The Chinese delegation of more than 20 people shuttling between conference room and is too busy. No wonder people generally believe that China has become the most active member of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, after the United States and the European Union. Statistics show that new cases filed in the WTO in 2009, half involving China. For about 42 percent in 2010.
However, this time from the China officially became a WTO member, only a short period of eight years and a half!
Decade, China to participate as a party to the dispute, the WTO of 31 cases involving 22 disputes. Among them, as the prosecution in the eight cases, involving eight disputes; as a respondent party in 23 cases involving 14 disputes (see list).
The establishment of the WTO Law Office
A rainy day. As early as 2000 before China's accession to the WTO, the Chinese government began to participate in the preparatory work of the dispute settlement mechanism. In June 2000, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Treaty and Law Department on the organization of the major economic ministries and legislative officials, as well as some academics, lawyers and 23, traveled to the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC, United States, to participate in a two-week WTO Seminar ".
The following years, similar seminar and training without interruption.
In order to participate more effectively in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, the Law Department of the Ministry of Commerce on some key issues were adequately studied. "Product-specific safeguard measures the United States legislation and practice of legal research report," U.S. WTO anti-dumping case study ", the WTO dispute settlement consultation process" and "WTO dispute settlement panel procedure," reports one after another came out.
The work involved in WTO dispute settlement mechanism requires the Agency's safeguards. In November 2001, China has just been approved to join the WTO, the establishment of the WTO law at the Law Department of the Ministry of Commerce.
Yang Guohua, then the Director of this Department. He recalled that this is that from changes in the "Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of WTO law, the Leading Group Office. After the signing of the end of Sino-US bilateral agreement on China's accession to the WTO in 1999, the central ministries have been established regulatory clean-up office. Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation is responsible for accession to the WTO negotiations, the Office of Repair Parts Replacement the regulations of the Ministry of clean-up is a full-time institutions, not only responsible for the cleanup of the foreign economic and trade laws and regulations, and often provide advice to other ministries. Clean-up not only need to know about the domestic policies and regulations, and need to be familiar with the WTO rules. Professional requirements of this work, forcing the office staff to learn by doing, the earlier of the WTO agreements and some cases were studied. It also laid the initial foundation for the more specialized work of the WTO dispute settlement.
China joined the WTO, the temporary office into a formal WTO Law Department, specifically the establishment of the WTO Secretary shared responsibility in the WTO-related matters.
The first case of too many
March 5, 2002, the U.S. president announced that 10 kinds of import safeguard measures imposed tariffs of up to 30% in the three-year time. Some WTO members, including China, that the case be submitted to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, namely the U.S. steel safeguards case.
U.S. steel safeguards case is China's first case in the WTO. In the WTO against the United States up to eight (EC, Japan, Korea, China, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and Brazil), is the largest prosecution in the WTO dispute settlement one case. More than 100 parties participated in the hearings held by the Panel and Appellate Body. The United States, which is the WTO largest, most complex cases.
U.S. steel safeguards case to Cable Clips Ties take measures from the President of the United States announced on March 5, 2002 November 10, 2003, the Appellate Body to make a final decision, finds that the U.S. measures were inconsistent with WTO rules, which lasted nearly 21 months.
Yang Guohua, the China as a WTO member to participate in the whole process of the case. Through participation in this first case, the major, to increase our understanding of the mode of operation of the WTO, especially the characteristics of the dispute settlement mechanism, to take full advantage of the mechanism to resolve the dispute, provided a good experience.
Since then, the WTO has from the first respondent cases. March 18, 2004, the United States on China's IC value-added tax policy issues to the Chinese request for consultations. The United States in its request for consultations, said China's integrated circuit VAT refund policy, in violation of the WTO principle of national treatment and MFN principle. After four rounds of negotiations to reach an understanding the two sides announced that the case resolved through consultations.
After five years of preparation and training of troops, China ushered in the WTO case the peak period: Chinese indicted in 8 cases, 7 is filed after 2007; in China sued in 14 cases, 12 filed after 2007.
With the increase in caseload, we have experienced more "first": China v. U.S. poultry import measures case, "apprenticeship victory, the case is still pending, the United States on substantive changes to relevant legislation; also auto parts import measures on the ruling of the case "for the first time, adjust the relevant practice; the first award of the" Intellectual Property Case ", modify the relevant laws and regulations.
"Gone through so many cases, the procedures in the WTO litigation has been very much at home. The same time, many cases of substantive issues, we are also familiar." Yang Guohua said.
Nominate experts to the WTO
Hearing in order to facilitate the needs of the case, the WTO provides that each WTO member can nominate experts to the WTO is approved, the inclusion of experts "indicative list" for the selection of specific cases. The DSB regular meeting held on February 17, 2004, by three experts nominated in China. The three experts are: the Law Department of the Ministry of Commerce of the former Director, Professor Zhang Yuqing, Wuhan University Law School Dean Professor Zeng Lingliang, Shanghai East China University of Politics and Law Professor Zhu Lanye.
Chinese experts included in the WTO list of experts, the significance of a wider field, a deeper level to participate in WTO affairs. According to the WTO dispute settlement rules and procedures of understanding (DSU) "the provisions of the WTO dispute settlement panel members should be composed of senior government and non-governmental individuals. The country has three experts successfully included in the WTO list of experts, means that our experts in WTO areas of expertise has been recognized by the WTO, China's participation in WTO affairs towards a deeper level of performance.
According to the introduction of the Commerce Department of Treaty and Law Secretary Li Chenggang, the Commerce Department has recommended to the WTO 17 members of the Group to actively reflect the majority of emerging economies and developing countries in trade demands.
These members of the Group, Professor Zhang Yuqing has been the practice of "trial" in the EC bananas case as members of the Group. Zhang Yuqing the performance of the then Chair of the Expert Group on Christian Haberli praised his "brilliant" (outstanding, excellent) to describe Zhang Yuqing.
With the figure of the Chinese people not only in the expert group list, and institutions - of Final Appeal of the WTO case, the Appellate Body of seven experts from China, Professor Zhang Yuejiao among them. June 1, 2008, she began as a period of four years of the WTO "Justice", which is the Mainland of China for the first time to this important position in the WTO.
[Nouns explained
WTO dispute settlement mechanism
The WTO dispute settlement mechanism is the final legal means to resolve trade disputes, resident agencies based in Geneva, often referred to the Court of International Trade. Can not resolve the dispute through bilateral negotiations between the WTO members can submit WTO to resolve. It has strict time limits, you can peacefully resolve the dispute, to refrain from the behavior of trade war and other destructive effects of international trade order. Europe and the United States and other trading nations have frequently used the WTO dispute settlement mechanism to resolve the dispute, Brazil, India and other developing countries are also extensively involved in the trial of the case.
WTO dispute settlement mechanism, although the final legal means of resolving disputes, but in the bilateral negotiation phase, you can also play a deterrent role. See from the experience of other countries to participate in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, the interpretation of the WTO panel and Appellate Body of the WTO Agreement on the terms of, you can grasp the direction of development of WTO rules in favor of domestic policy adjustments; materials provided by the parties to the dispute, understanding of national trade policy and its operational methods, to provide a reference for our country to develop economic and trade policies.
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