status of implementation of recommendations adopted by the body, with the U.S. providing a status report on the following: its antidumping measures on certain hot-rolled steel products from Japan; Section 110 (5) of the U.S. Copyright Act; its antidumping and countervailing duties on large residential washers from South Korea; and certain of its methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China. Also, the DSB will discuss the U.S.'s Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000, along with a statement by the European Union related to it; and a U.S. statement on the implementation of the recommendations of the DSB regarding measures affecting trade in large civil aircraft. Also, the body will take up a request by Australia for the establishment of a panel on China's antidumping and countervailing duty measures on Australian wine.
Turkey launched a safeguard investigation Oct. 9 on grinding balls and similar articles for mills, notifying the World Trade Organization of the probe, the WTO said Oct. 13. Interested parties can complete a questionnaire on the potential safeguard measures, with responses due within 30 days from the date of publication of the communique.
The World Trade Organization released a new online tool for tracking changes to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) -- the system used to classify traded goods, the WTO said. The HS Tracker was developed with the World Customs Organization and is meant to aid customs officials and traders in preparing for HS amendments set to take effect Jan. 1, 2022.
A summary of negotiations at the World Trade Organization on how to curb overfishing said that some countries are supporting the U.S. proposal to require countries to submit information on any vessels that are using forced labor. However, other countries "reiterated that the WTO is not the appropriate forum for labor issues," according to the summary, which was provided by a Geneva trade official.
The World Trade Organization launched a database that establishes an interactive platform to research information relating to the dispute settlement process under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1947. The database is based on a WTO report on GATT disputes during 1948-95, that was published in 2018. The database provides access to the main documents in GATT disputes, including consultation requests, adjudicators, disputing parties and claims and defenses. The resources section gives access to different GATT dispute settlement procedures, which have evolved over time. A one-page summary has key dates, documents and other information relating to each GATT dispute, the WTO said.
The World Trade Organization's Dispute Settlement Body established a panel to address Japan's concerns over China's antidumping duties on stainless steel products, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Sept. 28. Japan requested the panel in August. China's antidumping duties began in July 2019 on stainless steel goods from Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the European Union. Japan said the duties violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the WTO Anti-dumping Agreement) “due to flaws in the Chinese authorities' determination and its investigation procedures.”
The World Trade Organization circulated the agenda for the Sept. 27 meeting of the dispute settlement body, which includes a briefing on the implementation status of the dispute resolutions for the U.S.'s antidumping duties on hot-rolled steel products from Japan, Section 110(5) of the U.S. Copyright Act, the U.S.'s antidumping and countervailing duties on large residential washers from South Korea, and certain methodologies and their application to antidumping proceedings involving China. The DSB will also hear about the U.S.'s Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000, and will receive a statement from the U.S. about the European Union's measures affecting trade in large civil aircraft. China will also issue a statement regarding the panel report in the dispute over the U.S.'s safeguard measures on solar panel imports.
China will appeal a World Trade Organization panel ruling that U.S. safeguard measures on solar panels imposed by President Donald Trump in 2018 are legal under international trade law (see 2109020041), per a notice WTO circulated, at China's request, Sept. 20. “China regrets that currently no division of the Appellate Body can be established to hear this appeal,” the notice said. “In this exceptional circumstance, and in the interests of fairness and orderly procedure in the conduct of the appeal, China will await further instructions from the division, when it may eventually be composed, or the Appellate Body, regarding any further steps to be taken by China in this appeal.”