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The State of Qatar participated in the meeting of the General Council of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on reforming Dispute Settlement Body that was held at the WTO's headquarters in Geneva and focused on the issue of reforming the Dispute Settlement Body and reactivating the Appellate Body.
In a speech, Ahmed Issa Al Sulaiti, the director of the State of Qatar's office to the WTO and other economic organizations in Geneva affiliated with the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office in Geneva, referred to the purposeful initiative put forward by the State of Qatar to reach a solution between members in this area, which included practical proposals aimed at achieving effective reform of the Dispute Settlement Body.
Al Sulaiti voiced concern that members did not adhere to the deadline set for the end of 2024 by previous ministerial conferences in order to achieve effective reform of the Dispute Settlement Body and fill vacant positions in the Appellate Body, indicating that this matter would undermine the credibility of the Dispute Settlement Body in the WTO, which is of vital importance to the multilateral and rules-based international trade system, and the Appellate Body is a crucial element within it.
He noted Qatar's support for efforts aimed at strengthening the operations of the Appellate Body in accordance with the mandate of the understanding on the settlement of disputes, stressing the centrality of the Dispute Settlement Body in maintaining stability and predictability in the rules-based trading system in addition to ensuring the effective functioning of the WTO.
He urged members to cooperate to break the deadlock in selecting members of the appellate body and stressed the need for the dispute settlement body to serve all members fairly and equally, including developing countries, while calling for strengthening alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation.